Anthropology – Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences

SMU wants to bring North Texas’ historic artifacts back home

Dallas Morning News Originally Posted: March 18, 2019 Unearthing artifacts that lead to a better understanding of our past is not just an Indiana Jonesexercise in exotic foreign lands. It is a research endeavor that begins decades later in the basements and attics of some of our most distinguished institutions of higher learning. North Texas is rich with archaeological treasures currently moldering in repurposed wooden crates and file boxes. When discovered, categorized and properly cataloged, they reveal important insights about the history of our region. But, like the treasures in many archaeological collection facilities across the United States, the artifacts and records require ongoing, curatorial care to bring their untapped research potential to light. With the exception of sage members of the Texas archaeology community, few [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2019-03-18T08:40:03+00:00 March 18th, 2019|Anthropology, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News|Comments Off

Flooding of Archaeological Sites in Hurricane Harvey Used to Prepare for Future Impacts of Megastorms

Cambridge University Press Originally Posted: March 6, 2019 Southern Methodist University archaeologists used satellite imagery to map impacts of Hurricane Harvey to 920 archaeological sites. Leslie A. Reeder-Myers, an SMU alum currently at Temple University, and Mark D. McCoy of the Department of Anthropology published new research in the journal American Antiquity detailing how 40% of all known archaeological sites were flooded as a consequence of Harvey. The study will help plan for how best to preserve heritage in the near future. Link for more information: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-antiquity/article/preparing-for-the-future-impacts-of-megastorms-on-archaeological-sites-an-evaluation-of-flooding-from-hurricane-harvey-houston-texas/A071425AD1C69A33E763A61378C87260

By Katherine Nickles| 2019-03-06T10:54:40+00:00 March 6th, 2019|Anthropology, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News|Comments Off

Today, March 5: SMU Giving Day

One day. For 24 hours on March 5, the entire SMU community will come together to give back and celebrate the causes we care about – supporting students, improving cities, educating teachers, fighting for justice, fueling champions – together, the possibilities are endless. Please consider supporting a Dedman College cause: Dedman College Scholars Dean’s Research Council SMU Human Rights SMU Fund for Dedman College Data Hackathon Challenges: Dean’s Research Council Match Gifts made to the Dedman College Dean’s Research Council will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $10,000. Thank you to generous donors, Dr. Anthony Aramoonie ‘94 and Nicole Aramoonie for making this possible! Dedman College Scholars Challenge Support scholarships and help us meet the challenge from longtime SMU supporters Carl Sewell ’66 and Peggy Higgins [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2019-03-04T10:11:09+00:00 March 5th, 2019|Anthropology, Biology, Chemistry, DCII, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Earth Sciences, Economics, English, Events, History, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies, Sociology, Statistical Science, World Languages and Literatures|Comments Off

Watch: Happy Anthropology Day

https://youtu.be/STvgApDVORI

By Katherine Nickles| 2019-02-22T07:33:40+00:00 February 21st, 2019|Anthropology, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences|Comments Off

Christopher Roos, Anthropology, Jemez Pueblo offers centuries of valuable fire lessons

Albuquerque Journal Originally Posted: December 22, 2018 BY: CHRISTOPHER ROOS / ENVIRONMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGIST, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT SMU DALLAS The wildland fire tragedy in California underscores the risk of living on a flammable planet. In 2017, co-occurring outbreaks cost dozens of lives in both California and Portugal. Australia also endures waves of deadly fire. Even places we do not typically associate with wildfire appear among the rolls of devastated communities. We have global wildfire problems that are varied, urgent and deadly. As an environmental archaeologist, I know that these flammable landscapes have long human histories, too. I look to this history for examples of successful coexistence between human societies and fire. I have been working with the Native American community at Jemez Pueblo, whose ancestors [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2019-01-14T10:43:45+00:00 January 15th, 2019|Anthropology, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News|Comments Off

David Meltzer, Anthropology, ancient DNA reveals complex migrations of first Americans

National Geographic Originally Posted: November 8, 2018 Ancient DNA reveals complex migrations of the first Americans Newly sequenced Native genomes showcase a wealth of surprises, from previously unknown populations to unique high-altitude adaptations. “Where do I come from?” That's perhaps one of the most fundamental questions for humanity. Now, three studies of ancient and modern human DNA are offering some intriguing answers by providing a detailed new look at the complex peopling of the Americas. Once modern humans left Africa about 60,000 years ago, they swiftly expanded across six continents. Researchers can chart this epic migration in the DNA of people both alive and long-dead, but they were missing genetic data from South America, the last major stop on this human journey. The trio [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-11-13T18:40:38+00:00 November 14th, 2018|Anthropology, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News|Comments Off

SMU alumna wins ‘Nobel Prize for anthropologists’

American Anthropological Association Originally Posted: November 13, 2018 Katherine E. Browne earned her master’s and Ph.D. from SMU Katherine E. Browne's academic research and engaged anthropology have energized the fields of economic anthropology, disaster studies, and visual ethnography. She is currently a professor in the Department of Anthropology at Colorado State University. In her first book, Creole Economics: Caribbean Cunning under the French Flag (2004), Browne investigated the informal economy among Afro-Creole people in Martinique. Continuing her interest in the relationship between community and economic values, Browne shifted her research focus to New Orleans to address the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast. Her NSF-funded documentary film on this work, Still Waiting: Life after Katrina, was broadcast on more than 300 PBS stations and was followed [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-11-13T06:51:47+00:00 November 13th, 2018|Anthropology, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Graduate News|Comments Off

Meet Benjamin Chi, Human Rights Fellow 2017-18

Dedman College News Originally Posted: November 9, 2018 By: Ryan Garrett In the 2017-18 academic year, SMU Human Rights Fellow Benjamin Chi fought to change the Texas Family Code, advocating for underage youth without guardians to give consent to their own medical care, which would allow them to attend school and improve public health. “Working as an SMU Human Rights Fellow has been the most formative experience of my undergraduate experience,” said Ben. Inspired to study human rights through his parents’ experiences of living in poverty until their thirties, Ben has been collaborating with homelessness advocates, state government officials, healthcare specialists, and youth experiencing homelessness. In the 2014-2015 school year, 113,000 students were identified as homeless, according to the Texas Homeless Education Office, an organization [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-11-08T15:44:44+00:00 November 9th, 2018|Anthropology, Biology, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Embrey Human Rights Events, Events, Undergraduate News|Comments Off

Event: October 23, Interdisciplinary research and collaboration are the focus of the 2018 Prism Panel

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-10-22T06:19:32+00:00 October 22nd, 2018|Anthropology, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, English, Events|Comments Off

Dialogue in the Classroom: an interview with Jill DeTemple

Essential Partners Originally Posted: September 6, 2018 Jill DeTemple Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Southern Methodist University Can we make space in the classroom for students to develop convictions—identify what they believe, understand why they believe it, and become willing to share it—while simultaneously inviting them to hold those convictions with humility—an openness, curiosity, and willingness to listen to others? Dialogue in the classroom has been shown to deepen learning, improve student retention, and strengthen interpersonal connections. It can also help students strike that balance between humility and conviction, a balance that is crucial not only to intellectual rigor but also to the functioning of a diverse free society. For the past three years, Essential Partners has been working with a team of faculty [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-09-11T08:24:51+00:00 September 11th, 2018|Anthropology|Comments Off