Reynolds College Blog

2024 archaeology summer field school investigates historic company town site

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Missouri State University conducted another successful archaeological field school May 20-June 14, 2024, at the historic Phenix Marble Company Town site in northwest Greene County, Missouri.

Once again, Dr. Elizabeth Sobel and Dr. Scott Worman of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Gerontology (SAG) directed the program. They also co-taught the field school at Phenix in 2019 and 2022.

Twenty Missouri State students, along with three teaching assistants, participated in this year’s field school.

This year the group investigated remnants of a company town where Phenix employees lived from the late 1800s to the 1930s.

Local focus gives professional training at reduced costs

Missouri State has been holding archaeological field schools nearly every summer since the mid-1970s, Sobel said.

“While there have been MSU field schools in places like New Mexico and Jamaica, the costs of travel, food and lodging made those inaccessible to many students,” she explained.

Instead, Sobel and Worman have opted for local field schools. These reduce costs while giving students the training they need to become professional archaeologists.

Sobel said she and Worman direct the field school every other year, alternating with staff from Missouri State’s Bernice S. Warren Center for Archaeological Research (CAR).

Phenix Site has many pluses

Sobel and Worman said they return to Phenix as a field school site for several reasons.

“The fieldwork at Phenix builds on our previous archaeological research, [which explored] daily life of Black families in nearby Ash Grove in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,” Sobel explained. “Like the Phenix community, much of the Ash Grove community worked in the limestone industry.”

“In 2019, we chose to expand this research to include the site of the Phenix Marble Company, which hired and housed only Whites to quarry and process limestone,” Worman added. “Our study can more fully explore both race and class dynamics in this part of the Ozarks in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.”

Several people at archaeological dig
The 2024 archaeological field school hard at work. Photo credit: Lucy Arras.

In addition, the Phenix Marble Company owns the site. The owners give the field school access to the property, maintain the landscape, share historical information about the site and even provide portable toilets, Sobel said.

These, along with the site’s proximity to campus, are additional benefits to returning to the Phenix site.

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Sociology major Madeline Cope presents research on teacher attitudes

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Junior sociology major Madeline Cope’s first conference was more than just attending a few workshops.

She presented sociology professor Dr. Alicia Walker’s research on “martyrdom mentality” within the K-12 teaching profession at the Southern Sociological Society Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, April 3-6, 2024.

This was Cope’s first time to present at a conference.

“I have felt a range of emotions about presenting, from stress and anxiety to excitement and optimism,” she admitted. “After giving this presentation, however, I entirely feel the latter.”

Cope’s work on the project counts toward her completion of the sociology program’s Social Science Research Certificate. The certificate will facilitate her long-term career goal of becoming a professional social researcher.

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MSU Anthropology students dominate Santa Fe conference

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Five anthropology students from Missouri State University gave impressive performances at the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) conference March 26-30.

Two of those students, senior anthropology major Jacob Rosecrans and senior anthropology major McKennzee Newton, won first and second place honors, respectively, for their research poster presentations.

Senior anthropology major Brianna Rodgers and junior anthropology and agriculture double major Kyra Uphoff presented their research on the benefits of student-led college clubs, fielding questions from both faculty and students throughout the entire conference.

Junior sociology major Isabella Rossi gave an oral presentation of her research on public housing in St. Louis.

“All presented as undergraduates,” said Dr. Mary Willis, head of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Gerontology (SAG). “That’s a huge accomplishment given that undergraduates are less likely to do their own research compared to graduates and less likely to have the chance to present.”

“Every single one of them was poised, confident, and able to talk about their research in clear, straightforward and engaging ways,” said associate professor Dr. Marnie Watson. “Their work was at the level of the graduate students and faculty who presented at the conference.”

“In fact, several people expressed amazement that our undergraduate students were able to engage so professionally with others at the conference,” she added.

The students were accompanied to the conference by Willis, Watson and instructor Jason Shepard.

During their stay, the students visited Pecos National Historical Park and several museums in Sante Fe’s Museum Hill. After the conference, the group enjoyed a celebratory dinner at Jambo Café, a Sante Fe restaurant that was featured on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”

“We didn’t realize that we would have so much to celebrate,” Willis said. “When I was looking at the posters before the award ceremony, another conference attendee said to me, ‘Wow, Missouri State really dominated the awards this year’.”

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History alum Anna Guenter wins top prize at history graduate student conference

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History alum Anna Guenter was awarded top honors at the 14th Annual Texas A&M University History Graduate Student Conference, held February 9-10, 2024.

Guenter won the History Graduate Student Organization Paper Award for her research on Jewish identity in postwar Vienna. The award included a $250 cash prize.

Her paper, “Jewish Revenge in Postwar Vienna: Negotiating Jewish Identity and Reclaiming Home after Nazism,” was part of her MA thesis research for the graduate program in Missouri State’s Department of History.

The conference theme this year was “Navigating Crises and Resolutions.”

Conference experience validates effort

As part of a four-person panel titled, “Remembering the Holocaust,” Guenter presented her work, then fielded questions from the panel’s moderator.

“This was my first time presenting at a conference, so I was very nervous beforehand,” Guenter said. “However, it was a very rewarding experience and I felt incredibly validated in my efforts as an aspiring scholar.”

“Having the chance to meet other historians and getting to know their research was by far the best part of going to the conference,” she added. “It was so much fun talking to the people on my panel and hearing how passionate they were about their work.”

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Graduate student Nakaja Weaver researching algorithmic bias in social media

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Sociology graduate student Nakaja Weaver is about to wrap up a research project that allowed her to blend her passion for art with her quest for knowledge.

Weaver seized the opportunity to turn her interests into a full-fledged project after taking a class with her academic advisor, Dr. Abby Templer Rodrigues.

“I began this research project after taking a class on public sociology and community (SOC 398),” Weaver said. “In that course, we discussed topics about community, social capital and inequality.”

Weaver launched her project, titled “The Impact of Social Media Algorithms on Black Artists Through a Black Feminist Lens,” in May 2023.

This April, she will discuss her findings by presenting a paper at the Midwest Sociological Society conference and then give a poster presentation at the Missouri Academy of Science conference.

Weaver also hopes to publish her finished work in an academic journal.

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