The Results!

So the semester has come to an end, and so has my little experiment with presenting anthropology with Etsy. For my project, I solicited my fellow grad students to write up a little bio about themselves. I asked them to tell me about their background in anthropology, their research topic, and their personal interests. I had five students respond, but only four responded in time for me to include them. I used the bios to create blog posts for each student on my blog. I kept the bios pretty much as is and added photos the students sent me as eye candy. I then created four jewelry pieces, using shrinkable plastic, inspired by their comments. These items were then placed for sale on my Etsy site for $10 each. I decided to pick a set price of $10 for these items, with the intent that if an item sold the student/muse would receive $5 – this was mainly to encourage them to market themselves in order to make money or gain awareness. Each jewelry listing included a quick blurb about the project and a link to the student’s blog post. Once all of the items were put up for sale, I created an Etsy treasury featuring all four pieces and 12 other listings from Etsy. Etsy treasuries consist of a grouping of 16 items for sale, which typically share a theme or color palette. If treasuries gain enough interest, they are posted on the Etsy home page. Once the blog posts, listings, and treasuries were completed for a single grad student, I tweeted and facebooked links to the blog and treasuries. For one of the bios submitted, I created the four jewelry pieces but did not include a blog post or marketing. I wanted to use these four items as a control sample.

Here are links to blog posts, treasuries, and individual items:

Amanda Lawson: blog – treasury – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 - 5

Becca Booker: blog – treasury – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4

Lauren Walls: blog – treasury – 1 – 2 – 3 - 4 

Jayne Godfrey (Control): 1 – 2 – 3 – 4

So how did I do? let me amaze you with my numbers!

My blog is pretty small – I don’t have a following – in fact the 3 followers i do have are family. I’ve never really tried to reach a wider audience, it’s mainly here to provide a distraction from things I should be doing. With that being said, I typically get 20-30 views per post, but with this project my views increased.

Blog entry	Number of views
Intro to project	92
Meet Amanda	91
Meet Lauren	12
Meet Becca	9

Here are the listing views on Etsy

Amanda’s listings	number of views
Henry Rollins	25
rural and proud	17
Zombie Bourdieu	10
Digital Pride	10
Bill Dressler	8
Treasury	135

 

Lauren’s Listings	Number of views
Disc Golf	26
Cat	12
Palmetto	10
Seed Heart	8
Treasury	34

 

 

 

 

Becca’s Listings	Number of views
Rugby	19
Cypress	11
Diver	10
diver flag	6
treasury	24

Jayne’s Listings (Control)	Number of views
Michigan	14
Farmstead	9
cannon	9
beer	9

 

 

 

 

 

  So, what did I learn from all of this?

Well it was pretty disheartening actually. I did make one sale – Becca’s Rugby pendant – and that is awesome, but I was hoping for more page and listing views. I did receive some nice comments on the treasuries though. Like “great idea,” “lovely treasury idea,: and “nice tribute to your friend.” Which is sweet – but doesn’t really express if they learned anything about anthropology, or even gained an interest in it. So, bummer. I did learn that I need to beef up my marketing tools though, especially through Facebook and twitter – and even Etsy. I’ll be putting these new revelations to boost a new venture – which I’ll share later – but alas, anthropology probably wasn’t presented that well. The jewelry is cool though – and sparked a lot of interest at a recent cultural anthropology day – but online, not so much.

Biological Anthropologist Felt Board

In my presenting anthropology class we were asked to create something that could be presented to children. Being the craftster that I am, I had a lot of ideas for this challenge, but finally settled on the felt board. Felt boards were a personal favorite of mine when I was younger! As the theme, I picked three famous biological anthropologists with very different jobs. Below I have included instructions, free templates, “official” bios of the anthropologists and pictures of the completed boards!
*The suggested age range for felt boards is preschool and ealry elementary. Felt boards contain small pieces - don't eat the felt or the felt board, don't let kids eat them. If you think a kid might eat them, don't let them play with the felt board alone. If they decide to eat them, just make sure they chew. I don't think felt can kill you, but call poison control just in case.
Instructions:

To create the felt backboard, I used a corkboard and glued a piece of black felt to the front. The black felt I used as backing came from JoAnn fabrics and is a heavier/starched piece of felt.
The felt pieces can be created using a couple of techniques, I used the simplest one – make everything out of felt. Felt sticks to felt, so it does not need to be backed with anything. However, felt on it’s own is a little flimsy and easier to tear/damage, especially for the small detailed pieces. The second method uses cardstock or construction paper. Create the pieces using paper, laminate the pieces (self stick laminate works well) and then glue sandpaper or Velcro to the back of the pieces. This method will ensure a longer lasting board - but it isn’t felt.

Bios:

These bios are taken from the official pages of the anthropologists.

