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PhD Student Clara Devota awarded National Institute of Justice American Indian & Alaska Native Student Travel Scholarship
To enhance diversity in the field of criminal justice, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) American Indian and Alaska Native Student Travel Scholarship supports 15 American Indian and Alaska Native students to attend criminal justice-related conferences. The award supports travel, room and board, and conference fees for the selected student. Department of Anthropology PhD Student, Clara Devota, has been selected to receive two travel scholarships to attend the American Society of Criminology (ASC) Annual Meeting, Nov. 17-20, 2021 in Chicago, and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) 774th Annual Scientific Meeting, Feb. 21-26, 2022, in Seattle.
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Ayla Schwartz, Biological Anthropology
Ayla Schwartz has contributed greatly to research activities in the MSU Bioarchaeology Laboratory directed by Dr. Gabriel Wrobel. With majors in Anthropology and Neuroscience and a minor in Environment and Health, Schwartz’s interests within bioarchaeology include skeletal indicators of stress, and digital imaging and 3D modeling of artifacts and human skeletal remains. During her undergraduate career, Schwartz was engaged in several projects in the MSU Bioarchaeology Laboratory under the mentorship of Dr. Wrobel. Her primary research endeavors have focused on investigating lines of increased bone density, referred to as Harris lines, seen in the ends of long bones with computed…
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Lulu Nestor, Sociocultural Anthropology
Lulu Nestor discovered her passion for peace and justice work at MSU through her focus on sociocultural anthropology and peace and justice studies. During her first year, Nestor learned about the work of the Lansing violence de-escalation and unarmed civilian accompaniment nonprofit, Meta Peace Team (MPT), in Dr. Elizabeth Drexler’s Peace and Justice Studies class. This organization trains people in violence de-escalation and sends out teams of trained civilians to keep peace at potentially violent situations, such as protests. Nestor interned with MPT, serving as a board member and part of several committees including MPT’s international committee, which places unarmed…
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Savannah Holcombe, Biological Anthropology
When she first learned about forensic anthropology, Savannah Holcombe found that the field instantly resonated with her. At MSU, Holcombe followed her interests in forensic anthropology and became actively engaged in the MSU Forensic Anthropology Laboratory (MSUFAL) working with Dr. Joseph Hefner. In addition to her anthropology classes and experiences in the MSUFAL, Holcombe highly valued her coursework for her minor in African American and African Studies. As an undergraduate research assistant, Holcombe worked with Dr. Hefner in the MSU Macromorphoscopic Laboratory on several projects. She received a College of Social Science Dean’s Assistantship to support a study that investigated…
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Isabel Hershey, Sociocultural Anthropology
Underlying Isabel Hershey’s educational pursuits has been her dedication for human rights and intersectional social justice. Hershey earned dual degrees in Anthropology and the Arts and Humanities, as well as three minors in Peace and Justice Studies, Human Behavior and Social Services, and Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Drawing on her multifaceted interests, Hershey worked with Dr. Elizabeth Drexler on two related research projects both supported by College of Social Science Provost’s Undergraduate Research Initiative (PURI) awards. One study focused on how art moves audiences affectively in terms of human rights and justice projects, and the other examined representations of…
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Dr. Sabrina Perlman, Medical Anthropology
Dr. Sabrina Perlman’s dissertation research took place over fourteen months in Kumasi, Ghana, where she was a participant observer, carried out interviews, and collected biomarker data from medical records in an urban public hospital’s diabetes clinic. Under the mentorship of Drs. Heather Howard and Masako Fujita, she produced a dissertation titled “Diabetes, Gender, and Poverty in Ghana”. Her dissertation tells the story of diabetes in Ghana through the voices of the clinic’s patients and healthcare providers contending with the challenges of self-management in a context of gender inequality and intersectionality of multiple disadvantages. Dr. Perlman’s work significantly contributes to understanding…
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Dr. Jeffrey Painter, Archaeology
Dr. Jeffrey Painter has played a key role in the Morton Village Project, led by his former advisor Dr. Jodie O’Gorman, throughout his graduate career. His dissertation, “Cooking and Coalescence: Exploring the Construction of Community and Cuisine at Morton Village,” investigates foodways practices at this site located in the central Illinois River valley. Dr. Painter developed his research to explore the role cooking plays in local and immigrant communities in post-migration contexts of the ancient past. Using a broad foodways perspective, he examined residue patterns on pottery to identify cooking techniques. His analyses of the pottery’s physical and symbolic attributes…
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Dr. Jessica Ott, Medical Anthropology
Dr. Jessica Ott came to MSU with a background in public health focused on HIV and gender-based violence prevention. From her first course to the completion of her dissertation in 2020, she expanded her theoretical analysis as she engaged with new perspectives on anthropological analysis of violence and rights, as well as with questions of history and memory. Drawing on this knowledge, Dr. Ott articulated incisive questions and considered what they would mean on the ground in terms of gender and rights in Tanzania. Dr. Ott’s dissertation, titled “Women’s rights in repetition: nation building, solidarity, and Islam in Zanzibar”, is…
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Dr. Jessica McLeod, Sociocultural Anthropology
Dr. Jessica McLeod’s dissertation, “Living in Limbo: Western Immigrants’ Experiences in Japan as a Product of Japaneseness”, is described by her dissertation chair, Dr. Andrea Louie, as an important contribution to the existing literature on migration, Japaneseness, and intersectional identities. Dr. McLeod combined her experience as a foreigner who has lived in Japan with her expansive knowledge of the anthropology of Japanese and in-depth fieldwork to create a complex, nuanced ethnography. Focusing on an understudied migrant population—Westerners who immigrate to and settle in Japan—Dr. McLeod used ethnographic interviews and participant observation to explore the ways Western immigrants’ obvious foreignnessbenefits them…
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Dr. Anna Martínez-Hume, Medical Anthropology
Dr. Anna Martínez-Hume’s dissertation research, titled “Refractions of ‘Doing Good’: The State, Subjectivity, and NGO Health Workers in Maya Guatemala”, is described as innovative and compelling by her advisor, Dr. Linda Hunt. Based on interviews, observations, and document review conducted over five years, Dr. Martínez-Hume examines the shifting position and commitment of Mayan NGO healthcare workers in the context of a radically fluctuating socio-political environment. In this setting, perspectives of NGOs have transmuted from relying on them for healthcare delivery of underserved communities, to withdrawing support from these NGOs and viewing them as corrupt and exploitive. Using subjectivity theory to…