Congratulations to Cameron Lacquement for successfully defending his dissertation May 26. Posted 05/26/09.
Doctoral student Brooke Persons received a Lambda Alpha Graduate Overseas Research Grant. Her proposal, "A Reappraisal of Regional Chronology in Banes, Eastern Cuba," was one of just four selected for the honor nationally. Brooke will use the funds to support another field season in Cuba. Posted 06/13/09.
Congratulations to Meredith Jackson for successfully defending her dissertation on July 14. Posted 07/14/09.
Congratulations to Dr. Chris Lynn and his son Jagger for their stellar performances in Moon Pie eating contest at the 18th annual Labor Day Celebration and Moon Pie-eating contest at the Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park. Read more in the Birmingham News or Tuscaloosa News. Posted 09/16/09.
Congratulations to Ashley Dumas, 2007 PhD graduate. She has just been promoted to a tenure- track Assistant Professor position at the University of West Alabama in Livingston. She is also the Assistant Director of the Black Belt Museum there. Posted 10/6/09.
The Anthropology Department is hosting Dr. Jonathan Marks as part of the ALLELE lecture series. He will be presenting "Darwin's Ventriloquists" in the Biology Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. on October 29. Dr. Marks will also give a presentation entitled "Meta-Science, or An Anthropology of Science" in the Anthropology Department on Friday, October 30, at 4:00 p.m. in room 30. Posted 10/14/09.
Dr. Lisa LeCount received a three-year National Science Foundation award for the project "Households and the Institutionalization of Ancient Maya Kingship at Actuncan, Belize." Her new excavations will begin next summer at the site of Actuncan, where she has conducted two previous seasons of excavations in residential mounds. Posted 01/5/10.
Dr. John Blitz received funding from the Arts & Sciences College Academy for Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity to support a project entitled "Magnetometer Survey at Moundville Archaeological Park." Posted 01/5/10.
Dr. Toni Copeland (PhD 2008), currently in her first year as an Assistant Professor at Mississippi State University, has received the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Dissertation Award and the University of Alabama Graduate School Outstanding Dissertation award for her Doctoral Dissertation, "Poverty and Sickness Among Women in Nairobi, Kenya: Cultural Models of Managing HIV/AIDS in the Absence of Biomedical Treatment." We are delighted that Toni’s excellent research has received the highest honor UA has to offer a doctoral student. Posted 01/5/10.
Brooke Persons, Blakely Brooks, Catherine Buzney, Krista Garcia, Daniel LaDu, and Becky Read have been awarded a total of $2,226 for research and travel by the Department of Anthropology and the Graduate School. Posted 02/4/10.
Contratulations to Daniel LaDu for his winning paper for the 2010 Bob Work entitled "An Exploration of the Age of Mound Construction at Mazique (22AD502), A Late Prehistoric Mound Center in Adams County, Mississippi." Posted 02/5/10.
Frank Manzella, whom many of you know as one of our standout undergrads, has been accepted into the Masters in Science degree in Medical Anthropology at the University of Oxford. He hopes to continue on after that to obtain his MD-PhD. Although he graduated last year, he is taking some pre-med courses at UAB this year in prep for his MCATs, and he continues to work with Dr. Kathryn Oths on the farmer’s market project. (They are co-presenting a paper at the Society for Applied Anthropology in Merida, Mexico, next month). Posted 02/13/10.
Congratulations to Catherine Buzney and Jenelle (Townsend) Doucet for being selected for highly competitive Graduate Council Research Fellowships for the 2010-2011 academic year. Posted 03/3/10.
Dr. Jason DeCaro has been awarded a grant from the Arts & Sciences College Academy for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity (CARSCA) for a project entitled, "Food Insecurity, Maternal Mental Health and Child Well-Being in Northwest Tanzania." Posted 03/3/10.
Undergraduate Anthropology major Carly James has been awarded the McWane Research Scholarship from the Honors College. Congratulations, Carly! Posted 04/29/10.
Congratulations to undergraduate major Daniel Turner, the 2010 C. Earle Smith, Jr. Award winner. Posted 05/15/10.
