News Release
April 15, 2009

UW anthropologist eyes more sustainable future in conference’s keynote address

How individuals, families, community leaders and family and consumer sciences (FCS) professionals can help create a more sustainable future will be given in a keynote address by a University of Wyoming anthropologist at a joint Wyoming-Colorado FCS conference April 23-24 in Fort Collins, Colo.

Associate Professor Sarah Strauss will use anthropology’s holistic approach to make connections that might typically be seen as unrelated, such as those between energy resources and health care. 

Such a holistic perspective is very consistent with that of FCS, said Virginia Vincenti, a professor in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences in UW’s College of Agriculture. This keynote address will also be relevant for community development professionals, who are welcome to register for this event, she said.

 “An anthropological perspective can facilitate individual, family and community transformations needed to respond effectively to the impacts global environmental change is likely to wreak on our planet’s many and varied communities,” Strauss said.

Strauss has spent more than a decade working on issues related to water resources and climate change, she said, “but it is only in the past two years I have felt a major convergence between ‘field,’ ‘work,’ and ‘home’ in terms of how my research, teaching and personal life are playing out.”

As an anthropologist, Strauss understands the interaction of culture with personal decisions and lifestyle choices, said Vincenti.

“The current economic crisis has revealed the gravity of continuing on the path we have been on in our society,” Vincenti said. “As FCS professionals, we have an ethical obligation to understand such issues and to help those we serve to become self-reflective, critical thinkers about our daily decisions. They affect not only the quality of our own lives, but those of people around the world. U.S. consumers play a powerful role in the global economy and ecosystem.”

Theme of the conference is “Maximizing Resources in Tough Times.” Information, including registration, is at www.coloradoafcs.org.

Conference breakout sessions include resource management for tough times, emergency preparedness, FCS role in educating for sustainable living, and nutrition, health and wellness.

For more information, contact Vincenti at Vincenti@uwyo.edu, (307) 766-4079, or (307) 745-4186, or go to the Web site.

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Contact: Steven L. Miller, Senior Editor
Phone: (307) 766-6342
E-mail: slmiller@uwyo.edu
Archived News Site http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/UWAG/news.asp

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