A Story of Us

"Where are you from?" In this special bonus episode, students from the Columbus Metro Early College Middle School (6-8th grade) answer this question as a part of their January-term project. With the idea that "Where are you from" means so much more than what is your family background, students take the time to tell us about what shaped them as who they are today, including: stories of their parents' home countries; ancestral stories shared by family members; what it means to move; different food traditions within their families; and the influence of art, games and reading. We are excited to share their stories as a part of our podcast, and hope that you enjoy them too. An index of topics is listed below: SECTION 1: "Home" (4:33) Mariah (4:43): Family trips to Maryland Saleh and Omar (6:24): "The Horn of Africa," Somalian history and language Pradnya (12:00): "The World Inside Ohm", Hinduism and Yoga Marguerite (15:23): "Mobile Home" What it means to move Jillian (17:24): European Roots from Family tales Holden (19:15): "Zoomin' As A Human", Family traditions and cycling SECTION 2: "Food" (20:51) Paolo and Graham (20:57): "The Meals that Made Us", Food traditions from Germany and Poland (plus Pizza!) Austen (24:48): Snacking and friendship Oumar (26:16): Influence of Dad's African culture SECTION 3: "Hobbies" (29:42) Jacob (29:50): Dungeons and Dragons, and creativity Loic (32:31): "Comic Origin: Batman" The history of Batman Ali (33:45): Life lessons and impact of Anime Isra (37:47): Reading and Harry Potter Iza (40:04): Art and reading books Zaiden (42:59): Art and culture CONCLUSION (44:19)

How can you use anthropology without realizing it? In this episode, we talk with Donna Firm, an OSU alumna (class of '73), who took her anthropology degree and applied it to a lifetime with the Ohio State Department. Donna, who celebrated OSU's centennial, reflects on how anthropology has changed over the last fifty years, and tells us how she still keeps anthropology in her life today.

What can we learn from paleofeces (a.k.a. dried ancient feces)? In this episode, we talk with archaeologist and paleoethnobotanist Dr. Kris Gremillion, and discuss her research with Native American plant remains in the caves and rock shelters of eastern Kentucky. She covers topics including: understanding the origins and development of agricultural systems, the challenges of working with plant remains, and how understanding ancient plants could help fight food insecurity in the future.

Do you know the origins of the term "slash and burn agriculture"? In this episode we talk with Dr. Sean Downey, an ecological anthropologist who works in Belize. Dr. Downey describes the colonial view that led to the term "slash and burn" for the practice that many anthropologists and ecologists prefer to call, "Swidden" agriculture. Dr. Downey's research asks the questions, "how do community social norms lead to sustainable forest outcomes, even under the clearing regimes that they use to provide subsistence for their families?" Listen to this episode to find out more about how Dr. Downey conducts his research, and preliminary results!

Do raccoons have a preference on what they scavenge? How does our environment and what we consume in our lifetime affect how we decompose? In this bonus episode, we talk with forensic anthropologist Dr. Dawnie Wolfe- Steadman, and hear about her research at the Forensic Anthropology Center at University of Tennessee, Knoxville (a.k.a The Body Farm) where she works with donated bodies to inform science and criminal justice. From this, we recognize Anthropology's multiple disciplines and raise the broader questions about the human body and culture.