Week of 2/27

Hey Anthros!

Just a quick post to give you guys a heads up on the activities for this week.

For this week's meeting...
It's that time of the semester again...!
Our special event, Meet An Anthropologist, is happening THIS FRIDAY, MARCH THE 3RD. Rather than host a traditional meeting, we will meet in BLB060 at 5pm to hear practicing anthropologists present about their careers in anthropology.

This event is always very fun and informative. Not only are we inviting accomplished social scientists to provide valuable information for our future anthropologists, we are also catering food from Rasoi's Indian restaurant for our guests! There will be vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, AND dairy free options!

SO, if you like exploring career options in anthropology while eating free food with friends, please join us Friday night. It's going to be a great time. For more information on Meet An Anthropologist and other special events we host during the semester, visit the page on our website here.

For the Big Event...
Remember, the Big Event is Saturday, March 25th! I have until 5pm THIS FRIDAY (03/03) to submit the roster for who is volunteering with the ASA group, so if you are still interested please get your information into BethanyTrent@unt.edu before Friday at 4pm. The information I'll need is your first and last name, student ID, phone number, and a frequently-checked email address. Send these into my email and I'll add you to the roster!

Thanks everyone. See you at Friday's event! :)

Important Info Regarding Tomorrow's Meeting...

Hello friends! A few important point to keep in mind for tomorrow's meeting...

1. DUES are due TOMORROW NIGHT by 7pm! Our VP of Finance will have change for cash and a Square reader to take cards! If you are unable to make the meeting and pay in person, we also have a link to our PayPal account on the righthand side of the blog.

Dues are $10 for the semester, and help us buy t-shirts, cater food for meetings, go on field trips, etc. If you would like to maintain active membership in the ASA, you must pay dues! Be an active member and help us do fun stuff this semester! :)

2.  We have officially registered for the Big Event today! If you would like to volunteer with the ASA for the Big Event on March 25th and have not submitted your information to our coordinator, please email your NAME, STUDENT ID, PHONE NUMBER, AND MOST FREQUENTLY CHECKED EMAIL ADDRESS to anthropeopleunt@gmail.com.

For more information on the Big Event, click here. We will meet in the library mall around 7:30am on Saturday, March 25th to eat breakfast before we are sorted off to our location. We are able to add volunteers to our roster until Friday, March 3rd at 5pm, so if you would like to join our group please contact us ASAP!

3. Are you artsy? Think you could whip up a really cool design for a new ASA t-shirt? Create a t-shirt design and send it into our email, anthropeopleunt@gmail.com, and in an upcoming meeting we will vote on whose design to choose. We would like to have these shirts before the Big Event (March 25th) or before the end of March, so send your designs in soon!

4. Meetings have been relocated to BLB060 at 5pm every Friday. We apologize to those who were confused by the sudden room switch. It took the officers by surprise as well, but hopefully we have cleared up all confusion and will see everyone tomorrow!

Tomorrow night at 5pm in BLB060! Come hear two of our officers discuss their experiences with utilizing campus and department resources to obtain undergraduate research positions. This is valuable information for anyone hoping to hold a research position on campus before graduating!

Catching Up... Week 2/20/2017

Hey Anthros!

Here is the run down for the past few meetings, as well as the plan for this week!

• On the 3rd of February our president, Cesar De La Portilla, hosted a student presentation and discussion over meme culture. This was a very interesting event and many members sent in funny, discussion worthy memes! We learned that Richard Dawkins, famous ethologist and evolutionary biologist, coined the term "meme" and defines it as "a unit of imitation for cultural replication." Would you agree that a meme acts as a self-replicating unit of culture?

If you would like the link to Cesar's power point presentation, or more information on meme and internet culture, please contact anthropeopleunt@gmail.com.

• At our third meeting on February 10th, we hosted a movie night and watched "The Anthropologist," a film about climate change. For a brief synopsis and review of the movie, click here. For a trailer, click here. 

