Amy L Rector

Samara University was established as the first and only public university in the Afar Region, Ethiopia, just over a decade ago. It is located within 100 km of some of the most famous Ethiopian paleoanthropological sites, including Hadar, Ledi-Geraru, and Woranso-Mille, yet scholars and students at the University are rarely involved with paleoanthropological research in the region. The College of Social Sciences and Humanities offers an undergraduate degree in Anthropology with coursework in Archaeology and Human Evolution; teaching staff in the Department of Anthropology, however, feel under equipped to teach these courses and prepare undergraduate students for continued graduate level work and scholarship in the field. The proposed workshop will bring together scholars, teachers, and representatives from the Ledi-Geraru Research Project, the National Museum of Ethiopia, Samara University, and the Afar National Regional State Tourism Bureau to develop strategies and pedagogical resources for Samara University Anthropology staff to continue to build capacity in the studies of paleoanthropology with the goal of preparing local Afar students to be scholars of their own origins in their own region. The workshop will directly reinforce the University’s mission of “We Support the Community.”