Student Projects
Recent Student Projects
During the 2023 winter semester, anthropology capstone studied the topic of stress and anxiety among college students with Dr. Kristin Hedges. The class collaborated with the GSVU University Counseling Center and the GVSU FTLC PACE Initiative to understand the current context on our campus. As part of the focus on application of anthropological knowledge to solve social problems, students were divided into groups representing the four discipline subfields. Each group was tasked with creating a product to support students and faculty understanding of the topic. These products were disseminated to the Counseling Center and the Faculty Teaching and Learning Center to assist with understanding and improving ways to reduce our students stress and anxiety. Final products can be found below:
To reduce the communication barrier between students and faculty on the topic of stress and anxiety, these 3 completed interviews with 24 students at GVSU ranging from freshmen to first-year graduate students to understand their styles of communicating stress with special attention towards phrases of dark humor. The goal was to showcase the difference in linguistic tools that students utilize with the social contexts of friends and faculty.
Project research team included Tamary Harris, Anthony Shanley, and Aaron Stankewitz
Using social space analysis skills they created a campus map for students that invite students to use their campus space however needed to support their well-being. All our GVSU students have different needs, this map was designed to be a supportive tool that can be individualized in supporting those diverse needs. For commuting students a stressor is where to park, some students are looking for quiet places around campus to relax or study, during the cold months finding warm paths to navigate campus can encourage class attendance, knowing where to eat with tips best times can help students with sustenance between classes, etc. Collating the expertise of students who have figured out how to navigate campus, all of these details can be found in the map and offered as advice for future students.
Project research team included Samuel Boudrie, Zoya Deen, and Rachel Quick.
Using video-ethnography skills, the team interviewed students to evaluate experiences of stress and other mental health challenges, faculty support received, and use of campus resources that can help address these challenges. The project serves as a guide for better understanding and addressing student mental health with included feedback about helpful faculty efforts and university resources.
Project research team included Audrey Albright, Gretchen James, and John O’Dell.
Using voice recording equipment the team conducted campus street intercept interviews and created a podcast discussing the context of stress and anxiety on GVSU campus. Project research team included Olivia Anthony, Douglas Corey, Elijah Flood, and Justin Samuels.
2023 Student Scholars Day
For Student Scholar's day, our students Zoya, John and Michelle, presented on their project which focused on learning about the process of 3D scanning and developing a manual that will help future students and other people involved in learning the process. The technology is available in the lab and so they did a great job to talk about their experiences and to think about ways that these technologies can be good educational tools and contribute to broader heritage initiatives related to accessibility to communities who don't have easy access to material, in particular Indigenous communities. By creating the manual, the goal is to share this in the future with Indigenous communities and other stake holder groups who would like to explore their own use of digital archiving of cultural materials.