Abstract This dissertation investigates the coexistence of humans and javelinas in Texas. Through a blend of traditional ethnography, ethology, and GIS mapping, the study explores the dynamics of interactions at three primary sites across Texas, emphasizing the mutual shaping of shared spaces and the significance of negotiation. The dissertation argues that convivial human-javelina relations in…
Category: Blog
Our Edited Volume is Out: Nurturing Alternative Futures: Living with Diversity in a More-than-Human World
I am pleased to announce that Nurturing Alternative Futures: Living with Diversity in a More-than-Human World is currently out with Routledge. I am honored to have contributed a portion of my research – “Of People and Peccaries: Perception and Politics in the Texas Hill Country” – alongside such wonderful scholars.
UNCC Shooting Four Years Later…
Yesterday marked the fourth year since a shooter entered my classroom in Kennedy 236, took two lives, and changed dozens more forever. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte brought me back to campus for the first time since 2019 for the dedication of a new memorial structure and garden. When I first met with…
Returning to UNC-Charlotte Approaching the 4th Anniversary of a Mass Shooting in My Class
Tomorrow, I get on a plane to fly to Charlotte, NC to attend the unveiling and dedication of a new memorial for Reed, Riley, and the other victims of the April 30, 2019 shooting that occurred in my class. I have written several pieces on the subject over the four years and I always write…
Paleoanthropology: The Ancestor Worshipping Death Cult
Firstly, this is satire. I love all of my paleoanthropologist friends. Paleoanthropology is a scientific discipline dedicated to illuminating our evolutionary history. However, it is also a low-key ancestor-worshipping death cult. Consider this; many paleoanthropologists go to great pains to locate and disinter the fossilized remains of hominins: members of our lineage, after we and…
Why I Study Human-Animal Relations as an Anthropologist
Anthropology is the study of humans, or as Dr. Jon Marks says: “the study of who we are and where we come from.” I consider it to be the study of humans and the variety of relationships humans have. These relationships include some of the most obvious: kinship, communities, institutions, businesses, and religions. It also…
Digging for Birds
My partner and I bought a house in 2019 and moved to San Antonio, TX, in service of my pursuit of a Ph.D. in anthropology. One thing that was abundantly clear to us—we are both from the East Coast and accustomed to a different climate—was that it is dry and gets very hot! Following the…
The Same Old Song and Dance: Nothing Has Been Done to Reduce Mass Shootings
We are only a few days removed from the horrific mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX, where nearly two dozen people were murdered in cold blood. As readers likely know, I survived a mass shooting in a university classroom where I was teaching anthropology. Since that shooting, I moved to San Antonio,…
“A student and a professor remember the UNC Charlotte mass shooting three years later”: NPR WFAE Charlotte: Sarah Delia
I have not done many interviews on the subject. Here is an NPR article in which I am featured alongside one of my students about the shooting in the classroom three years ago: “A student and a professor remember the UNC Charlotte mass shooting three years later” https://www.wfae.org/charlotte-area/2022-04-29/a-student-and-a-professor-remember-the-unc-charlotte-mass-shooting-three-years-later
Reflecting Three Years After the UNCC Mass Shooting
Every year at this time, I reflect on the shooting that occurred in my classroom on April 30, 2019, that took the lives of two students, injured four others, and traumatized countless others, both in the classroom and across campus. That day changed my life forever, and three years on, I still have to contend…
Anthropology 365 