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An Ode to Jon Marks on the Occasion of His Retirement
Dr. Jonathan Marks retires from UNC Charlotte this year after 25 years with our Anthropology Department. An internationally recognized authority on human and primate genetics and evolution as well as the history and ethics of science, Dr. Marks has published seven books since joining our department, along with dozens of articles and book chapters in […]
Alumnus Lennin Caro Named Director of the Camino Research Institute
Lennin Caro (B.A. Anthropology 2014, M.A. Anthropology 2017) has been named the Director of the Camino Research Institute, which conducts research on the characteristics and needs of Charlotte’s Latino community. Camino is a broad-based social services organization providing healthcare and other services. Lennin has worked at Camino since 2020 and according to the organization’s official […]
anthropology m.a. student illuminates local black history
Mississippi native Camille Richardson is working with colleagues at UNC Charlotte to recover the history of the Rosenwald Schools, institutions established in the early twentieth century to help educate rural African-American children. Along with local organizations and with graduates of the Mt. Vernon Rosenwald School in Lincoln County, NC, Richardson is engaged in both archaeological […]
Anthropology Alumna returns as Professor
Dr. Vanessa Castaneda graduated from Charlotte in 2009 with a BA in Anthropology and Latin American Studies. She continued her scholarly journey with a Master’s degree in Latin American Studies at New York University, and then a Ph.D at Tulane. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in Brazil. For the past two years she has worked […]
Encouraging “genetic literacy”
Can genetic tests really provide us with firm insights into the kind of diet or fitness program that’s best for us? Or even into our own national ancestry? Professor Jonathan Marks urges us to be skeptical of the claims made by commercialized genetic testing. Commenting recently on the Genetic Literacy Project website, Marks has noted […]
The Danger of STEM Education Untempered by the Humanities
UNC Charlotte’s Niner Times contributor E. Alexander Zimmerman writes in a recent column about the dangerous devaluation of the humanities in the contemporary university. He quotes anthropologist Dr. Jonathan Marks’s observation that “”Science can tell you how to clone a dinosaur. Humanities can tell you why that’s probably not a good idea. . . In […]
Archaeologist Evaluates New Research on the Inca Empire
Dr. Dennis Ogburn was recently interviewed by Live Science about new research on the age of the prominent Inca site Machu Picchu in Peru. An authority on the site and its significance for Inca history, Ogburn explained that “As we are able to revise and improve the chronology based on radiocarbon dates, we are coming […]
Anthropology MA Graduate Produces New Feature Film
Philip Blattenberger (MA 2016) has just released his second feature film, Condor’s Nest (https://www.amazon.com/Condors-Nest-Jacob-Keohane/dp/B0B8JRYC68/), a World War II thriller set in Europe and South America, but filmed largely in North Carolina. He previously wrote, produced, and directed a Vietnam-war film, Point Man, shot in Cambodia and Vietnam. Blattenberger knew Southeast Asia well, as his MA […]
Migration Research at UNC Charlotte
Three upcoming workshops have been scheduled by the Migration Research Network at UNC Charlotte. Learn about the experiences of climate refugees, the effects of migration on language use, and the impact of emigration on local governance practices, as outlined by UNC Charlotte faculty in History, Anthropology, English, and Political Science. The Migration Research Network
Anthropology Alumnus Co-Authors Paper on World Heritage Site
Anthropology Department alumnus Seth B. Grooms (B.A. 2016), currently a Ph.D. student in archaeology at Washington University in St. Louis, has co-authored a paper in the journal Southeastern Archaeology on the Poverty Point World Heritage Site in Pioneer, Louisiana. The article documents the speed and skill with which native North American foraging populations in the […]