UNews - Archaeologist

Joblonkay unearths his passion at the U of L

trevor.kenney — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:59:09 +0000

As a teenager, Darren Joblonkay (BSc '10) knew he wanted to be a lawyer, and you could often find him at the local courthouse, watching various trials.By the time he graduated from Catholic Central High School however, his interest in travel and history far outweighed his fascination with the law. It was during his first semester at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge that Joblonkay ultimately decided he would rather unearth ancient history than make history in the courtroom.

"It was really on a whim that I decided I wanted to discover and contribute to our knowledge of the human past," says Joblonkay, currently pursuing a master's degree in Ancient Near-Eastern Studies at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto. "When I began attending the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, I really had no idea how big the field of archaeology is, but Dr. Walter Aufrecht intrigued me with his knowledge of the ancient Near East – particularly ancient Syria-Palestine. My first year classes in the archaeology of Mesopotamia and Classical Hebrew were what really drove me to pursue Syro-Palestinian archaeology."

Alumnus Darren Joblonkay has seen the world through field work programs from the U of L.

During his U of L years, Joblonkay took full advantage of the unique opportunities the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, and its smaller, more personable nature, is able to provide to undergraduate students.

"Smaller classes make for more interesting seminars," explains Joblonkay. "Having the chance to work for your professors at the undergraduate level, to be a student marker, getting experience giving presentations in class, being part of a class project because there are only five students – these opportunities aren't available to most undergraduates elsewhere.

"My experiences working in a lab, working as a research assistant and getting the opportunity to take on roles with greater responsibility at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ gave me a substantial edge over those students who attended larger institutions at the bachelor level."

During the summer of 2007, Joblonkay travelled with fellow students under the direction of U of L professor, Dr. Shawn Bubel, to Tel Beth Shemesh, an archaeological site 20km west of Jerusalem. Since then, Joblonkay has spent every summer working at archaeological digs around Israel.

"I think the real "aha" moment that led to my career was attending the field school at Tel Beth Shemesh," says Joblonkay. "It was the shear intensity of the excavation experience. Where else do you get to unearth a bronze spear point used over 3,000 years ago, to walk on a tampered or cobble floor that hasn't been stepped on in literally millennia, to experience a sunrise as you watch a Bedouin man tending to a flock of sheep? These and many other experiences all come together and form very fond memories of what it really means to be an archaeologist."

The opportunity to continue his academic studies with the exclusive Near and Middle Eastern Civilization Department at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto is something for which Joblonkay is very grateful. He gives a lot of credit for his preparation and acceptance to this one-of-a-kind Canadian program to his professors at the U of L.

"The professors at the U of L are amazing. They prepared me for graduate work at one of Canada's most prestigious institutions. They are supportive, approachable, well qualified and they do a great job of teaching and incorporating their own research into their classes," remembers Joblonkay. "There is a great combination of traditional and younger scholars who bring new ideas and theories to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. They expected the height of academic excellence and pushed me to achieve. Their passion for the discipline really rubbed off on me."

Joblonkay brings that passion to his work at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto, where he works as an archaeological assistant while he continues his master's degree. In the summer of 2011, he will be digging at Tell Tayinat in Turkey, which he hopes will lead to his dissertation.

"I would like to eventually be a professor in Near Eastern Archaeology. I believe it was one of my mentors who told me once that "any archaeologist would be lying if they said they didn't like digging up treasures", but our discipline runs deeper than that," he says. "We attempt to preserve and understand humanity's cultural history. We are all captivated by what humans were able to achieve in the past."

GET THE FACTS

· Joblonkay graduated from the U of L with Great Distinction, earning a BSc in Archaeology and Geography while concentrating on Geographical Information Science.

· He is the recipient of numerous scholarships totaling more than $13,000.

· He is a member of the Archaeological Society of Alberta and the American School of Oriental Research.

· Joblonkay's mother, Margaret, works in the Faculty of Education as administrative support in the Graduate Studies and Research office.

Excelling at every level

trevor.kenney — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 21:52:44 +0000

Dr. Blair McMurren first earned his reputation for excellence as an undergraduate student at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. Majoring in English, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with great distinction in 1996, receiving the Faculty of Arts and Science Gold Medal (Arts) and the Governor General's Silver Medal for highest undergraduate class standing.

It would just be the start of what has become an impressive career for the born and raised Lethbridge product.

McMurren is being honoured as the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumnus of the Year at the Fall 2010 Convocation ceremony, an award that recognizes individuals for exceptional professional achievements, academic excellence and/or contributions to society. McMurren hits the mark on each occasion.

Following graduation from the U of L, McMurren was elected to a Rhodes Scholarship for study in the UK at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Oxford. During his time at Oxford, he earned an Honours Bachelor of Arts in English language and literature and ultimately a Doctor of Philosophy in comparative literature, as well as a professional qualification and Master of Arts in translation from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Surrey at Guildford. His doctoral research examined the rhetoric and cultural politics of translation, and focused on translation as a theme and critical activity in the life and works of the Irish author James Joyce.

