Spring Break
Playing role in national policies
Professor Deanna Kingston works with villages making relocation decisions
Candice Ruud
Issue date: 4/29/08 Section: News
OSU may be more of a political mover shaker than it would appear at first glance.
As one of 73 universities worldwide with a land grant program, according to the Higher Education Research Hub's land-grant institutions list, and one of only two U.S. universities that is a sun, space and sea grant designated institute, OSU has the potential to make a great impact on public issues.
One example is how Oregon State has become a central locale for the upcoming presidential election.
Both Democratic candidates Clinton and Obama have added campaign offices in Corvallis to cater to the college-aged voting population and to push students and community members to register and vote in Oregon's May 20 primary.
There are also several OSU faculty members who, through research, education, involvement and advocacy, are changing the course of public policy in the United States.
One such faculty member is Deanna Kingston, an associate professor in the anthropology department, who has been an important part of a group project called the "Collocation Cultural Impact Assessment: Coastal Erosion Protection and Community Relocation, Shishmaref, Alaska," in which decisions were made on whether or not to move the residents of Shishmaref from their hometown due to its quickly eroding coastline.
As a part of this group, Kingston performed interviews with King Islanders who had moved to Nome during the 20th century. She wants to determine what might be the effects of relocating an entire tight knit village of people to an area foreign and unfamiliar to them.
"In general, moving to Nome was detrimental to King Island culture and health," Kingston said.
"As a result of moving to Nome, the children were no longer learning their Inupiaq dialect, they had lost a sense of closeness and community that they had enjoyed previously, they lost access to various subsistence resources that they had at King Island, namely sea mammals and sea birds, and had increased access to alcohol."
As one of 73 universities worldwide with a land grant program, according to the Higher Education Research Hub's land-grant institutions list, and one of only two U.S. universities that is a sun, space and sea grant designated institute, OSU has the potential to make a great impact on public issues.
One example is how Oregon State has become a central locale for the upcoming presidential election.
Both Democratic candidates Clinton and Obama have added campaign offices in Corvallis to cater to the college-aged voting population and to push students and community members to register and vote in Oregon's May 20 primary.
There are also several OSU faculty members who, through research, education, involvement and advocacy, are changing the course of public policy in the United States.
One such faculty member is Deanna Kingston, an associate professor in the anthropology department, who has been an important part of a group project called the "Collocation Cultural Impact Assessment: Coastal Erosion Protection and Community Relocation, Shishmaref, Alaska," in which decisions were made on whether or not to move the residents of Shishmaref from their hometown due to its quickly eroding coastline.
As a part of this group, Kingston performed interviews with King Islanders who had moved to Nome during the 20th century. She wants to determine what might be the effects of relocating an entire tight knit village of people to an area foreign and unfamiliar to them.
"In general, moving to Nome was detrimental to King Island culture and health," Kingston said.
"As a result of moving to Nome, the children were no longer learning their Inupiaq dialect, they had lost a sense of closeness and community that they had enjoyed previously, they lost access to various subsistence resources that they had at King Island, namely sea mammals and sea birds, and had increased access to alcohol."
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Deanna Kingston
posted 4/29/08 @ 2:53 PM PST
Hi Candice,
First, I would like to clarify a couple of things about this article. For the most part, it is accurate. But, I wanted to note that my part in the project regarding Shishmaref was limited to interviewing King Islanders about their experiences upon relocating to Nome. (Continued…)
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