Department of Anthropology

  • Outstanding Senior, Becca Albert

    Becca Albert in front of her research posterThe Department of Anthropology is pleased to announce Rebecca K. Albert (aka Becca) as our Outstanding Senior in Anthropology for the class of 2018. Each department in the College of Social Science selects one graduating senior who is the first to walk across the stage at graduation and attend the Outstanding Senior Ball held in their honor. Becca was selected based on her GPA, her inclusion in the Honors College, her standing as current President of the Anthropology Club, and her extensive independent research resulting in a number professional conference and on-campus presentations, as well as first authorship on a research article in a top peer-reviewed journal.

    Ms. Albert credits Dr. Lovis, Dr. Goldstein, and graduate student Susan Kooiman with helping shape her undergraduate experience. Working with Dr. Lovis and Susan allowed her to narrow down her research interests and learn about archaeological sciences. Through Dr. Goldstein and the Campus Archaeology Program, Becca gained the experience necessary for being a well-rounded archaeologist which led to an interest in working in CRM. Becca feels these mentors fostered her success by pushing her to be the best researcher and scientist she could be. Coming from the Honors College, she received a two-year Professorial Assistantship during her freshman year, choosing to work with Dr. William Lovis on the analysis of microscopic plant remains embedded in burned-on foods adhering to the interiors of pottery. Ultimately, this led to an independent research project that interfaced with dissertation work being conducted by Susan Kooiman. Rebecca’s research revealed evidence for the earliest use of corn in the northern Great Lakes 2,000 years ago.

    Dr. Lovis gives remarks on Becca Albert’s achievements as she receives the Outstanding Senior Award for Anthropology at the Annual Student Achievement Gala of the College of Social Science
    Dr. Lovis gives remarks on Becca Albert’s achievements as she receives the Outstanding Senior Award for Anthropology at the Annual Student Achievement Gala of the College of Social Science

    Becca presented the results of her work at multiple University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF), at regional professional meetings, and eventually at the national Society for American Archaeology Annual Meeting where she won the SAA/Institute for Field Archaeology Best Student Paper Award. Her research, “Earliest Microbotanical Evidence for Maize in the Northern Lake Michigan Basin” was recently published in the leading international refereed archaeology journal, American Antiquity, with Becca as lead author. Building on this platform, Becca then proposed comparative research on a second group of ceramics and was awarded a College of Social Science Dean’s Assistantship, again teaming up with Susan Kooiman, and again revealing significant microbotanical information about the timing for use of corn, squash, and wild rice in the Straits of Mackinac region. The merging of research on food, laboratory work and being outside, are her favorite things about studying archaeology. Ms. Albert hopes her research will help further the idea that diet in the past was far more varied than history suggests, and that people were communicating across broad networks very early on.

    Becca enjoys knitting and crocheting, and also hiking or skiing, depending on the weather. She was excited to finally see the printed version of her article in American Antiquity. Becca plans to attend graduate school, complete her PhD and eventually work in academia.

     

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  • Dr. Stacey Camp receives S3 Grant

    Dr. Stacey Camp receives S3 Grant

    S3 campus archaeology digDr. Stacey Camp, Dr. Lynne Goldstein (Anthropology), and Dr. Leigh Graves Wolf (College of Education) with the Archaeology STEM Camp Pilot Project will use a grant from Science and Society at State (S3)  to run a two-day archaeology camp this June for 15 International Baccalaureate (IB) high school students on Michigan State University’s campus. Founded in 1968, the International Baccalaureate is a non-profit educational foundation that offers internationally respected curricula and programming. IB programs are growing in popularity, representing 90,000 students worldwide. All IB students are required to conduct research for and complete ad 4,000 word “extended essay.” This pilot project will provide a unique hands-on experiential opportunity for IB students to learn about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and archaeology. It will also allow students to gather data for their extended essay requirement.

    Dr. Stacey Camp, Dr. Lynne Goldstein, and Dr. Leigh Wolf (College of Education) initiated their collaboration in October of 2017 after Dr. Goldstein was contacted by a local school district with requests to develop a targeted archaeology outreach program. Additionally, university administration expressed support for the development of an ongoing program to connect the MSU Campus Archaeology Program (CAP) to secondary school students. CAP had worked with schools in the past to present workshops and demonstrations, but they wanted to develop an ongoing long-term program to provide both a participatory experience for high school students and an interdisciplinary research opportunity for the project team members.

