May 22, 2002

Contact: Jim Mielke, Anthropology, (785) 864-2644.

Three anthropology students win department awards

LAWRENCE -- Anthropology students studying excavations in Croatia, Mayan iconography and Florida retirement communities received awards from the University of Kansas Department of Anthropology.

KU undergraduates Kristine "Kale" Bruner from Lawrence and Cristina Warinner from Overland Park each received $750 for archaeological fieldwork for the Mark Kappelman Award. Doctoral student Brian Garavalia from Overland Park received a professional book for the Allan Hanson Excellence in Anthropological Teaching Award.

Bruner, senior in anthropology, will study eastern European archaeology in western Croatia at the Mujina Pecina excavation site during summer 2002. She will study archaeological collections and hone her language skills at the University of Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia. Next fall, Bruner will begin graduate studies of Balkan Paleolithic archaeology at KU. Before completing her bachelor's degree, she wrote a senior honors thesis on a late prehistoric site in western Kansas.

Warinner, senior in anthropology and Germanic languages and literatures, will work with the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project during summer 2002. The site focuses on the Mayan archaeological sites of Caracol and Baking Pot and will allow Warinner to continue her study of Mayan archaeology and iconography. In the fall, Warinner will study Mayan hieroglyphic writing in Bonn, Germany. She completed a senior honors thesis on Mayan animal iconography and rain god imagery before her May graduation.

Garavalia, a doctoral student in anthropology, is a cultural anthropologist who is interested in various aspects of aging, such as aging in retirement communities and social roles in retirement. He is a graduate teaching assistant for the anthropology course Varieties of Human Experience, taught by Bart Dean, assistant professor of anthropology. Garavalia taught the course last summer and is the course instructor for summer 2002. He also works as an editorial assistant for Human Organization: Journal of the Society for Applied Anthropology. Garavalia plans to observe a Florida retirement community for his dissertation.

The Mark Kappelman Award is given to undergraduate KU students who desire to do archaeological fieldwork. Recipients must demonstrate how participation in archaeological fieldwork will benefit their education and career goals. The award was established in 1990 after the death of Mark Kappelman, a 1980 KU graduate.

The Allan Hanson Excellence in Anthropological Teaching Award is given to a graduate teaching assistant in anthropology who excels in classroom teaching. The 2001-02 academic year is the first year for the annual award. A former student created the award to honor Allan Hanson, KU anthropology professor. The student had been impressed with Hanson's classroom teaching.

Award recipients, their years and majors, parents' names (when available), addresses, former high school and award are:

DOUGLAS COUNTY
From Lawrence

Kristine "Kale" Bruner, senior in anthropology, 1001 1/2 New Jersey, Topeka High School graduate; Mark Kappelman Award.

JOHNSON COUNTY
From Overland Park

Brian Garavalia, doctoral student in anthropology, 9301 Woodson Drive; Allan Hanson Excellence in Anthropological Teaching Award.

Christina Warinner, senior in anthropology and Germanic languages and literatures, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Warinner, 12104 Haskins, St. Thomas Aquinas graduate; Mark Kappelman Award.