Inside the classroom: Easton through an anthropologist’s eyes

In Prof. Matthew DeMaio‘s Anthropology of the City course, students head into Downtown Easton to study the influence cities have on culture and daily life. | Photo by JaQuan Alston

Inside the Classroom is a new series offering a glimpse into classes at Lafayette, the talented professors who teach them, and how they impact and define a student’s experience.

By Stella Katsipoutis-Varkanis

With their towering buildings and bustling streets, cities have long been a symbol of modern life and innovation, and a beacon of opportunity. But how do urban spaces shape the identity, daily life, and sense of community for those who live in them? How does big-town life influence culture, and vice versa? In Prof. Matthew DeMaio’s Anthropology of the City course, students take on the role of anthropologists to dig into these questions—using Downtown Easton as their main research subject.

With the help of Ana Ramirez Luhrs, co-director of Special Collections and College Archives, DeMaio organized a class trip to the Easton Area Public Library (EAPL), introducing students to the local resources available to them for their research. | Photo by JaQuan Alston

“Cities are dynamic, and the people in them are so heterogeneous,” says DeMaio, assistant professor of anthropology, who has taught the course the last two semesters. “I provide my students with the means to open up their analytical eyes to the everyday, and to the contemporary methods anthropologists use to study cities—like interviews, observation, mapping, and archival work.”

To do this, DeMaio engages his A&S 233 students in in-classroom readings, discussions, and workshops that challenge them to think like anthropologists, and teaches them how to use tools of the trade. This includes ArcGIS StoryMaps—an online platform that utilizes maps, photos, video, and other digital media to bring stories to life.

The EAPL visit kicks off students’ research for their final project, which tasks them with selecting a downtown space and using their class learnings to unpack its story through an anthropological perspective. | Photo by JaQuan Alston

But learning isn’t confined to the lecture hall: Anthropology of the City students also have the opportunity to step out of the College Hill neighborhood, walk in the footsteps of anthropologists, and explore not only the profession but also the historic city right in their own backyard. For this course, Easton is an educational playground, where students gain hands-on experience with anthropological methods like ethnographic observation, field note writing, and gathering and interpreting data. The class also takes a field trip to the Easton Area Public Library (EAPL)—organized with the help of Ana Ramirez Luhrs, co-director of Special Collections and College Archives—where students are introduced to the local archives and plethora of resources available to them locally, in addition to those within reach on campus.

“Expanding beyond classroom walls shows students that anthropological work doesn’t have to be done halfway around the world—you can do it right here and see it with your own eyes,” DeMaio says. “It opens them up to a new perspective on the area where they live, which they might not know much about.”

Students learned how to delve into Easton’s digital and print archives to learn more about the city’s rich history. | Photo by JaQuan Alston

Heather Reyes ’26, a double major in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies as well as anthropology and sociology, says exploring the city’s archives was the highlight of her experience when she took the course in spring 2025. “It really made me feel connected to the Easton community,” she says. “It made me comfortable with archival research, which I didn’t have experience with before—and with going into Easton not just for schoolwork, but for fun too.”

The EAPL trip is the kickoff to the course’s final project, which calls on students to select a downtown space or building—such as the Easton Public Market, Crayola Factory, or Centre Square—and draw on training they gleaned from the course to delve into the story of the space’s past and present.

In addition to strengthening her analytical and research skills, student Heather Reyes ’26 says going beyond the classroom to practice anthropological methods and conduct research helped her feel a stronger connection to the local community. | Photo by JaQuan Alston

“The project helped me gain a lot of analytical skills, and using ArcGIS to create and present it taught me how to communicate research in a way that’s accessible and meaningful,” says Reyes, who chose the Easton Cemetery as her research topic. “I was able to view the cemetery not just as a burial site, but as a living archive that tells the story of the values of Easton community members, the change within the landscape, and more.”

She adds that the broadened perspective the course gave her will be useful to her in the future as well, as she hopes to do student advocacy work in higher education. “Because I aspire to work with students who come from different backgrounds, being able to think about cities in different ways and how they connect to people’s identities and sense of belonging will be critical to being able to interact with students and help them transition into college life,” Reyes says.

“Anthropology is a discipline that demands that students collect data by various means and analyze it through a range of complex, engaging, and difficult but enlightening theories and conceptual approaches, and then make arguments based on that data,” DeMaio adds. “That set of skills—thinking critically and making decisions—is useful whether you want to do anthropological work or not. And that’s what we do in this class.”