Student Awardee Information 2004

First Place: Adam Daniel Kiš (University of Florida) “An Analysis of the Impact of AIDS on Funeral Culture in Malawi.”

Mr. Kis received his B.A. in French from Andrews University, and has been in a PhD program in Anthropology at the University of Florida since 2002, where he has worked as the Graduate Assistant to the President of WARA (the West African Research Association), a worldwide interdisciplinary association dedicated to research and collaboration across the Atlantic. He edits a bi-annual newsletter for WARA and designs and maintains its website. Before beginning his PhD studies, he worked as a recruiter for a foreign language and cross-cultural consulting firm in Detroit. He also spent a year as a volunteer church worker in Benin, West Africa, where he was able to use his French speaking and interpreting abilities. He will be presenting his M.A. research (for this paper) at this African Health and Illness conference at the University of Texas at Austin, March 25-27, 2005. For his dissertation research, he will continue to study the intersection of AIDS and culture by investigating the low HIV sero-prevalence of migrant mine workers in Guinea, West Africa, work that could lend important insights into strategies for fighting the AIDS epidemic elsewhere. Adam is also an accomplished musician (piano and voice) and runner. Together with his wife, he completed the 1999 LaSalle Banks Chicago Marathon. In addition, Adam and his wife, of four years, are expecting their first child in August 2005.

Second Place: Samuel James Redman (University of Minnesota) “What Self-respecting Museum is Without One?: Midwest Museums and Classical Archaeology, 1893-1998.”

Mr. Redman was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and his family now resides in Red Wing, Minnesota. He attended the University of Minnesota, Morris for his first three years as an undergraduate, and hopes to complete his B.A. in Anthropology and History at the University of Minnesota’s Twin-Cities campus. Over the past six months, he has completed his second summer as an intern in the Department of Anthropology at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History. Sam hopes to continue his study of the history of collecting in museums, possibly comparing his research in the U.S. with museums abroad. When not at school, Sam enjoys skiing, hiking and playing with his black lab “Bear.”

Third Place: Margaret Clare Messerschmidt (University of Kentucky) “Government and Community Relations and Efforts for Co-management in Macizo de La Muerte, Costa Rica.”

Ms. Messerschmidt is an undergraduate senior at the University of Kentucky with dual majors in Anthropology and Spanish, and a minor in Environmental Studies. She is also active in leadership roles UK’s Environmental Club and Recycling Program. After completing her B.A., she plans to travel to Alaska and work there, and in other areas of the Northwest, before continuing her academic education, perhaps in Environmental Anthropology. She is specifically interested in the community management of natural resources.