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New Books by Dr. William Lovis
Marking the Land: Hunter-Gatherer Creation of Meaning in their Environment Edited by William A Lovis and Robert Whallon Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis in Archaeological Computational Modeling Edited by Marieka Brouwer Burg, Hans Peeters, and William A. Lovis This article appears in our Spring 2016 newsletter. Read the entire newsletter here.
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Barbara Rose Johnston selected to deliver Michael Kearney Memorial Lecture
Dr. Barbara Rose Johnston, Adjunct faculty member, was selected to deliver the Michael Kearney Memorial Lecture at the annual meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) this past spring (2016). The SfAA honors the memory of Michael Kearney by selecting an outstanding contemporary scholar to present on a topic relevant to the three themes central in his work: migration, human rights, and transnationalism. Dr. Johnston delivered the distinguished lecture titled, “Climate Change, Migration, and Biocultural Diversity – Emerging Trends, D/volutionary Tipping Points?” Dr. Johnston was also recognized by the American Anthropological Association (AAA) at the annual meeting this past November as co-winner of the 2015 Anthropology in Public Policy Award…
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News From Around The Department
The Department of Anthropology organized a visit to The Field Museum in Chicago this February to see “The Greeks: Agamemnon to Alexander.” The group of 36 participants included undergraduate and graduate students in Anthropology along with faculty from Anthropology and History and several History undergraduate students. (Photograph, far right: Students in the lobby of the Field Museum) Dr. William Lovis and alumnae Dr. Marieka Brouwer-Burg released their co-edited book, “Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis in Archaeological Computational Modeling.” (photograph, below left: Dr. Lovis and Dr. Brouwer-Burg with their volume. Co-edited with Hans Peeters, not pictured.) Dr. Jamal Hanifi (adjunct) presented his…
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Update from the Undergraduate Club
This year, the Undergraduate Anthropology Club has been busy building personal and professional relationships, helping the community, and having a lot of fun along the way! We have had many professors speak to us about their research, bridging the gap between students and faculty. We are thankful for our supportive faculty, many of whom have joined us for our bi-weekly meetings. The club has also diversified its activities. During the fall semester, we were able to visit the Henry Ford Museum and get an exclusive look at some of the collections. We were able to hold a resume and CV…
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Update from the GSA
The Graduate Students in Anthropology (GSA) is a student-run organization whose goal is to support and create community amongst graduate students in the department. This academic year we introduced the Academic Enhancement Scholarship to help students cover travel costs and academic necessities (i.e., books, software, hardware, etc.). The GSA awarded two $100 scholarships in Fall 2015 and two more in Spring 2016. We also organized the first Graduate Research Symposium in January (see photo), which provided a platform for students from the various subfields to present and share their work with colleagues and hear about research conducted by faculty members.…
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Alumnus Dr. Robert Mainfort Retires in Lansing
Dr. Robert C. Mainfort, archaeologist and a triple alumnus of the MSU Department of Anthropology (BS 1970, MA 1974, PhD 1977), re-settled in Lansing in 2013 for retirement. MSU Anthropology was honored to bring him on as an adjunct professor, and he recently co-taught a graduate seminar, “Readings in Eastern North American Archaeology” with his long-time buddy from grad school, Dr. William Lovis. Dr. Mainfort’s most notable work focuses on prehistoric societies in the Midsouth. As Regional Archaeologist in Tennessee, he directed several years of research at Pinson Mounds, one of the largest mound groups in North America, dating to…
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Update From the Field: Fayana Richards
The proportion of individuals 65 years of age and older is expected to double by 2050. As such, concerns over their anticipated needs have largely focused on older adults as the recipients of care. I take a different approach by highlighting the fact that older adults can and do serve as caregivers themselves for spouses, siblings, friends, and their grandchildren. My dissertation research examines family dynamics and caregiving practices among African American grandmothers raising grandchildren in Detroit, Michigan. Specifically, I explore the moral obligations for providing care: what circumstances and reasons do grandmothers give for raising their grandchildren? I also…
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Alumni Spotlight on Dr. Sean Dunham
I’m Sean Dunham and I am the Heritage Program Manager/Archaeologist at the Chippewa National Forest (CNF) as well as a triple alum of the MSU Anthropology Department (BA 1985, MA 2011, PhD 2014). The CNF manages about 660,000 acres in north central Minnesota near the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Serendipitously, I started working up here soon after my dissertation defense and have been enjoying living and working in the north woods! There are about 3000 archaeological and historic sites within the boundaries of the CNF and we identify more sites every year. These range from 10,000 year old Native…
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Dr. Heather Howard Visits Oxford University
Dr. Heather Howard spent the semester as a Visiting Scholar with the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography at the University of Oxford, where she gave a paper titled, “What’s in a name? ‘Metabolic surgery,’ Curing Diabetes, and the Transformation of Weight Loss Procedures and Patients,” as part of the seminar series of the Unit for Biocultural Variation and Obesity (UBVO). She also presented her research at the Institute of Preventative Medicine at Frederiksberg Hospital and Governing Obesity group at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, this past March. These papers draw on findings from NIH-funded research carried out with Dr.…
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Meet Joan Reid, Graduate Secretary
The Department of Anthropology is very pleased to introduce our new Graduate Secretary, Joan Reid, who joined the department Fall of 2015. She is a longtime MSU employee and very experienced in working with Graduate Students. She’s been at MSU 26 years, having worked in Urban Affairs and for several language programs in the College of Arts and Letters. Prior to coming to Anthropology Joan worked in the Graduate Office for the School of Social Work’s Masters of Social Work (MSW) and PhD graduate programs. In Anthropology, Joan provides graduate students with information and resources necessary to progress through the…