Students of anthropology profit from the varied and rich field experiences of our faculty who bring their research from around the world into the classroom. Faculty have worked in Alaska, Europe, Guatemala, Iraq, Mexico, New Zealand, Pakistan, Brazil, Peru, China, Southeast Asia, as well as many areas within the United States. Among the cultures and peoples with whom our faculty have worked are the Maori, ethnic Vietnamese, Iraqi Arabs, prisoners in various California penal institutions, migratory farmworkers, Aleut and Inuit of Alaska, as well as various Native California and Native North American groups. At present the Department has two full time and eight adjunct faculty
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world, indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead

Carla Bundrick Benejam, B.A. UC Berkeley, M.A. San Jose State University
Carla began teaching at Cabrillo in Fall 2003. Her primary academic and research interests are in Evolutionary Biology and Primate Behavior (including, of course, humans). She has previously taught courses in human anatomy and physiology, evolutionary biology, invertebrate and marine zoology. Carla is also adjunct faculty at CSU Monterey Bay, where she teaches molecular biology and life science. While doing research on echinoderm reproduction and larval development, she discovered a new species of brittlestar in Monterey Bay, Amphiodia akosmos. Carla has also spent time in Sumatra where she was able to "meet" some rehabilitated orangutans at the Bohorok Rehabilitation Center--one of the biggest thrills of her career! Carla is currently pursuing a PhD in behavioral psychology.

Heather Claussen , Ph.D.: University of California, San Diego
Heather has a broad range of interests, including the anthropology of religion, gender, Southeast Asia, social change, psychological anthropology, multiculturalism, U.S. cultures, medical anthropology, ethnographic writing, and education. She has done fieldwork with a women's ritual group in San Diego, and feminist Catholic nuns in the Philippines. She recently published her first book, Unconventional Sisterhood, based on doctoral research with activist Filipina Missionary Benedictines. She is also currently pursuing an additional degree in counseling psychology.

Rob Edwards, M.A.: UC Davis (1969)
Rob is an anthropologist with extensive ethnographic training and fieldwork in California and Micronesia with academic and research interests in settlement patterns, archaeological field methods, and cultural resource management, with a geographical focus on historic and prehistoric sites in California. Presently, he devotes much of his time to historic preservation, visual anthropology, and G.I.S. He teaches a variety of courses including those that are part of the Archaeological Technician Program. In addition, Rob's academic interests in material culture, its preservation, and their role in education has led to his involvement in a wide variety of public outreach programs, including the Santa Cruz Archaeological Society. He also has led fieldtrips to various archaeological and historical locations around the world.

Dennis Etler, Ph.D.: UC Berkeley (1994)
Dr. Etler joined the Cabrillo faculty in 2001 and comes to us from the Center for the Study of Chinese Prehistory, Santa Cruz, CA. His interests inlcude middle Pleistocene hominid evolution, human biology of East Asia, primate evolution, and paleolithic archaeology of East Asia. Dennis' most recent field work included a study of Pliocene fossil hominoids from Yuanmou, Yunnan, as well as a study of fossil hominid crania from Yunxian, Hubei, China.

Karen Fjelstad, Ph.D.: UH, Manoa (1995)
Dr. K. is a sociocultural anthropologist with academic interests in medical anthropology, ritual/religion, gender, post-modern, post-colonial theory and interpretive anthropology. She has conducted fieldwork among Vietnamese spirit mediums, both in Viet Nam and in immigrant Vietnamese communities in California. Because of her expertise in Vietnamese culture, she was hired by Paramount Pictures to serve as their cultural consultant for a television program dealing with Vietnamese views of the afterlife. Karen spends alternate summers in Vietnam, continuing her research with spirit mediums. In addition to being a dynamite teacher, she is also one mean poker player, mountain bike rider, and cross-country skier.

Jim Funaro, M.A.: Ohio State (1969), Ph.C.: UC Davis (1970)
Although primarily a biological anthropologist with research interests in primate behavior and evolution, Jim also has interests in future studies, religon, magic and witchcraft, partly stemming from fieldwork he conducted among the subarctic Cree. Jim is also the founder of the internationally acclaimed Contact program, a national interdisciplinary conference of scientists, writers and artists for exchanging ideas, exploring possibilities and stimulating new perspectives about the future. Jim recently received Cabrillo's prestigious Floyd Younger Excellence in Teaching Award, which not only recognizes Jim's outstanding abilities as a teacher, but also his contributions to furthering the aims of Cabrillo College. He also won the American Anthropological Association's prize for poetry (1997). An emeritus, Jim has retired from full time teaching, but not from life.

Allan Lönnberg, M.A.: UNM (1981)
Allan is a sociocultural anthropologist with extensive training and field work in archaeology, both in California and Europe. His academic interests incude anthropology and literature, ethnicity and stereotypes, and he has carried out fieldwork in Native Californian communities. In addition to teaching a wide variety of courses, he is currently working on establishing a consulting service called Life Histories. Before becoming a professional anthropologist, Allan worked as a merchant seaman in the Swedish fleet as well as travelling up the Amazon and living with different indigenous Indian groups. In addition to his teaching, Allan is active in both the Cabrillo's Teachers' Union and the Faculty Senate.

Rachel Mitchell, M.A.: UKentucky
Rachel began her studies in anthropology here at Cabrillo. She received her masters in anthropology from the University of Kentucky in Lexington where she conducted ethnographic research focusing on women's childbirth experiences and the cultural construction of childbirth. For her doctoral studies, her focus shifted to Mexico where she conducted ethnographic fieldwork among small farmers and migrant farmworkers in two communities. This research examined the impact of development on ejido farmers and land in southern Baja. Rachel is the proud mother of three children and continues to pursue her interest in women's childbirth experiences and alternatives to highly medicalized, technologized birthing.

Chuck Smith, M.A.: UA (1971) PROGRAM CHAIR
Chuck's academic interests include sociocultural anthropology, archaeology, human biological evolution, and the native peoples of California and North America. He has carried out ethnographic fieldwork among diverse populations, from Native Californians to nomadic herders, and his archaeological experiences range from excavating small campsites of stone-age hunters to ancient cities in Mesopotamia and Mesoamerica. He is presently at work on his magnum opus, an encyclopedic review of California Indian herbal therapeutics. When not in the classroom he can be found cruizin' the highways and biways on his way cool recumbent bicycle.

Kristin J. Wilson
BA Anthropology, Georgia Southern University MA Anthropology, University of South Carolina PhD Candidate Sociology, Georgia State University

My interests range from African American and Archaic period archaeology to forensic identification of human remains to infertility among marginalized groups in the U.S. What ties it all together is my interest in social justice. I study inequality mainly along axes of gender, race, class, and sexuality. For fun, I love playing with my dog, reading novels, hiking, biking, traveling, cooking, and gardening. I despise romantic comedies, pop princesses, and mosquitos.