Anthropology speaks to me because, at its core, it is about empathy and human connection. Take archaeology, for instance. I am often astounded by the age, magnitude, or importance of an archaeological site or artifact, but it is the fingerprint in the clay, the snarky comment on a page’s margin, or the notches on a door-frame that make me stop and think. These are not grand monuments or feats of human achievement; they are just human. These tiny details of life tie people together as individuals through time and space. Anthropology aids us in connecting with people from the past to the present, from the other side of the world to right next to you. This connection is imperative. We, and the world, are all the better when we can empathize with people who are unlike ourselves.

I love to travel and to learn from the people in other cultures. A deep appreciation for other perspectives was instilled in me from an early age because I went to a Waldorf school from age 5 through to high school graduation. Even so, it wasn’t until I took an anthropology class on magic, witchcraft, and religion that I saw anthropology as a pathway that would feed my curiosity about and deepen my understanding of humankind. The breadth of the anthropology curriculum at SDSU allows for a variety of career paths: I intend to pursue a business of my own but believe that the warmth, empathy, and true interest in humanity cultivated in SDSU’s anthropology program will serve me well in any career I may later choose.

I first learned about anthropology in a presentation Dr. Perez gave about migration. Being a transborder student, this sparked my interest and I have been hooked ever since! Completing cultural anthropology coursework and participating in an ethnographic field school in Oaxaca, Mexico, I learned the importance of community-centered research and I came to grasp just how vast migration and the aftermath it leaves behind is. What I love most about anthropology is the way it highlights how important human connections are.  The connections that you make with the individuals that you work with give you a better understanding of culture, and help emphasize how culture has shaped us all.

Anthropology is a great major because of the tools it provides us as we approach sensitive issues, including gender, race, and many more hot topics—not just out in ‘the field,’ but also in our everyday life. Anthropology found me through my work photographing the local jazz music scene. The stories I heard opened my eyes to to the value of an ethnographic approach to this cultural arena. My understanding of culture, and the different forces that help form it, has really grown here at SDSU, in large part through the variety of classes offered, conversations with professors, and in-class debates seen through the lens of anthropology. Graduate school is my next goal in anthropology; to further expand my understanding of the culture here in the US and around the world.

Alec Griffin graduated from SDSU with a BA in Anthropology in 2001 and worked for a short time as an archaeologists for a CRM firm in San Jose. He then went on to teach every grade level form K-12th grade while obtaining an MA in Anthropology from CSUEB, an MPP from CSUMB, and a multiple subject teaching certificate. In 2011,  Alec moved to South Korea to teach high school social sciences for three years at an Seoul International School. He then headed back to California to start a nonprofit organization (World Progress Now) centered on Responsible tourism.  In 2016 he found his ultimate calling of teaching at the community college level.  Alec is currently working for Cerro Coso Community College as a full time faculty member teaching Anthropology and Sociology. With this current role, he teaches anthropology and sociology courses face to face inside two different state prisons, on-site college campus, and online. Alec credits anthropology with providing a living breathing operating philosophy and  life pathway. His motto in life is to adapt and overcome, which is at the heart of anthropological fieldwork as well as life in general.  Alec is an avid Aztec fan and has never forgotten the vital education and experience that SDSU provided him.

Jose Huizar earned his MA in 2015. He completed his thesis work in a rural community in Oaxaca, Mexico, where he worked alongside a community support group for elders who were left behind by migrant family members. In addition to his thesis work, he was part of a U.S.-Mexico graduate student research team that examined the process of deportation at shelters in Tijuana, Baja California. Jose also volunteered at a children’s after-school mentoring program in Oaxaca, Mexico, and at a center for unaccompanied immigrant children in San Diego, California.  Jose continues to apply the anthropological training and education he received at SDSU in his career. Since leaving SDSU, Jose has continued working in his local community through an organization called Child Advocates of Placer County, which serves at-risk kids and families. As a Program Manager, he oversees the Youth Mentor, CASA, and K9s 4 Kids Programs, ensures the development and expansion of those programs,  and collaborates with community partners. Jose is also responsible for the strategic planning and execution of services for those served by the programs.

Almost every student who has passed through our department recently has taken a class from Sam Kobari, who has more students every semester in ANTH 101 than most faculty members have in five years. One reason students flow toward Kobari is that he knows better than most instructors where students are coming from: Mr. Kobari was a student at SDSU himself! He earned his MA in anthropology in 2012, after having completed a bioarchaeological analysis of Chumash burial findings from 1500 BP to 1800 BP. His bioarchaeological research continues, but Kobari’s  true professional calling is teaching. No job has ever been more fulfilling and joyful to him. He loves the connections he builds with his students and the fact that he gets to talk about what it is to be human throughout the school year. When not in the classroom, Kobari can be found surfing the beaches of San Diego, rock climbing, and camping. Completing an MA in anthropology has provided Mr. Kobari with the opportunity to do what he loves both in the classroom and beyond.

Douglas La Rose currently works as a Program Development and Program Quality Manager for Catholic Relief Services in Sudan. His job is an applied anthropologist's dream - he works with communities in three states of the Darfur Region and the Red Sea State to co-create natural resource management, livelihoods, health, nutrition, and water and sanitation projects. Many of these communities have been displaced by conflict and are returning home from neighboring countries to re-establish their livelihoods. Having a background in anthropology gives Mr. La Rose the skills to understand barriers to recovery and development that communities face. This deeper understanding informs program design which in turn creates culturally-contextualized, transformative programming. Since graduating from the SDSU Anthropology M.A program in 2011, Mr. La Rose has lived in four countries (Ghana, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Sudan) and had extensive assignments in two other countries (Madagascar and Malawi). His M.A thesis was on agricultural adaptations to climate change in the forest-savanna transition area of the Volta Region of Ghana.

