The Department of Anthropology facilitates the LEAD (Learning Environments in Anthropology Disciplines) Scholars Program. With two primary components, Student Mentoring Groups and Critical Skills Clinics and Informational Sessions, the LEAD Scholars Program engages early career undergraduate students but is open to all students in the department. 

Additionally, the LEAD Scholars Program facilitates social interactions with peers with the goal of learning from one another, promotes a sense of belonging and engagement, provides additional opportunities to bolster skill building, and increases institutional knowledge including campus resources available to assist students.

Try out this LEAD Scholars Skill Building Set.

• Dr. Petra Jelinek 

• Dr. Katelyn Bishop

• Dr Maritza Quiñones-Rivera

AY 2023 - 2024

LEAD Scholars

• Isobel Lebeau
• Jessica Pilipchuk
• Jack Murphy
• Julia Fasick
• Xueyi Lu
• Justine Dioneda
• Sara Kiel
• Becky Arden
• Jules Berglund
• Layla Eyegabroad
• Nubia Stevenson
• Kaelyn Sloan
• Elaine Oliver
• Gabrielle Wolf
• Jackie Trachtenberg
• Zyara Morton
• Rusty Hovde
• Reba Shenkman

LEAD Mentors (graduate students)

• Em Shirilla
• Navashni Naidoo
• Margie Giacolone
• Lydia Evans
• Baylee Priest
• Brian Graves

Directors

• Petra Jelinek
• Kate Bishop

AY 2022 - 2023

LEAD Scholars

• Jack Murphy
• Julia Fasick
• Justine Dioneda
• Dawn Pagel
• Kelsey Williams
• Sara Kiel
• Sophia Ramos
• Shyann Mack
• Jackie Trachtenberg
• Haley Collins
• Mason Acquaviva
• Isobel Lebeau
• Nubia Stevenson
• Jules Berglund
• Kate Blankenship
• Layla Eyegabroad
• Morgan Lott
• Lucas Nolte
• Lily Lisnic
• Mckenzie Macon
• Devansh Nandwana
• Connor Uphues
• Zyara Morton
• Gabrielle Wolf

LEAD Mentors

• Urooba Fatima
• Em Shirilla
• Grace Shaw
• Abigail Houkes
• Navashni Naidoo
• Margie Giacolone
• Rachel Rusen
• Alana Ackerman
• Arielle Reich
• Josh Diaz
• Nathalie Martinez
• Jackie Abing
• Jeongsu Shin
• Michelle Patino
• Rita Bouwens
• Tamara Pavlovic

Directors

• Petra Jelinek
• Kate Bishop

With support from the Provost’s Innovative Programs Award to support student learning due to the impact of COVID-19 (AY21-22).

AY 2021 - 2022

Sping 2022  LEAD Scholars

• Shyann Mack
• Toby Kutz
• Anne McKeown
• Lily Lisnic
• Peyton Heinze
• Nico Herrera
• Brooke Blaszynski
• Gabrielle Wolf
• Rachel Burdette
• Calvin Sato
• Sophia Sato
• Jorge Corral
• Lisa Chasanov
• Morgan Chan
• Maddie Woods
• Connor Uphues
• Justine Dioneda
• Claire Von Ebers
• Julia Fasick
• Dawn Pagel
• Sophia Ramos
• Yohann Torres
• Jack Murphy
• Morgan Lott
• Ian Ward
• Mearieta Clemente
• Emma Perry
• Lex Cruz
• Haley Collins
• Sara Kiel

Sping 2022  LEAD Mentors

• Jeongsu Shin
• Rachel Rusen
• Brenda Garcia
• Alex Orille
• Sahara Vilchis
• Jackie Abing
• Margie Gialocone
• Arielle Reich
• Emma Verstraete
• Grace Shaw

Fall 2021 Lead Scholars

• Lisa Chasanov
• Jorge Corral
• Sophia Sato
• Calvin Sato
• Rachel Burdette
• Gabrielle Wolf
• Brooke Blaszynski
• Nico Herrera Gonzalez
• Peyton Heinze
• Lily Lisnic
• Anne McKeown
• Toby Kutz
• Shyann Mack

Fall 2021 LEAD Mentors

• Emma Verstraete
• Grace Shaw
• Arielle Reich
• Jeongsu Shin
• Margie Gialocone
• Brenda Garcia

Directors

• Ripan Malhi
• Petra Jelinek

With support from the Provost’s Innovative Programs Award to support student learning due to the impact of COVID-19 (AY21-22).

