Inspiring Curiosity for All Learners
MAYA RULERS PUT THEIR PERSONAL STAMP ON MONUMENTAL COMPLEXES
PODCASTS
Tune in on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
Making anthropology more accessible to non-academic audiences is a dedicated passion of mine. In doing so I hope to promote public engagement with anthropology outside of the classroom. One way to do this is through podcasting. You can find my podcasting projects here including the banner project This Anthro Life. With Adam Gamwell and Aneil Tripathy, I am a co-founder of This Anthro Life: Podcast. For over six years, I helped This Anthro Life (TAL) construct a platform to engage anthropological research and empower anthropologists (students, fans, and working professionals) to share their findings and discover a public-facing voice.
This Antho Life is an official collaborator with the American Anthropological Association, the Society for Applied Anthropology, SAPIENS, EPIC, the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and the March for Science.
THIS ANTHRO LIFE
Crowdsourcing the human condition to inspire communication, foster wonder and generate empathy
• 50,000+ subscribers, 350,000+ downloads (200,000+ on Anchor alone), 100+ episodes.
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and at thisanthrolife.com
• Collaborators with EPIC and the Society for Applied Anthropology.
• Member American Anthropological Association Podcast Network.
• Highlighted by the American Anthropological Association’s 2018 Year in Review for Public Engagement and collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival
Produced by Missing Link Studios.
DIVERSITY DIALOGUES
A crossover series, bringing together TAL + Brandeis University
Sponsored by the Brandeis University "Faculty Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programming Grant," Anita Hanig, Ryan Collins, and Adam Gamwell recorded a limited ethnographic series about diversity and inclusion in higher education and beyond. Here, our inspiration comes from anthropologist Ruth Benedict's claim that anthropology's purpose is to make the world a safe place for human differences. One small step in doing so is to have conversations on challenging topics, and that is what we aim to start with this series. Guests include Dr. Janine de Novais, of the Harvard Graduate School of Education; Business Anthropologist Astrid Countee, M.A.; and founder of the March for Science, Dr. Valorie Aquino.
CULTUREMADE
A collaboration from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, American Anthropological Association, and TAL.
Heritage Enterprise in a World on the Move. Join hosts Adam Gamwell, Leslie Walker, and Ryan Collins as they explore what it means to craft, form, and make culture in a world defined by movement, migration, and changing borders. Step into behind the scenes conversations and candid interviews from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Hear from artists, fashion designers, dancers, weavers, and artisans who give life to heritage and shape the many worlds of traditional culture on a planet on the move—produced by Missing Link Studios.
TAL + SM: CROSSOVER SERIES
An innovative blend of Blogs and Podcasts
As two anthropological productions speaking to distinct audiences, Anthrodendum (Savage Minds at the time of publication) and This Anthro Life became inspired to have a series of conversations about why anthropology matters today. In this series, we sat down with some of the folks behind public-facing anthropology productions like SAPIENS, the American Anthropological Association, and the Society for American Archaeology to bring you conversations on anthropological thinking and its relevance through an innovative blend of audio and text.
LESSONS ON SOCIAL DIFFERENCE FROM AN ANCIENT MAYA CITY
TEDxBrandeis University
Would you ever think that an ancient Maya city and the cities we live in today have anything in common? Ryan's talk shows what we can learn from ancient Maya cities and how they mediate and handle social differences, and how we can design our modern cities from these lessons. Ryan H. Collins is a recent Anthropology Ph.D. from Brandeis University and is a co-founder and host of This Anthro Life Podcast. For the last decade, Collins has been conducting an archaeological investigation into ancient urban life in Central America, researching what brings communities together and what pulls them apart at the Maya site of Yaxuna in Yucatan, Mexico. Collins strongly values, and actively promotes public engagement with anthropology and sees this as a responsibility that anthropologists can champion collaboratively. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
IN THE MEDIA
Do Some Things Worth Writing About
Early Maya cities featured monumental complexes, which centered on a shared form of religion but these complexes transformed radically once kingship emerged in 400 B.C. To solidify their power, rulers throughout the Maya lowlands would change these complexes, installing their mark on the landscape and reshaping how people remember it, according to a Dartmouth study published in Ancient Mesoamerica.
Together with the MAS/Robbins Museum. the RS Peabody Institute is co-hosting a 10-episode series called Diggin' In! -- Zoom conversations with practicing archaeologists from around the country. In Episode 8 we are joined by Dr. Ryan Collins who will be discussing LiDar and other techniques for making Maya sites.
INSIDE Higher Ed, 2019
This Anthro Life Podcast is listed as a resource for early-stage Ph.D.'s to broaden their knowledge of diversity and inclusion in higher education.
Andover Townsman 2019
"Throughout Andover, evidence of the town’s past can be seen in the architecture of old houses, photographs of family and neighbors, and heirlooms passed down from generation to generation. Not easily seen but equally important are the archaeological findings of sites like the Lucy Foster Garden and the Mansion House." Sponsored by the Andover Center for Culture and History
the Justice, 2018
TEDxBrandeisUniversity hosted its second annual conference on Saturday, titled “Illuminations Within.” Facilitated by master of ceremonies Karthik Rangan ’18, this year’s talks centered around the importance of self and historical reflection as a means of solving current global issues, especially those pertaining to navigating discussions of community, social interactions and mental health. TEDxBrandeisUniversity seeks to spark new conversations and meaningful discussions and serves as a platform for students, faculty and alumni to express their ideas and experiences.
Massachusetts Archaeological Society: Gene Winter Chapter Spring 2018
Investigations of Yaxuna, Yucatan, Mexico are beginning to shed light on the complex web of interregional interactions that impacted daily life in the early Maya North. By the onset of the Late Preclassic period (300BCE), the material traditions (caches, commemorations, and termination rituals) at Yaxuna begin to take on familiar forms. Increasing interregional interactions between Yaxuna and its southern contemporaries may have led to a gradual transformation of traditions at the site, and suggest a rethinking of the development of early Maya Society.
On the Brink with Andi Simon, 2017
"What a treat it is to listen to our conversation with Adam Gamwell and Ryan Collins, two anthropologists who are trying really hard to make anthropology relevant to buisnesses, corporations and leaders well beyond the acadmic classroom. They bring together their different perspectives. But, they share their ideas through their podcast, This Anthro Life. Listen, share and lets make anthropology part of your tool kit to help you and your organization "see, feel and think" in new ways."
Andover Magazine 2012
Photographed and credited as part of the Central Yucatan Archaeological Cave Project (or CYAC), directed by Dr. Donald Slater who was interviewed for the article. Photo Credit: Donald Slater, published on the back cover of the issue.
National Geographic en Espanol, 2012
Photographed and mentioned in the article gallery as part of "El proyecto Central Yucatán Archaeological Cave Project (CYAC) Directed by Donald Slater, a National Geographic Explorer, as we conducted research in a system of caves in the region surrounding Yaxcabá, in Yucatán, México."
EAGLE SCOUT WORKS TO HELP OTHERS
Mandarin News and St. Johns River Pilot, V. 24, No. 42, 2004
This article interviewed me on my Eagle Scout project, an archaeological project aimed at preserving and restoring the Antebellum gravestones of Amarilla M. Slawson Tallman and Alexander B. Tallman in Mandarin Cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida during the aftermath of Hurricane Frances.
RELAY FOR LIFE BENEFIT
The St. Johns Recorder, V. 4, No. 9, 2004
This article interviewed me with the cast of The Final Dress Rehearsal, a theatre production of Bartram Trail High School, in St. Johns (Fruit Cove at the time), Florida, where all proceeds were donated to the American Cancer Society.
