Farmington Faculty


Julianna Acheson , Ph.D.

Assistant Professor - Anthropology

Ph.D., University of Arizona
M.A., University of Arizona
B.A., University of Maine

In the Classroom: Engaging Students — Setting High Academic Expectations
Anthropology is more than a means to study the lost or forgotten cultures of the world, according to Julianna; it is also a powerful tool for better understanding ourselves and our connections in modern life. Julianna uses service-learning, projects that benefit non-profit organizations, to demonstrate the practical applications of cultural anthropology.


Working on Social Issues and Maine Poverty: Stepping Up to the Plate
For instance, students in one of Julianna's classes, Social Issues and Maine Poverty, spent a semester working to help a local community center with plans to build a commercial kitchen. Representatives from the Center explained to her students that they needed to discover local food producers, the types of products they made and the kitchen equipment required to create those food products. But to make the kitchen project successful, they need to better understand who uses it and how — and this is where Julianna and her Anthropology students really stepped up to the plate.

First, students worked with community center leaders to develop a set of interview questions. Then, they went into the field and conducted the interviews. They spoke with local cafe owners, farmers and food producers to find out whether the kitchen might be used to make local baked goods, jellies, cheeses, or even to process farm-raised meat such as goat or sheep. Community center leaders used the student findings to secure funding, decide the size of the kitchen and the types of equipment needed.


Hunting Down the Hunters
Students in another of Julianna’s Anthropology classes, Ethnography, interviewed Maine hunters for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife with the goal of writing a short ethnography, a descriptive analysis of a population usually based on in-depth interviews and observation. State officials wanted a better understanding of how the tradition of hunting was being passed down to future generations. Questions included when and where people learned to hunt, how much money hunters typically spent and what type of equipment they owned.

Students then had to hunt down the hunters for the interviews. Students found some hunters among the University staff and other students were able to identify hunters through their personal contacts. After conducting both personal and telephone interviews, Julianna had her students crunch the numbers. They listened to every interview, tallied up the questions, analyzed the statistics and wrote up their results. Students learned, firsthand, the painstaking, methodical work necessary for solid, reliable ethnography research. The service-learning partners have frequently mentioned how impressed they are with the students’ work because they make a real effort — which is a result of students learning first-hand how to conduct field research.


Homework That Comes With a Home-cooked Meal
Julianna often invites her students to her home for dinner as part of their studies. A specialist in international studies, Julianna has taught courses on food and culture — a course that culminates in treating her students to an international cooking session at her home. The turnout for these get-togethers is wonderful and Julianna and her family enjoy getting to know her students on a casual, away-from-campus setting.


Research on the Edge of the Arctic Circle
During her latest research trip, Julianna and two of her students spent a semester in the Komi Republic on the edge of Siberia in Russia. They arrived in January, where on a "warm" day, temperatures climbed to a toasty 40 degrees below zero.

Julianna, who speaks Portuguese, Spanish, French, Slovak, and English, taught herself Russia before the trip, studying every night with her school-aged daughter. People are often impressed with Julianna's linguistic skills, but she modestly says learning a new language only takes drive and the willingness to make silly mistakes. She believes studying abroad offers incredible learning opportunities and Julianna works to help interested students achieve their foreign study goals. As proof of this, she has taken her Anthropology students to research trips to Canada, Spain, Portugal, Eastern Europe and Russia.

A prestigious Fulbright Scholar, Julianna was one of the last researchers to the former country of Czechoslovakia. There, she studied the transformation of the region from communism to capitalism. Julianna's research focuses primarily on Eastern European cultures and economies. For instance, in Slovakia, she analyzed the modern barter system — how people exchange goods and commodities between households and families. Julianna is fascinated with Europeans' perceptions of capitalism and local markets, an interest she is pursing in a study of Maine organic farmers.


Connecting with Students One-on-One
As a faculty member who truly connects with students, Juliana makes it a point to set up an individual meeting with each and every one of her new students. She wants her students to know where her campus office is and when is she available. These meetings let students get to know Julianna on a one-on-one basis. As an anthropologist working in a social networking world, Julianna values face-to-face — as opposed to Facebook — contact as a way of giving her true insight into her students' needs, expectations and unique personalities.


Learning to Listen
An important anthropological viewpoint is cultural relativism, the ability to suspend judgment and seek out information from a subject. On the first day of class, Julianna has her students sit in a circle and learn the art of active listening. They start off with a discussion about respect and diverse opinions — understanding that people may say something offensive or disagreeable, but that a researcher needs to listen and distinguish between fact and opinion.

It's a technique Juliana teaches her students by example. She often starts her classes by simply asking students, "So, how are you doing today?" Except she actually means it. They may say "great," "okay" or "lousy." And if they say they are doing lousy, Julianna tells them the class will work to bring that person up a bit. Students respond well to Julianna's genuine, positive responses. She believes it takes a serious and deliberate effort to develop these techniques, but it sets the tone for future respectful, informative classroom discussions and Julianna beleives her students will use those newfound listening skills outside of her class as well.


An Innovator in Community Education
An educator and a parent who is deeply committed to education, Julianna was one of the founders of Farmington Children’s School, a Montessori-inspired school for grades K-8, where she served as volunteer director. Julianna says she saw the negative effects of centralized authority as communism was disintegrating in Europe and when she returned to States and her children entered the public school system, she saw a trend toward more and more assessments as a form of centralized authority. She has observed that creative teachers seem to have less and less control over their curriculum, regardless their experience and knowledge. Julianna found that worrisome because she sees capitalism as based on entrepreneurship and creativity. Her goal was to build a school that allowed children to learn in a different style, called joyful learning.


Outside of Academia — Personal Interests and Activities
Juliana and her husband, a geologist, recently designed their own passive-solar home "off the grid," not far from Farmington where they live with their three daughters. She enjoys cooking and eating international food.

Julianna keeps fit by swimming across nearby Wilson Lake and back. Julianna enjoys travelling and recently toured Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island with her family.


Faculty Profiles