Rudy Cesaretti (’12)

Sociology/Anthropology Major – Anthropology

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What co-curricular or extracurricular activities were you involved in?

Pi Kappa Phi, Lambda Alpha, Cultural and Societal Honors Society, Phi Alpha Theta, BULLDOG College Access Counsellor (Novinger R-1)

 What are you doing now?

Right now, I’m a PhD student in Archaeology at Arizona State University (just passed my comps!). My research is on economic dynamics in premodern states and empires, with a focus on the Aztecs of Central Mexico using statistical, mathematical, and computational methods. My dissertation research involves using formal models to test alternative theories about the structure and dynamics of the Aztec economy against an integrated database of the archaeological and ethnohistoric records. As a Research Associate for the ASU and the Santa Fe Institute (SFI), I have developed dynamical systems models to analyze ecological inheritance and agricultural intensification in the Classic Maya Lowlands. I also manage excavations for a project in the Northern Basin of Mexico—at a Prehispanic city-state capital on top of a mountain. Some of my other work involves collaboration with the SESHAT Project and the Social Reactors Project to test theories against novel quantitative databases of the historical and archaeological records.

How did you get to this place in your life/ career?

Well, I haven’t gotten very far yet. But I’ve gotten to where I am by “following my dreams” (AKA pursuing the things that I love doing above anything else).

Have you been to graduate school? If so, where did you go? Did you go right after graduating from Truman?

I’m currently a grad student in archaeology at ASU. No, I waited tables and worked in a kitchen after graduating from Truman. I paid off some student debt while I was supposed to be trying to figure out what I should do with myself… but actually just reading history, theory and philosophy and hanging out with friends. After a while, Dr. Johnson introduced me to Peter Turchin and the SESHAT Project, who were looking for a volunteer research assistant (working remotely) to code data about demography and agriculture from historical and archaeological sources into their database. Ultimately, this turned into a part-time research job, in which I had to teach myself archaeological theory (which I fell in love with). After holding down food service and research jobs simultaneously for a few years, I applied to grad school.

Do you have any advice for Truman students who are interested in going to graduate school?

Build a solid network / support group of mentors. You’re going to need a lot of help. This will include providing answers to basic questions, helping you soul-search, giving advice, guiding you through theoretical/methodological issues, and ultimately vouching for you. I have seen multiple people go through this process now, and mentors are the decisive factor.

How has the education you’ve received from Truman helped you?

I was always a humanities geek who grew-up reading history. So, naturally, I came to college for history. And the history program at Truman is amazing. But Truman requires students to explore different disciplines, which forced me to discover a part of me that I had never known before. The SOAN profs introduced to exotic cultures, exciting bodies of theory, systematic research and quantitative methodologies—cultivating a brand-new kind of thinking. I couldn’t believe that I had missed-out on this my entire life prior. I vividly remember abandoning parties, regularly, to go read anthropology alone.

Is/are there any particular class(es) you’re glad you took? Did you like it/them at that the time?

I didn’t know this at the time, but it’s quite rare for undergraduates to have the opportunity to interact intellectually with professors at a high level. I’m really thankful to have taken the Research Design and Data Analysis courses, which were my very first exposure to systematic, quantitative methods. I cannot tell you HOW RARE it is to be able to pair Theory, Research Design, and Data Analysis together as a multi-semester project for undergrads under the close supervision of interested profs. This is how professors dream of teaching research when their goal is *teaching* (note, teaching is not the highest priority at many schools, in-part because the requisite teaching effort is enormous). Having met many MA’s, the 3-class experience was equivalent to a master’s degree. I still use the “Craft of Research” book we read in that class! Anthropological Theory with Dr. Johnson also had a profound impact on my academic development. It marked a turning point in the way I thought about the world, and it gave me a foothold to explore a very broad (and exciting) literature on my own.

What is your favorite memory of your time at Truman?

Doing ethnographic fieldwork in rural northeast Missouri. Dr. Johnson was my advisor for a TruScholars research grant to study the impact of school consolidation on small town communities. I got to travel deep into the countryside to interview a broad cast of people. Made numerous friends. Growing-up in St. Louis, I had little prior understanding of rural America. Besides the intellectual development, intimately getting to know people from a different world completely changed me. The generosity of people makes you humble, and seeing things from another vantage destroys all the worst assumptions you never knew you had.

Why is Truman a good school at which to study?

As an undergrad, I remember often hearing from all my Truman profs about how great Truman was for academics. It was easy to ignore this as the sort of self-congratulatory propaganda every school engages in. Looking back, I now see what they meant. The fact is, most schools do not reward profs for delivering high-quality undergraduate education. Profs are stretched thinly between research, publication, institutional service and teaching. Most institutions incentivize enrollment, graduation, grant money, research, and publication at the expense of all else. The result? Profs who cannot focus on their students, are tied to a badly-designed (arbitrary and boring) curriculum, hand out easy A’s, and thus become jaded about teaching altogether. It’s a race to the bottom at many schools. What sets Truman apart is incentivizing profs to focus on delivering an inspired curriculum to undergrads. Students pay tons of money for university classes, even going into considerable debt. But what are they buying? Truman provides a real education to students looking for one…which, incidentally, is what gives meaning to that watermarked piece of paper.

Do you have any advice for someone wanting to go into the same line of work as you?

Getting a PhD in Archaeology? Do it if (and only if) you truly love waking up every day and doing it for the sake of itself. Do it if you’d do research for free — holding down a job just to fund your hobby. Because the work is never-ending and often thankless. You won’t have a 9 to 5 work-life-balance, and this can affect your personal life. You’ll barely scrape by as a PhD student, adjunct, or post-doc (i.e. into your 30’s, as you watch all your friends get nice jobs, cars, houses, vacations and children). The pay is lower for most professors than other professions (law, medicine, etc.) and fun research jobs at corporations or the govt. And the tenure-track jobs are increasingly scarce (way fewer than the numbers of PhD graduates). It’s only worth doing if you can’t live without it. If you want to give your life for the progress of the human sciences.

What do you miss most about campus life/ living in Kirksville?

Roundbarn Blues Festival, late nights studying at Club Pickler, Woody’s all you can drink (is this still a thing?), the windy walk to Barnett hall in September as the leaves start to turn, driving through the countryside with the windows down, freshman week parties, homecoming parties, Greek Week parties, beer die on the front porch, and especially all of my friends.

If you could teach current students one thing, what would it be?

Push yourself as far as possible and explore everything that seems interesting. You never know where unlikely twists and turns will lead you. You think you know where you’re headed right now, but life has a way of turning tangents into new directions.

One extra anecdote –

When I arrived at the PhD program at ASU, several professors knew that I came from Truman Anthro, the reputation of which had preceeded it because of the quality of previous grads. In spite of what Truman students may think about their school’s reputation (or lack thereof), this opened doors early-on to research opportunities with NSF-funded research teams.

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