The Department of Anthropology has a strong reputation for its work in Great Lakes studies. These efforts include activities in research, teaching, and outreach. The Department sees itself as having a primary focus in this area, and the breadth and depth of activities supports this view.

The Department of Anthropology has five archaeologists (Goldstein, Lewis, Lovis, Norder and O'Gorman) and at least two cultural anthropologists (Krouse, Morgan) who are actively engaged in Great Lakes ethnohistorical research. Among these faculty, their regional and topical research foci are diverse, and currently include projects such as:

• research on historic agricultural frontiers and settlement in southern lower Michigan (Lewis);
• the transition to horticulture in the Saginaw Valley region (Lovis);
• the use of rock art in social and sacred landscapes in Northern Ontario (Norder);
• Oneota and Middle Mississippian interaction in the Illinois River Valley, Illinois (O’Gorman);
• the relationships between late prehistoric groups in southeastern Wisconsin (Goldstein);
• Ojibwe language teaching practices at the university level (Morgan);
• Women’s roles in the development of the Indian Community School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Krouse).

One of the most impressive things about all of the research mentioned above is that each project has a significant outreach component, and the researcher is actively engaged with local communities and citizens. In archaeology, outreach is evidenced by extensive involvement of our faculty with the Michigan Archaeological Society, the state avocational organization. Faculty also regularly provide presentations to public schools and community organizations. Further, we assist both state and federal agencies that manage public lands and development in Michigan in the development of appropriate public policy. Many of our graduates are in prominent government management positions for Great Lakes properties in Michigan and elsewhere.

The Department regularly trains both undergraduate and graduate students in Great Lakes archaeology and ethnography, through field schools and regular programmatic coursework. Graduates of the department teach at almost every university in Michigan, as well as other universities and colleges throughout the region, and continue to conduct Great Lakes research. In 2008, we developed the MSU Campus Archaeology Program. This program allows our students to engage in cultural resource management here on campus, while doing historical and archaeological research to expand our understanding of the development of our Land Grant Institution, and the indigenous communities that preceded it. CAP regularly gives outreach presentations, and is one of our most visible departmental projects.

For more information on regional research, visit our on-line exhibits:

• Marquette Mission Site, St. Ignace, Michigan
• Saints’ Rest Archaeological Project, East Lansing, Michigan
• Campus Archaeology Program