News
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
Vanessa Castaneda (B.A. Anthropology 2009) went on to earn an M.A. degree in Latin American Studies at New York University and a Ph.D. at Tulane. She has recently been awarded the Guarini Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellowship in Afro-Latinx and/or Afro-Latin American Studies at Dartmouth College, one of the seven elite institutions of the Ivy League. Dr. […]
Camille Richardson (Anthropology M.A. student) is recovering evidence about the daily lives of students in one of the few remaining Rosenwald School sites in North Carolina. She is leading an archeological dig at Mount Vernon School in Iron Station, NC, built in 1925. Rosenwald Schools were established in the early twentieth century for Black students […]
Congratulations to Nataly Hernandez Montes, who has been recognized as a student leader by the North Carolina Campus Compact for her commitment to community involvement. Montes, a member of the UNC Charlotte Bonner Leaders Program, advocates for organizations supporting the Latinx community, including Siembra, a grassroots group protecting the civil rights of Latinx communities. She […]
Alumnus and visual anthropologist Scott Wilson (B.A. 1995, Ph.D. Stanford U. 2005), currently Chair of the Department of Anthropology at Cal State University at Long Beach, has published an article in Anthropology News on “Visual Anthropology and Activism.” He and co-author Katherine Scully argue that virtual reality technology might become an important tool in helping […]
Congratulations to all the Anthropology Graduates of Spring 2020! Due to the need to maintain social distancing, our usual celebration of our graduates was delivered virtually. If you would like to watch the presentation, it is available here (click here). The faculty would like to extend our warmest congratulations to you all!
The Department of Anthropology has issued the following Statement of Solidarity: As members of the UNC Charlotte Anthropology Community, we raise our voices to call for social justice in the United States and worldwide. In particular, we share the sadness and frustration shown in protests and other actions around the world in reaction to the […]
Anthropology faculty emerita Dr. Dena Shenk and assistant professor Dr. Andrea Freidus have recently published a case study looking at how COVID-19 affects people with dementia. You can read the case study here (click link).
Dr. Erin Eldridge recently contributed to an article examining the social construction of pandemic social worlds by governing officials in two states. Eldridge also co-authored another article describing bureaucratic challenges in hurricane recovery in North Carolina.