Extending learning beyond the classroom is one of the most challenging and exciting aspects of the educational experience within the Anthropology Department.
One avenue to achieving this goal is through the Summer Science Scholar program. This curricular initiative offers financial support (including room and board, material and travel expenses, as well as a modest stipend) to promising undergraduates who are collaborating on a research project with a faculty member over the summer. These funds, administered by Kenyon, are awarded in an annual competition in which rising seniors majoring in the natural sciences and anthropology/archaeology submit proposals detailing their planned investigations and specifying the faculty member(s) with whom they will be working. Summer Science Scholars generally live on campus for two months, interacting formally, through regular gatherings in which results are discussed, informally. Research supported by the Summer Science Scholar program is guided, independent study of a particular issue to the elucidation of which the student makes a significant contribution. In the fall, the scholars present their findings to the community at a poster session.