Due to her effective participation in Public Anthropology's Community Action Online Project as well her wider activities in the public sphere of anthropology, University of Nevada, Reno's Assistant Professor of Anthropology in the College of Liberal Arts Mikaela Rogozen-Soltar has received the 2015 Public Anthropology's Ruth Benedict Global Citizenship Award.

"The Community Action Project is a wonderful way for students to learn about the relevance of anthropology to the world beyond the classroom," Rogozen-Soltar said.

While actively addressing significant ethical topics within anthropology, Rogozen-Soltar also strives to provide students with the thinking and writing skills necessary for positive and dynamic social accountability.

"The goal is to get students thinking critically about how to apply anthropological theories and methods in their future careers and in civic engagement with social issues, both globally and right here in Nevada," Rogozen-Soltar said. "Working on these issues with students at the University has been incredibly rewarding."

Only a select few of the faculty in North America that are teaching introductory anthropology courses receive this prestigious award.

"Professor Rogozen-Soltar is to be commended for how she takes classroom knowledge and applies it to real-world challenges, thereby encouraging students to be responsible global citizens," the Center for a Public Anthropology Director Rob Borofsky said.

The Center for a Public Anthropology is a non-profit that encourages scholars and their students to find proactive ways of improving academics. Given the dynamics of anthropology, the center believes in the importance of actively participating in the world, rather than the hindering seclusion of working with a small bubble of colleagues. Their focus is on making positive and progressive change in academics.

Rogozen-Soltar has been a key participant in the Center for a Public Anthropology's Community Action Online Project. She was recently published in the American Anthropologist and the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Her main research focus is on Islam and migration in Europe and specific focus is on social encounters between Muslim migrants, converts to Islam and Catholic and secular people in southern Spain. She is interested in the different ways that people remember medieval Muslim Spain, and the way historical memories of this period inform contemporary efforts to navigate renewed religious and cultural pluralism in the region.

Rogozen-Soltar welcomes inquiries about these topics and anthropology in general from potential undergraduate and graduate students at the University. Contact her at mikaelars@unr.edu or 775-682-7953.