Department of Anthropology

  • Ph.D. Student Emily Milton and Assistant Professor Kurt Rademaker publish in the Journal of Archaeological Science

    Department of Anthropology Ph.D. student Emily Milton published her Master of Arts research in the Journal of Archaeological Science with co-authors Dr. Kurt Rademaker, Dr. Nathan D. Stansell (Northern Illinois University), Drs Hervé Bocherens and Döbereiner Chala-Aldana (University of Tübingen, Germany), and Annalis Brownlee (University of Alaska-Anchorage). The article, titled, “Examining surface water δ18O and δ2H values in the western Central Andes: A watershed moment for anthropological mobility studies,” reviews the isotopic patterning of surface waters in the western Peruvian Andes and implications for archaeological and forensic migration research. Emily’s research was funded by a National Science Foundation grant (PI: Dr. Rademaker) and the William A Lovis Research Fund in Environmental Archaeology.

    Read the full article at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2022.105655

    Abstract: Oxygen isotopes are commonly applied to study archaeological human and animal mobility among the vertical ecological zones of the Central Andes in South America. Such research assumes that oxygen and hydrogen isotopes in meteoric waters demonstrate an inverse relationship with elevation. However, because the primary source of precipitation in the Central Andes is the Atlantic Ocean, this expectation is likely complicated by surface-level processes on the western Andean slope. We evaluate the spatial patterning of stable isotope values in surface waters along a coast-highland transect in southern Peru (∼15-17°S). Surface water δ18O and δ2H values in the study area are consistent with regional and global meteoric waters. However, lowland and highland surface waters demonstrate wide variability and overlapping ranges of surface water isotope values. Therefore, it is challenging to discern the origin of surface waters based on elevation alone. Rather, surface water δ18O and δ2H values appear to reflect hydrologic processes including seasonality, stream order, catchment size, and distance from the source. We identify the “Watershed Effect,” which precludes the use of δ18O and δ2H in Andean bioarchaeological studies of inter-zonal mobility. Moreover, changing hydroclimate over the Holocene and present sampling precision for biological analytes confound existing interpretations of δ18O derived from archaeological bioapatite. Given the regional complexities of δ18Owater presented here, isotopic assessments of human paleomobility require better baseline data than those currently available for the Central Andes. We contend that previous archaeological datasets using δ18Obioapatite to assess mobility between high and low elevations should be re-evaluated. Further, future studies should provide adequate baseline data to justify archaeological analyses and support subsequent interpretations.

  • Associate Professor Dr. Joe Hefner and Ph.D. Candidate Micayla Spiros co-publish in the University of Florida Press’ Forensic Anthropology Journal

    Department of Anthropology Associate Professor Dr. Joe Hefner and Ph.D. Candidate Micayla Spiros and co-authors Sherry Nakhaeizadeh, Tim J.U. Thompson, Ruth M. Morgan, Viktor Olsson, Alexandra Berivoe, and Martin Arvidsson published their work in the University of Florida Press’ Forensic Anthropology Journal. The article is titled “Using Eye-Tracking Technology to Quantify the Effect of Experience and Education on Forensic Anthropological Analyses.” The article discusses how the human interpretation of analytical outputs is a significant challenge in forensic science, making it vital to explore the application of protocols as we enhance our practices. This study assesses decision making in forensic anthropological analyses utilizing eye-tracking technology to quantify an observer’s estimate of confidence and reliability. The manuscript focuses on empirical decision-making studies, forensic anthropologists can improve practices—increasing the transparency of evaluative decision making by targeting confusing or problematic aspects of a data collection practice, and in so doing, enhance training. 