Our award winning graduate students this year include Daniel LaDu who won the 2010 Bob Work Award and Katy Groves who won the 2010 Richard A. Krause Award for outstanding graduate scholarship. Posted 05/15/10.
Doctoral student Becky Read has been elected as Student Representative to the board of the Society for Medical Anthropology. Becky is in her second year in our program. Her work focuses on stress, religious devotion, and transnational migration. Posted 06/21/10.
Graduating M.A. student Dan Mullins has been awarded a prestigious Clarendon Scholarship to pursue doctoral studies in the cognitive science of religion at Oxford. More info on his award is available in the July edition of the College of Arts & Sciences Desktop News. Posted 07/7/10.
Rachel Briggs has posted a photo album from the Graveline Mound Project in Mississippi, which has involved several of our grads and undergrads. The album can be seen at Picasa. Posted 07/13/10.
Dr. Christopher Lynn was awarded a grant from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion for a study of hard-to-fake signals of religious commitment in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Posted 07/29/10.
The Department of Anthropology sponsored a speaker in the ALLELE series. Dr. Melvin Konner, a world-renowned biological anthropologist, presented “Childhood Evolving: The Role of Development in the Evolution of Mind,” on Oct. 7. Posted 09/27/10.
Dr. Melvin Konner gave a presentation to the Department of Anthropology on Octover 8, entitled: "Hunter-Gatherer Childhoods: The !Kung and Others." Posted 09/27/10.
Five of our graduate students, Jeremy Davis, Lauren Downs, Jenna James, Erin Phillips, and Sarah Szurek, have received Graduate Student Research and Travel Support funds to help support their research and presentations at professional conferences. Each award was matched by the Department of Anthropology. Posted 10/3/10.
Dr. Brown's grave marker class (ANT 444 Anthropology and Cemeteries) was visited by the Birmingham News just in time for Halloween! Posted 11/2/10.
Francois Dengah, PhD student in biocultural medical anthropology received an NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant to support his project "Finding Success and Health through God--A Study of Cultural Models and Health among Brazilian Pentecostals." Francois heads to Brazil during Christmas Holiday to begin his fieldwork. Posted 12/8/10.
Dick Diehl, Professor Emeritus and Mesoamerican archaeologist, has been elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). This is a well-deserved honor and an extraordinary achievement. Our heartfelt congratulations! Posted 01/11/11.
Congratulations to our graduate students Blakely Brooks, Richard Brown, Catherine Buzney, Jenelle Doucet, Paul Eubanks, Katy Groves, Sara Horrocks, Daniel LaDu, Heather Long, Ana Maria Ochoa, and Martina Thomas for being awarded a total of $3700 in funds from the Graduate School and the Anthropology Department for support of research and travel. Posted 02/5/11.
Congratulations to Jenna James and Rebecca Read Wahidi, recipients of Graduate Council Research Fellowships for the 2011-2012 academic year. Jenna's fellowship supports her doctoral research on "Social Archaeology of Carson Mounds," and Becky is studying "Resilience through Guadalupe: Religious Devotion and Psychosocial Stress among Hispanic Immigrants to the Rural South" for her dissertation. Posted 02/21/11.
Dr. Steven B. Kosiba, Assistant Professor of History and Anthropology and GIS Program Director at Monmouth University, will be joining the Anthropology Department as Assistant Professor in Fall 2011. Dr. Kosiba's research interests include Peru (especially the Inka), human-environmental interactions, state formation, and spatial theory. Posted 03/23/11.
Thanks to Dr. Brown for the pictures of the DeJarnette Barbecue, available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7pt3GsplT8. Posted 04/11/11.
Dr. Brown has chronicled the response of the Department of Anthropology to the recent tornad disaster in Tuscaloosa with this slide show. Posted 05/4/11.
Jason DeCaro will be serving as interim Director of Undergraduate Studies until Dr. Lisa LeCount returns from sabbatical at the end of the 2011-2012 academic year. Anthropology majors/minors or prospective students can contact him at jdecaro@as.ua.edu, 205-348-9061, or in rm. 14 ten Hoor. Posted 05/15/11.
