Biography
Dr. Rachael Root is an adjunct instructor in cultural anthropology with a wide range of research interests, with areas of specialization in virtual/digital ethnography, higher education, and mixed-methods research. Her dissertation focused on challenges faced by Yucatec Maya students and the impacts of COVID-19 at Universidad de Oriente in Yucatan, Mexico. Her previous research examined relationships and power in competitive player versus player events in World of Warcraft and the economics of mini-tiendas in Salango, Ecuador. She has taught a wide range of classes at both Valencia College and UCF, including anthropology courses ranging from large GEP sections to upper division special topics as well as classes tailored to incoming international students as part of UCF’s First Year Experience and Global Achievement Academy programs.
Dr. Root particularly enjoys mentoring students and assisting them with developing their own research projects, tailoring her Research-Intensive ANT 4802 Ethnographic Methods class to be hands-on enskillment from project conception and design to completion and presentation. Since joining UCF in 2016, she continues to approach teaching with a sense of wonder and curiosity, encouraging her students to find joy in learning.
Teaching & Curriculum Development
– ANT 2000 Introductory Anthropology, in-person, mixed, and online modes
– ANT 2410 Cultural Anthropology, in-person, mixed, and online modes
– ANT 2511 Biological Anthropology, in-person, mixed, and online modes
– ANT 3302 Sex, Gender, and Culture, online
– ANT 3241 Magic, Ritual, and Belief, online
– ANT 4034 History of Anthropological Thought, mixed
– ANT 4802 Ethnographic Methods, mixed