    Read the full article at: https://journals.upress.ufl.edu/fa/article/view/1934

    Abstract: “The human interpretation of analytical outputs is a significant challenge in forensic science, making it vital to explore the application of protocols as we enhance our practices. This study assesses decision making in forensic anthropological analyses utilizing eye-tracking technology to quantify an observer’s estimate of confidence and reliability. Ten individuals with varying levels of education and experience were asked to score cranial morphologies for two human crania. Each participant’s fixation points, fixation duration, and visit count and duration were assessed using Tobii™ Pro 2 eye-tracking glasses. Mid-facial morphologies capturing relative widths were the quickest scored traits, with an overall median time of 14.59 seconds; more complex morphological assessments took longer. Using time as a proxy for confidence, Kruskal-Wallis rank sum results indicate individuals with less experience differed significantly from individuals with greater experience (p = 0.01) although differences in level of education were not significant. Interestingly, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) indicate interobserver reliability is high between observers, suggesting experience only slightly improves agreement. These preliminary results suggest experience is more important than level of education. Through empirical decision making studies, forensic anthropologists can improve practices—increasing the transparency of evaluative decision making by targeting confusing or problematic aspects of a data collection practice, and in so doing, enhance training.”

  • Associate Professor Dr. Masako Fujita co-authors article in Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health

    Department of Anthropology Associate Professor Dr. Masako Fujita and co-authors Katherine Wander, Siobhan Mattison, Blandina Mmbaga and others publish in Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health.  

    The article is titled “Tradeoffs in milk immunity affect infant infectious disease risk.” The article discusses research on milk immune activity, a new area of research, among almost 100 breastfeeding mother–infant dyads in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.

    The study used a new lab-based technique and described how mothers’ milk differed in their immune responses to some bacteria, and followed the infants to see whether those receiving milk with stronger responses in lab were less likely to develop infectious diseases.  

    They found support for this with the infectious agent Salmonella. Infants receiving milk with stronger pro-inflammatory responses to Salmonella had lower risk for respiratory infections during the 2.5 months follow-up period. However, they also found the opposite pattern with a non-infectious bacterium. Infants receiving milk that responded strongly to the benign strains of E. coli (that tends to exist harmoniously in our digestive systems) had higher risk for gastrointestinal infections. Moreover, milk responses to Salmonella tended to co-occur with responses to E.coli, suggesting that milk with strong immune responses have potential to decrease risk for some infections but increase others among infants.  

    Their findings make sense in that immune protections often come with collateral damage because the immune system does not always differentiate pathogenic from benign targets, giving rise to allergies and auto-immune conditions, for example. Still, the study’s discovery of protective and harmful effects of milk immune activity on infant infectious disease risk comes as a bit of surprise because we tend to think of milk as the mighty fluid that does no harm. The reality seems a bit more complicated, calling for future research to clarify how the immune system of milk has evolved to strike a balance between protection and harm.

    News coverage about the article: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-07-boost-breastfeeding-immune-benefits.html

    Read the article here: https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoac020

    Abstract:

    “Background and objectives

    The human immune system has evolved to balance protection against infection with control of immune-mediated damage and tolerance of commensal microbes. Such tradeoffs between protection and harm almost certainly extend to the immune system of milk.

    Methodology

    Among breastfeeding mother–infant dyads in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, we characterized in vitro proinflammatory milk immune responses to Salmonella enterica (an infectious agent) and Escherichia coli (a benign target) as the increase in interleukin-6 after 24 h of incubation with each bacterium. We characterized incident infectious diseases among infants through passive monitoring. We used Cox proportional hazards models to describe associations between milk immune activity and infant infectious disease.

    Results

    Among infants, risk for respiratory infections declined with increasing milk in vitro proinflammatory response to S. enterica (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.54, 0.86; P: 0.001), while risk for gastrointestinal infections increased with increasing milk in vitro proinflammatory response to E. coli (HR: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.99; P: 0.022). Milk proinflammatory responses to S. enterica and E. coli were positively correlated (Spearman’s rho: 0.60; P: 0.000).

    Conclusions and implications

    These findings demonstrate a tradeoff in milk immune activity: the benefits of appropriate proinflammatory activity come at the hazard of misdirected proinflammatory activity. This tradeoff is likely to affect infant health in complex ways, depending on prevailing infectious disease conditions. How mother–infant dyads optimize proinflammatory milk immune activity should be a central question in future ecological–evolutionary studies of the immune system of milk.”


