Anthropology 101: How to Change the World
Yes Magazine, 2009
4 Pages Posted: 24 Jun 2013
Date Written: June 30, 2009
Abstract
In the Learn and Serve Environmental Anthropology Field School (LEAF), at Edmonds Community College, Washington, students study a little-known society: our own. The LEAF School combines participant observation, the primary method of investigation for cultural anthropologists, with service-learning to engage the students in the community while working with tribes, governments, community organizations, cooperatives, and farms on projects that use traditional ecological knowledge to improve sustainability. This article is edited by Kristen Ballinger, based on an interview with Dr. Thomas Murphy during Spring 2009, three years after the founding of the LEAF School. The course number for Human Ecology course discussed in this article was changed from Anth 101 to Anth 201 shortly after this article went to print and the LEAF School has subsequently added a series of archaeology courses to its curriculum and expanded to Everett Community College.
Keywords: Environmental anthropology, service-learning, Learn and Serve, traditional ecological knowledge, participant observation, applied anthropology, community college
JEL Classification: Z10
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation