Spring Break
Program looks to hire new faculty to fill void
Laura Flores
Issue date: 9/12/06 Section: News
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The anthropology program, which lost three of its five faculty members within the past six months, is now looking for a full-time faculty member as part of its effort to revise the program.
The three faculty members left under different conditions and interviews for a new faculty member, who would start next fall, will begin in the spring, said Miguel Leatham, an assistant professor of anthropology.
"Three people departing within a span of a year was quite a shock," Leatham said.
Thomas Guderjan, who was the resident archaeologist and co-founded the anthropology major in 2001 with Leatham, resigned under circumstances of denial for tenure from the university, Leatham said. Guderjan was with the program for five years.
Ben Penglase was with TCU for one year and resigned at the end of last semester to work at Loyola University in Chicago doing human rights research.
Grace Bascope, who was the coordinator for the Maya Research Program, a field school that provides real-world experience for excavation in Belize, Mexico, resigned this summer, Leatham said.
"There probably are students who were looking forward to going on either the ethnology or archaeology field school," Leatham said.
However, he said plans to re-establish the Maya Research Program have not yet been made.
Adam Garwell, a senior anthropology major and president of the anthropology society, said he was sorry to see the professors leave.
"As a senior, I'm bummed out," Garwell said. "I'm let down that those people left."
Developing a relationship with the new faculty will be difficult, Garwell said.
"My goal now is to create a community of students with the new professors," he said.
The anthropology department has already hired two adjunct faculty members and a full-time faculty member this fall.
David Sandell, along with two adjunct professors, was one of three professors hired to teach courses in archaeology, Leatham said.
The three faculty members left under different conditions and interviews for a new faculty member, who would start next fall, will begin in the spring, said Miguel Leatham, an assistant professor of anthropology.
"Three people departing within a span of a year was quite a shock," Leatham said.
Thomas Guderjan, who was the resident archaeologist and co-founded the anthropology major in 2001 with Leatham, resigned under circumstances of denial for tenure from the university, Leatham said. Guderjan was with the program for five years.
Ben Penglase was with TCU for one year and resigned at the end of last semester to work at Loyola University in Chicago doing human rights research.
Grace Bascope, who was the coordinator for the Maya Research Program, a field school that provides real-world experience for excavation in Belize, Mexico, resigned this summer, Leatham said.
"There probably are students who were looking forward to going on either the ethnology or archaeology field school," Leatham said.
However, he said plans to re-establish the Maya Research Program have not yet been made.
Adam Garwell, a senior anthropology major and president of the anthropology society, said he was sorry to see the professors leave.
"As a senior, I'm bummed out," Garwell said. "I'm let down that those people left."
Developing a relationship with the new faculty will be difficult, Garwell said.
"My goal now is to create a community of students with the new professors," he said.
The anthropology department has already hired two adjunct faculty members and a full-time faculty member this fall.
David Sandell, along with two adjunct professors, was one of three professors hired to teach courses in archaeology, Leatham said.
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