This section of my web site is more of an unofficial curriculum vita. If you wish a full curriculum vita for an employment review please contact me by email or telephone and I will send one out to you with my application for employment.

 

Growing up through high-school.

Daniel Zielske grew up on a farm in rural southern Minnesota between the towns of Blue Earth and Fairmont along the I-90 corridor. You learn to work hard at a young age on a farm. My father had a sever heart condition so much of the heavier work was left for me to do. Chores began around the age of six when I was in first grade. Washing dishes with mom, mowing the lawn, painting the fences and some of the buildings along with all of the other farmyard activities were my duties after school. At age eight I began working the fields; rock-picking, walking beans and detasseling corn were some of the new activities that were added to my work list. At the age of nine, my father had his first heart-attack and I had to start doing the heavy lifting and other more strenuous jobs around the farm. I started to drive tractor and would; disk, plow and cultivate our fields. By age eleven I was running all of our farm equipment including harvesters, sprayers, rototillers and etc. At the age of 14 I became responsible for most of the operations of our family farm. I also began to work for the Green Giant plant out of Blue Earth over the summer months sometimes pulling twelve-hour shifts. This continued until I graduated from high-school and my father retired from farming. My parents have passed away and now my sister and I run our family farm, so even 40+ years later and living an hour away, I still have weekly chores to do. :)

In seventh grade my science teacher, Mr. Joel Molyneux, convinced me to make a science project and take it to the regional science fair in Mankato. My first experiment was a recreation of the famous experiment by Stanley Miller where he created amino acids using the hypothesized chemical atmosphere of the early earth and creating an electrical discharge to represent lightning. My experiment met with great success and I won my first trip to the State Science Fair in St. Paul, MN. In my ninth grade year I became eligible for the International Science and Engineering Fail (ISEF). I was a runner up that year at the State fair, so I went as an alternative to the ISEF which was held in St. Paul, MN. All students that had won the trip to ISEF that year were asked to show up early to help set-up booths and things. I remember it well, we took over the St. Paul Civic Center the morning after the band The Who had performed there. I remember first arriving and finding the floor of the civic center knee deep in empty cups, beer cans and other various trash. We were asked to help clean it up, because maintenance had a bigger problem to deal with. The volume of the band was so loud that it cracked some of the support beams for the upper decks of the arena, so they were busy re-supporting the superstructure of the civic center. The next year I won a full trip to ISEF in San Antonio, TX. and I got to meet Professor Stanly Miller. I continued to win three trips to ISEF before I graduated from high-school. Even now, I will judge for the science fairs in Mankato, giving back to the system that gave me such a great start in science.

 

College and Beyond

Artist (Vita)

Dan's experience in the arts first began at a young age when he would submit examples of his crafts and handy work at the local county fair. Later he would go on to leather crafting, ceramics, woodworking and painting during his high-school years. At the University, Dan completed a minor in art with painting and art history as his primary disciplines. Dan has also completed a Masters of Music from Minnesota State University - Mankato.

1997-2002, Southern Minnesota Chapter of the American Composers Forum I coordinate all the activities of the SMN/ACF. This includes organizing and overseeing all meetings, linking composers to community organizations, helping members write grant proposals, locating and securing performance venues, and overseeing all activities sponsored by the SMN/ACF.

1990-2002 Producer for the Maverick Radio Network I produce a radio show for the Maverick Radio Network (KMSU) at Mankato State University. The show spotlights Minnesota composers and songwriters. I play their music and interviewing them. This gives people, who usually would not have the opportunity for radio air time, to have their music be heard on FM radio throughout southern Minnesota.

1992-1999 Producer for Local Television Station I have produced two to three shows a year for a local television station (CCTV) in the Mankato area. These show were usually productions of local artistic projects (i.e. dance ensembles, new music concerts, and etc.) along with an occasional full length art film. I have won awards for my art films that I have produced out of my CCTV activities.

1987 - 1992 The New Music Network Throughout this time period I was a member and president of a local musical organization called the New Music Network. The organization supported student composers from Mankato State University. I would organize public performances, oversee weekly meetings, organize facility usage, oversee publicity coordination, and arrange public performances for the organization.

 

Teaching (Vita)

2007-Curren: Professor of Anthropology and Professor of Music, South Central College in North Mankato, MN. I am currently the only instructor in both the Anthropology Dept. and the Music Dept. for South Central College. South Central College is a two-year institution and I am working on developing both departments so that they my offer an Associates of Science and an Associates of Arts respectively.

2002-2004: Experience Works in Mankato, MN. I taught displaced workers who were over 50 years-of-age computer skills so they may find jobs in the new economy. I taught Windows, MS Word, MS Works and MS Office to people with little or no experience with computers in the work place.

1989-Current Adjunct Faculty, Mankato State University
My duties included teaching one or two sections of anthropology each quarter for the Mankato State University’s Extended Campus program. The classes I teach are: Introduction to Anthropology, Peoples; An Anthropological Perspective, and Ancient Peoples. My classes are taught at off-campus locations or on-line.. I also have extensive experience in teaching Interactive Television classes (ITV) and meetings.

