News
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 […]
The Department of Anthropology is one of many UNC Charlotte departments committed to addressing issues of social justice. Below are statements and links to statements from other UNC Charlotte departments: The Department of Africana Studies issued the following statement: Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Jordan-Davis, Yahira Nesby, Tamir Rice, Aiyana Mo’Nay Stanley-Jones, Korryn Gaines, […]
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.
The National Geographic Society’s Committee for Research and Exploration has awarded Associate Professor Elise Berman a prestigious grant in support of her research on Pacific immigrants. Berman, a specialist in the study of childhood and language acquisition, is moving her research from the Marshall Islands to rural Arkansas. Climate change may soon make many small […]
The Charlotte Observer reports on research by two UNC Charlotte Anthropology faculty, Professor Emerita Dena Shenk and Assistant Professor Andrea Freidus. Residents of nursing homes have been hit hard by the COVID-19 virus. But even when they’re not the victims of infection themselves, their social and psychological well-being is affected negatively by medical practices that […]
Once again, our graduate and undergraduate student organizations have planned what promises to be another exciting Anthropology Day celebration on February 18th, 2021. Events will start at 10:00 am and all interested parties are encouraged to register at https://forms.gle/6BVEWUyoShwbBfMo9