Anthropology Club Archives - Reynolds College Blog

Anthropology Club to host “Vampire Talk” Oct. 23

October 16, 2025 by Lynn Lansdown

Missouri State University’s Anthropology Club will host a “Vampire Talk” at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 23 in Strong Hall 407.

Any student interested in learning more about the stories behind vampires is welcome to attend, said Erika Bears, Anthropology Club secretary. Students are also encouraged to dress up as vampires or in any other costume, she added.

Club members decided on holding a vampire talk because it seemed like a fun activity for the Halloween season, Bears said. It also presents a great opportunity to introduce students to anthropology.

Understanding vampire lore has a direct connection to anthropology, Bears explained.

“There have been archaeological discoveries of people who had unusual burials,” Bears said. “That indicates that they may have been accused of being vampires or were buried the way they were to prevent them from becoming vampires.”

During the talk, Anthropology Club members will present vampire stories and discuss archaeological discoveries from around the world. They will also answer audience questions about vampires.

Mark your calendar

Anthropology Club visits historic Danforth Cemetery

January 10, 2025 by Lynn Lansdown

Members of Missouri State University’s Anthropology Club visited the historic Danforth Cemetery in Strafford, Missouri, during the Fall 2024 semester as part of a field trip learning experience.

Nine members, along with club officers Erin Ashford and Cora Darmody, accompanied Dr. Elizabeth Sobel and Dr. Scott Worman from the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Gerontology on the trip.

Danforth Cemetery history

According to Sobel, the Danforth cemetery was established in the nineteenth century for the burial of White and Black pioneers. The oldest surviving grave markers date to 1860, but the cemetery may have been established before then.

“Black pioneers were enslaved, brought to southwest Missouri by force, rather than by choice,” Sobel said. “Like many other historic cemeteries, the Danforth Cemetery was historically racially segregated, with the south end serving as a burial ground for Black individuals.”

Sobel added that the cemetery remains active, used by descendants of both the White and Black founding families as well as other community members.

Historic ties to MSU

According to Sobel, one goal of the field trip was for students to understand the historical relationship between Danforth Cemetery and MSU.

The Black section of the Danforth Cemetery is but one example of the history of racial segregation in Missouri, she explained. It illustrates for students how their experience at MSU is connected to that history.

Danforth Cemetery is the resting place of Mary Jean Price Walls, the first Black person to apply to (then) Southwest Missouri State University.

Price Walls applied to MSU in 1950, prior to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling. She was denied admission to the university despite being an academically strong student, Sobel said.

In 2010, MSU granted Price Walls an honorary undergraduate degree in recognition of her significance as the university’s first Black applicant. MSU then named its Multicultural Resource Center after Price Walls in 2016. More recently, in August 2024 the Springfield-Greene County African American Heritage Trail placed a historical marker on the MSU campus to honor Price Walls.

Price Walls died in 2020.

Students sitting in cemetery — Anthropology Club students document head stones in the historic Black section of Danforth cemetery.

Anthropology Club kicks off academic year with increased membership numbers

October 4, 2024 by Lynn Lansdown

Missouri State University’s Anthropology Club held its first interactive meeting for the 2024-25 academic year Sept. 9 in Strong 405.

The topic? Flintknapping, a term used by anthropologists to describe different methods to make stone tools.

On hand to demonstrate the ancient technique were Professor Elizabeth Sobel and Associate Professor Scott Worman from the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Gerontology (SAG). Both professors regularly participate in archaeology-related sessions with the club.

Things looked a little different this time, though.

Club officers Kyra Uphoff, president, and Erin Ashford, secretary, watched as students kept filing into the small lab room. Ashford started looking for more chairs.

By the time the meeting started, attendees were spilling out into the hallway.

Ashford later said that roughly 30 people attended the meeting, breaking previous attendance numbers. Typical attendance is 15-20, according to Uphoff.

Man kneeling on floor in front of students demonstrating rock tools. — Dr. Scott Worman demonstrates flintknapping techniques.

What is flintknapping?

“‘Flintknapping’ refers to making flaked stone tools, essentially making tools by breaking small pieces of rock – flakes – off of a larger piece – a core,” Worman said. “It is the process used to make things like spear points, arrowheads, knives, scrapers and similar tools.”

Woman working with stone tools — Dr. Elizabeth Sobel demonstrates flintknapping techniques.

Worman and Sobel demonstrated three general flintknapping techniques to the group: bipolar, percussion flaking and pressure flaking.

“We like to incorporate all three flintknapping techniques into our hands-on experience so that the students understand all three approaches,” Sobel said. “Some students discover that they enjoy or have a knack for one technique more than the others.”

According to Worman, using the bipolar method requires placing a small core on a large stone, called an anvil, and striking it with another large stone, called a hammerstone.

“It is relatively easy and was often used when the rocks used to produce tools were too small to hold easily,” Worman explained.

Percussion flaking requires holding the core in one hand and striking it with an implement held in the other hand, Worman said. Pressure flaking is similar, but instead requires the individual, called a “knapper” to hold the core while applying steady force to the edge with a rod-shaped object, usually made of antler. Pressure flaking is often used to put “finishing touches” on tools made by percussion flaking, he added.

After finishing the demonstration, Worman, Sobel and club officers handed out rocks, protective gloves, lap cloths and goggles so attendees could practice.