{"id":22073,"date":"2026-02-03T11:58:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T16:58:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/khc\/?page_id=22073"},"modified":"2026-03-31T11:35:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:35:34","slug":"trash-talking","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/khc\/past-co-curricular-events\/trash-talking\/","title":{"rendered":"Trash Talking: The Archaeology of Your Garbage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

Date & Time:\u00a0<\/strong>Thursday, March 26, 2026
7:00-8:30 pm<\/p>\n

Location:<\/strong> Kilachand Hall Common Room, 101
(91 Bay State Rd)<\/span><\/p>\n

Event Description:<\/strong>\u00a0Trash talks! Sometimes it whispers in our peripheral vision, intended to remain unseen and unheard; sometimes it is impossible to ignore and broadcasts boldly about human social life. Garbologists are archaeologists who listen, both to the evocative materiality of trash itself and to the contemporary communities who generate, dispose of, and live with it. How can we look at modern trash like Zyn pouches, tampon wrappers, and Alani cans to say meaningful things about our present lives and societies? Garbology studies can inform public policies, tell nuanced stories about diverse lives, provide data about hard-to-study people and topics, and expose social inequalities. Garbology is also a fun, hands-on social science methodology that allows us to easily connect with artifacts, people, and deep social topics.<\/p>\n

Join Dr. Zada Komara for an interactive workshop about the garbology of YOUR lives and communities, and explore archaeology in a way you\u2019ve never thought about before. No trowels or experience necessary, just an enthusiasm to look again critically at the items you often throw away!<\/p>\n

Registration: <\/strong>Spots for this event are limited; register to ensure a spot. Please note that guests are required to stay for the entire duration of this event (arrive by 6:55 and stay until the end). Register Here<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Attendance: <\/strong>At the end of the event, a QR will be posted for you to check-in. This QR will expire so please complete the check-in form immediately. You must check-in to earn co-curricular attendance credit for this event.<\/p>\n

Learn more about Zada Komora<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Zada Komara is an award-winning professor in the University of Kentucky Lewis Honors College and an archaeologist of the recent past. She studies trash across Appalachia and on college campuses. She works hands-on with communities who have an active interest in knowing themselves and their history and making positive contemporary change.<\/p>\n

Zada Komara was the recipient of the 2025 Outstanding Teaching Award (see the article here<\/a>). This award follows her previous teaching recognitions as one of the UK Alumni Association\u2019s 2024 Great Teacher Award winners and one of the UK College of Education\u2019s 2024 Teachers Who Made a Difference.<\/p>\n

View Zada Komara’s Faculty Profile<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Highlighted publications<\/h4>
<\/p>\n

Komara, Z<\/strong>., & Barton, S. (2014). Materializing Appalachian Kentucky coal towns: public archaeology as applied anthropology in the Coal Camp Documentary Project.\u00a0Practicing Anthropology<\/em>,\u00a036<\/em>(4), 25-30.<\/p>\n

Komara, Z<\/strong>. (2021). Burying stereotypes: Archaeology, representations, and everyday activism at Appalachian company coal mining towns.\u00a0Journal of Community Archaeology & Heritage<\/em>,\u00a08<\/em>(1), 7-25.<\/p>\n

Komara, Z.<\/strong> (2023). Healer\u2019s choice: Gender, self-care, and women\u2019s wellness products in an Appalachian coal town.\u00a0International Journal of Historical Archaeology<\/em>,\u00a027<\/em>(1), 158-182.<\/p>\n

Waugh-Quasebarth, J., & Komara, Z<\/strong>. (2025). Introduction: Beyond Hollow Materialism.\u00a0Journal of Appalachian Studies<\/em>,\u00a031<\/em>(1), 7-32.<\/p>\n

Camp, S. L., Heath-Stout, L., Wooten, K., Barnes, J. A., Surface-Evans, S., Komara, Z<\/strong>., & Scott, A. R. (2023). Reflections on Writing about Health and Well-being during the COVID-19 Pandemic.\u00a0International journal of historical archaeology<\/em>,\u00a027<\/em>(1), 234-240.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Date & Time:\u00a0Thursday, March 26, 2026 7:00-8:30 pm Location: Kilachand Hall Common Room, 101(91 Bay State Rd) Event Description:\u00a0Trash talks! Sometimes it whispers in our peripheral vision, intended to remain unseen and unheard; sometimes it is impossible to ignore and broadcasts boldly about human social life. Garbologists are archaeologists who listen, both to the evocative […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16931,"featured_media":0,"parent":17570,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/khc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22073"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/khc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/khc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/khc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16931"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/khc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22073"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/khc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22408,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/khc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22073\/revisions\/22408"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/khc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/khc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}