- faithbajema
- May 2, 2022
- 2 min read
Dr Mustafa Aksel Casson had the opportunity to travel a lot as a kid. Both of his parents were academics which led to the family traveling a lot for academic work. Having a father from America and a mother from Turkey, Casson grew up speaking both English and Turkish. After frequent traveling growing up, Casson decided that he wanted to find a job where he could travel. After earning an MA and PhD in Anthropology from the University of Washington, with a focus on Archaeology and chronology development, Casson began his archeology travels in Alaska which would begin his long archeology journey to many different countries
Here is a map of all the countries Dr Casson has worked or consulted on archeology projects
Dr Casson’s most significant archeological dig occurred in Jordan where he worked to uncover an 11,000-year-old agriculture site.
While working in Jordan, Casson had the opportunity to work on a student run archeology site. A few graduate students were able to obtain permits to dig on a site close to the other Jordan site.
“This is when I was convinced that this could become a career and something that I was good at,” said Casson.
While Casson was able to uncover archeological significant artifacts in Jordan, his favorite place to work was in Germany.
In Germany, Casson had the opportunity to live in a museum while dating artifacts. In the museum, Casson was able to live with a community of archeologists and even had an indoor shower.
“To me that was a luxury, to shower every day and not in a stream”
Casson has taken the his knowledge of the archeology field, and uses it to teach students through hands on learning. He is currently working on two archeology projects on Slippery Rock property which students have the ability to work on as well.
Casson works in the archeology lab in Spotts World Culture building with artifacts to better teach students.
Dr Casson shows off he archeology lab in Spotts World Culture Center
Dr Casson teaches in the archeology lab
Dr Casson not only inspires his archeology students, but he also uses his background and traveling experience to inspire international students at SRU.
