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Spring 2015 Message from the Acting Chair: Dr. Laurie Medina
Greetings! As another academic year winds down, we are celebrating graduations. But we are also gearing up for a busy summer. Students and faculty will soon disperse to pursue research and language study in places across the world. On campus, the Campus Archaeology Program, directed by Dr. Lynne Goldstein, will run an archaeological field school this summer. Both the program and the field school reflect MSU’s commitment to understanding and preserving its own history, and both provide exciting opportunities for undergraduates and grad students to develop experience in research and data analysis. Meanwhile, Dr. Gabe Wrobel will lead both graduate…
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Undergraduate Peer Mentor positions available for Summer 2015 online class ISS 215 “Navigating U.S. Culture”
The MSU Department of Anthropology is accepting applications from students interested in being Undergraduate Peer Mentors in a 200-level ISS online class focused on exploring social and cultural diversity in the United States. Peer mentors work with groups of about 10–15 students to encourage them to stay engaged with class materials and assignments. You should gain valuable experience serving as a peer mentor in an online MSU class, where you will have some flexibility to creatively use online media to support a small group of learners. You will also gain expertise in cross-cultural relations, a skill increasingly valued by employers…
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Department of Anthropology Undergraduate Student Joshua Schnell Wins Prestigious Beinecke Scholarship
The Department of Anthropology is very proud to announce that Joshua Schnell has been awarded the highly prestigious and competitive Beinecke Scholarship. Founded in 1971, the Beinecke Scholarship supports students pursuing graduate studies in the arts, humanities and social sciences. Joshua Schnell, a junior, is an Honors College member studying Anthropology and Religious Studies. He has always been passionate about anthropology and archaeology. He spent his childhood reading his grandpa’s National Geographic magazines and every book ancient civilizations book he could find. His love of bones stretches back as far as he can remember- collecting and cleaning animal bones he found…
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Professor Hefner Appointed to the American Board of Forensic Anthropology Board of Directors
The American Board of Forensic Anthropology announced last week that it has appointed Dr. Joseph T. Hefner to its Board of Directors, effective July 1st. His term will last through July 2018. The American Board of Forensic Anthropology was incorporated in 1977 to function in much the same way as certifying boards in various medical specialties and other scientific fields. Diplomates of the ABFA are recognized for their special qualifications in forensic anthropology and for meeting the highest standards in the field. As an appointed member of the Board of Directors, Dr. Hefner will be instrumental in establishing and maintaining…
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Kathryn Frederick- Honorable Mention 2015 Society for American Archaeology Student Paper Competition
Kathryn Frederick is the recipient of an Honorable Mention in the 2015 Society for American Archaeology Student Paper competition for her presentation “Holes: The Beginners Guide to Food Caching”. Kate was/will be honored at the Annual Awards Ceremony in San Francisco. This is only the second Honorable Mention since the inception of the Student Paper competition, attesting to the strength of her research. “Holes . . .” reports on the results of three years of subterranean food caching experiments eventually resulting in five months of underground food storage that passed modern food safety standards. Kate’s work was assisted by collaboration with Professor Leslie Bourquin from the Department…
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Lisa Bright awarded the College of Social Science Research Scholars Fellowship
We are happy to announce that PhD student Lisa Bright has been awarded the College of Social Science Research Scholars Fellowship for Summer 2015. This award, open only to students completing their first year of doctoral study, is awarded to students who demonstrate strong preparation and aspiration towards a career in social science research. Lisa will use the award to travel to San Jose, California and begin archival research on her dissertation site. The funds will also be used to purchase digital camera equipment to be used for digitizing historical documents at the archives.
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2015 Anthropology Photo Contest Winners
First Place: Sabrina Perlman, “Football in a Fishing Village”, Ghana 2014 Second Place: Edward Glazer, “All Weather Billiards in China”, Qinghai Province, China, 2011 Third Place: Sylvia Deskaj, “Mountains”, Albania, 2014 Honorable Mentions go to: Ann Martinez, “Dia de Santiago”, Antigua, Guatemala, 2014 Katy Meyers Emery, “Mayan Flying Dancers”, Mexico, 2015 Thanks to all the participants, and congratulations to this year’s winners!
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MSU Anthropology Graduate Panel Podcast at SfAA and Kehli Henry wins Bea Medicine Scholarship
Congratulations to Kehli Henry on winning one of the two very competitive Bea Medicine Awards from the Society for Applied Anthropology. “The scholarship celebrates the life and legacy of Beatrice Medicine, an internationally prominent anthropologist who passed away in December 2005. Dr. Medicine was a descendant on both sides of her family from the Lakota, and an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. This heritage found reflection in her life’s work — an impressive record of teaching, research, and service, which focused on understanding and tolerance within the broader human condition and particularly toward Native peoples” (http://www.sfaa.net/about/prizes/student-awards/bea-medicine/) Kehli…
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Meenakshi Narayan receives College of Social Science Research Scholars Fellowship
The Department of Anthropology is very pleased to inform that Meenakshi Narayan, a third-year graduate student of the Department is a three-year College of Social Science Research Scholars Fellowship awardee (2013 – 2015). Through receiving this award, Meenakshi has successfully carried out two years of summer research in India, including her pre-dissertation research (2014) to facilitate her dissertation research. Meenakshi will use the award from this year to focus on language training at the South Asia Summer Language Institute (SASLI), Madison Wisconsin.
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Dr. Todd Fenton and Dr. Joseph Hefner Selected as Inaugural Members of a National Forensics Science Subcommittee
The first meeting of the OSAC Subcommittee on Anthropology took place in January 2015. Dr. Todd Fenton and Dr. Joseph Hefner were announced in October 2014 as two initial members of the National Institute of Justice and National Institute on Standards and Technology’s subcommittee on Anthropology. The Subcommittee on Anthropology is a subsection of Crime Scene/ Death Investigation and part of the new Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC). This initiative replaces the Scientific Working Group in Anthropology (SWGANTH) established by the FBI and the National Institute of Justice but retains a similar mission: “The Subcommittee on Anthropology will focus on standards and guidelines related to…