  • Featured Faculty, Dr. Mindy Morgan

    Featured Faculty, Dr. Mindy Morgan

    Dr. Mindy Morgan is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and affiliated faculty member of the American Indian and Indigenous Studies program, as well as the Graduate Program Director for the Department of Anthropology. Dr. Morgan specializes in sociocultural and linguistic anthropology.

    Dr. Ruth Underhill fieldwork
    Dr. Ruth Underhill, center (image provided by the Denver Museum of Nature & Science)

    Over the course of the past few years, Dr. Morgan has been exploring the history of anthropology and engaging in new conversations regarding our disciplinary past. This work grew from her larger investigation into the periodical Indians at Work, which was published by the Office of Indian Affairs in the 1930s and contained articles authored by bureaucrats, tribal members, and anthropologists. Dr. Ruth M. Underhill, an anthropologist trained by Franz Boas at Columbia University, was one of these contributors. Dr. Morgan first wrote about Underhill’s contributions to anthropological debates at the time in her 2017 article Anthropologists in Unexpected Places: Tracing Anthropological Theory, Practice, and Policy in Indians at Work, which was published in the American Anthropologist. During this time, Dr. Morgan also helped coordinate a roundtable for the American Anthropological Association meetings in Minneapolis that allowed her to think more deeply about the ways in which Underhill participated in both the production and circulation of disciplinary knowledge in the early 20th century.

    Singing For Power, Ruth Underhill

    Dr. Morgan’s recent 2019 article, “Look Once More at the Old Things”: Ruth Underhill’s O’odham Text Collections which appears in Histories of Anthropology Annual, vol. 13, grew out of the paper for the roundtable. In the article, she looks at the ways in which Underhill’s collection of O’odham songs and texts in the early 20th century was taken up by others decades later, and reinterpreted according to the needs of the contemporary community. Many of the songs collected by Underhill for her seminal work Singing for Power were retranslated and republished in the 1970s by O’odham community members, Baptisto Lopez, José Pancho, and David Lopez working in collaboration with the anthropologist, Donald Bahr. Their work, Rainhouse and Ocean: Speeches for the Papago Year, does not just reproduce Underhill’s text but extends them by offering new insights and analyses of the songs. A later edition of Singing for Power was issued that carried an introduction by Ofelia Zepeda, an O’odham linguist and scholar working within the language revitalization movement of the early 1990s. Dr. Morgan looks at how these various entextualizations not only bring new meanings, but new opportunities for transmission and circulation. A central argument in the article is that Underhill’s manner of both collecting and representing the song texts was prescient and indicated her own belief that these texts would and should continue to circulate among the O’odham community for generations to come.

  • Assistant Professor Dr. Lucero Radonic, Ph.D. Candidate Cara Jacob, alumna Dr. Rowen Kalman, and community partner Yvonne Lewis co-publish in Case Studies in the Environment

    Department of Anthropology Assistant Professor Dr. Lucero Radonic, Ph.D. Candidate Cara Jacob, alumna Dr. Rowen Kalman, and community partner Yvonne Lewis co-publish in Case Studies in the Environment. The article is titled “Questionable Quality: Using Photovoice to Document Women’s Experiences of Water Insecurity in Flint, USA.” The article discusses a Flint, Michigan based community-based participatory research project documenting grassroots narratives about the impacts of water insecurity on the lives of women. 

    Read the full article at: https://doi.org/10.1525/cse.2022.1706476

    Abstract: “Household water insecurity is a global problem; one not escaped by residents of high-income nations. In this article, we review a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project conducted in Flint, MI, to document grassroots narratives about the impacts of water insecurity on the lives of women. In 2014, Flint residents found themselves connected to modern water infrastructure that delivered potable water contaminated by lead and pathogens. Through a photovoice method, participating women documented how experiences of water insecurity continues to impact their lives many years after state authorities declared the water crisis to be over. This study adds to a growing literature that highlights how the “adequateness” of water quality is not a stable or self-evident condition for there are different frameworks for water cleanliness, safety, and risk. With attention to methodology, this case study emphasizes the importance of legitimizing the embodied experience of participants through research design and implementation. This CBPR project contributes to the existing toolbox of methods for studying household water insecurity by complementing the growing literature on security metrics with a narrative-focused approach to documenting women’s lived experiences of water insecurity. Finally, the article invites readers to consider how and to what degree to mobilize participatory approaches to understand conditions and lived experiences of resource insecurity without further stigmatizing or exploiting impacted communities.”

