Dr. Ying-Jen Lin came to MSU from Taiwan with a B.S. degree in Life Sciences and an M.A. in Museum Studies. During her time as a graduate student in the Department, she developed and pursued interests in working with Indigenous groups in Taiwan on issues of Traditional Knowledge (Intangible Cultural Heritage) and Economic Development through collaborative community forestry management and ecotourism. She regularly returned to Taiwan to work with Taiwanese Indigenous communities, including the Tao of Orchid Island and the Adiri and Labuwan of southwest Taiwan.

Dr. Lin’s dissertation, “Asserting Sovereignty Through Strategic Accommodation: The Rukai People and Collaborative Conservation in Pingtung, Taiwan”, contributes to the larger discourse of Indigenous Sovereignty as part of State-directed conservation initiatives, such as the Asian/Western Pacific Rim-focused Satoyama Initiative. Her research critically analyzes standard representations of neoliberal implementation of such initiatives and the often-observed outcomes of the subversion of Indigenous sovereignty and diminishment of rights and access to traditional lands and subsistence. In particular, Dr. Lin examines the relationship between the State-sponsored Community Forestry Laboratory of the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology and the Rukai people. Her findings challenge the standard neoliberal critique and demonstrate that Indigenous communities strategically assert sovereignty and agency in the development of ecotourism and natural resource management programs that allow for the continuance of cultural tradition while also benefitting economically.

Upon earning her PhD in 2020, Dr. Lin has pursued continued Academic Training through the MSU Office of International Students and Scholars with her former advisor, Dr, John Norder, and has recently joined a project as a Research Associate with the University of Michigan Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine. 

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Dr. Mari Isa’s extensive skeletal trauma research is described by her mentor, Dr. Todd Fenton, as advancing the frontiers of science in forensic anthropology. In Dr. Isa’s dissertation, “Experimental Investigations of Blunt Force Trauma in the Human Skeleton,” she used controlled biomechanical experiments on human bones to explore how fractures form in response to specific sets of applied loading variables. Her work is unique in that it uses an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the complex phenomenon of bone fracture. This approach contrasts with traditional trauma studies, which have relied on samples of fractures with unknown or unobserved origins. Dr. Isa’s research thus provides a profound contribution to anthropological trauma analysis and the interpretation of fracture patterns on the skeleton resulting from blunt force trauma.

An alumna of the MSU Forensic Anthropology Laboratory, Dr. Isa is an accomplished forensic anthropologist who has worked on the wide array of human remains cases that arise in death investigations. During her time as a graduate student, she was the lead analyst in over forty forensic cases involving human remains. Dr. Isa is also engaged in bioarchaeological research. Since 2015, she has focused on the paleopathological analysis of human skeletons from an early Middle Ages cemetery in southern Tuscany, Italy.

After earning her PhD in 2020, Dr. Isa joined the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at Texas Tech University as a tenure-stream Assistant Professor. In addition to teaching courses on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, she is the forensic anthropologist for the TTU Forensic Anthropology and Archaeology Response Team.

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Dr. Eddie Glayzer’s former advisor, Dr. Andrea Louie, recalls how he entered the program with a developed focus—he wanted to study contemporary South Korean society, focusing specifically on gender and consumption issues. He demonstrated a knack for drawing from his real-life experiences in South Korea, first as an English teacher and later as a researcher, as a basis from which to engage with anthropological questions. His own experience of falling short in the celebration of Pepero day by buying his then-girlfriend an embarrassingly small box of the South Korean confection led him to study the relationship between consumption and intimacy for his dissertation research.

Dr. Glayzer’s dissertation, titled “The Commodification of Intimacy and Gender Inequality Within South Korean Dating Rituals”, is based on in-depth participant observation, interviews, and survey research in South Korea. His research focuses on how dating and courtship rituals in South Korea represent the commodification of intimacy—for example, in the form of monthly couples’ holidays that were celebrated through the consumption of specific products or participation in specific experiences. He concludes that unequal income between genders and classes affects how intimate relationships are expressed through consumption. Dr. Glayzer’s research shows that while one might expect economic growth in Korea would lead to increased gender equality, it has instead resulted in the retrenchment of gender norms and the creation of new inequalities.

