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Dr. Heather Howard and doctoral student Livy Drexler awarded Spencer Foundation Grant
Department of Anthropology Associate Professor Heather Howard and doctoral student Livy Drexler have been awarded a grant from the Spencer Foundation to carry out research for the project, “Special Education in Indian Country: Challenges and Insights from Applying Indigenous Models of Disability in Schools.” Indigenous children are overrepresented in special education programs and are 15% more likely than other groups to be tracked into special education programs. Yet, there has been little examination of the experiences of Indigenous students in special education nor of the intersection of Indigenous and disability identities. The research will explore this intersectionality by examining if…
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Dr. Carolyn Isaac, doctoral student Clara Devota, and MSU Anthropology alumni publish in the International Journal of Legal Medicine on an online database for skeletal injuries
Department of Anthropology Assistant Professor Dr. Carolyn Isaac, doctoral student Clara Devota, and MSU Anthropology alumni Dr. Jered Cornelison and Erica Christensen, M.S., recently published an article in the International Journal of Legal Medicine entitled: “The Repository of Antemortem Injury Response (REPAIR): an online database for skeletal injuries of known ages”. The article discusses the importance of The Repository of Antemortem Injury Response (REPAIR) as a reference for forensic casework, an educational tool, and database for research on dating fractures and healing rates. Read the full article at: https://rdcu.be/cEyZy Abstract: “An accurate assessment of time since fracture is an essential component of abuse and…
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Dr. Gabriel Wrobel publishes two articles in Ancient Mesoamerica on Maya Skeletal Remains
Department of Anthropology Associate Professor Gabriel Wrobel recently published two co-authored articles in Ancient Mesoamerica as part of a special issue called “The Preceramic and Early Ceramic Periods in Belize and the Central Maya Lowlands.” Ancient Mesoamerica is a flagship journal for Mesoamerican archaeology published by Cambridge Press, and both articles are open access, through an agreement between the MSU Library and Cambridge Press. The first article is titled “Life And Death Among The Earliest Maya: A Review Of Early And Middle Preclassic Burials From The Maya World”, and is co-authored by Dr. Raúl Alejandro López Pérez (Universidad Autónoma de…
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The MSU Forensic Anthropology Lab moves to Giltner Hall
During the summer of 2021, the Michigan State University Forensic Anthropology Lab (MSUFAL), moved from its longtime home in East Fee Hall to a new laboratory and teaching space in Giltner Hall. The move has been bittersweet, due to the history of groundbreaking research and fruitful collaborations that were forged in East Fee Hall, but the new lab in Giltner offers the opportunity to expand the consulting, training, and research for which MSUFAL is known. The MSUFAL has been an integral part of the MSU landscape since the 1970s, providing a variety of forensic services including forensic archaeological recovery, decedent…
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Dr. Heather Howard-Bobiwash team awarded Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Public Policy Research to Advance Racial Equity and Racial Justice grant.
MSU investigators Claire Margerison (Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics), Danielle Gartner (Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians) and Heather Howard-Bobiwash (Department of Anthropology) were recently awarded a grant under the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Public Policy Research to Advance Racial Equity and Racial Justice program for their proposal entitled “Assessing whether Indigenous women of reproductive age had equitable access to and use of health care under the Affordable Care Act.” As a group, Indigenous pregnant and birthing persons experience high rates of morbidity and mortality while they also often hold citizenship in sovereign Indigenous…
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Dr. Kurt Rademaker publishes in Quaternary International on the Alca obsidian source (Peru)
Department of Anthropology Assistant Professor Kurt Rademaker recently published an article in Quaternary International. The article is titled “Comprehensive mapping and compositional analysis of the Alca obsidian source, Peru.” The article discusses the extent and composition of the Alca obsidian source as well as behavioral information about the humans who interacted with this obsidian source over a 12,000 year span. Read the full article at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2021.11.029 Abstract: “The Alca obsidian source in southern Peru is one of the largest and most geochemically complex sources of volcanic glass in South America. Hunter-gatherers first discovered and used Alca obsidian for stone tools…
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MSU archaeologist and team publish key insights on natural and human processes in the Andes Mountains
Doctoral student Sarah Meinekat working with other graduate students at the Cuncaicha rock shelter archaeological site. The intersection of archaeology and geology tells the story of human connection and interaction with the earth. What if we could go back in time to understand how people lived in the highest altitudes in the Americas across time? The archaeological and geological record has left behind clues for MSU Department of Anthropology Assistant Professor Kurt Rademaker and his team. “People at the end of the last Ice Age managed to live in the high Andes, an extremely challenging environment where modern nighttime temperatures…
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Early Chiquihuite Cave “artifacts” are likely natural in origin
The timing of humans’ first arrival in the Americas south of glacial ice remains a topic of heated debate in archaeological circles. In the summer of 2020, a team working in Mexico claimed discovery of evidence for human occupation of a remote highland cave beginning over 30,000 years ago. Because this announcement was made in the journal Nature, it was disseminated broadly and thus rapidly became accepted doctrine in the public mind before it had been vetted by the scientific community. Today in the journal Paleoamerica, which focuses on first Americans issues, a group of 20 researchers from the US…
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Dr. Lucero Radonic, Dr. Rowenn Kalman, PhD student Cara Jacob, and E. Yvonne Lewis publish in Qualitative Research on short-term community-based participatory research
Department of Anthropology Assistant Professors Lucero Radonic and Rowenn Kalman, PhD student Cara Jacob, and Co-Director of the Healthy Flint Research Coordinating Center Community Core (HFRCC) E. Yvonne Lewis recently published an article in Qualitative Research. The article is titled “It’s a sprint, not a marathon: a case for building short-term partnerships for community-based participatory research.” The article discusses the ways in which scholars can engage in community-based participatory research within the time constraints of an academic schedule. Read the full article at: https://doi.org/10.1177/14687941211029477 Abstract: “Academic calendars and university timelines set an urgent pace for researchers, which can hinder the…
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Dr. Linda Hunt, Dr. Heather Howard, Dr. Elisabeth Arndt, and Hannah S. Bell publish in Bioethical Inquiry on the pharmaceutical industry’s involvement in diabetes treatment
Department of Anthropology Professor Dr. Linda Hunt, Associate Professor Dr. Heather Howard, alum Dr. Elisabeth Arndt, and alum Hannah S. Bell recently published an article in Bioethical Inquiry. The article is titled “Are Corporations Re-Defining Illness and Health? The Diabetes Epidemic, Goal Numbers, and Blockbuster Drugs.” The article discusses the influence of the pharmaceutical industry in screening, diagnosis, and treatment guidelines for type 2 diabetes and raises concerns about the pervasive conflicts of interest in medical research. Read the full article at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-021-10119-x Abstract: “While pharmaceutical industry involvement in producing, interpreting, and regulating medical knowledge and practice is widely accepted…