William Bass – forensic anthropology:

Forensic anthropologists examine skeletal remains in order to determine identity. Using measuring techniques and careful examination, forensic anthropologists try to determine the person’s sex, age, ethnicity, height, cause of death, and any other information they can gather from the skeleton.
“William Bass is recognized around the world as an expert in forensic anthropology and osteology. He founded the Forensic Anthropology Research Center, known popularly as the Body Farm. Bass was the first researcher to study the length of time since death and cremation weights. He served as the Tennessee State Forensic Anthropologist and is active in consultations with other law enforcement agencies such as the FBI. Bass also has written or co-written several books of fiction and non-fiction.” http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/2009/10/06/william-bass/

Mary Leakey – Paleoanthropologist:

Paleoanthropologists study fossils to better understand human origins and human predecessors.

“Mary Douglas Leakey (b. 1913, d. 1996) was one of the world’s most renowned hunters of early human fossils, credited with many discoveries that have changed the way scientists conceive human evolution. Together with her husband, Louis Leakey, she is considered to be a preeminent contributor to the field of human origins.
Born Mary Douglas Nicol, on February 6, 1913, she spent her early childhood traveling throughout Europe. During her travels she was exposed to prehistoric sites, such as the caves at Pech Merl in Dordogne, which influenced her to plan a career in geology and archeology; not a typical path for a woman at the time. She also showed artistic ability, and worked as an illustrator at the Hembury Dig in Devon, England at the age of seventeen. For two years she worked at the dig illustrating the archaeological progress. She had a special interest in the Stone Age, and she did expert illustrations of Stone Age tools and other artifacts. In 1937 she married Louis Leakey, whom she met through his request to illustrate a text of his. In 1948 Mary found her first truly important fossil of her long career as an archeologist, Proconsul africanus. The fossil consisted of half the skull, the upper and lower jaws, and all the teeth.” (The dalmation is included because the Leakeys had two dalmations that accompanied them on their digs)  http://leakeyfoundation.org/about-us/leakey-family/mary-leakey/

Jane Goodall – Primatologist:

Primatologists study nonhuman primates. They observe behavior, social interaction and health.
Jane Goodall “In July 1960, at the age of 26, Jane Goodall traveled from England to what is today Tanzania and bravely entered the little-known world of wild chimpanzees. She was equipped with nothing more than a notebook and a pair of binoculars. But with her unyielding patience and characteristic optimism, she won the trust of these initially shy creatures. She managed to open a window into their sometimes strange and often familiar-seeming lives. The public was fascinated and remains so to this day.
Today, Jane’s work revolves around inspiring action on behalf of endangered species, particularly chimpanzees, and encouraging people to do their part to make the world a better place for people, animals, and the environment we all share. The Jane Goodall Institute works to protect the famous chimpanzees of Gombe National Park in Tanzania, but recognizes this can’t be accomplished without a comprehensive approach that addresses the needs of local people who are critical to chimpanzee survival. Our community-centered conservation programs in Africa include sustainable development projects that engage local people as true partners. These programs began around Gombe in 1994, but have since been replicated in other parts of the continent. Likewise, Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, which Jane started with a group of Tanzania students in 1991, is today the Institute’s global environmental and humanitarian youth program for young people from preschool through university with nearly 150,000 members in more than 120 countries.” http://www.janegoodall.org/jane      

Meet Becca Booker

My name is Becca Booker, and I am originally from East Tennessee. I received my anthropology undergraduate degree from Middle Tennessee State University. Currently I am at the University of West Florida working on my masters degree. I am working at UWF as a GTA and at the Gulf Adventure Center as a zip-line guide. My career goal is to become a maritime archaeologist. 

 Research: I am currently working on a sunken floating bunkhouse in the Escambia River. This vessel was a part of the cypress lumber industry along the river. We have used the handheld underwater magnetometer and and the side-scan-sonar on the site. We start excavation this summer.

 Anthropology: I truly love the holistic nature of the discipline. It provides opportunities to look at the same research topic in an unlimited number of ways and it has become a part of my everyday life and the way that I view the world.

Inspirations: I have no clue. I have driven to work hard in my classes because I am competitive with the other grad students. I absolutely love to work outside, IE Archaeology, SCUBA, Zip line guide, Rugby player, and I am generally interested in my fiancé ;)

 

Check out the jewelry items I created inspired by Becca!

Meet Lauren Walls

Lauren Walls is currently working her way through the Graduate program in Anthropology at the University of West Florida. She came to Pensacola after 3 years of shovel bumming across the U.S. with her Bachelor’s degree from College of Charleston and her cat, Jinx, in tow. During her days as a Field Tech., Lauren worked on projects ranging from routine reconnaissance survey to large-scale, research oriented, data-recovery projects. It was during a particularly long and grueling survey that Lauren decided she no longer wanted to be a bum. Within no time, she had set her site on a Master’s degree and began applying to schools across the Southeast. You know how the rest of the story goes…

 

Lauren is currently undertaking a multi-scalar subsistence study of Florida’s prehistoric Woodland Indians. Her thesis research was integrated into the research design of the 2012 Campus Field School; excavation of the Thompson’s Landing shell middens was done in such a way that all of her research questions could be addressed using the data recovered. Little is known about the specific plant and animal species utilized by the pre-agricultural fisher-people of N

orthwest Florida 2000 years ago, aside from the macroscopic faunal remains of the shellfish that make up 90% of the midden deposits that can be found in estuaries across the Florida panhandle. Lauren is attempting to identify microscopic plant and animal remains recovered from the midden deposits that may help show a more complete picture of the foodways of these people. Most days you can find her behind the microscope sorting seeds from duff; just don’t be surprised if she can’t see you when you enter the room… it can take a while for her eyes to readjust.