1997-1999 Instructor Gustavus Adolphus College I am teaching anthropology for Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN. The classes that I have taught for Gustavus include: Cultural Anthropology, North American Indians, and Anthropological Theory. All classes taught are on-campus.

1996-1998 Project GEM Music Teacher I have taught music classes to Jr. High School and Sr. High School students for the project GeM program. My students have dysfunctional problems with social activities and learning disorders that have placed them in a setting other than the normal Jr. or Sr. High School environment. The problems my students suffer from range from disciplinary problems to A.D.D..

 

Scientist (Vita)

The greatest amount of experience Daniel Zielske has had in Anthropology is as a professor and ethnographer. He started teaching as a graduate student in 1989, later becoming an adjunct professor in 1991. Zielske has taught anthropology for Minnesota State University - Mankato for 18 years, he also is teaching anthropology and music at South Central College in Mankato. You can also read about previous experience in anthropology by looking at the Chimpanzee and Archaeology sections of this web site.

1995-Current: Dan's current work in anthropology is focused on the traditions and customs of the Mdwakanton Dakotah of southern Minnesota. Dan is focusing his studies on the origin, creation and use of Dakota medicine music and the traditions. He is experienced and has participated in all of the seven rites of the pipe.

1992-1994 Field Supervisor, Impact Services
I worked under the supervision of Dr. Richard Strachan and Kathleen Retzel. I performed many different roles for the company some of which included field supervisor and agricultural consultant were two of the most important. I was also expected to contribute to the writing of the project reports. I have worked on paleolithic Indian sites and I have worked with human remains.

1987-1992 Field Crew, Impact Services
I worked as field crew under the direction of Dr. Richard Strachan and Kathleen Retzel. My work taught me the basic skills of excavation. I also learned how to read soil composition and was taught many helpful field techniques.

Summer of 1989 Chimpanzoo and Jane Goodhal Institute During this summer I did my internship for my B.S. degree on chimpanzee social behavior which I carried out at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, CO. I developed a research strategy and finished work on the difference in social behaviors of chimpanzees that were raised by their parent chimpanzees vs. chimpanzees that had been raised through the first seven to ten years of their lives by humans.

July 1987 Register, Science Museum of Minnesota
I spent one month helping Clark Dobbs and Orin Shane with a local project at Winnebago, Minnesota. Here I helped in analysis and registering of artifacts that the people would bring into their local museum. The information was then stored for reference at the Science Museum of Minnesota.

Summer of 1986 Field School, University of Minnesota
I spent this summer working under Clark Dobbs. I worked at many archaeological sites in the Winnebago and Red Wing areas of Minnesota. My first experience with paleolithic Indian sites was obtain during this time.

 

Humanitarianism

2002-Current: Board of Trustees for Minnesota Citizens for the Arts. Minnesota Citizens for the Arts (MCA) is a statewide arts advocacy organization that organizes the arts community to lobby the Minnesota State Legislature and Congress. Our mission is to ensure opportunity for all people to have access to and involvement in the arts. In 2008 we worked to pass a Minnesota constitutional amendment that will provide funding for Clean Water, Parks and the Arts throughout Minnesota.

1997-Current: Board of Directors for the Mdewankanton Pow-wow Association I currently am sitting on the Board of Directors for the Mdewankanton Pow-wow Association. One of my responsibilities for the club is the cermonial activity and the sweat lodge. I also help put together the Mankato end of the Dakota December 26th Memorial Run from Fort Snelling in St. Paul to Land of Memories Park in Mankato.

1983-2012: State and Regional Science & Engineering Fair Judge I have been privileged to be asked to judge the south-central and south-west Minnesota regional science fairs. I have also judged at the Minnesota state science fair. The awards I have judged for include the U.S. Army special awards and the top overall science fair awards. These students were then eligible to participate in the International Science & Engineering Fair.

2007-2012: Board Member for the Minnesota Arts in Education Consortium. The Consortium is a umbrella organization that helps guide Minnesota legislation on arts education requirements for K-12 curriculum. It will lobby the Minnesota legislator in all matters of arts education funding and educational requirements.

 

 

AWARDS & COMMISSIONS

• Marquis Who's Who in America 2011-2014
• Commission for 100th Birthday of the Minnesota State Capitol
• Forecast Public Arts Award & Commission
• Musical Commissions for the City of Mankato Sesquentenial (2 Works)
• MP4 Award for Original Multimedia Composition
• Musical Commission for Rochester Community College, New Music Concert (2 years)
  • Musical Commission from the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Musical Commission from the Consortium of Music Theorists and Composers
• Musical Commission from the Waseca High School Marching Band
• Three Musical Commissions from the Mankato State Dance Ensemble (3 separate years)
• Nominated for Fine Arts in Television Award at the Minnesota Film Board Awards
  • CCTV Fine Arts in Television Award
• Aundreas Anthropology Scholarship
  • Graduate Assistantship to the Department of Anthropology at Mankato State University
  • Order of Spindeltop Award & Membership
• Bosh & Lomb Honorary Science Award Winner
  • U.S. Army Bronze Medal Award for Science Fair
  • International Science & Engineering Fair Finalist (2 years)