  • Memorial for MSU Anthropology Alumnus Herb Whittier (1941-2021)

    MSU Department of Anthropology alumnus Herbert (Herb) Whittier, Ph.D. died June 6, 2021 in East Lansing, Michigan. Whittier studied Anthropology at University of South Florida (B.A. 1963), and Florida State University (B.S. 1965) where he also met his wife and research collaborator Patricia (Pat) Ruth Jenks, and later received a Ph.D. in Anthropology at MSU in 1973. 

    The MSU Department of Anthropology was a formative intellectual environment for Herb Whittier; he took coursework, studied Bahasa Indonesian, honed writing skills, and successfully applied for research funding. Whittier worked with Dr. Al Hudson, the Anthropology Department Borneologist, focusing on Kenyah communities found both in Indonesia (East Kalimantan) and Malaysia (Sarawak, Fourth Division). His doctoral dissertation was titled: Social Organization and Symbols of Social Differentiation: An Ethnographic Study of the Kenyah Dayak of East Kalimantan (Borneo). It synthesized geographic and historical information on the Lepo Tau Kenyah – their migration, religious conversion, village and longhouse organization, social class, swidden farming, ritual – but focused on the mediating role of the ba’ (beaded baby carrier) in the Lepo Tau symbolic system.  Herb then joined Pat Whittier, a cultural linguist, on her Borneo dissertation fieldwork. Supported by National Geographic Society grants, the photographs, fieldwork data, and artifacts from Whittier’s Borneo research are now curated in the anthropological collections at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago.

    After completing his Ph.D., Whittier used his anthropological expertise in a variety of positions, including Senior Community Planner with Gilbert/Commonwealth Associates, and as Rural Development Advisor in Surabaya, Indonesia, and Rampur, Nepal. His final professional role was as Associate Director of the Kellogg Foundation-funded MSU Institute of International Health in the College of Osteopathic Medicine. 

    Herb was a dynamic polymath rife with surprises.  He played and built stringed instruments, could hold conversations in a dozen languages, and repair a motorcycle with a butter knife and pie plate (almost!). Herb was devoted to his partner and collaborator Pat, and their boys Robert and James. His good humor is sorely missed.  
    Adapted from The Borneo Research Bulletin, authored by colleagues and friends Al and Judy Hudson, Richard Drake, Judith Tordoff, and William Lovis.

  • MSU Anthropology Undergraduate Spotlight: Senior Jackson Schooley

    MSU Anthropology Undergraduate Spotlight: Senior Jackson Schooley

    “I’ve made life-long friends that I have met in my Anthropology classes,” said senior Jackson Schooley, who graduated May 2022 with a degree in Anthropology. A lifelong learner of language and people, Jackson found the human-centric discipline in the MSU Department of Anthropology to be a perfect marriage of his interests.

    “Anthropology gives us a unique role to play in the fight against injustices: one characterized by empathy, curiosity, and a deep understanding of the ways contemporary issues intersect with other aspects of our lives and identities.”

    Schooley sees his major as a tool that can help address the things that affect people across the planet. 

    “It’s a way to understand the diversity of the world and a vital medium to connect, study, and analyze different ways to mitigate issues we are seeing and experiencing now,” he said. 

    During his time at MSU, Schooley’s favorite class he took was ANP 420, Anthropology of Language and Culture, with Professor Chantal Tetreault. This class focuses on the ways in which languages influence our worldviews and the cultural context of languages. 

    “I think the format of the classes, which are discussion based, collaborative, etc., truly lets you make connections with really cool people.”

    As an undergraduate research assistant, Schooley worked under Dr. Emilio Moran researching Michigan’s aging dam infrastructure and its ties to economics and climate resilience, along with issues of energy injustice within the state. He worked in the position for three and a half years exploring the realm of community energy, advocating for local marginalized communities and writing articles to be published in journals. 