• At last week's meeting we had a post-Valentine's Day celebration, complete with a giant bag of sour patch kids and a presentation on Cultural Perspectives of Love by our VP of Community Outreach, Jena Chakour. Jena gave us twenty-three definitions of love from cultures around the world, which ranged from the euphoria of falling from for someone to the sorrow of fearing your loved one will have to live on without you after you have passed away. We also enjoyed learning about different Valentine's Day traditions cross-culturally, including 'Valentine's Day, White Day, and Black Day" from Korea, where the Koreans celebrate not one, not two, but three sequences of Cupid's holiday! To learn more about this cultural practice, click here for a short YouTube video from Jena's power point. 

If you would like the link to Jena's power point presentation, or more information on cultural perspectives on love, please contact anthropeopleunt@gmail.com.

• A huge shoutout to those who came out last Thursday to volunteer at or attend the 2nd Annual Applied Anthropology Expo!  The department was very pleased with the turn out. The department brought out prizes, tons of free anthropology "swag," great food and refreshments provided by the UNT Verde catering services, and of course, amazing applied anthropology research! The alumni panel at the end consisted of business anthropologists, medical anthropologists, research analysts, agricultural sustainability directors, and NASA employees! We learned that anthropology can truly take you in any direction you please. 

UNT Applied Anthropology Alumni Panel

• And last, but not least, our next meeting is THIS Friday in BLB060 at 5pm! Notice the room change... Student activities switched our room on us rather suddenly last week, so we apologize greatly to those who were confused by this switch and missed the meeting! This week and for the rest of the semester, you can find us in BLB060 from 5-7pm. At this meeting, Jena Chakour (VP of Community Outreach) and Bridget Landis (VP of Finances) will present over how to utilize resources to obtain an undergraduate research position. Please come hear about this fascinating research, and get updates for the upcoming Big Event and Meet An Anthropologist! 

See you Friday! :-)

Last Meeting Recap and New Information

Hello!

First and foremost, the ASA officers would like to thank everyone who came out to the Pizza and Game Night on Friday! We had an excellent turn out and really enjoyed socializing with everyone over games and food. :-) The group was a fun mix of new and familiar faces and there was never a dull moment!

Dr. Dunstan tries a hand at Cards Against Humanity

It was a full house!

We also have the department to thank for ordering tons of pizza and providing water, plates, and napkins for us! It was an all-around fantastic evening and we hope to bring more fun events like this to you guys throughout the semester. 

Now, to recap a few important points from Friday...

First... An ASA sign-up sheet was at the front of the room near the pizza during Friday's meeting, so anyone who signed that sheet will receive an email from Bethany sometime Monday (1/30) night regarding upcoming meetings and volunteer opportunities. If you did not sign the sheet but would like updates on the information, shoot an email to anthropeopleunt@gmail.com, or drop a message at our website linked here. 

Second... Our President, Cesar De La Portilla, is presenting this Friday, February 2nd at 5pm in BLB035 over Meme Culture. It doesn't matter if you find memes hilarious or you hate memes, bring your favorite/least favorite meme to the meeting on Friday to discuss the humor behind memes! See the flyer below.

Third... The 2nd Annual Applied Anthropology Expo is Thursday, February 16th in Union 333. This exposition is a great opportunity to hear from anthropologists who are currently creating solutions to relevant, pressing world issues. If you've ever wondered how to answer the infamous "Anthropology? What are you going to do with that...?" this expo will get you thinking about how anthropology can be used in a variety of different fields. Here is the departmental flyer for this event:

We will have volunteer opportunities available for this event! There was a sign up sheet at the meeting on Friday, but if you missed the list or weren't there to let us know, stop by the message option on our website or shoot us an email. The thinks to both are listed above. Again, this event is Thursday, February 16th from 1-5 pm in Union 333. 

That's it from us right now! Enjoy your week guys, and keep a look out for the email sending tonight! See you Friday!

UNDERGRADUATE PIZZA PARTY

Hello ASA-goers! It's been awhile...hope everyone is doing well. A few updates for the new year from the ASA:

First... Last semester, the department hosted a competition between the undergraduate and graduate anthropology students for the UNT Food Pantry. Whoever donated the most items to the collection bins at the department won a free pizza party, and the undergrads claimed the prize! Thus, the first event ASA is hosting for the spring semester is a Pizza and Game Night.