We are delighted to announce that Dr. Matthew Wolfgram, a linguistic and medical anthropologist and Research Specialist at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, will be joining us this fall as Assistant Professor. Among other projects, Dr. Wolfgram studies the modernization of the South Asian Ayurvedic system of medicine. The overarching goal of his research program is to document and theorize the large-scale historical and social consequences of situated forms of institutional language, social interaction, and text production. Posted 06/4/11.
Read about Dr. Lisa LeCount's NSF-funded research on the Maya of Belize in the University of Alabama Research Magazine online. Posted 07/2/11.
Professor Jason DeCaro has been named a College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Teaching Fellow. This is a well-deserved honor. Jason joins previous Anthropology fellows Dick Krause, Michael Murphy, Ian Brown and Marysia Galbraith. Posted 08/25/11.
Professor John Blitz has been awarded a 2012 Alabama Historical Commission grant for his project, "Hidden History of the Moundville Plaza, Hale County." Posted 10/22/11.
Congrats to Eric Porth & Erin Phillips! Eric is 1st place winner of the Annual Student Paper Award at the Southeastern Archaeological Conference for his paper, "Raised Ground, Razed Structure: Ceramic Chronology, Occupation & Chiefly Authority on Mound P at Moundville." This award is a large number of books with a total value of $4,599! Erin Phillips is the 2nd place winner for her paper, "Moundville Shell Gorgets." Her prize is life membership in SEAC & back issues of Southeastern Archaeology. Posted 11/7/11.
Lisa LeCount is excavating an ancient Maya palace at the site of Actuncan, Belize in February and March, 2012. This is the third season of work at the site using NSF funds. Posted 12/13/11.
It is our pleasure to congratulate Clay Nelson, an undergraduate Anthropology major, who was selected in January as the first recipient of the newly established annual Hughes Prize. Created thanks to a generous donation by US Federal Judge Lynn Hughes, the prize recognizes exceptional students who stand out for their potential, inventiveness, perseverance, and insight, among other laudable characteristics. Posted 02/4/12.
Congratulations to Petrina Kelly, recipient of the 2012-2013 David and Elizabeth DeJarnette Endowed Scholarship, and Kimberly Roy & Elizabeth Wilson, winners of the 2012 C. Earle Smith Award! Posted 03/4/12.
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Keith Jacobi has been promoted to full Professor and that Dr. Jason DeCaro has been awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor. Both of these promotions are effective on August 16, 2012. Posted 04/22/12.
We're now on Twitter! @BamaAnthro Posted 04/27/12.
Warm congratulations to undergrad major Lauren Marsh, who just learned she's been selected for a very prestigious, nationally competitive Boren Scholarship! Lauren will study Mandarin Language & Chinese culture in Chendu, China. Her career goals concern global health. Posted 05/5/12.
We have an interesting archaeological project going on at Moundville Archaeological Park this summer, with both grad students and undergrads enrolled in ANT 269 Field Archaeology. To see continual updates and lots of great pictures, check out their blog: Moundville Plaza Project Blog. Posted 07/11/12.
During the renovation of ten Hoor, for Spring 2013 only, the Anthropology Department is temporarily moving to the Capstone Medical Center. We will return to ten Hoor in Summer 2013. Capstone Medical Center is located at the eastern fringe of campus and is situated between the Stallings Center (RISE) and the School of Nursing. Turn off University Blvd onto Fifth Ave. East, heading towards the Rec Center. Then turn right at the first street (Johnny Stallings Dr.). Continue until you see CMC on your left. The Anthro Dept will be located on the eastern side of CMC. Click for a map. Posted 12/22/12.
Dr. Lisa LeCount has been awarded a National Geographic Society (CRE) grant for continued archaeological research at the ancient Maya site of Actuncan in 2013. This is the project's sixth field season in Belize, Central America, and this year, excavations will focus on two elite houses and an E-Group (a commemorative astronomical civic complex) to determine when and how early kings consolidated power. UA graduate students Bobbie Simova and Emma Koenig will be participating in the research. Posted 03/6/13.
We're Home! The Department of Anthropology has moved back into our digs in tenHoor. No more traipsing to the far corner of campus. Posted 05/9/13.