No tags yet.
Faculty Spotlight: Professor Hadley Kruczek-Aaron
Doctor Hadley Kruczek-Aaron, or Dr. K-A for short, is the chair of the Anthropology department here at SUNY Potsdam. She’s also a proud hockey mom, an avid sports fan, and a fan of drawing and art. Within the Anthropology department here at Potsdam, Dr. K-A teaches a plethora of courses centered around Archaeology. Some examples of these courses are Archaeology of New York State, African American Archaeology, and Historical Archaeology. While Dr. K-A’s archaeological expertise does show in the classroom, her field experience in archaeology is astounding. She has partaken in archaeological dig cites in a multitude of places ranging from the New England area all the way to some cites in the Caribbean. As she teaches archaeology using many different hands-on methods and projects, Dr. K-A is very familiar with the concept of “applied learning.”
In the classroom, Dr. K-A utilizes applied learning in many of her courses. Within the field of archaeology, Dr. K-A even brings the entire process of archaeological excavation to her students. Through a combination of her courses, students end up gaining the ability to go into the field, find an archaeological artifact, then bring it back to a lab to run tests to research and analyze the artifact like a real professional archaeologist would. Down the line, students even get a taste of what it’s like to curate their artifacts in order to prepare them for museum placement. What an opportunity! While this process is very cool and interesting to learn about and partake in, the students in these courses are also gaining priceless applicable experience about the entire archaeological research process. Dr. K-A’s usage of applied learning is apparent in the classroom, but that usage isn’t confined to her teachings.
Outside of the classroom, Dr. K-A is an excellent example of a professor who is taking applied learning to the next step outside of the classroom. An example of Dr. K-A’s strong dedication to applicable skills comes in the form of a field school that she and her colleague, Dr. Messner alternate running every summer. Two summers ago, Dr. K-A’s destination for the four-week excursion was just a bit more than a stone’s throw away: South Africa. When speaking about the trip, Dr. K-A made sure to emphasize the fact that the students didn’t just gain valuable knowledge about archaeology, they also gained a wealth of knowledge during an unforgettable experience delving into the culture of South Africa. This trip to South Africa is just one of the countless applied learning initiatives being put forth by Dr. K-A and her colleagues in the department of anthropology.
While speaking about what Dr. K-A brings to SUNY Potsdam, she also touches on what SUNY Potsdam brings to her and the students that go here. As a college student, Dr. K-A attended Johns Hopkins University and Syracuse University. As these are both large schools, she is able to accurately compare and contrasts the benefits of a smaller school like Potsdam. “I think there is value in a small school” Dr. K-A noted, going on to explain that at larger schools with large class sizes, many students end up being just a number. Her experiences at larger schools drove her to a smaller school like Potsdam, as she has the ability here to tailor and individualize her advising for each student. This allows her to give each student valuable advising experiences.
Some valuable advice Dr. K-A gave for all students was centered around putting yourself out there. She said “Distinguish yourself by taking advantage of all opportunities you have, don’t be satisfied just passing through here at Potsdam. Don’t rest on your laurels.” What valuable advice from a professor who is so valuable to this campus!