Department of Anthropology

  • Dr. Najib Hourani Speaks at the Harvard Arab Weekend

    Dr. Najib Hourani Speaks at the Harvard Arab Weekend

    This past November, Dr. Najib Hourani was invited to participate in the Harvard Arab Weekend on a panel sponsored by the Graduate School of Design.  The annual event brings together notable academics, political figures, business leaders and diplomats to discuss the pressing issues facing the Arab world.  The panel on which Hourani spoke, entitled Reconstruction and Identity, addressed an audience deeply worried that the reconstruction of Syria, Libya and Yemen may play out as yet another instance of ‘disaster capitalism,’ in which reconstruction is seen by elites and multinational corporations as a window of opportunity for neoliberal reform and private accumulation, with disastrous effects for the people and their urban heritage.

    An urbanist and specialist in post-conflict reconstruction, Dr. Hourani was invited due to his research on Beirut following the 1975-90 Lebanese civil war and the 2006 Israel-Hizballah conflict. Dr. Hourani’s work on post-civil war Beirut highlights how neoliberal approaches to post-conflict environments accelerates the dispossession of peoples when they are most vulnerable, while enabling wartime militias’ consolidation of political and economic power. His dissertation describes how one reconstruction project—an open air shopping area—was framed in neoliberal ideas of the ‘free market’ but was shaped by backroom deals among companies affiliated with the militias during the war.  His subsequent study of Hizballah’s efforts to rebuild after the 2006 war examines a novel NGO-driven approach that sought to resist dispossession of residents in the face of pressure to marketize reconstruction. Though only partially successful in this regard, the effort nonetheless is suggestive of the power of political commitments to people, rather than profit, in ameliorating the trauma of war and in protecting vulnerable populations in its aftermath.

    Dr. Hourani will be visiting Beirut in March to deliver two lectures at the famed American University of Beirut, which is this year celebrating its 150 years as the most prestigious University in the Arab World. Dr. Hourani will also be conducting follow up research toward his book project, entitled Glass Towers and Heritage Trails: Neoliberal Urbanism in Beirut and Amman, and will be meeting with a Beirut-based team planning Syria’s reconstruction at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission of Southwest Asia (ESCWA).

    Capture

  • Lisa Bright Wins SCA Outstanding Student Paper Competition

    Lisa Bright Wins SCA Outstanding Student Paper Competition

    Graduate student Lisa Bright was awarded the Society for California Archaeology Student Paper Competition in March (2016) for her paper titled “Differentiating Hospital Interred Individuals from the Larger Cemetery Population: The Curious Case of SCVMC’s Buttons.” She drew on data from 2012-2014 excavations of the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Historic cemetery (circa 1875-1935), which included 1,004 individuals. Her project centered on the separation of hospital direct interred individuals from individuals buried from the larger community via artifact and spatial analysis using the presence and absence of specific buttons types and patterns. Individuals with the hospital gown button pattern trended toward clustering, and had statistically significant higher rates of periosteal reactions and fractures.

    The SCA Outstanding Student Paper Competition is open to papers where the student is the sole author, with priority given to papers that present the results of original research and papers that have new analysis or insights based on works with existing collections. The award has been presented at the meetings since 2001.  Lisa plans on publishing the paper in the SCA Proceedings. Congratulations, Lisa!

    lisa bright bio pic

     

  • Open Position: Visiting Assistant Professor, Archaeology

    The Department of Anthropology at Michigan State University invites applications for a one- year position in historical archaeology, with the potential for a one-year renewal. Areas of specialization are open, although we are particularly interested in candidates with an active research program focused on the Early Historical Period of mid-continental North America. The successful candidate for this position will teach introductory, intermediate, and advanced courses.  Additionally, limited service to the program is expected in relationship to the Campus Archaeology Program. Compelling evidence of scholarly activity and teaching effectiveness is required. 

    A Ph.D. in anthropology is required by date of appointment. Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.  Complete applications will include an application letter including names of three references, CV, statement of teaching philosophy, sample syllabi and up to three publications or manuscripts. At least one of the references must address teaching effectiveness. Electronic submission is required and materials should be uploaded at the MSU website at https://jobs.msu.edu. The closing date for applications is February 29, 2016, or until the position is filled. Questions regarding this position can be addressed to the Search Committee Chair, Dr. William Lovis at lovis@msu.edu.

    Michigan State University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. MSU is committed to achieving excellence through a diverse workforces and inclusive culture that encourages all people to reach their full potential. The University actively encourages applications and/or nominations of women, persons of color, veterans and persons with disabilities.

  • GSA organizes water drive for Flint residents

    ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE GSA:

    We have all heard about the water crisis happening in Flint. Please consider donating bottled water in any size or quantity.