    “I truly feel as though my efforts and time in this position have contributed to making this world a more just place- which is always the ultimate goal of my work.” 

    The MSU Department of Anthropology selected Schooley as the 2022 outstanding graduating senior. 

    “Jackson is the most promising and best prepared undergraduate in sociocultural anthropology I have met during my time at MSU,” Dr. Lucero Radonic said,  Associate Professor of Anthropology and nominator for the award. “He is a brilliant young scholar and a kind student with a disposition towards collective learning in class.”

    After his graduation, Schooley will have an internship in sustainability management for the City of Lansing. Upon its conclusion, he has a goal of going into policy work, strengthening the preexisting texts and “introducing new, more comprehensive, and intersectionality-cognizant policy that is aimed at increasing climate resilience in infrastructure.” After a few years in the job market, he plans on attending graduate school to further his training and better prepare himself to support the causes he believes need help on a larger scale.

    “My advice to those considering Anthropology is to not worry about what other people’s perceptions of this discipline are and its applicability to career options/success- this discipline can prepare you for a plethora of fields/environments,” he said. “As long you have that drive and urge to contribute to making this world a better place for all, I’m certain you will feel as though you made the right choice.” 
    To learn more about the MSU department of Anthropology visit https://anthropology.msu.edu/.

  • MSU Anthropology professor receives Fulbright Scholarship for linguistic anthropology research in France

    MSU Anthropology professor receives Fulbright Scholarship for linguistic anthropology research in France

    Dr. Chantal Tetreault, MSU Department of Anthropology associate professor, received a Fulbright Scholarship to research Arabic language education and policy in Paris, France, for six months. 

    Dr. Tetreault’s academic background is linguistic and cultural anthropology, and her research focuses on the connection between language change and cultural change. In past research, she has focused on youth in France of Algerian or North African descent.

    “Some of the basic kinds of principles that I work with regarding language practices have to do with social identity, notions about belonging, social exclusion, and particularly as they relate to gender and ethnicity,” she said. 

    Her Fulbright Scholarship began January 1, 2022 and ran through June 2022, encompassing the ethnographic phase of her research while in Paris.

    “My current project has to do with language education, particularly Arabic language education in France,” she said. “Arabic is the second most widely spoken language in France, and France itself has more immigrants of Arab descent or Arab heritage than any other European country. And yet Arabic is not taught very often in public schools.”

    Dr. Tetreault remarked that a similar scenario would be if the United States didn’t teach Spanish in public schools. In France, students are more likely to encounter the opportunity to learn Arabic through post-secondary education or through community institutions. Her first interest as a linguistic anthropologist is to understand why this is the case in France. She also hopes to contribute to the understanding of the social institutions where Arabic is taught currently in France such as local associations and religious institutions. Ultimately, she hopes her work will contribute to public discourse and policy decisions around increasing availability of Arabic in French public schools. 

    “I think there is increasingly a desire for more clarity and openness around the need to teach more Arabic, both from the perspective that we should teach more dialectal Arabic and also more written Arabic or Modern Standard Arabic,” she said. “There’s a kind of understanding that people need to come together to work toward better policies around language education regarding Arabic in France. So from my research, I hope that there can be some potential policy outcomes that bring together teachers of multiple varieties of Arabic (Darija and Fusha) in addition to some research products such as a book.”

    Dr. Tetreault’s research involves interviewing policymakers, educators, students and administrators.

    “One thing that’s just been so gratifying, humbling, and wonderful is that both educators who are teaching Arabic in after-school programs in France and also university students of Arabic are very excited to be interviewed,” she said. “I’ve had wonderful experiences with people being very enthusiastic about taking time out of their schedule, to make time for an interview. And I’m thrilled that there’s a willingness, but also an enthusiasm to share stories with me about their experiences, either learning Arabic, or teaching Arabic, or wanting to learn Arabic and not being able to in some cases.” 

