Jacob “Jake” Holland-Lulewicz, an anthropology Ph.D. alumnus from the University of Georgia (UGA), shares insights into his graduate career and how it helped craft a path to achieving his dream role in academia!  

During his time at UGA, Jake reflects on the faculty holding the biggest influence on where he is today. Jake emphasizes that it is hard for him to envision a path to where he is today without UGA and the Anthropology faculty as part of the equation. Not only was he effectively trained to be a successful anthropological scientist, but he was also equipped with the skills needed to be successful in the professional world. Jake acknowledges his advisor, Dr. Jennifer Birch, and close mentors Drs. Victor Thompson and Stephen Kowalewski, who worked closely with him to demystify the world of academia and research. As a first-generation college student (let alone a first-generation Ph.D. student), pulling back the curtain on the “hidden curriculum” was one of the most valuable experiences for Jake. Alongside the extreme collegiality among faculty and graduate students, Jake left UGA not only with a degree, but with a robust community of colleagues and collaborators. 

Additionally, Drs. Birch, Thompson, and Kowalewski continue to leave a profound impact on Jake, as they heavily shaped the researcher, academic, and professor he is today. When asked if there is a piece of advice from one of these professors that still guides him today, Jake expresses that he doesn’t have one single piece of advice to point to because they were all like three little voices in his head constantly! His mentors taught him to be a scientist, teacher, collaborator, writer, communicator, etc. Everything he does is, in part, shaped by his time at UGA and the mentorship he received.  

Jake’s time at UGA also reinforced the importance of interdisciplinary learning and research. As a Ph.D. student, it was invaluable to his training and later trajectory to be encouraged to take courses outside of anthropology. The openness and celebration of interdisciplinarity at UGA and in the anthropology department has continued to set Jake apart in his field and has positioned him to more effectively contribute to some of the world’s most pressing challenges without the barriers of narrow disciplinary thinking.  

Altogether, Jake’s time at UGA has led him to his current position, an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Transdisciplinary Research on Environment and Society at Penn State University. This role is his dream job - quite literally! When he applied to UGA’s Ph.D. program in Anthropology in 2011, Jake specifically noted that his career goal was to “be a professor at an R1, research-intensive university, in a program defined by a strong commitment to scientific approaches, like the anthropology department at Penn State”. Now, here he is at Penn State! Jake explains the experience has been “wild, but equally rad!”  

In his current position, Jake gets inspired by the world, by humans, and by current events. As an archaeologist, he is constantly trying to position his work as broadly meaningful. As a social scientist, he is driven by human experience, by the desire to understand how people, past and present, have creatively built, maintained, and transformed institutions and landscapes to meet particular challenges. Due to his interests, Jake views his biggest strengths as curiosity, persistence, and perseverance. With curiosity, Jake is absolutely driven by the desire to know stuff! This, he notes, is a key component to being successful in graduate school, especially a doctoral program. You must care deeply about the kinds of questions your research aims to answer. Jake points to a running list in the notes app of his phone where he jots down thoughts and questions that are constantly popping up into his head, each of which is a new project, paper, grant proposal, conference presentation, or even just a call to a collaborator! Moreover, Jake explains that persistence and perseverance is a necessary strength as his job is filled with rejection, including rejected grant proposals, papers, etc. Finding ways to persist in the face of rejection is a key skill that takes a lot of time to hone. Success in his career isn’t how ‘smart’ you are, it’s how persistent, committed, and curious you are! 

Jake leaves us with one piece of advice to graduate students and young alumni: continue to maintain and strengthen your networks. He encourages you all to continue to seek guidance and support from your mentors and your peers. Just because you leave, it doesn’t mean you are on your own!  

If you want to be the next alumni spotlight email anthro@uga.edu