Professional Interests Page

Professional Background

I am an anthropologically trained archaeologist who holds a BA from Beloit College (Wisconsin) and both a masters and doctorate from Rutgers University - New Brunswick (New Jersey). I also hold a graduate certificate in Native American Studies from Rutgers.

My area of theoretical interest is in the articulation between social organization and symbolic expression. My research has included the study of Native American cultures during the early historic and late aboriginal period in the Upper Midwest, as well as forays into modern expressions viz. American re-creation societies and Neolithic developments in Moravia, the Czech Republic.

In terms of field and analytical techniques I like to employ Geographic Information System models to archeological site distribution (and to sacred landscapes) but also regularly enter the field for primary excavation activities. My excavations are typically directed toward identifying village or settlement structure. I like to apply concepts of artifact style to interpreting artifact distributions and seek to test models for social organization (derived from ethnohistoric records) in this manner.

I have been teaching full-time for about 7 years now and am currently an assistant professor at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. I am the director of the Northeast Iowa Site Interpretation Survey (NISIS) which has excavated and re-evaluated materials from a number of sites in Winneshiek, Allamakee, and Clayton counties, Iowa, and I am a member of the Rmiz Research Team, headed by Dr. Maximillian O. Baldia from SMU.