Travels with Eisenlauer

Archaeology expert shares world experiences with students

an anthropologist, I am sort of trained to believe every culture is unique and you accept if for its differences and similarities and appreciate it for what it is,” he said. “I find something about every culture.”

Eisenlauer brings his international travel experiences and memories directly back to his classroom and students.

Without ever leaving the comfort of an airconditioned classroom, Noble Eisenlauer transports his students to an archaeological dig site in a far away desert.

Eisenlauer, a professor of archaeology at Pierce College, accomplishes this by recounting stories from his numerous travels in vivid detail.

Since 1996, Eisenlauer has taught introduction to biological anthropology, magical witchcraft and religion, Indians of North America and introduction to archaeology. He thinks each class offers something unique to students.

“I love them all for different reasons. I try to go into each class with an equal amount of enthusiasm,” Eisenlauer said. “Each subject has something to offer, hopefully for students as well, and so I try and plug in and pretend they are all my favorite.”

In addition to receiving a Ph.D. in archaeology from the University of Caliofornia, Los Angeles, Eisenlauer’s first-hand experiences from traveling across the globe set his classes apart.

“When I was young, my father was a one-time world champion in Olympic-style trap shooting, and so I was able to travel with my mom and dad quite a bit,” he said. Since then, whether for archaeological work or vacation, Eisenlauer has traveled to about 90 countries. He lived in Mexico for three years and spent two summers in both in Costa Rica and Peru, just to name a few.

“I think Germany is a favorite of mine simply because my heritage on my father’s side is German,” he said. “In Latin America, Costa Rica is by far my favorite country. I like the food, people and environment.”

Like his classes, he has found a love for all the countries he has traveled to for different reasons.

In the same way he respects the uniqueness of each of his classes, Eisenlauer found something interesting about every country and culture he experienced.

“Every culture has something unique to offer, and as

Kathleen Aydjian, a 22-year-old anthropology major and a student of Eisenlauer’s, said she finds his traveling experience eye-opening and interesting.

“He shows us a lot of his own personal examples, which is really nice. One time he was showing us slides of a dig he did in Peru, and it was really interesting how he showed us his personal encounters,” Aydjian said. “For our projects, he’s very encouraging and makes us feel confidence as students.”

Eisenlauer thinks his firsthand accounts are the most memorable parts of his classes for students.

“I can actually tell students ‘I’ve been there,’ and I can give them my personal expression of what I saw and what I felt. I think my personal storytelling is the part that students retain the most,” Eisenlauer said.

Passion for field work and digging led Eisenlauer to offer his own free time to teach an archaeology field class that the district had cut due to a lack of funds.

“The district has not been able to fund some of the classes that I loved to teach and that I developed.

The principal one is the the archaeology field class,” Eisenlauer said. “They just don’t feel it benefits a large number of students to warrant paying an instructor to teach the class, so for the past five years I have taught that class voluntarily without pay in the spring.”

Eisenlauer finds importance in taking the time to network and bring communities together. The dig site, which he preferred to keep secret, has allowed current and past students to gain knowledge and experience outside the classroom.

Besides teaching at Pierce, Eisenlauer devotes his time and archaeological knowledge to seventh and eighth grade students at Chatsworth Hills Academy in the spring. He is also the treasurer on the board of directors at the Chumash Indian Museum in Thousand Oaks.

I use some of the most basic skills of journalism all of the time when I write,” Hood said. “Regardless if I stayed in a media-related field, the skills you learn are extremely useful.”

Assistant professor of journalism

Jeff Favre has worked closely with Hood throughout her professional career.

“I used to write a column for The Ventura County Star and I covered the Getty. From the first time I called them, Amy was always responsive even though she didn’t know who I was,” Favre said. “She has always helped me and treated me as if I was from a bigger publication, even though it was a smaller paper. I could tell right away she totally knew her job.”

Among all other ties, Hood shared how if it weren’t for Pierce, she would have never had the family she has today.

“I met my husband at Pierce College. We’ve been married for

15 years and have two kids. Pierce has had a huge impact on my life because I now have a wonderful family,” Hood said.

Hood encourages students to take advantage of all of the opportunities offered to them at a community college.

“Community college is a great time to experiment and try different things. That’s what I was doing as a student. It’s just a great environment to really expose yourself to new ideas,” Hood said.