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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…
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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!
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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
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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Guest Speakers Offer Fresh Perspectives
Two dynamic scholars visited the department this fall. Dr. Donna Yates (University of Glasgow, pictured on left) brought her expertise on antiquities trafficking to campus. She gave a public lecture to an audience of almost 100 with another 41 people watching it stream live. The talk traced factors enabling looting and illicit antiquities sales around the world, raising questions about how policy and scholarship could more effectively prevent the destruction of the past. She also gave a workshop for graduate students in which she analyzed the humanitarian disasters in Syria and Iraq as examples of policy dilemmas. Students were engaged…
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Digital Archaeology Grant Wraps Up
The Institute for Digital Archaeology Method and Practice successfully held its second and final meeting at MSU this past August. Directed by Professors Ethan Watrall and Lynne Goldstein and generously supported by a $250,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the goal of the institute was to bring together scholars, practitioners, and students to learn digital archaeological skills and engage with critical concepts and challenges. The 32 participants were originally chosen from 200 applicants and hailed from a wide range of sectors, including national parks, private cultural resource management firms, academic programs, and museums. This second meeting…
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Grad Student Mari Isa Receives NSF Fellowship
Mari Isa is a graduate student analyzing skeletal trauma, and a recent recipient of an NSF fellowship. Below, she shares more about her work: I started at MSU as an undergraduate. That fall, I took my first anthropology class, Biocultural Evolution, and began working in the Nubian Bioarchaeology Laboratory under the guidance of Dr. Todd Fenton. Needless to say, I was hooked. Six years later, I am serving as the Laboratory Manager in the MSU Forensic Anthropology Laboratory. This job allows me to work with local medical examiners and law enforcement agencies to assist in medico-legal cases. I have worked…