    Dr. Tetreault captured a photo of artwork by artist el Seed in Paris, France, known for his Arabic calligraphy and distinctive style which he uses “to spread messages of peace, unity and to underline the commonalities of human existence.” – https://elseed-art.com/

    After she completes her interviews, Dr. Tetreault plans to publish several research articles and she hopes to write a book. Because every Fulbright Scholar needs a sponsor institution, Dr. Tetreault has been working with the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO) as her sponsor institution.

    “It is just an incredibly wonderful place because so many different languages are being taught,” she said. “There’s a kind of richness and diversity of students from all over the world and also from all different kinds of backgrounds and heritages in France. And I’ve really connected with the faculty at INALCO who teach both kinds of Arabic: dialectal Arabic (Darija) and Modern Standard Arabic (Fusha).”

    Dr. Tetreault would also like to encourage others to apply for a Fulbright Scholarship, which is available to undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, and also advanced researchers. 

    “It’s a wonderful way to create a situation for academic and scholarly exchange,” she said. “ I have really enjoyed an even deeper scholarly exchange than I expected.”

  • MSU Campus Archaeology Program assists with replacement of a WWI veteran’s plaque on campus

    MSU Campus Archaeology Program assists with replacement of a WWI veteran’s plaque on campus

    MSU recognizes former student, WWI veteran ahead of Memorial Day

    University corrects name on plaque, hosts private rededication ceremony

    As the nation honors the sacrifices of the veterans who have fought for its freedoms and made the ultimate sacrifice, Michigan State University is honoring the legacy of one Spartan veteran in particular for his lasting impact on campus. 

    World War I veteran Cosmer Magnus Leveaux served in the U.S. Army as Corporal, Battery A, 1st Battalion, 119th Field Artillery, 32nd Division. Leveaux was a student in forestry and part of the class of 1918. He enlisted in the Army on May 10, 1917, and was killed in battle in France on Aug. 10, 1918. 

    Leveaux’s name appears on a freestanding brass plaque commemorating him in West Circle near Cowles House on MSU’s campus. However, it wasn’t until recently that MSU multimedia coordinator Derrick Turner noticed Leveaux’s name was misspelled on the plaque and the date of his death was incorrect. 

    Turner made the discovery through his own passion for both photography and history and took his curiosity to the internet where several sources, including MSU Archives and Historical Collections, confirmed the inaccuracy. He then informed Dan Bollman, vice president for Infrastructure Planning and Facilities, and Steve Troost, campus planner, about the error. 

    So, on May 18, after coordinating with the Campus Archaeology Program, the Alumni Office and Leveaux’s family over the past year, MSU fixed its error and properly honored Leveaux and his sacrifices during a private ceremony with some of Leveaux’s family members. There, the university dedicated a new plaque in Leveaux’s honor and with his correct information. The original plaque was turned over to Leveaux’s family. 

    This is MSU handing the old plaque to the family of Cosmer Leveaux.


    “Memorial Day is a time to reflect and honor the brave heroes who have sacrificed their lives for our country and our freedoms,” said MSU President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D. “It is an honor to rededicate this plaque in memory of Corporal Leveaux and pay tribute to the life of a remarkable Spartan.”

    Leveaux’s niece, Mary Abbott, her son Mark, nephew John LesVeaux and his wife, Jennie, attended the event. 

    “We have been amazed at the attention given to this single veteran who gave the ultimate sacrifice 104 years ago,” said John LesVeaux. “It speaks volumes of the dedication of MSU that all of the sacrifices of our veterans shall not be forgotten.

    Mark/Mary Abbott and John/Jennie Lesveaus at the rededication ceremony for MSU Alumn Cosmer M. Leveaux


    “I am sure that if Cosmer were here with us today, he would be equally as amazed and gratified as we are at this tribute to his sacrifice. We thank MSU for its efforts.” 

    Leveaux began his work for the U.S. Forest Service as a forest guard in the Superior National Forest in Ely, Minnesota, in May 1916. After an almost four-month stint, Leveaux decided to leave his job and continue his education. During his time at MSU, then named Michigan Agricultural College, Leveaux was actively involved in the international honors forestry society, Xi Sigma Pi. He was also active in the AE Theon, a local social fraternity established in 1915 that is no longer active on campus.

