News

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Carol Colaninno, PhD, research associate professor in the SIUE STEM Center and adjunct professor in the Department of Anthropology, has been named the first Sexual Harassment and Assault Reduction and Prevention (SHARP) Coordinator for the Southeastern Archaeological Conference (SEAC) Executive Committee.

According to Colaninno, research demonstrates that archeologists, primarily students and early career professionals who identify as female, experience sexual harassment and assault at alarming rates. With the creation of this critical position, SEAC is prioritizing efforts to reduce and prevent the frequency at which its members are subjected to sexual harassment and assault.

“I am excited about this appointment, as it allows me to have a broader understanding of how the discipline can respond to issues of harassment and what we can do to support students and professionals who experience harassment,” Colaninno said.

The SIUE researcher is uniquely qualified to serve in this critical new position, given her work as principal investigator of a collaborative research project aimed at preventing sexual harassment from occurring during undergraduate field-based courses, specifically in the field of archeology. The project, “Evidence-based Transformation of Undergraduate Field Schools to Promote Safety and Inclusivity,” is funded by a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (Award No. 1937392).

“My research focuses on how instructors of field schools can make their field schools safer and more inclusive for students by reducing and preventing behavior that is considered harassment and/or sexual harassment,” Colaninno explained. “I have spent hours interviewing field school instructors to see how they try to create an environment free of harassment, and I’ve also interviewed students to see what they perceive as effective. This research has given me a unique perspective on the full range of positions people have when developing and implementing practices and policies, and how people feel affected by those policies and practices. I also have a unique understanding of where archaeological instructors, students, and professionals need support when it comes to handling issues of harassment.”

Colaninno will lead efforts that support SEAC’s commitment to creating an environment where members feel comfortable, safe and free from harassing behavior. Efforts will include coordinating workshops at annual meetings, developing and piloting a code of conduct for the annual meeting, and conducting research to investigate if these efforts are reducing the number of archeologists who are subjected to harassment.

“How people are affected by harassment is individualized based on one’s interactions of identity,” she said. “As SHARP Coordinator, I have the opportunity to hear and learn from people who are not like me and understand their perspective on how the issue of sexual harassment shapes their identity as an archaeologist and how they do archaeology. Hearing from a diverse range of voices is beneficial for how we conceptualize and actualize change within our discipline and beyond.”

Colaninno will serve a two-year term, through November 2023.

Photo: Carol Colaninno, PhD, research associate professor in the SIUE STEM Center and adjunct professor in the Department of Anthropology, is the first Sexual Harassment and Assault Reduction and Prevention (SHARP) Coordinator for the Southeastern Archaeological Conference (SEAC) Executive Committee.