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Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Seniors Present at National Anthropology Conference

representing Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ at the anthropolgy conference
Cassie Bragdon ’18, Prof. Abby Wightman, and Mary Ruth Wossum-Fisher ’18 (l-r) represent Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ at a national anthropology conference in Philadelphia

What started out as senior thesis research by Cassie Bragdon and Mary Ruth Wossum-Fisher turned into scholarly presentations worthy of a national audience in anthropology.

The two students presented papers at the Society for Applied Anthropology conference in Philadelphia April 3–7. Bragdon’s research culminated in her presentation, “Eclipsing the Sun: Modern Implications of Japan’s Gender Ideology,� and Wossum-Fisher presented on “Contextualizing the Murderous Ethnic Cleansing of the Rohingya.�

Their papers were well-received, said Abby Wightman, associate professor of anthropology at Ä¢¹½´«Ã½, who also presented a paper at the conference, “Diversity, Difference, and Safety: Student Perspectives on Community Engagement.â€�

“They are incredible students, both heading to excellent graduate programs in anthropology next year — Mary Ruth at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, for their Disasters, Displacement, and Human Rights Program and Cassie at The Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland,� said Wightman.

Ä¢¹½´«Ã½â€™s Office of Sponsored Programs and Undergraduate Research, the Arnold Fund, and the Sociology Department supported their trip.