Prior to completing his PhD in 2021, Dr. Glayzer taught at SUNY Incheon, DePaul University, and City Colleges of Chicago. Dr. Glayzer has recently accepted a position at the University of Dayton in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work.

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Dr. Rachel Elbin’s dissertation, “Tumesahaulika (We’ve Been Forgotten): Performing Development in Post-Conflict Mtwara”, explores how Tanzanian political leaders and residents of the southern region of Mtwara have defined and contested “development,” “the state,” and “citizenship” and the relationships among them across time. As Tanzania achieved independence, its first president promoted a socialist development state that would provide development to citizens who supported African socialism and pan-African solidarity. Citizens of Mtwara sacrificed in support of both visions but were disappointed when development resources did not flow to their region. Subsequent administrations adopted neoliberal reforms, refocusing the state on establishing regulatory frameworks to facilitate foreign investment. When natural gas deposits were discovered in Mtwara in the 2010s, residents expected new economic opportunities. However, plans for a pipeline that would move the gas to more developed regions of Tanzania for processing sparked outrage in Mtwara, which was met with military violence. Dr. Elbin’s dissertation examines the subsequent political contestation over gas extraction and development.

Dr. Elbin’s dissertation committee Chair, Dr. Laurie Medina, commends how she skillfully navigated the politics surrounding the sensitive topic of energy infrastructure development during her year of field research in Tanzania. She engaged with actors across a wide range of social strata, including state officials at multiple levels, NGO leaders, and community- or village-based actors who represented a range of relevant economic and social categories. Based on these diverse perspectives, Dr. Elbin provides an insightful analysis of the contested processes of resource extraction and development.

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Dr. Alexandra Conell’s dissertation, titled “Domestic Corporate Groups: An Ethnographic and Archaeological Examination of Households, Neighborhoods and Communities”, is an in-depth examination of ethnographic material on corporate group behavior analyzed with the goal of identifying variability in these groups—variability that archaeological interpretations may be missing.

Dr. Conell’s research began with a world-wide survey to identify the nature of variability and the key factors to examine further. She then analyzed ethnographic data on five cultural areas in North America, looking for cross-cultural differences and how the domestic corporate group may have changed over time in each area. She created a descriptive model of this variation and change and identified archaeological correlates, which were then applied to an archaeological case study. In doing so, Dr. Conell identified both variability in the nature of this group’s corporateness and change over time. Not only is this information of interest for her specific case study group, but insights from Dr. Conell’s research will contribute broadly to the archaeological study of corporate groups, allowing for more nuanced understandings of these groups and factors that contribute to their variability.

Throughout Dr. Conell’s graduate student career, her advisor, Dr. Jodie O’Gorman, was impressed with how she actively sought out diverse learning experiences. Her pursuit of one of these interests—geophysical surveying techniques—led her to serve as an assistant for a project in Oman under the direction of geologist Dr. Remke Van Dam. While writing her dissertation, Dr. Conell was an instructor at Alma College and an assistant at the MSU Archives, and she excavated every summer at Colonial Michilimackinac. She will pursue cultural resource management following the 2021 season at Michilimackinac.

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Dr. Lissie Arndt is a dual degree DO and PhD student, having completed her PhD in 2020 under the mentorship of Dr. Linda Hunt (right). Dr. Arndt’s dissertation, titled “The Ambiguity of HIV Risk in Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Administration in New York”, combines her anthropological and medical training as she examines of the concept of “risk” in the emerging market of pharmaceutical prevention of HIV.

Based on close ethnographic examination of the contrasting perspectives of patients, caregivers, public health officials, and pharmaceutical industry representatives, Dr. Arndt reveals a complex picture of “risk” management as the pharmaceuticalization of self and society. She proposes the term “structural risk” to describe how the “risk” concept is built into both societal and health care structures, which manifests in a narrowing of definitions of health and illness, as well as of options for health professionals and patients.

