Patty Jo WatsonRelationship between People and Landscapes
Patty Jo Watson was a distinguished University Professor Emerita and archaeologist who proved to be integral to Washington University in St. Louis and its Anthropology Department. The extensive fieldwork she conducted in a range of locations around the globe indubitably qualified her to use her substantial knowledge to educate Washington University undergraduate and graduate students. Watson also wrote and published a myriad of publications relating to her studies and areas of interest as an archaeologist. She bestowed her knowledge, pedagogy, and research on the Anthropology Department. Her contributions strengthened and reinforced the Anthropology Department’s reputation as a superior research branch of the university. She also relied on the Anthropology Department to fund and support her outstanding research. As a result, Watson and the Washington University landscape had a reciprocal relationship. The symbiotic nature of the relationship allowed both parties to benefit. This mutual alliance between landscapes and people is an important topic that we have intensely discussed in our class. In order to honor Watson’s memory, a photograph collage has been created and positioned on a wall in McMillan Hall—the home to the Anthropology Department. As an archaeologist, she extensively studied and appreciated the meanings of landscapes. Therefore, immortalizing Watson's memory in photographs on the landscape of McMillan Hall is an important sign of respect to her. Landscapes were incredibly significant to her due to their vast meaning. Today, her photographs are part of the significance of the landscape of McMillan Hall. |