    The state says groups are accepting full cases of commercially packaged water (no loose bottles) and commercially sealed gallon containers of water. Not accepted are canned water, carbonated water, flavored water. Your donations will be collected and taken to the Red Cross in Flint to assist residents in need.

    Donations will be solicited from January 28 – February 12, 2016.

    Please contact Amy Michael (michae76@msu.edu) or Susan Kooiman (kooimans@msu.edu) for more information or to arrange a pick up of water. We are happy to collect your donations if you cannot make it to a drop off point.

    NEW!!: Also accepting monetary donations! You can send these via paypal Amy (michae76@msu.edu) to buy water.

    Drop off locations:

    –          Anthropology GSA Symposium (C103 McDonel Hall)

    January 29th – 8am – 3pm

    –          McDonel Hall – Archaeological Consortium, Room E37

    Open 8am – 5pm

    –          Baker Hall  – 3rd Floor Library

    Thank you for your participation! We hope to fill 2 cars with water from MSU Anthropology to take to Flint.

  • Julie Fleischman Receives Grant for Humanitarian Forensics Project

    Julie Fleischman Receives Grant for Humanitarian Forensics Project

    20160118_090340 (1)

    Julie Fleischman, PhD Candidate, has received funding from the American Academy of Forensic Sciences’ Humanitarian and Human Rights Resource Center to oversee a new osteological project at Krang Ta Chan (a former Khmer Rouge security center and mass gravesite in Takeo Province).  The funded research will be conducted by Mr. Veon Vuthy, Director of the Department of Archaeology and Prehistory in Cambodia, and the Choeung Ek Osteology Laboratory Team. Vuthy has a strong desire to preserve the human remains at Krang Ta Chan to inform the younger Cambodian generations about their past, to memorialize the victims of such violence, and to prevent the remains from decaying further. The grant will allow the Cambodian team to purchase equipment and supplies to analyze and preserve thousands of human skeletal remains from the Cambodian genocide.  Julie, who wrote the grant, will serve in an advisory and fiscal role on the project.  Julie will also be collecting data alongside the team for her own research. Her main dissertation research is funded by Fulbright IIE and is titled, “Remnants of Khmer Rouge Violence: The Materiality of Bones as Scientific Evidence and Affective Agents of Memory.”

    Image: Julie Fleischman with the Choeung Ek Osteology Laboratory Team, standing in front of the Choeung Ek memorial stupa (shrine). This stupa contains the remains of thousands of individuals exhumed from the mass graves at the site in the 1980s.  Vuthy and his team cleaned, analyzed, and preserved all of the remains in the stupa over the past two and a half years.

    Update: The team has been written about in two recent Thai and Cambodian newspapers.

    1. http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/skull-skull-team-catalogues-kr-killings?utm_source=The%20Phnom%20Penh%20Post%20News%20Brief&utm_campaign=8796545b6c-atphga&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_53e48d7faf-8796545b6c-315016449
    2. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Cambodian-forensic-team-crowdfunds-for-Khmer-Rouge-30278329.html

  • Recent Graduate Students Awards

    Julie Fleischman was awarded a Fulbright IIE to conduct her dissertation research on Khmer Rouge regime violence by analyzing skeletal trauma and memorialization in Cambodia.

    Mari Isa was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to investigate the relationship between developmental changes in bone structure and the expression of long bone fracture.

    Sabrina Perlman was awarded a Fulbright IIE to conduct her dissertation research on the gender dynamics of self-managing type 2 diabetes in Ghana.

    Fayana Richards was awarded a Pen to Paper Writing Retreat Travel Grant (Writing With, For and About Service-and Community-Engagement), a National Women’s Studies Association Travel Grant, a National Institute on Aging Summer Training on African American Aging Research Fellowship, and the MSU Pearl J. Aldrich Graduate Aging Research Award.

    Emily Riley was runner up in the Association for Political and Legal Anthropology (APLA) Graduate Student Paper Prize, for her paper “The Politics of Téranga: Gender, Power, and the Political Equality Movement in Senegal.”

     

    This article is in the Department of Anthropology’s Fall 2015 Newsletter, see the entire newsletter here.

  • Alumni News

    James Bielo (2007) was promoted from Lecturer to Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Miami University. He has recently published an introductory text for anthropology of religion courses (Anthropology of Religion: The Basics) and launched an interactive online curation of biblical entertainment sites, the first of its kind: http://www.materializingthebible.com

    Linda Dwyer (1999) spent the last six years working as a full-time lecturer at Salisbury University, Maryland, teaching Cultural Anthropology and Chinese language courses while mentoring student projects. She spent summers teaching and conducting research in Anqing City, China, and presented this research at the 44th Mid-Atlantic Region Association for Asian Studies (MARAAS) conference in Pittsburgh this past fall. She’s currently focused on writing.