Look into some of these anthropologists and how they've applied their training in an array of fields.

• Interested in the competitive world of computer science and user-experience (UX)? Anthropology gives you an edge.

• Check out Journalist and Editor Gillian Tet of the Financial Times Who Credits Anthropology for her award-winning journalism!

• Are you Pre-Med? Anthropology sets you apart and prepares you for the challenges ahead:  The combination of social and biological sciences that are unique to an Anthropology major can give you an edge on the MCAT and in the competitive worlds of medical research and public health. The combination of anthropology and medicine can even help you change the world.
• Are you interested in Legal Careers? Anthropology is an excellent choice for students interested in careers in law and International Development, as UIUC Alum Batamaka Some can tell you! 
• Check out these additional opportunities from the American Anthropological Association Careers Page

Illinois Career Center Resources

• Career Center Jobs and Internships
• Career Center Events 
• Handshake @ Illinois

Research Park

• Research Park Student Newsletter
• Research Park jobs and Internship positions
• Online Research Park Job Board (this job board is exclusive to companies in the Research Park, hiring for positions located in the Research Park)​​​​
• Research Park Calendar (conferences/workshops for students, employees on a range of topics) 

Other University of Illinois Resources 

• Siebel Center for Design
• NCSA Internships
• Welcoming Center/University YMCA
• Education Justice Project

Museum Internships

• Krannert Art Museum
• Spurlock Museum
• Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago
• Internship opportunities at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago
• Listing of internship opportunities at the Smithsonian

Media and Communications Internships

•  Media Bistro: Database of job and internship opportunities for individuals interested in industries including magazines, television, film, radio, newspapers, book publishing, online media, advertising, PR, and design
• Journalism Jobs: Listing of job and internship opportunities in the journalism industry

Civil Service Internships

• City of Urbana
• City of Champaign
• Law clerkships

General Internship Databases

• Database of Federal internship opportunities in the U.S.
• Searches organizations’ websites for internship listings

International Internships

• AIESEC: provides global opportunities for young people to develop leadership skills through internship and volunteer opportunities abroad in areas relating to marketing and sales, information technology, business administration, language and education, and engineering
• Internship Abroad Programs: Database of international internship opportunities

Forensic Science Internships

• Forensic Investigation Research Station (FIRS) at Colorado Mesa University 
• Forensic Anthropology Center (FAC) at the University of Tennessee Knoxville 
• Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State (FACTS) 
• Internships with the FBI
• Washington D.C. Department of Forensic Science 
• Indiana State Police Laboratory Division 
• Montgomery County Crime Lab 
• Washington DC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner 

Other companies and organizations that hire summer interns:

• NASA, Google, National Public Radio, Doctors Without Borders, United Nations Foundation, the Center for Disease Control, and much more.

• LAS Career services
• Career Center Internship or Job Search
• Handshake @ Illinois
• Returning to School

Dylan, Class of 2020

Focus: Sociocultural and Linguistic Anthropology

Current job and career goals

I was working for the embassy of Bahrain for a few months since I have moved to Washington DC as a Research Analyst. Though I have received a new job offer, working for the Department of Defense as a translator with a specialty on Mexican Spanish and dialects (I was a Rotary Exchange Student to Veracruz 2013-2014, where I became fluent with the native accent as well). I am interested in getting my PhD, and applying for the Fulbright program next year to continue my education. If I do not go into the Fulbright program, then I would like to go into Foreign Service. My interests are mostly involved with indigenous communities within Mexico (specifically Veracruz state, Chiapas, and Mexico City).