    Leveaux’s name also is inscribed on a plaque inside the Memorial Grove of the Great War in West Circle on campus, which commemorates 33 soldiers who lost their lives during WWI. The plaque originally was dedicated on the college’s commencement day in June 1919. 

    For Turner’s part, he said he was glad to play a role in helping to accurately recognize Leveaux. 

    “It’s an honor to be university photographer, where the entire campus is my office,” Turner said. “Helping to preserve our campus for future Spartans to enjoy is good stewardship of our beloved campus and community. 

    “All of the people involved with correcting and reproducing the plaque shows Spartans care about everyone in the Spartan family — even those who lived over 100 years ago. It’s the ultimate demonstration of Spartans Will.” 

    Original story link: https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2022/cosmer-leveaux-plaque-rededication

    Story also covered on Fox News: https://www.fox47news.com/neighborhoods/msu-campus/msu-honors-world-war-i-veteran-and-fixes-a-103-year-old-mistake

  • Announcing the Retirement of Joan Reid, Department of Anthropology Academic Program Coordinator

    Announcing the Retirement of Joan Reid, Department of Anthropology Academic Program Coordinator

    Joan Reid is retiring from Michigan State University after 32 years, having served in three other campus roles before becoming the Academic Program Coordinator for the Department of Anthropology in 2015.

    Reid plays an invaluable role in helping Anthropology graduate students matriculate through the program, assisting them from their prospective student visits  all the way until graduation. In her role as Academic Program Coordinator, Reid keeps graduate students informed of important deadlines and program requirements, assists with paperwork and department procedures, compiles reports, maintains academic and personnel files for graduate students, and provides key support to the department chair, graduate program director, and faculty members. Further, Reid can always be found advocating for students and attending department and GSA events and fundraisers. When asked about what she enjoys about her job, Reid stated: “Working with graduate students has been the most rewarding aspect of my entire career. I am very grateful for the appreciation and respect shown by graduate students when they thank me for my help throughout their program matriculation. The feeling of accomplishment that I played a small role in helping students succeed through a very rigorous Ph.D. program and I am so happy when they graduate!”

    Reid’s impact on student success is echoed by students across the department, with students praising her dedication to their success, her helpful and supportive attitude, and her quick email responses to last minute questions. Cara Jacob, a fourth year socio-cultural Ph.D. candidate was effusive about her working relationship with Reid, saying: “We have been so lucky to have her- for all the reasons people know and for the ones they don’t. It truly won’t be the same without her.” Jacob recalls how helpful Reid was in navigating the GradPlan process, among many other ways she received above and beyond assistance from Reid during her time in the program. Micayla Spiros, also a fourth year Ph.D. candidate, said that it is difficult to put into words how integral Reid has been during her graduate experience, and that she has felt welcomed and supported by Reid since her first visit as a prospective student. She says of Reid: “The diligence, knowledge, communication skills, and innovation that Joan provides for the Anthropology department is unparalleled”, and also states that the department will not be the same without her. Emma Zblewski, a second year Ph.D./M.D. student, says Joan has been instrumental in helping her navigate her dual degree program, and that she “helps us balance our priorities and stay up-to-date with department happenings during our med school years.”

    Dr. Todd Fenton, Department of Anthropology Chair and Professor, says: “It’s difficult, if not impossible to list all the achievements, support, and dedicated service Joan has provided MSU and the Department of Anthropology. For over 30 years, Joan had dedicated her career to Michigan State University. Having joined the Department of Anthropology in spring of 2015, she has provided exceptional support to our graduate students. We’re beyond grateful for Joan’s effort and the joy she’s brought to our department for the last 7 years. We will really miss her.”

    When asked about her retirement plans, Reid says she looks forward to sleeping in, spending time with family and friends, traveling, and celebrating her 39th wedding anniversary with her husband, Tom, in June. Joan will be missed by students and faculty alike, and we wish her all the best in her retirement.