Dr. Blair McMurren was honoured by the U of L's Alumni Association at the Fall 2010 Convocation.

Having a longstanding interest in public policy issues, McMurren returned to Canada in 2002 to pursue a career with the federal government.

"The Canadian Privy Council Office came recruiting at Oxford, and they made a rather compelling pitch for working in public policy," says McMurren. "The idea of working on a variety of files, and having some influence on what would be happening in my country resonated with me."

His clear and thought-provoking approach has advanced a variety of priorities in areas ranging from cultural policy to environmental strategy.

McMurren's accomplishments as a young public servant have been recognized with honours including the Public Service Award of Excellence for Innovation (2006), for an initiative to transform public service recruiting practices, and a Deputy Minister's Award for Inspiration (2007).

A well-rounded individual, McMurren continues to cultivate his artistic abilities. He's a dedicated trombone player, was involved with numerous university and semi-professional ensembles throughout his academic career and continues to play with community concert bands and dance bands around Ottawa. He is also a creative writer and has published poems and short fiction in Canada and the UK.

Always eager to speak about his alma mater, McMurren is more than willing to serve as a mentor to future generations of U of L students.

"I'd like to help U of L students find out all that's available to them after they leave the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ," he says. "This award is a very humbling thing. I'd like to offer my experience to students that are just finding their way."

McMurren is married to Juliet, a New Zealander, naturalized Canadian and archaeologist. The couple met in Oxford and has three sons: Gabriel (7), Hugo (2) and Joseph (seven months).

Joblonkay unearths his passion at the U of L

trevor.kenney — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 19:24:24 +0000

UPDATE: Joblonkay has gone on to study at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto and recently uncovered a 3,000-year-old monumental statue of King Suppiluliuma while on a dig in Turkey. For more, see this Lethbridge Herald story.

As a teenager, Darren Joblonkay (BSc '10) knew he wanted to be a lawyer, and you could often find him at the local courthouse, watching various trials. By the time he graduated from Catholic Central High School however, his interest in travel and history far outweighed his fascination with the law. It was during his first semester at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge that Joblonkay ultimately decided he would rather unearth ancient history than make history in the courtroom.

"It was really on a whim that I decided I wanted to discover and contribute to our knowledge of the human past," says Joblonkay, currently pursuing a master's degree in Ancient Near-Eastern Studies at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto. "When I began attending the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, I really had no idea how big the field of archaeology is, but Dr. Walter Aufrecht intrigued me with his knowledge of the ancient Near East – particularly ancient Syria-Palestine. My first year classes in the archaeology of Mesopotamia and Classical Hebrew were what really drove me to pursue Syro-Palestinian archaeology."

During his U of L years, Joblonkay took full advantage of the unique opportunities the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, and its smaller, more personable nature, is able to provide to undergraduate students.

Alumnus Darren Joblonkay had no idea when he entered the U of L that he would eventually find archaeology as a career.

"Smaller classes make for more interesting seminars," explains Joblonkay. "Having the chance to work for your professors at the undergraduate level, to be a student marker, getting experience giving presentations in class, being part of a class project because there are only five students – these opportunities aren't available to most undergraduates elsewhere.

"My experiences working in a lab, working as a research assistant and getting the opportunity to take on roles with greater responsibility at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ gave me a substantial edge over those students who attended larger institutions at the bachelor level."

During the summer of 2007, Joblonkay travelled with fellow students under the direction of
U of L professor, Dr. Shawn Bubel, to Tel Beth Shemesh, an archaeological site 20km west of Jerusalem. Since then, Joblonkay has spent every summer working at archaeological digs around Israel.

"I think the real "aha" moment that led to my career was attending the field school at Tel Beth Shemesh," says Joblonkay. "It was the shear intensity of the excavation experience. Where else do you get to unearth a bronze spear point used over 3,000 years ago, to walk on a tampered or cobble floor that hasn't been stepped on in literally millennia, to experience a sunrise as you watch a Bedouin man tending to a flock of sheep? These and many other experiences all come together and form very fond memories of what it really means to be an archaeologist."

The opportunity to continue his academic studies with the exclusive Near and Middle Eastern Civilization Department at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto is something for which Joblonkay is very grateful. He gives a lot of credit for his preparation and acceptance to this one-of-a-kind Canadian program to his professors at the U of L.

"The professors at the U of L are amazing. They prepared me for graduate work at one of Canada's most prestigious institutions. They are supportive, approachable, well qualified and they do a great job of teaching and incorporating their own research into their classes," remembers Joblonkay. "There is a great combination of traditional and younger scholars who bring new ideas and theories to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. They expected the height of academic excellence and pushed me to achieve. Their passion for the discipline really rubbed off on me."

