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MSU.seum Mobile App Features Campus Archaeology Program
MSU.seum is a mobile application that was created by MSU Anthropology professors Dr. Ethan Watrall and Dr. Lynne Goldstein. The free mobile app allows you to explore the archaeology and heritage of the university’s campus, and uses geopositioning to identify the user’s location. For example, if the user was between Linton Hall and MSU Museum, the app would point them to Saints’ Rest, the first dorm on campus. They would learn about the history of this building and the archaeological work that was done there as well. The original design of the app began with the first Cultural Heritage Field School, and…
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Winter 2014 Alumni Updates
Dr. Ellen Elizabeth Foley graduated from MSU in 2002 with a PhD in Anthropology and African Studies. Following graduation, she conducted a post-doc at University of Pennsylvania. In 2009 she received a Fulbright to study HIV and sexual politics in Senegal. She is currently a tenured professor at Clark University in International Development and Social Change, and is currently conducting action-research in Worcester, MA on urban youth and gang violence prevention. Most recently, Dr. Foley published “Your Pocket is What Cures You: The Politics of Health in Senegal”, a book that focuses on the implementation of global health policies, and…
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Department of Anthropology Outreach
Students and faculty from the Department of Anthropology participate in numerous outreach events throughout the year. Here are some of the highlights. On April 2013, MSU hosted its first ever Science Fest. The Department of Anthropology had three events including “Dig the Past” at Fenner Nature Center, “Hominid Evolution: What did our ancestors look like?”, and Campus Archaeology Program. Volunteers included Blair Zaid, Amy Michaels, Sylvia Deskaj, Katy Meyers, Sabrina Perlman, Kate Frederick, Julie Fleischman, Ashley Kendell, Nicole Geske, Emily Niespodziewanski, Jen Vollner and others. At the end of July, MSU also hosted its annual Grandparents University, where grandparents and…
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Exploring Mayan Caves in her Senior Year: Bethany Slon
For senior undergraduate Bethany Slon, anthropology, and more specifically archaeology, has always been a passion. For as long as she can remember, she was fascinated by ancient populations and what we can learn from archaeology. But it wasn’t until she began her freshman year at Michigan State University that she realized she could take that interest farther, turn it into a major and a career. Bethany has taken advantage of opportunities to expand her knowledge of archaeology and help narrow down her interests. During her junior year, she was an intern for the Campus Archaeology Program under the direction of…
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Undergraduate Anthropology Club Winter 2014 Update
The Undergraduate Anthropology Club provides students with the opportunity to learn about anthropological resources, network with professionals, and further their opportunities within the discipline. The 2013-2015 executive board is President Josh Schnell, Vice President Sarah Skoropa, Treasurer Blake Bass, and Secretary Taylor Flaherty. Over the Fall semester, they hosted talks by Dr. Howard and Dr. Lovis, toured the Forensic Lab, had a bake sale to raise funds, and a Graduate student panel discussion. Most importantly for MSU’s history, the club painted the famous rock on campus. Website: https://www.msu.edu/~anthro/ Twitter: @MSUAnthroClub Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/MSU-Anthropology-Club [This article is featured in the Winter…
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Graduate Fellowships and Grants
Congratulations to our graduate students on their grants and fellowships. If you have accomplishments you would like to share, please send them to us! April Greenwood received a Fulbright Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad fellowship to conduct research on cross-cultural workplace relationships between Indian employers and African employees in the port city of Tanga, Tanzania. The project is called “’Indian Bosses’ and ‘African Workers’: Race, Stereotype, and Community in Tanga, Tanzania”. Emily Niespodziewanski was accepted to attend the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command Central Identification Laboratory Forensic Science Academy for the Fall 2013 semester. This is a four-month fellowship during which fellows…
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Andrew Upton: Graduate Research in Late Prehistory
Andy fell into archaeology and anthropology largely through happenstance. While a freshman at Miami University his options for the summer recess entailed moving back home and finding a part time job or finding something exciting to do. He chose the latter. After a quick application with the Student Conservation Association he found himself in the Great Smoky Mountains as an archaeological intern. Over 20 site assessments, a dozen bear encounters, a new site named after him, an Archaic Savannah River point and an historic Qualla point later and he knew he was hooked. Returning to Miami the following fall Andy…
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Kristan Elwell: Graduate Fieldwork and Research in Malawi
Kristan Elwell found her calling in Anthropology while conducting research in a National Institute of Health study on children’s health in the Philippines. It was here and while she was conducting her Masters work in applied and medical anthropology at Northern Arizona University that she saw the contribution of anthropology to public health and how this perspective could contribute to understanding of health disparities in low-income populations. She sought out a PhD in order to teach courses in medical anthropology and global health, and conduct research on global health issues from a critical perspective. Since beginning her graduate studies at…
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Alumna Applying Anthropology: Dr. Anna Jefferson
Dr. Anna Jefferson first became interested in anthropology while she was an undergraduate. She turned to anthropology to give her a holistic framework she could use to more deeply and dynamically understand any issue. In May 2013, Dr. Jefferson graduated from MSU with her doctorate. Her dissertation research focused on the foreclosure crisis in Michigan, and conducted field research with housing counseling agencies, independent nonprofits that work with the state and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. She examined emerging notions of citizenship in the foreclosure crisis, and how these processes intersected with narratives of the American Dream.…
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Dr. Barbara Johnston: Examining Society and Environment
Barbara Rose Johnston began her interest in Anthropology with undergraduate courses at San Jose State University she transferred to University of California Berkeley, where she graduated with a BA and honors for her thesis on “Native California Medicinal Ethnobotany.” She continued her studies at San Jose State University earning a masters in Environmental Science with her thesis “A Problem of Water: A Cultural Ecological Study of St. Thomas, USVI”. For her PhD she studied Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts, publishing a dissertation on “The Political Ecology of Development: Changing Resource Relations and the Impacts of Tourism, St. Thomas, USVI”.…