-
Featured Graduate Student: Nerli Paredes Ruvalcaba
Nerli Paredes Ruvalcaba is a second-year graduate student who received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship last year and is now preparing to conduct her pre-dissertation research. Nerli was awarded support to participate in the NSF diversity program, IDEAS, which she describes below. I first became interested in anthropology as an undergraduate at the University of California, Riverside. A class with Dr. Robin Nelson introduced me to topics related to parent-child interactions. I had recently become a mother and I was extremely interested in those topics. Dr. Nelson’s class also assured me that even though biological anthropology had a dark history…
-
NEW Alumni & Friends Fund for Archaeology
The Department of Anthropology is proud to announce the creation of The Alumni and Friends Expendable Fund for Archaeology. The purpose of this fund is to target the needs of MSU archaeology students at the undergraduate and graduate levels and enhance the visibility of MSU’s archaeology program at home and abroad. Through the funds accumulated by donations from our alumni and friends we will be able to offer student assistance for professional development in the forms of scholarships for fieldwork, research, travel and fellowships. By enhancing the recruitment of a diverse archaeological student cohort and establishing an annual, invited lecture…
-
Message from the Chair: Dr. Jodie O’Gorman
Welcome to the Spring 2017 newsletter! As usual, there is a lot going on at this time of the year. I am happy to announce that we have hired Dr. Fredy Rodriguez as our new teaching professor. He will be an important link to new undergraduate majors, mentor teaching assistants, and bring a strong interest in cutting-edge pedagogies to our faculty. While serving as the interim undergraduate advisor this past year, Dr. Rodriguez initiated an Anthropology Showcase that will highlight work that undergraduates have produced in different anthropology classes and lab experiences. We will host our first showcase this coming fall,…
-
The Biomarker Laboratory for Anthropological Research
In 2011 Dr. Masako Fujita founded the Biomarker Laboratory for Anthropological Research, where she and her students could conduct cutting edge anthropology research using biomarkers: measurable biochemical substances in bodies that can indicate various aspects of health. Recent grants from the Wenner-Gren Foundation and the National Science Foundation are funding two separate projects that together will address how variations in the beneficial contents of human milk, like antibodies and vitamins, relate to maternal health and the sex of the infant. There are substantial disparities in child mortality related to household income and sex of the infant, particularly in places in…
-
2017 Fieldwork Photography Winners
First Place “Stone Skipping in Matemwe“ Taken in Zanzibar in 2016 by graduate student Jessica Ott Second Place “Fishing Boat on the Zambezi” Taken in Zambia in 2014 by undergraduate Robert Billette Third Place (not pictured) “Sassy” by graduate student Deon Claiborne Congratulations to our winners!
-
Fieldwork Photography Contest Winners for 2017
First Place: “Stone Skipping in Matemwe” Zanzibar, 2016 Jessica Ott, Graduate Student Second Place: “Fishing Boat on the Zambezi” Zambia, 2014 Robert Billette, Undergraduate Third Place: (not pictured) “Sassy” Costa Rica, 2015 Deon Claiborne, Graduate Student
-
Monir Moniruzzaman Presents Research on Human Organ Trafficking at the Vatican
Dr. Monir Moniruzzaman presented his research on human organ trafficking at the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Science during the Summit on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism this April. Dr. Moniruzzaman hopes that bringing increased attention to black market organ sales will reduce this “form of slavery that exploits bonded laborers, migrants and refugees fleeing the genocide in their countries, executed prisoners, minors – the destitute and the excluded.” One method for combating organ trafficking is increasing the number of legitimate organ donations, as this reduces the overall demand for organs trafficked on the black market. This event has been featured by the Lansing State…
-
Mara Leichtman helps launch “World Anthropology Day” in Kuwait
Mara Leichtman helped launch American University of Kuwait’s first celebration of World Anthropology Day with Professor Pellegrino Luciano (AUK), Kuwaiti anthropologist Professor Abdullah Alajmi (Arab Open University), and AUK’s Social and Behavioral Sciences Anthropology Club (February 16, 2017). Mara Leichtman is currently conducting international research, having received three grants for her new project entitled, “Humanitarian Islam: Transnational Religion and Kuwaiti Development Projects in Africa.” Her fieldwork in Senegal (summer 2016) was funded by a West Africa Research Association Post-Doctoral Fellowship. She is spending the 2016-2017 academic year as a visiting Fulbright Scholar at American University of Kuwait, where she is…
-
Anthropology Students Present Research, Win Recognition at UURAF
Anthropology undergraduates presented their excellent research in the form of poster presentations at the 2017 University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF). The UURAF is a university-wide event focused on highlighting unique and creative research endeavors of undergraduates across disciplines. Students at UURAF are mentored by faculty, and have the opportunity to present a poster or paper (oral presentation). Thirteen MSU students mentored by Anthropology faculty participated, covering topics such as the Racialization of Arab Americans Post 9/11 (Breanna Escamilla, mentored by Najib Hourani), Visualizations using GIS of the Campus Archaeology Excavations (Jasmine Smith, mentored by Lynne Goldstein), and Microbotanical Analysis…
-
Dr. Joseph T. Hefner releases new text with Dr. Marin A. Pilloud
Biological Distance Analysis, 1st Edition Forensic and Bioarchaeological Perspectives Edited by: Marin A. Pilloud and Joseph T. Hefner Biological Distance Analysis: Forensic and Bioarchaeological Perspectives synthesizes research within the realm of biological distance analysis, highlighting current work within the field and discussing future directions. The book is divided into three main sections. The first section clearly outlines datasets and methods within biological distance analysis, beginning with a brief history of the field and how it has progressed to its current state. The second section focuses on approaches using the individual within a forensic context, including ancestry estimation and case studies.…