TOMORROW, Friday 1/27 in BLB060 from 5-7, we will be eating FREE pizza and playing games such as Cards Against Humanity, Jenga, Phase 10, Scattergories, and Yahtzee! If you donated to the bins during the fall semester, this party is for YOU! If you didn't, that's okay too! Feel free to stop by BLB060 to eat pizza and play games with fellow majors, minors, and enthusiasts! All are welcome.

Second... The ASA started a WEBSITE over winter break! For now on, our blog will be used for posts about upcoming events, recaps of meetings, videos of student presentations, news from the department, and pictures/updates from field trips and volunteer events. If you would like more information regarding the logistics behind the ASA, how to join, who are officers are, our purpose, what we do, etc., please visit our new website here. 

Third... Over winter break our officers got together to restructure the ASA for Spring 2017. The ASA group in the fall was not nearly as active as planned, but we would like to make up for this by creating a lot of really interesting activities for this semester! Our Google Calendar is updated with our current plans for the spring, but be on the look out for announcements regarding new volunteer opportunities, student presentations, movie and bowling nights, and possibly a field trip to see Bill Nye the Science Guy give a lecture in Dallas...! We are anticipating a great semester and hope for a huge turn out! :)

That's it for now, guys! Remember to check the blog and our other social media sites frequently! Until next time!

Wanna Talk Superheroes?

Happy (rainy) Tuesday, readers! I have an exciting opportunity to introduce to you all.

Our amazing VP of Community Service and Outreach, Jena Chakour, is working on her honors thesis this semester and needs our help! If you would be interested in contributing to her research by discussing your opinion of superheroes with her, please reach out to her and let her know! It doesn't matter if you're a SUPER fan or didn't even know there was a difference between Marvel and D.C., all knowledge-level volunteers are welcome. See the flyer below for more details.

All students interested can contact Jena at her email address, ginachakour@my.unt.edu, or via text message at 940.312.9952. 

Updates for the week of 11/07

Hey Anthros! There's quite a bit going on with the ASA this week so here's the info!

First on the agenda... This week is our second special event of the semester called Meet An Anthropologist. We will have a few guest speakers from the anthropology department come in to talk to us about their careers. This is an incredible opportunity for exposure to different career options in the social sciences, so don't miss out! Come hang with us in BLB035 at 5 pm. The officers will provide tacos so enjoy free food while you listen to our amazing panel of guest speakers! See the flyer below for details.

Next, as many of you already know, the Anthropology Department was chosen to represent the UNT Food Pantry for the month of November. The UNT Food Pantry was established by the Dean of Students to help combat hunger and address food insecurity in students. Help us collect items for the pantry, whose cause is extremely important! The graduate and undergraduate students are competing to collect the most food, and right now we are neck-and-neck. The ASA officers went out this weekend and purchased $100 worth of food to help stock the pantry and defeat the grad students. 

Current Graduate Donations on Top, Current Undergraduate Donations on Bottom

Any and every donation helps, guys! Even if all you can bring is one canned good or a single pack of instant rice. The pantry accepts canned chicken or tuna, peanut butter, low-sodium canned vegetables, low-sugar canned fruit, popcorn, soup, instant rice, beans, chili, pasta sides, nuts, mashed potatoes, fruit snacks, granola bars, boxed cereal, oatmeal, crackers, pudding, toothpaste, tooth brushes, and feminine hygiene products. Donate to our box in the department, or bring your contributions to the ASA meetings for your officers to deliver them for you. We'll have a donation box at all meetings between now and when the CONTEST ENDS ON DECEMBER 2ND. Winners get a pizza party, complementary of the department! 

Lastly, the ASA now has a GroupMe for all of our organization's updates! Please send your phone number to our VP of Public Relations, Bethany Trent, via email at bethany.trent94@gmail.com or over Facebook messenger to have your number added into our GroupMe account. For any questions, as always please feel free to email us at anthropeopleunt@gmail.com.