1. Dear Mrs. Scoggin,
To my understanding the infamous Humboldt State University has just opened a
Graduate Program in Applied Anthropology. I myself am an Alumni whom completed my
undergraduate study at Humboldt University and have built myself up to be able to offer
something to both the university and the graduate program. I have just completed my PhD in
interdisciplinary research whereby I have integrated three specific scientific outlooks into
archaeological method: Zoology, Geology, and Paleoethnobotany. I believe as an
archaeologist/anthropologist a familiarity with these external studies are requisite for a more
complete understanding of humanity in all anthropological investigations. Now that I have
completed my degree I would like to apply my skills to both the undergraduate and graduate
program at Humboldt State University.
I know that Humboldt State currently does not have instructors well versed in
Geoarcaheology or Paleoethnobotany and would like to start by offering these courses to the
diverse repertoire of classes Humboldt State already has to offer. I am also well versed in other
sub-disciplines of anthropology which I would like to offer in the instruction of any lower
division general education courses as well as the upper division anthropological theory courses. I
am extremely flexible and my pool of knowledge is very extensive. I would also like to bring my
current research to the table and offer it as a potential fieldschool venue for undergraduates and
graduates to enhance their academic experience. I am currently working summers with Fiona
Marshall of Washington University in St. Louis in Ethiopia and Kenya researching animal
domestication origins of the donkey (Rossel et al 2008). I would like to have this opportunity

2. coupled with Professor Cortes-Rincon’s Belize fieldschool to increase the options by which
students may search their geographic interests and increase their exposure to a multitude of
research possibilities.
I also request to become a part of the graduate committee. My dream is to work with a
small number of graduate students who are interested in research that I am familiar with. My aim
is to diversify the areas of research graduate students of Humboldt State University are able to
explore while also aiding in the creation of acceptable Masters and PhD theses that will leave
graduate students a force to be reckoned with in this age of competitive academic research.
I request this position with your University because I am aware that many of my valuable
academic skills are currently unaccounted for the Humboldt State University. My undergraduate
time spent in Humboldt was a time that I have continued to treasure since the beginning of my
graduate work. I have always wanted to return to Humboldt and give back to the academic
community that I value so much.
Thank you for your time,
Uri August Grunder
PhD Graduate of Washington
University in St. Louis
April 25, 2013