Invasion of Privacy: Anthropology Chair Dr. Paul Pacheco
Photo Courtesy of Paul Pachecho
Earlier this week I had the honor of interviewing Dr. Paul Pacheco, a Professor of Anthropology at Geneseo who has been chair of the Anthropology department, since 2014. I started the interview by giving Dr. Pacheco a chance to debunk some common misconceptions about his field. “We don't get too [many] misconceptions, probably the biggest one is people think I have something to do with dinosaurs.” Since he does not work with dinosaurs, I asked him to explain what anthropology and archaeology are.
Why are they so important? “Anthropology teaches students to appreciate and understand human diversity.” Dr. Pacheco recites a quote he uses in his ANTH 101 class, from Ruth Benedict (a well-known American anthropologist and folklorist); “Anthropology makes the world safe for humanity.” He went on to explain the purpose of anthropology. “I've always believed that trying to understand the people around the world, from not just our own perspective, is a really important part of being able to have a world that's peaceful and not always at each other's throats.”
Dr. Pacheco called archaeology the window into the past and explained the consequence of not looking into that window. “If there's no archaeology, we just forget about what happened before and then we can make the same mistakes over and over and over again.”
While doing his research with Geneseo field school, Dr. Pacheco described a profound moment in his career. “I'll tell you the most important moment, because it made me cry, was when [a student] found a Hopewell bladelet in one of the post molds at [a] house” he explains all the rest of them are empty. “This one had a diagnostic artifact down in the bottom. I was like ah-hah!”
Dr. Pacheco works with archaeology students in field school where they excavate real dig sites and recover artifacts. It is a wonderful opportunity, not only for the students to learn and exchange skills, but also to give students a chance to form meaningful connections with professionals like Dr. Pacheco. From Dr. Pacheco’s emotional reaction to a student's finding the artifact, it seems that the relationship goes both ways. “That moment literally made me cry.”
Dr. Pacheco and his family have lived here in Geneseo since 2002. I asked him; do you consider Geneseo a college town? “I do! This village is very much a college town. It has personalities that change drastically when the students are here. When the college is in, it's vibrant and definitely in a college town.” However, some obvious downsides come with living in a college town like the noise on Saturday nights. Despite this, Dr. Pacheco claims he likes living in the village with students around.
Dr. Pacheco has worked at SUNY Geneseo for twenty-four years. I asked Dr. Pacheco to reflect on any changes he has seen in the student body over the years. “When I got here, the school was pretty much dominated by the kind of students here now; really, smart women.” The college made an effort to try and change the sex ratio and by 2013-14 we had the most vibrant population here at the college. There were 108 Anthropology majors, the biggest the program's ever been. “I think that was really the high point.”
Dr. Pacheco went on to explain that the students who attended the college and experienced the beginning pandemic and came back on campus throughout the pandemic, were not the same. “Students [came] through the college and then the pandemic just crushed everything.” He explains that over the last five years the amount of mental health problems and the amount of students who are struggling, has skyrocketed. He then shared with me that he is starting to see a little bit of a comeback this semester. “Both of the classes that I got look like the people are fairly engaged. I think we're starting to see a turnaround as we get far enough away from the pandemic.” He ended the interview positively, claiming he hopes the major starts to recover and rebound.
As Dr. Pacheco reflected on sharing an environment with students throughout the years and during the pandemic, we should note that many of our professors are aware of the changes and difficulties students have gone through. Living in the same community as our professors at Geneseo offers students a unique relationship that larger schools cannot. Talking with Dr. Pacheco reminded me that as Geneseo students we do not just belong to the college community, but are a part of the village community as well.