My interest in other cultures led me into anthropology.  In class, 16mm ethnographic films depicting !Kung (San) people from the Kalahari, the Dani of New Guinea, and other foreign cultures fascinated me. I wanted to make movies like those myself. To that end, I took several cinematography classes at SDSU, encouraged by Dr. Paul Ezell, then the Anthropology Department's chair.

In 1971 I went to Australia in pursuit of a Masters degree, hoping to work with and film Aboriginal people living on Central Australian Settlements.  I landed a job as research officer for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies and spent most of 1972 filming and collecting artifacts for museums and the Institute.  I met and learned from Walbiri and Pintupi tribal members who graciously accommodated my wishes.  I realized how rare this opportunity was and in 1976 I fulfilled requirements for a Masters via a 16mm film of sacred ceremonies ("Dingari Ceremonies at Papunya") and a written thesis.

The celebrated Pintupi dot-art painting movement began during my stint and recently several Australian anthropologists have requested, and been authorized, to use of my film materials in their books and research. This has been a satisfying development after so many years--and it all began at SDSU.

Molly Sirota currently leads a team of Game User Researchers at PlayStation’s San Diego design studio. Her team’s primary job is to research how gamers understand, interpret and interact with the world around them. Such information is then leveraged by video game designers to create innovative gaming experiences that stand out in a highly competitive market. Molly’s background in anthropology has provided her with the unique research skills needed to not only identify the core values driving a community towards or away from specific experiences, but to argue on behalf of the community when change is needed. Since graduating from SDSU’s Anthropology department in 2006, Molly has consulted in the educational, medical, automotive, financial and gaming world. But regardless of industry, the objective has always remained the same: identify the key needs of a community and work with companies, clients and teams to deliver on those needs.

(PhD University of Wisconsin, Madison 1973) Mesoamerican culture history, ceramic analysis
Email: [email protected]

(PhD American University 1978) Cultural Anthropology, applied anthropology, sustainability, the environment and language
Email: [email protected]

(PhD U California-Santa Barbara 1991) Complex hunter-gatherers, development of socio-political complexity, archaeological method & theory, anthropological ethics, European contact in North America, ethnoarchaeology, exchange, Cultural Resource Management; California, North America

(PhD U Arizona 1972) Linguistics, cognitive anthropology, Athapaskan speakers, history of theory; US Southwest, Northern Mexico
Email: [email protected]

(PhD Michigan S 1973) Social anthropology, history of ethnological theory, ethnomusicology, religion, folklore, India
Email: [email protected]

(PhD U Hawai’i 1972) Cultural Anthropology, linguistics, historical linguistics and dialectology; Philippines, Southeast Asia
Email: [email protected]

(PhD U of Wisconsin-Madison 1971) Physical anthropology, primate ecology and behavior, osteology, environmental archaeology, zooarchaeology; Latin America, Vietnam, SE Asia
EMail: [email protected]

(PhD U Wisconsin-Madison 1971) Biological Anthropology, human biology, genetics, medical anthropology, aging, nutritional anthropology, reproduction; Appalachia
Email: [email protected]

(PhD U California-Berkeley 1970) Applied, urban, research methods, data analysis, computers; Africa, North America
Email: [email protected]

(PhD U Minnesota 1967) Art, social anthropology, applied anthropology, culture and personality, legal anthropology; China, Europe, North America
Email: [email protected]

(PhD U Arizona 1978) Old World archaeology, Paleolithic, Neolithic, lithic analysis
Email: [email protected]

(PhD U California-Los Angles 1967) Psychological anthropology, the individual and culture, ethnology; South America

(JD WSU 1976; PhD Michigan S 1968) Sociocultural anthropology, law and society, environmental law, recreation and public land use; Japan, Okinawa
Email: [email protected]

(PhD University of California-Los Angeles) Cultural ecology, culture change, time allocation, cultural resource management, applied ethnography; Peruvian Amazon, Southern California, Native North Americans; Email: [email protected]

(PhD Washington State University 1987) Hunter-gatherers, early agriculture, site formation processes, food shortage-facilities, curation, lithic technology; Western North America; Email: [email protected]

(PhD New York University 1975; Adj Professor) Medical anthropology, psychological anthropology, visual anthropology; Caribbean, Brazil

(PhD University of California-Riverside 2001; Executive Director, Waitt Institute for Discovery) Maritime trade, cave archaeology, rock art, ceramics; Mesoamerica, Caribbean; Email: [email protected]

(PhD Washington State University 2019) Medical anthropology, human development, childhood and culture, ethnobiology, prevention science, ethnographic methods; Sub-Saharan Africa; Agro-pastoralists, hunter-gatherers and horticulturalists; Email: [email protected]

(PhD Columbia University 2009) Anthropology of religion, mass media (particularly visual media), the politics of memory, social theory, and anthropology of the body; Spain, Europe, and Latin America

(PhD State University of New York-Stony Brook 2000) Primate ecology, behavior, reproduction, development, social structure, and conservation, Rhinopithecus, Hapalemur; China, Vietnam, Madagascar; Email: [email protected]

(PhD University of Wisconsin-Madison 1981) Archaeological field methods and techniques, instrument mapping and survey, technical illustration and drafting, archaeological excavation and conservation, Maya archaeology and cultural history, Maya ideology and urban design, faunal analysis

(MA San Diego State 1973) Physical anthropology, museology