Jonathan Andelson

Professor of Anthropology

My involvement in prairie studies developed out of long-standing teaching and research interests in agriculture, Native American cultures of the Upper Midwest, and in the Amana Colonies, a German-American intentional community located fifty miles east of Grinnell. I share my interest in these topics by offering several courses in the Anthropology Department with prairie studies components, including Culture and Agriculture, Native Peoples of North America, and Intentional Communities. I have also taught several tutorials focused entirely on prairie studies, including "Nature and Culture on the American Prairie" and "Decline and Renewal in the Heartland." In addition, I have twice taught the Environmental Studies Senior Seminar with a prairie studies focus: "Environmental History of Poweshiek County and on Environmental Impacts of Midwestern Agriculture." Part of my goal in all of these courses has been to make students more aware of ways in which different human communities have related to the region. More generally I hope to awaken in students a sense of the interconnections of place, landscape, and community in human life.


Jonathan Andelson

Professor of Anthropology;

Director, Center for Prairie Stuides

Most of my research and scholarship has been about the Amana Colonies, although I have written about intentional communities from a comparative perspective as well. Recently, as a result of my learning and teaching about historical ecology and agriculture, I have developed this as a new research area.

Closely related to my interest in prairie studies, I am actively involved as a volunteer in several local organizations. I am a co-founder of the Grinnell Area Local Foods Alliance (GALFA), dedicated to promoting reliance on locally-produced foods among individuals and institutions in and around Grinnell. Related to that, I am a founding member of the Compass Plant Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project. I was also a co-founder of the Rock Creek Lake Alliance, which works in conjunction with Iowa Department of Natural Resources staff to improve various aspects of the state park at Rock Creek Lake. I volunteer with the Northeast Jasper County Seed Collection Team for Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge. Finally, I am a board member of Imagine Grinnell, a non-profit foundation that promotes projects designed to improve the quality of life in the community.

It has been my privilege to serve as the director of the Center for Prairie Studies since 1999. In that capacity I have had many opportunities to sponsor various kinds of programs that increase the awareness, understanding, and appreciation of cultural and natural aspects of our tallgrass prairie region.

 

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Last updated 04-Oct-2005