Dr. Arndt’s research is an important contribution to the study of the corporatization of healthcare. Her work illuminates the intimate relationship between corporate interests, clinical models, and public health agendas—raising important questions both for the anthropology of pharmaceuticals and for clinical risk management. As “risk” is increasingly used to revise concepts of many conditions, requiring life-long ingestion of prescription medications, careful consideration of the “structural risk” concept will provide a useful lens for critically examining these issues. In addition to her research and studies, Dr. Arndt co-founded and volunteers with Spartan Street Medicine, a student-led group that provides basic healthcare services to homeless community members in Lansing, Michigan. Dr. Arndt is in the final stages of her medical training and plans to go into family medicine.

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This September, the MSU Forensic Anthropology Laboratory (MSUFAL) participated in Operation UNITED in collaboration with the FBI’s Evidence Response Team, the Detroit Police Department (DPD), and several other local universities and law enforcement agencies. Operation UNITED is an acronym which stands for “Unknown Names Identified Through Exhumation and DNA.”

Operation UNITED began as a grassroots effort between DPD Sgt. Shannon Jones and FBI Special Agent Leslie Larsen to solve as many cold case homicides in Detroit as possible. By exhuming the remains of unidentified homicide victims and comparing their DNA with family reference samples, Operation UNITED seeks to make identifications and jump start cold case investigations. This is the third season of the project and participants have successfully exhumed the remains of over 100 unidentified homicide victims, several of which have ultimately led to positive identifications.

Dr. Carolyn Isaac, Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology and MSUFAL Laboratory Director, as well as graduate students in the Department of Anthropology Clara Devota, Rhian Dunn, Micayla Spiros, and Alex Goots attended the three-day excavation. Each graduate student joined an interdisciplinary team and worked to locate and excavate remains based on cemetery records and autopsy details. Dr. Isaac rotated between the teams, providing her expertise in forensic anthropology and confirming whether or not the remains matched the demographic details of the person in question.

According to Special Agent Leslie Larsen, “Forensic anthropologists on scene are the instrumental piece that we need to make sure we are exhuming the correct bodies from the ground. They review the case files and autopsy reports then match those findings with the human remains uncovered by our dig site teams. Without on-site forensic anthropologists working with us, we would not be able to do these body recoveries.”

Over the course of the three day excavation, Operation UNITED was able to recover human remains from 21 individuals, bringing the running grand total of DNA samples to 121 individuals for the whole project. In short, 121 individuals who have been missing, some for decades, finally have the opportunity to be identified and properly laid to rest, thanks to the tireless efforts of everyone involved in Operation UNITED.

This edition of the Department of Anthropology newsletter recognizes and celebrates our recent graduates who have persevered and achieved their educational goals through a time of extraordinary adversity. As Chair of the Department and on behalf of the Anthropology faculty and staff, we give our sincerest congratulations to the Class of 2020 and the Class of 2021. We are so proud of them and impressed by them. The ongoing global pandemic has wrought indescribable loss, grief, and uncertainty in so many aspects of our lives. In the face of such pervasive hardship, our graduates persisted through challenges and overcame obstacles to earn their degrees. We take great joy in commemorating this milestone that reflects their numerous achievements and the culmination of their triumphs and determination.

In this special newsletter issue, we feature our 2020 and 2021 PhD graduates and four of our exceptional undergraduate graduates who received their degrees this past spring. Next to each graduate’s name is the subfield of anthropology in which they specialize; however, they all embrace the diverse and holistic nature of our discipline.

Since the onset of the pandemic, twelve of our PhD students have earned their doctoral degrees. They completed and defended their dissertation research, which is briefly described in these articles. This feat represents a myriad of efforts in their enduring work over the years and the guiding mentorship from advisors and faculty. The journey towards a PhD involves many challenges, made more difficult by the pandemic, and these doctoral graduates have shown considerable strength through it all. The research and work over the course of these graduates’ careers have made significant contributions to the larger body of scholarly knowledge and have truly made an impact in the world.

All four of our featured graduated undergraduate students represent the Department of Anthropology’s outstanding seniors who have excelled in their coursework, conducted independent research with their mentors, and served as positive influences in their communities. As many traditional collegiate experiences were curtailed during their final year in response to health and safety efforts, our undergraduate students’ achievements are all the more commendable as they continually adapted with grace, diligence, and creativity.

Please join us in honoring our graduates and their many accomplishments and in appreciating their resilience. To all of our graduates, you have inspired us more than you know, and we look forward to celebrating your future successes.

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