Joblonkay brings that passion to his work at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto, where he works as an archaeological assistant while he continues his master's degree. In the summer of 2011, he will be digging at Tell Tayinat in Turkey, which he hopes will lead to his dissertation.

"I would like to eventually be a professor in Near Eastern Archaeology. I believe it was one of my mentors who told me once that "any archaeologist would be lying if they said they didn't like digging up treasures", but our discipline runs deeper than that," he says. "We attempt to preserve and understand humanity's cultural history. We are all captivated by what humans were able to achieve in the past."

GET THE FACTS

• Joblonkay graduated from the U of L with Great Distinction, earning a BSc in Archaeology and Geography while concentrating on Geographical Information Science.

• He is the recipient of numerous scholarships totaling more than $13,000.

• He is a member of the Archaeological Society of Alberta and the American School of Oriental Research.

• Joblonkay's mother, Margaret, works in the Faculty of Education as administrative support in the Graduate Studies and Research office.

Alumnus of the Year

trevor.kenney — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 19:22:10 +0000

It would just be the start of what has become an impressive career for the born and raised Lethbridge product.

Having a longstanding interest in public policy issues, McMurren returned to Canada in 2002 to pursue a career with the federal government.

His clear and thought-provoking approach has advanced a variety of priorities in areas ranging from cultural policy to environmental strategy.

Always eager to speak about his alma mater, McMurren is more than willing to serve as a mentor to future generations of U of L students.

McMurren is married to Juliet, a New Zealander, naturalized Canadian and archaeologist. The couple met in Oxford and has three sons: Gabriel (7), Hugo (2) and Joseph (seven months).

Archaeologist probing the history of mega fauna

trevor.kenney — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:27:52 +0000

Archaeologist Christine (Chrissy) Foreman (BA '08) is used to digging up bison bones and artifacts from more than 2,500 years of human habitation on the prairies. The big picture story she's trying to write is just what happened to the ancestors of the plains bison, and other so-called 'mega fauna', which included mammoths and, among other species, camels.

"At the end of the last Ice Age, some 15,000 years ago, the Great Plains of North America was home to herds of mega fauna including the mammoth, steppe bison, wild horse and camel," Foreman says.

"The ancient people of the Plains hunted these animals for thousands of years until their eventual extinction. There exists a debate on whether many species died out because of human agency or environmental factors."

In presenting evidence from various angles, Foreman and other archaeologists believe human hunters were able to take down these large animals and that the human species may have altered the ecosystem of the entire continent.

Foreman recently presented her work at a community event hosted by the Sir Alexander Galt Museum and Archives, where she reviewed the archaeological, paleontological and geological evidence for both the human and environmental sides of the argument in "Mega Extinction: factors that lead to the disappearance of the Ice Age Mega Fauna".

Foreman is presently on campus working on her Master of Arts (Archaeology) degree. Her thesis work relates to the 2,500-year old Fincastle Bison Kill Site located near Purple Springs, Alta.

Originally from Calgary, Foreman has lived in southern Alberta all her life. Her interests are in Plains history and archaeology, as well as the geography, geology and paleontology of the region. She is a long-time volunteer with the Galt Museum & Archives.

A collaborative approach to studying the past

trevor.kenney — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:28:59 +0000

Despite international accolades, anthropological archeologist Dr. Andrea Cuéllar hesitates to take all of the credit for her success – after all, unearthing artifacts requires the patience and elbow grease of a committed crew.

"They are literally the ones that make a lot of this possible – as an archeologist, you cannot work on your own," says the assistant professor of anthropology at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Her team is composed of undergraduates from Ecuador and Colombia, indigenous people selected by a local indigenous federation, an Ecuadorian archaeologist, and archaeologists from Colombia and the United States specialized in the analysis of botanical remains and lithic tools. Cuéllar and her team unearth homes and gardens of settlements dating back to 500 A.D. in a valley in the Eastern Andes of Ecuador.

Placed against a backdrop of dispersed homesteads, the emergence of these 'central-place communities' is key for understanding social and political change in pre-Columbian times.

Cuéllar is exploring community dynamics as they relate to social and economic differentiation.

With an eye on quotidian forms of social production, kitchens and domestic material culture are very important in this research. Food production and consumption as well as other aspects of daily life are central arenas for symbolic production and ideological elaboration, the kind that naturalizes social and economic hierarchies.

Cuéllar is developing an international reputation and collaborates with experts worldwide. This spring, Cuéllar earned a prestigious grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. Last year, she earned a Heinz Grant for Latin American Archaeology.

UNews - Archaeologist

Joblonkay unearths his passion at the U of L

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Joblonkay unearths his passion at the U of L

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Archaeologist probing the history of mega fauna

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A collaborative approach to studying the past

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