Ashley Rutkoski

Ashley Rutkoski is a PhD candidate in Anthropology here at the University of Florida. Before joining the University Writing Program (UWP), she taught anthropology courses at Kent State University, covering topics such as human evolution, archaeology, and primate conservation. Her current research focuses on understanding how past communities living along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico created and shared pottery-making practices. This work examines how pottery traditions were maintained and transformed over time and space. By working in tandem with Indigenous communities with ancestral connections to Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, Ashley aims to highlight the contemporary relevance of archaeological research and its potential to create meaningful and long-lasting impacts.