Lauren chose Anthropology because she has always been curious about the human condition. Since childhood she has asked constantly asked WHY things are the way they are? The ‘mysteries’ of human behavior, cognition, culture, language, and evolution have all been addressed by anthropological thinkers, so naturally, this is where she found her niche. Lauren’s love affair with anthropology began in 2003 in her Introduction to Anthropology course at the College of Charleston, and her quest to learn has not stopped yet. Her specific interest in Archaeology comes from her passion for, and curiosity about, man’s prehistoric past as well as her love for the natural world.

Lauren’s academic pursuits are inspired by her parents, who both earned post-graduate degrees in their respective fields of medicine and physical therapy. Her desire to achieve success in her field drives her to go above and beyond what is expected in the classroom and in the field. Her favorite outdoor activities include running, kayaking, hiking, fishing, gardening, and playing disc golf. When she is not in the lab, you can usually find her outside with a field guide to trees or birds in her hand and a confused look on her face.

 

 

 

 

Check out the awesome items I made, inspired by Lauren’s thesis and interests!

Meet Amanda!

My name is Amanda Lynn Lawson (soon to be Amanda Lynn Lawson Cullen) and I'm from the Panama City area. I graduated in 2011 from UWF with a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology. I'm currently a grad student at UWF and I'm interested in general public health topics, gender and sexuality, applied anthropology, and the effects of modern technology on identity. I'm also a Teaching Assistant in the Anthro. Dept., which is fun.

I'm also currently planning to start my thesis, which will be investigating the influence of the Internet on sexual identity and expression for rural LGBT individuals, in addition to discovering material/social/cultural conditions which provide a sense of well-being for those same individuals.

I came to anthropology as an undergraduate. Originally I was a history major, which I thought I loved. After taking a couple anthropology courses, I realized what I really loved was the cultures I learned about and not so much the collection and organization of facts in a timeline. I settled on cultural anthropology with a professed focus on application because I consider anthropology, with its carefully crafted amalgamation of theories and methods, to be in a unique position to make meaningful change in the world. (Yes, I'm an optimist and I know it's a dirty word.)

I'm inspired mostly by the people I encounter and the things I read. Taking classes and working closely with my adviser, Robert Philen, is pretty amazing. He's brilliant and I want to be like him when I grow up. In addition, I like to consider Henry Rollins. He's not afraid to stick his neck out and extend a hand to people all around the world. And he famously said "Knowledge without mileage equals bullshit" and I try to always keep that in mind. I'm inspired in my specific research by William Dressler and Pierre Bourdieu.

Check out the etsy treasury I made featuring items I created inspired by Amanda!



New Directions

For the upcoming few months, this blog will be going through a sort of experiment. This semester I am taking a course in presenting anthropology and one of the assignments is to create a social media masterpiece that can be tracked and analyzed. Hello, NelmaK blog. Not only am I going to be blogging about anthropological things I am throwing in a few twists (of course)! So here’s the fancy plan: interview a bunch of fellow students and blog about their research – seems easy… almost too easy… here’s where it gets a little crazy – I’m going to create a series of shrinky items based on student research! I will then offer these tiny treasures for purchase on my etsy site – I will also create an etsy treasury based on the theme of the research – which will feature the one of a kind piece.

To promote these items and their base stories I will have a running pinterest board that will feature inspired items and utilize some fancy keywords/tags. I will also tweet about these things whenever they are updated. In order to get a little free boost to the site and the etsy page, I will include a deal with the student being interviewed – if I sell the piece on etsy, I will give the student (whose research is the sold item’s inspiration) a cut of the profit, if by the end of the experiment the item does not sell – the student will get the shrinky as a thank you gift! Since everyone I will probably feature is taking the course with me, I expect there is a good chance they will share social media goodness related to them (just a hunch)! So there you have it! Let the craziness commence!!!

NelmaK on etsy
NelmaK on Pinterest

While writing this, I was listening to "Underdog" by Kasabian

Bun in the Oven

It’s official! I am with child! This week marks the start of my 15th week of pregnancy, and let’s just say – we’re pretty freaking excited! So excited that my sister got me this t-shirt 4 weeks ago! This is our first kid and Mr. B and I are planning on a late February – early March birth (I’m placing my money on Feb. 26th – but the due date is March 4th). Unfortunately/fortunately – I knew I was pregnant around 3 weeks (shocking but true) and we officially found out at the beginning of week 5. We immediately started telling family and friends (and anyone else who cared to listen). My sister pointed it out to me though, that since we found out so early and started spreading the good news 6 weeks before normal people typically share these things – I’m going to be pregnant forever – well it’s going to seem like forever. I started thinking about it and then realized (back in July) that I would be pregnant for an entire semester of school, all major holidays for the rest of the year and the entire NFL season, including the Super bowl. So as a warning – this blog might get a little baby content heavy in the future. I’ll try to tone it down, but like i said – we’re pretty freaking excited!