    Kari (Bergstrom) Henquinet (2007) is Senior Lecturer for the Department of Social Sciences at Michigan Tech and is directing two campuswide programs: Peace Corps Master’s International (the largest Master’s International campus in the nation) and Peace Corps Prep in the Honors College for undergraduates.

    Lindsey Jenny (2011) was promoted to Assistant Professor in the MSU Division of Human Anatomy in 2013, and is working with colleagues to revise the curriculum for medical education. She is also the director of the course Human Gross Anatomy for Prehealth Professionals.

    Mary Ann Ladia (2008) is a Researcher at the Institute of Clinical Epidemiology at National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines Manila. She works with an interdisciplinary team on universal health care, access to medicine, child health and nutrition, and protection of children from online abuse and exploitation. Her major research for the year 2016 will be the national TB prevalence survey. She also coteaches a graduate course on Clinical Economics and Health Social Science.

    Melissa Rinehart (2006) currently serves as Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Visiting Nurse (a healthcare agency) in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In addition to diversity management responsibilities, she supports and educates clinicians about language and cultural sensitivity and the importance of inclusion. She also is actively writing, publishing and presenting her research.

     

     

    This article is in the Department of Anthropology’s Fall 2015 Newsletter, see the entire newsletter here.

  • Undergraduate Jonah Stone Receives PURI with Fujita

    Jonah England

    The Provost Undergraduate Research Initiative (PURI) provides funding for undergraduates to work closely with a faculty member on a major research project that forms part of the faculty member’s own initiatives. The Department of Anthropology usually receives several PURI grants each year. Jonah Stone and Dr. Masako Fujita were awarded one of Anthropology’s PURIs for Summer 2015 to test iron status in dried blood spots. Jonah describes their work, and his role in it:

    “I have always been interested in how humans function, both biologically and socially. I think this is what led me to physical anthropology in the first place. I found a home in both biology and anthropology, investigating how the body changes and is changed by the environment around it. My research in the Biomarker Laboratory for Anthropology Research allows me to pursue this interest by investigating the way nutrition has an effect on how the body works. My work with Dr. Fujita focuses on iron status in dried blood samples collected from northern Kenyan women during a drought. These samples were collected nine years prior to our study being conducted, and it was unclear whether or not the protein used for identifying iron status (transferrin receptor protein) would be stable considering the great amount of time the samples spent in deep freeze. My research entails testing the samples for this protein using an ELISA kit (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) which utilizes antibodies to induce a color change in samples containing the intact protein. I ran the transferrin receptor protein ELISA and compared results with hemoglobin values that were assessed at the time of original blood collection. The research took about two months to complete, and I submitted an abstract about my work to the 2016 Human Biology Association meeting. By determining how the protein holds up over time, it is my hope that we can further research into the applicability of dried blood spot assay technology and contribute to studies on nutrition and iron deficiency anemia in Kenyan rural communities.

    Through human biology research like that done in Dr. Fujita’s lab, more can be understood about how the human body functions when exposed to environments where there is less food or fewer opportunities for maintaining healthy nutrient levels. This understanding can help governments and organizations formulate decisions regarding public welfare and help those in need. In the future, I want to continue to do work on how the environment changes the human body, but in the realm of skeletal biology and drawing on forensics. I am fascinated by the histology and biochemistry of bones and how different stresses, whether they are nutritional or otherwise, change the morphology of the different structures in the human skeleton.

    It is my hope that I can combine human biology with forensic osteology research to create a happy medium between the two. What I have learned through Dr. Fujita’s guidance has given me a unique perspective on how I can best use my degree and experience: I can use it to further understanding of how the body is changed by the world around it.”

    Images, top to bottom: Jonah Stone while on Study Abroad in England; Test tubes containing eluates (solution obtained from eluting dried blood spots in a buffer) for use later in the assay procedure

    20150715_105220

     

     

    This article is in the Department of Anthropology’s Fall 2015 Newsletter, see the entire newsletter here.

  • Featured Alumna: Dr. Isabel Montemayor

    photo 2
    Dr. Isabel Montemayor (Ph.D. 2014) began her first semester as Assistant Professor of Anthropology this fall at University of Texas, Arlington. Her appointment is in the joint department of Anthropology and Sociology, but also includes appointment as Faculty Research Associate with the Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS). Her teaching responsibility includes classes on Medical Anthropology, Latino Health Issues and Global Cultures, but her primary role at the university is research. Dr. Montemayor was excited to join a university with a strategic plan for “Health and the Human Condition” and a strong focus on Hispanic populations, where she would be supported in her pursuit of an active research agenda while teaching smaller-sized classes in her specialty.