What do you most appreciate about your anthropology training?

Honestly, the professors office hours, their outside time they also take for their students outside of their office hours. Not having a proper graduation [due to the pandemic] made that a bit hard to come to terms with, I sincerely wish that I could have gotten to brush up on my contacts with them all. Because of anthropology I see many things have become interconnected worldwide. I believe that the past deeply impacts the future. Before my studies in anthropology I already thought this, but the department and the degree has taught me how to see such things in a more visceral and applicable way.

Advice to Majors

Anthropology at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana is a great department. I never felt that I could never ask a question or approach any of my professors/grad students. We are all curious of the world around that, that is very obvious. And I think that anyone is interested in politics, culture, language, history, architecture, and so much more can find a way to encompass all of these with anthropology. Of course you have to find a focus, but that is what the faculty is GREAT with doing for the students if they are truly curious.

Sharajonnie, Class of 2019 

Focus: Biological Anthropology with a focus on Human Evolutionary Biology

Current job and career goals

Currently, I am completing a masters in law (MSL) at Northwestern University and will matriculating to the University of California at Berkeley, where I will be completing a doctoral degree (PhD) in Integrative Biology. I am broadly interested in understanding co-evolutionary dynamics, anthropogenic climate changes,and their influences on biodiversity. I can attribute my interest in evolution to such courses as Human Biological Variation, which was taught by Dr. Lyle Konigsberg at the time. I also took a Functional Genomics (a 499 course) with Jessica Brinkworth.

What do you most appreciate about your anthropology training?

Having studied anthropology (and currently law), I am now more attuned with the cultural and systematic mechanisms of oppression that were created/influenced by European colonization, and how to combat them. Prospectively, my knowledge of evolution will likely influence my research regarding biodiversity and, potentially, the socio-cultural implications thereof. As a BIPOC woman, I have valued learning the history of anthropology and continued advancements toward decolonization of the sciences. As the socio-cultural climate of the US and abroad continues to evolve, we must be ever-mindful of enslavement, genocide, chicanery, marauding, and other means of oppression and subjugation that have resulted in Eurocentric mentalities and curricula.

Advice to Majors

I advise current and prospective students to use their knowledge to create positive social change!

Emily, Class of 2018

Focus: Double major in Anthropology and Integrative Biology

Current job and career goals

I just wrapped up my M.S. in Plant, Insect, and Microbial Sciences from the University of Missouri, and am starting up my PhD program at the University of Minnesota studying entomology. More specifically, I am focusing on how climate change (extended summers) influence forest insect development. Faster development can lead to increased insect outbreaks with large-scale environmental impacts. My career goals are currently wide and range from teaching biology at a small university, working for the forest service, or working in museum collections. I currently study entomology (insects), which seems outside of the realm of anthropology, but through my time in the department, I learned many things that have helped me in teaching, working with museum specimens, and framing educational outreach work in an inclusive manner.

Hands-on Experience as a Major

I interned with the entomology department at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

What do you most appreciate about your anthropology training?

Anthropology has allowed me to think about my audience more effectively in teaching scenarios. Additionally, it has shaped me into being more conscious of social justice issues in a lasting way, influencing courses I am integrating into my graduate schedule, such as environmental justice classes. I value the variety of experiences and discussions that were available. I could work in a lab helping process artifacts from Cahokia Mounds, I could take a forensic anthropology course, I could go to lunch and chat with visiting alumni such as Dr. Donald Johanson (who's team helped find the Lucy fossil), or chat with professors about social stigmas associated with insects. These are all opportunities that still influence my perspectives and have widened my world views.

Advice to Majors

I would advise getting involved. I didn't branch out and get to know people within the department until later into my program. I wish that I would have spent more time chatting with faculty and working in labs within the department early on. Everyone is very supportive and happy to help guide you and prepare you for a future career, no matter your interest.