Some members of the USFSP Anthropology Club. From left to right: John Lancheros, Bryan Mayorga, Alana Todd, Dylan Canady, Chris Rodriguez, Madison Hopkins, Eva Manzo, Alyssa Delio and Becca Deterding.
The organization seeks to help students achieve a better understanding of human diversity in a constantly changing world.
The world in the 21st century is changing at a rapid pace. So rapid, that it can be difficult to keep up, especially as a college student.
Learning and experiencing interactions with people, ideas and systems is what college is all about, and also what anthropology is all about.
USF St. Petersburg has multiple student organizations that aim to help connect students with similar interests.
The anthropology club is one of these organizations.
The club aims to inspire and motivate student participation in the study of the human experience throughout history.
“The biggest thing that I’ve learned as an anthropology major is about being open to differences in cultures and differences in personalities in a university level,” said Becca Detarding, the club’s secretary.
The organization’s faculty adviser, Jay Sokolovsky, created the anthropology club in 1996, when he started teaching at USFSP full time.
“The club promotes lectures exposing students to local cultural events,” Sokolovsky said.
The organization’s president, senior Alyssa Delio, said the club is focused on making the world a better place.
“We just talk about things that we all can relate to and it’s always constructive,” club member Chris Rodriguez said. “It’s good for the soul.”
“The environment is perfect for people to express themselves and connect with others while talking about anthropology,” said junior Alanna Todd, the vice president.
According to John Lancheros, the organization is about breaking down ethnocentrism – the practice of judging other cultures by the standards of one’s own culture.
“The term ethnocentrism is key in anthropology, especially with current events going around, not just in the U.S., but around the globe,” Lancheros said. “There is a lot of ethnocentrism where people are not taking into respect other cultures or others view of the world.”
Sokolovsky encourages members to work together as a group, to help each other learn about the world’s diversity. To start thinking like anthropologists.
To make it appealing to all students on campus, the club holds fundraisers, invites speakers to discuss anthropological issues and hosts camping trips.
Thirteen of the club’s 57 members are flying out to Denver, Colorado, for the American Anthropological Association’s 114th annual conference. Starting Nov. 18, the five-day event brings anthropologists from around the world to address biological, archaeological, linguistic and cultural topics.
The conference is one of the largest annual anthropological meetings in the world, averaging over 500 concurrent sessions and more than 3,500 presenters each year.
“I encourage students to attend the meetings to jumpstart their careers,” Sokolovsky said. “It provides a window into the full range of professional work opportunities in the 21st century field of anthropology.”
Though USFSP students have attended the event in the past, this year holds the largest group by far, and coming up with the money wasn’t easy.
To help the club cover some of the trip’s expenses, student government donated $4500.
The club hosted various fundraisers, such as a benefit concert at the Tavern at Bayboro, to help raise the rest of the money.
Through group discussions, presentations and trips, the club’s members can learn the roles of religion, gender, language and status and power that takes place in cultures across the world.
At USFSP, students come from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds. The goal of the anthropology club is to unite with fellow students to create a cohesive college community.
Information:
The club meets at 5p.m. every other Wednesday in the student center coral room 232. The next meeting will be Oct. 21.