    Currently, Dr. Montemayor continues the research she began with the Michigan Public Health Institute assessing Medicaid expansion throughout the state of Michigan. Following the completion of this project, she plans to launch a new research project building off of her dissertation, which looked at the intersection of immigration and healthcare policies and their effects on transnational Latino immigrants. While her dissertation focused on urban lives, she will be expanding this focus to address the impacts on rural populations, especially dairy workers. One of Dr. Montemayor’s long-term goals with her research is to change the widespread societal perception that undocumented Mexicans living in the US are a burden, instead showing that they are productive and necessary contributors to society.

    While at MSU, Dr. Montemayor was very involved with AGEP (The Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate) and took advantage of the opportunities provided by the Graduate School to meet with faculty and other minority scholars. Through the opportunities provided at MSU Dr. Montemayor visited NSF headquarters, attended conferences on diversity, and also received the King-Chavez-Parks Future Faculty Fellowship. These experiences furthered her resolve to become a professor. “Those experiences molded me into the researcher and educator I am today,” she explains.

    Also important to her development as a scholar were her relationships to faculty she admired and could rely upon for advice. She’s been staying in touch with her mentors in the Department of Anthropology, including Dr. Linda Hunt and Dr. Heather Howard, and they continue to be important sources of guidance on how to be an educator and researcher. “While I was writing my dissertation, our relationship focused on that. But now I consult with them as colleagues and they give me advice,” she says. As a teacher and mentor herself now, she is looking forward to supporting young scholars from disadvantaged backgrounds realize their academic goals. She’s hoping to get involved with the McNair scholars program, as she was a participant herself, and make her research open to collaboration with undergraduates.  

    Images, top to bottom: Dr. Isabel Montemayor; Dr. Montemayor (second from left) with the members of the migrant hometown association

     

    photo 1

     

     

    This article is in the Department of Anthropology’s Fall 2015 Newsletter, see the entire newsletter here.

  • Featured Alumna: Dr. Jennifer Bengtson

    jen bio

    Dr. Jennifer Bengtson (Ph.D. 2012) has settled in as Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Southeast Missouri State University. She tells us about her current endeavors teaching and researching Mississippian Culture:

    What attracted you to your current position?

    I feel like I landed my dream job. I have always envisioned myself working at a small, undergraduatefocused institution. I enjoy the autonomy I have in setting up my lab and building a bioculturally focused archaeology program. The first two years were really difficult as I worked through the course rotation for the first time. But now that I have gotten into a teaching groove, I am able to focus more on continuing research with MSU colleagues and building new relationships with other archaeologists working in the region. One of the major perks of this position is that there is a Mississippian village site located about a ten minute drive from campus. The owner of the land on which the site is located provides us with both unlimited access and financial support. I am excited for the potential of this site to contribute to our understanding of regional social processes, and I am particularly interested in exploring ceramic provenance to understand how it fits into the broader Mississippian cultural landscape.

    What is your current research on?

    Most of my recent work has been focused on contributions to the ongoing Morton Village Archaeological Project with Dr. O’Gorman. We have an article on childhood and mortuary representation in press, and are about to submit two more articles relating to gender as it relates to community building processes and the experience of violence.

    On the osteology side, I have begun to revisit some of the forensics work that first attracted me to the field. Current MSU Ph.D. candidate Amy Michael and I are working on a project related to the affects of chronic alcohol consumption on bone remodeling processes, while here at Southeast I am working with a forensic chemist to develop a non-destructive method using Raman Spectroscopy to distinguish human remains of medico-legal significance from those of archaeological significance.

    All my MSU mentors have continued to be great. I interact with Dr. Sauer, even though he is retired, as I get further into forensics. Dr. O’Gorman and I work together a lot. And Dr. Goldstein continues to provide her mentorship and access to her vast knowledge of the Mississippian tradition. I would not be the teacher and researcher I am today without them and all of the other professors I worked with over my years at MSU.

    What was most valuable to you from your graduate study at MSU?

    I think it was the balance struck between curricular structure and flexibility. I got all of the foundational knowledge I needed in core classes, while also being encouraged by my committee to construct my own anthropological identity through more personalized lab, classroom, and field experiences. I came out of it all with one foot planted firmly in archaeology, and the other planted firmly in biological anthropology.

    What impact do you hope to have in the long term?

    I have a great group of students here at Southeast. I am excited to arm them with the best, most holistic anthropological education I can, and then send them off into the world to see what they do with it!

     

    This article is in the Department of Anthropology’s Fall 2015 Newsletter, see the entire newsletter here.