When Kasey Diserens Morgan picked up a shovel on her first dig in sixth grade, she didn\u2019t expect it to uncover her life\u2019s passion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What began as curiosity grew into a career that\u2019s taken her from ancient ruins in Mexico to classrooms. Now, Diserens Morgan \u2014 or the self-referred \u201cIndiana Jones\u201d for her adventurous energy and hands-on experience \u2014 is a visiting assistant professor of archaeology and anthropology.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diserens Morgan earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in archaeology and Spanish from Cornell University and a master\u2019s degree in historic preservation from the University of Pennsylvania.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before earning her Ph.D., she worked in marketing in New York City, but she soon realized her path lay outside the corporate world because she felt she wasn\u2019t making a difference or doing something she was passionate about.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She returned to school and after taking classes on heritage, ethics and anthropology, rediscovered her passion for the field. Around that time, her adviser invited her to join a project in Mexico. With her background in historic preservation, archaeology and Spanish, she was a perfect fit.<\/p>\n
The project was based in Tihosuco, Quintana Roo \u2014 a communal town, or \u201cejido,\u201d with a complex colonial history. Diserens Morgan\u2019s team studied the town\u2019s architecture and worked closely with the \u201cMuseo de la Guerra de Castas\u201d or The Museum of the Caste War.<\/p>\n
Diserens Morgan said the group\u2019s research centered on the history of an indigenous rebellion. She said the Mexican government often promotes a simplified image of the Mayan world, while many Mayan communities feel their heritage is being used without\u00a0 benefiting them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The project expanded to include archival oral histories, old photographs and efforts in language revitalization. Diserens Morgan said her main goal was to focus on collaboration and ethics in\u00a0 archaeology and anthropology \u2014 both of which require patience and trust within the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diserens Morgan said she hopes to continue returning to Tihosuco each year and eventually begin an ethnographic study. She said the most impactful part of the project is seeing how far the team has come, with the group also working to create a museum that can be run by people in the community.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Through the project, Diserens Morgan realized she wanted to use what she learned to educate others about archaeology and the communities she studied.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said she enjoys the research and teaching side of her work, especially the collaboration they both require.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By bringing that same energy and knowledge to her three courses at Lehigh, she emphasizes ethics and collaboration in archaeology and anthropology.<\/p>\n
Matthew Schafer, \u201827, a student in her introduction to archaeology class, said Diserens Morgan brings helpful experience to her teaching.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lecture-style class, but she\u2019s still very engaging,\u201d Shafer said. \u201cIt never feels like what she\u2019s teaching is artificial, and I appreciate that, because it keeps you engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schafer also said critical thinking was one of the greatest skills he\u2019s gained from the course \u2014 a topic Diserens Morgan encourages students to apply when studying anthropology and history.<\/p>\n
Lydia Gatnik, \u201827, another student, said Diserens Morgan keeps class discussions engaging, and she\u2019s the epitome of a professor who loves what they\u2019re teaching.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think that you\u2019re going to be digging stuff up, or looking at Indiana Jones types (of) stuff, which it\u2019s really not like that at all,\u201d Gatnik said. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot more than that, and it\u2019s really interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diserens Morgan\u2019s classes blend the scientific and humanistic sides of archaeology, tackling misconceptions about examining archeological hoaxes, including fake excavations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said she first and foremost considers herself an anthropologist and then an archaeologist. Understanding why people are the way they are, she said, is critical.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That idea is something she hopes to bring to each class she teaches.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019m using my knowledge for something bigger than me and learning at the same time,\u201d Diserens Morgan said. \u201cI\u2019m getting better at it every day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Kasey Diserens Morgan picked up a shovel on her first dig in sixth grade, she didn\u2019t expect…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37871,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[5877,153,155,154,1197,523],"class_list":["post-37870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-4-minute-read","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-feature","tag-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}