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Unearthing Her Future: Emily Owens

Anthropology student Emily Owens came to ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ with a longstanding interest in archaeology and quickly found a department that encouraged her curiosity. Through supportive faculty, hands-on learning and opportunities to explore her own research interests, she is building the knowledge and experience to pursue a career in the field.

In the Q&A below, Owens reflects on the experiences that have shaped her journey and what she's looking forward to next.

What brought you to ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ, and what made you decide that it was the right place for you?

I'm from ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ, so ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ was kind of a natural choice, but I was looking at other schools, like in Montana. I ended up taking a tour of campus, and I think that's a big reason I chose to come here.

I got to walk down the anthropology hallway--I'm majoring in anthropology--and I got to see the posters showing the work people were doing. One of those posters was really interesting to me because it had photos from outside my house in Southeast ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ. If they had panned the camera up, my house would have been right there. That kind of clicked for me. I could see myself doing that kind of research here.

I also reached out--before I had registered or anything--to Dr. Ben Potter up there, and he was able to talk with me through some of that stuff. I'm interested in doing [Geographic Information Systems] with archaeology. He's that guy in the anthropology department, so he was a big reason, also. He convinced me to come here.

 

What has your experience in the Department of Anthropology been like, and what makes it special?

The Department of Anthropology has been really great so far. I mean, I'm only a couple of years in, but I can already tell everyone is so passionate about what they do, which I think is really great. You can go up and ask them questions about something, and they can talk your ear off about it, which I think is great. They're so excited to talk.

Another thing that's been really important to me is that they've been really willing to let me explore what's interesting to me. In anthropology, there's a unique pathway to be able to do that because it is so holistic. [I've been able] to focus on what is interesting to me and apply it to all of these different concepts that I'm learning…. And there's the other thing–application. We are applying these things as we're learning them, which I think is really important.

Also the opportunities in the Department of Anthropology. I'm into archaeology, and they do a field school every summer. I'm going to be part of the field school this summer with Dr. Cramb.

The passion of the people is really what's great for me.

How has your time at ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ changed you, either academically, personally, or professionally?

I went right out of high school into college. I think that ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ has made me a lot more responsible for my education and my future, being able to take that into my own hands. High school, they prescribe it all out for you, and you have to do this, this, and this.  It feels like they're just dragging you along, and you have to follow whatever they're teaching you. But at ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ, I've been able to focus on my interests and be responsible for what I want to learn, what I'm hoping to get out of this--to get the most out of it that I can.

ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ and the Department of Anthropology have helped me to establish a more complex view of the world.

What’s a challenge you faced during your time at ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ, and how did you push through it?

One of the major challenges I've faced, and am still facing, is that I came in with a lot of credits from AP classes, so I skipped a lot of those fundamental classes that all undergraduate students take. I basically shaved off a year of my bachelor's, which is great, but it's also put me in a position where I'm in classes with people who have already been in college for two or three years.

Right now I'm taking a couple of stacked courses, so I'm in classes with graduate students. It's really great to be taking classes with them, but it makes me feel like maybe I don't have as much to contribute, or what I have to say isn't as vital compared to what these people know. They just seem so much more knowledgeable to me.

I'm still kind of pushing through that, especially this year while taking classes with graduate students, but I've already learned that they're really nice. I can talk to them about their research and what they're doing, and use that as a learning opportunity. I've also learned that I have a lot of good contributions, and I have my own perspective that is worthwhile. That's something I'm still working on, but I don't think it'll be as much of a problem in the future because I'm getting a lot more comfortable with it.

What’s one experience at ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ that really stands out to you, and why?

One experience that stands out to me is... this is kind of a weird example, but in one of my classes (Fundamentals of Social/Cultural Anthropology), I had to write a paper. It seems weird that a paper would be exciting to me, but this one was because I reached out to the professor and asked, "Hey, can I bend the prompt a little bit? I'm really interested in sleep paralysis right now."

She said yes, and I got to write five more pages than I was supposed to about sleep paralysis from a cultural perspective. I thought that was really great, that she let me pursue that interest. She also gave me a whole bunch of feedback and pointed me in all these different directions. She didn't just accept it, but also encouraged me to look in different directions and gain more knowledge about it.

What are you excited about next, and how has ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ prepared you for it?

Well, I'm really excited for this field school coming up because that's going to be kind of my first step toward getting a job in archaeology. I'm really excited to be able to get a job in archaeology. It's something I've been dreaming about since I was a kid. I've always wanted to do this.

I'm really excited to get some hands-on experience, learn those skills, build relationships with people who know what they're doing and learn from them. I'm just really excited to get more hands-on with the work.

 

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Congratulations to Emily Owens on being named one of the Department of Anthropology's 2026 Outstanding Students of the Year. Learn more about the Department of Anthropology and check back for more Outstanding Student spotlights from across the College of Liberal Arts.