Bethany Walker, associate professor of Middle East history at Missouri State University, has a passion for archaeology and history that is a family affair.
"(My maternal grandmother) had wanted to be an archaeologist her whole life. She grew up during the Depression. She didn't get the chance to go to university or to follow her dreams," Walker said. "So we went to museums together; we went to sites together. It really got me enamored with the field at a young age."
The discipline of history gives her the opportunity to use her love of archaeology to study the physical record of human life.
She shares that hands-on methodology with her students, whom she takes out to the field with her. "I pull my students into my work. I pull my research into the classroom," she said.
Every summer since 2003, Walker has taken students to Jordan to assist with the Northern Jordan Project.
The archaeological project is located in the well-watered highlands of northern Jordan, where participants help further outline the village and land-use history of the region.
By studying the history of the land, researchers are hoping to learn from the traditional water-use practices of the indigenous people.
Walker said studying abroad is an empowering, valuable experience for her students.
"You learn more about yourself when you step outside your comfort zone, when you have to be a different you," she said.
"I think that it is very important that students become familiar with the culture because of the differences," Walker said. "It allows you, in terms of world history, to appreciate a culture that is so vastly different."