{"id":666,"date":"2018-05-18T20:38:11","date_gmt":"2018-05-19T00:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/anthro\/?p=666"},"modified":"2018-05-18T22:58:03","modified_gmt":"2018-05-19T02:58:03","slug":"haviland-medal-for-outstanding-achievement-in-anthropology-catie-owen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/anthro\/2018\/05\/18\/haviland-medal-for-outstanding-achievement-in-anthropology-catie-owen\/","title":{"rendered":"Haviland Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Anthropology: Catie Owen"},"content":{"rendered":"

submitted by Ava Benham (’18), UVM Anthropology CommTeam<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Graduating senior Catie Owen has been awarded the W. A. Haviland Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Anthropology.\u00a0 The Haviland Award is presented to a graduating senior who has demonstrated a strong commitment in finding solutions for real-world crises through the use of anthropological perspectives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very honored to receive this award and have a lot of respect for the Anthropology Department here at UVM.\u00a0 I have really found a sense of community within the department. It\u2019s my home here\u2026 and think it is nice to know I am also seen as a member of this community. \u201d<\/p>\n

Catie, who graduates with honors in Anthropology this weekend, explained that she had no idea what anthropology was until she got to college.\u00a0 Some of the first conversations she had that were related to anthropology were on the topic of female genital mutilation (FGM) and cultural relativism. These conversations would take place among friends and individuals that lived in her dorm her first year in college.\u00a0 \u201cOne of the girls on my hall was taking an anthropology class at the time and would come home with all of these interesting topics for debate. Often our hallway conversations turned to discussing the ethics surrounding the practice of FGM.\u201d\u00a0 She told me that these discussions helped spark an interest in Anthropology.<\/p>\n

When Catie transferred to the University of Vermont as a sophomore, she decided to enroll in an introductory course in anthropology.\u00a0 \u201cI owe my commitment to Anthropology entirely to my professor Dr. Ben Eastman and his course in Cultural Anthropology.\u201d She said that Ben was the one responsible for \u201cconverting\u201d her to pursue the discipline.<\/p>\n

In addition, another professor that greatly impacted her academic career was Dr. Jeanne Shea.\u00a0 During the spring of her sophomore year, she took ANTH 174 Culture, Health and Healing. <\/em>\u201cI really liked how the course was more health-centered and could easily see real-world applications of anthropology where health was concerned.\u201d This opened up some of her first conversations about brainstorming a thesis topic.\u00a0 Jeanne\u2019s role was also formative in the development of these ideas. \u201cJeanne Shea always has her door open to students who need guidance on coursework, independent projects, life advice\u2026 Throughout my time here she has helped shape my ideas about the world in many ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy thesis topic was about women\u2019s agency and fulfillment in planned homebirths and planned cesarean births.\u201d In her junior year, Catie studied abroad in Spain. \u201cJeanne Shea helped me plan around my time abroad so that I was able to conduct some preliminary research in London.\u201d\u00a0 Catie was able to meet with two prominent scholars whose research focuses on \u201cwomen-centered\u201d birthing techniques in planned cesareans, and these conversations helped ground the ethnographic research that she would conduct during her senior year.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring my research, I conducted 11 interviews with providers and women who were having the types of births I was researching.\u201d\u00a0 The research focuses on women\u2019s experiences <\/em>of their births and how these experiences are culturally and socially influenced.<\/p>\n

Catie feels that the importance of anthropology goes beyond the classroom and beyond academia.\u00a0 \u201cAnthropology is about sharing knowledge and deconstructing ethnocentric forms of thought.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s important to share that kind of thinking.\u00a0 To me, anthropology is most about being a careful, kind, and conscientious person.\u201d<\/p>\n

One major leadership role Catie had was being a co-president of the Anthropology Club.\u00a0 \u201cOne thing I really tried to do was initiate student outreach at Burlington High School.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI feel that it is important to expose young minds to anthropology and anthropological ways of thinking. I see a lot of potential for reconstructing the education system around anthropological principles.\u201d\u00a0 Sharing knowledge even with other students such as first- and second-year students is extremely important to her. She really enjoyed being a mentor and inspiring younger students during her time here with her passion for the discipline.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look at anthropology from a very moral perspective, even if that\u2019s somehow a messy one.\u00a0 That is why I am very passionate about it.\u00a0 I see the future of Anthropology moving beyond academia, and looking for ways we can apply and cultivate these principals in young people.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduation, Catie has plans to remain in Burlington and apply for jobs in the non-profit sector.\u00a0 \u201cI am definitely going to graduate school in the near future.\u00a0 I want to continue to empower young people, especially young women \u2013 in whatever form that takes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

submitted by Ava Benham (’18), UVM Anthropology CommTeam Graduating senior Catie Owen has been awarded the W. A. Haviland Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Anthropology.\u00a0 The Haviland Award is presented to a graduating senior who has demonstrated a strong commitment in finding solutions for real-world crises through the use of anthropological perspectives. \u201cI feel very […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1699,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/anthro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/anthro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/anthro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/anthro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1699"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/anthro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/anthro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":668,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/anthro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666\/revisions\/668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/anthro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/anthro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/anthro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}