This semester, the Undergraduate Anthropology Club is continuing its mission to provide students interested in anthropology with a constructive environment to further their professional and academic goals. By the end of this semester, they will have presentations by four professors about their research, had a presentation from the Campus Archaeology Program, and a tour of the bioarchaeology lab. The UAC is planning a trip down to Ann Arbor this semester to meet the University of Michigan’s Anthropology Club and to tour some of their museums. At the last meeting of the semester, the UAC will host their annual Students vs.…

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This has been an exciting year for the Graduate Students of Anthropology (GSA). The department turned out in full force for the 2013 Chili Cook-off. Mouthwatering chili recipes were brought from every corner of the department, with the Award Winning Chili title going to Dr. William Lovis and his wife Libby. With the money raised, the GSA was able to sponsor a holiday bowling bash. The GSA has made it a point this year to increase departmental social activities. Aside from monthly social hour meetings, events like the holiday bowling bash were planned to connect graduate students from different cohorts…

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 Allison Apland is a junior from West Des Moines, Iowa. She is studying Anthropology and History at MSU, is part of the Honors College, and hopes to go to graduate school to study bioarchaeology in the Middle East. She is currently conducting research in the Biomarker Lab for Anthropological Research with Dr. Masako Fujita to investigate questions of food insecurity and nutrition. Her focus is connecting food insecurity with food-based coping strategies and diet. She is presenting her findings about these relationships at the Undergraduate Research Symposium at the American Association of Physical Anthropology meeting in April. Allison hopes to…

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Jen Vollner majored in biology while she was an undergraduate, and she had interests anatomy, evolution and genetics. Her college had no anthropology department, so it wasn’t until she was accepted into graduate school at Mercyhurst College that she took her first anthropology course. Spending two years in Erie, PA at Mercyhurst helped prepare her academically for the transition into Michigan State’s Ph.D. program. While at Michigan State University, Jen (at left below) has been fortunate to work in the Forensic Anthropology Lab directed first by Dr. Norm Sauer and currently by Dr. Todd Fenton. The lab not only works…

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Eve Avdoulos was eight years old when she decided that she wanted to become a paleontologist. At the time, it was unclear whether it was her love for pre-historic large reptiles or her curiosity of exploring and learning about things so foreign to our current world that intrigued her. A trip to Italy at age fifteen solidified that it was in fact the latter with which she was captivated. After seeing the plethora of ruins that decorate Rome, Florence and Pompeii, her interests transitioned from paleontology to archaeology. Her ambition of becoming an archaeologist never disappeared, and, in August 2008,…

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The Institute of Museum and Library Services Museums for America Program recently awarded $77, 292 of a total project budget of $151,296 to Co-PIs Dr. William Lovis and Lynne Swanson (Cultural Collections Manager at the MSU Museum) for a project titled  “Michigan State University Museum Archaeological Collections Stewardship Project: Compact Storage Upgrades to Cultural Collections Resource Center.” This programmatic and infrastructure improvement grant is designed to provide improved storage conditions and enhance the available storage space for archaeological collections housed at the Collections Resource Center at Central Services building adjacent to Spartan Stadium.  Compact storage technology, familiar to many through…

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After graduation from City College of New York (B.S. 1951), Dr. Bernard Gallin began his graduate studies at Cornell University, majoring in anthropology and China studies. One year later, in 1952, he enrolled in a 10-week summer Chinese language program at Yale University, intending to return to Cornell. Because of the Korean War, however, he was drafted into the army for two years (1952-54). Given his Chinese language training, he was assigned to Tokyo, Japan, as a China research specialist. As a result, his commitment to a career in China studies and anthropology crystallized. Soon after Dr. Gallin’s army discharge…

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Dr. Monir Moniruzzaman first became interested in Anthropology during his undergraduate studies in Bangladesh at Jahangirnagar University. He finished his undergraduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology and stayed another year at the university to complete a Masters in Anthropology. He then taught Anthropology at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology for three years. In 2000, he left for Canada to continue his graduate education. He received his Master of Arts from University of Western Ontario in 2003 and his PhD from University of Toronto in 2010. It was during his studies in Canada that Dr. Moniruzzaman developed his current research…

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Spring commencement preparations always remind me of how terrific our students are, and what wonderful opportunities our faculty provides for both undergraduate and graduate training. Throughout this newsletter you’ll see examples of undergraduates involved in various faculty-mentored research projects funded by the Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative and the department, volunteer experiences, field schools, peer mentorship, and Anthropology Club field trips and other events. Watch your email for a special invitation to alumni to connect with our undergraduates. We are planning a fall reception to bring together alums working outside of the academy with undergraduate majors to help students envision the wide variety…

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