Department of Sociology Anthropology and Gerontology Archives

Paws to the Polls wraps up successful 2024

February 25, 2025 by Lynn M. Lansdown

Members of Missouri State University’s Paws to the Polls (PTTP) organization spent the Fall 2024 semester in a whirlwind of activity, concluding with the 2024 presidential election.

The group oversaw a variety of outreach events dedicated to providing voting information and encouraging registration. They kept pace throughout the fall semester, attending conferences and fairs, giving talks and distributing information.

Civic engagement creates learning opportunities

In August, PTTP worked with the Springfield Chamber of Commerce and the local chapter of the League of Women Voters to present at the city’s Youth Civic Leadership Institute.

At the event, PTTP president Grace Wasson and vice president Amanda Gott ran a panel discussion and oversaw a voter simulation activity for high school students.

During September, PTTP continued its high school student voter information activities, collaborating again with the League of Women Voters. They held a voter registration information event for area high schools and registered 22 voters.

Also that month, the group coordinated a voter registration drive with the Springfield NAACP and the League of Women Voters at Springfield’s historic Washington Avenue Church.

For Gott and Wasson, working with the local community proved to be an invaluable learning experience.

“I found out very quickly that we not only register voters, but we [also] provide people with information on the voting process, upcoming elections, non-partisan resources for staying informed and much more,” Gott said. “I saw it as an opportunity to learn about voting and Missouri legislation, as well as an opportunity for engaging with my peers, my campus and my community.”

Gott, a sophomore double majoring in anthropology and modern language, joined PTTP in fall 2023.

Wasson had a similar reaction when first encountering PTTP. She joined the organization in fall 2022.

“I care deeply about local issues and civic engagement,” said Wasson, a sophomore political science major. “Paws felt like the perfect way to get involved and meet incredible, passionate people.”

Criminology graduate advocates for justice and community

January 21, 2025 by Damilola R. Oyedeji

When Haley O’Brien first visited Missouri State University in fall 2020, she knew she had found her home.

“I grew up in Marion, Iowa, but I knew I wanted to study out of state,” she said. “When I walked onto [the Missouri State] campus, I fell in love with the environment.

“The handwritten acceptance letter I received also made me feel like I was more than just a number here,” she added. “It felt like a community.”

And so, from the middle of Iowa to MSU, O’Brien has spent the past four years carving out her path in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice.

Her passion for advocacy and restorative justice, combined with her education at MSU, shaped O’Brien’s journey. She now feels equipped to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others.

O’Brien graduated in December 2024 with a degree in criminology, a minor in sociology and certificates in victim advocacy, criminal courts and family and juvenile support services.

Anthropology Club visits historic Danforth Cemetery

January 10, 2025 by Lynn M. 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.

Sociologist Dr. Alicia Walker elected co-chair of Council on Contemporary Families

November 14, 2024 by Damilola R. Oyedeji

Missouri State University’s Dr. Alicia Walker is the new co-chair of the Council on Contemporary Families (CCF).

Walker, who is a sociologist and associate professor of sociology, will serve with Dr. Arielle Kuperberg, associate professor of sociology at University of Maryland-Baltimore County.

This three-year role offers Walker the opportunity to influence both academic and public discourses on family dynamics, gender roles and social policy.

“As co-chair, I’ll organize events and board meetings, oversee committees and help set strategic priorities for CCF,” Walker said.

Walker, an expert in the social construction of sexuality, researches how people understand themselves as sexual beings and navigate these aspects in everyday life. The appointment to CCF co-chair will enable her to expand on that research by engaging with a network of leading scholars and policymakers across the United States.

“This role is an honor and opportunity to broaden the impact of family research,” Walker said. “Our goal is to make complex research on families accessible and impactful, particularly in ways that bridge academic insights with public needs.”

Anthropology Club kicks off academic year with increased membership numbers

October 4, 2024 by Lynn M. 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.