    While archaeology is not always considered a STEM discipline, archaeologists use principles and approaches from geometry, geography, geology, various physical sciences, botany, and zoology to study the past. Archaeologists also study landscapes, use engineering equipment and GIS, do various kinds of digital work, and we identify artifacts, plant and animal remains, and study soils.

    Team Leader
    Stacey L. Camp, Department of Anthropology, College of Social Science

    Team Members
    Leigh Graves Wolf, College of Education

    Lynne Goldstein, Department of Anthropology, College of Social Science

    Science and Society at State (S3), is an interdisciplinary research institution offering financial support for scholarship across disciplines at Michigan State University. Their mission is to promote interdisciplinary research and education that utilizes methods, approaches, and scholarship from STEM, the health sciences, and science studies (studies of science using methods and scholarship from the humanities and/or social sciences).

     

    Click here to read the Spring 2018 newsletter.

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  • Alumni & Friends of Archaeology Fund Update

    Kate Frederick excavating
    Kate Frederick excavating at the UMBS

    The Alumni and Friends of Archaeology Expendable Fund, established to enhance research and learning of undergraduate and graduate students in the archaeology program through the MSU Department of Anthropology, provided two student awards Spring 2017. This was the inaugural year for the Alumni and Friends of Archaeology Research Enhancement Award. The Enhancement Award was granted to two doctoral students, Kate Frederick and Susan Kooiman. Dr. Bill Lovis serves as the doctoral advisor for both students.

    Ms. Frederick was able to complete the fieldwork/data collection portion of her dissertation using these funds, which allowed her to spend two weeks in the field. She is now completing her data analysis. Kate’s research examines prehistoric food storage as a risk management strategy and the landscapes suitable for caching along inland waterways in Northern Michigan.

    Kate’s interdisciplinary field research, carried out at the University of Michigan’s Biological Research Station, was completed with the assistance of graduate and undergraduate students from the Department of Anthropology, and Dr. Randy Schaetzl from the Department of Geography, Environment and Spatial Sciences.

    Becca Alberts performing macrobotanical analysis
    Undergraduate Becca Alberts analyzing macrobotanicals for Susan Kooiman

    Ms. Kooiman was able to fund the processing of additional laboratory samples for her dissertation. She sent out samples for laboratory analysis of Carbon to Nitrogen stable isotope ratios and lipid residue analysis. Some of these results allowed her to confidently say that predatory fish were consistently cooked in the ceramic vessels she is using. Her dissertation research examines dietary and technological change through time (200 BC – AD 1700) for precontract Native Americans. Her research takes place in Northern Michigan waterways, along Lake Huron.

    Susan’s interdisciplinary work involved Department of Anthropology undergraduate student Becca Alberts, Dr. Frank Telewski from the Department of Plant Biology, Dr. Catherine Yansa from the Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences and Dr. Ryan Tubbs from the Department of Radiology, Division of Human Anatomy here at MSU.

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  • News from Around the Department

    Graduate student and PhD. Candidate Susan Kooiman received the 2016-2017 Moreau Maxwell Scholar Award. This award is given to an Anthropology graduate student for an outstanding research contribution in Anthropology. The award is named in honor of the late Professor Moreau Maxwell, who is internationally recognized for his research contributions in Arctic archaeology. This award was presented in recognition of Ms. Kooiman’s two journal articles published in 2016, and co-authoring two more in the year 2017. Congratulations Susan for your recognition.

    Dr. Gabe Wrobel and his Central Belize Archaeological Survey project (CBAS) have recently published an article in Antiquity on stone panels they found depicting kings playing a ballgame. This article has been highlighted in several other news sources such as Archaeology Magazine, the UK Daily Mail, Live Science and the Archaeology Channel podcast. The CBAS project is a multidisciplinary effort and the article is authored by several people, highlighting this focus on bringing experts together from all over. Check out all the live links to explore this fascinating discovery.

    Graduate student, PhD. Candidate and Graduate Student Association President Caitlin Vogelsberg was awarded one of 20 fellowships by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) for their Graduate Research Fellowship in STEM for the 2017-2018 academic year for her project “Increasing Identifications of Deceased Border Crossers: Investigating Spatial and Skeletal Attributes of Migrant Deaths”. This award will support Caitlin during her dissertation project research and writing phases. Ms. Vogelsberg hopes to complete her dissertation this spring.

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  • Adjunct Feature: Dr. Erica Dziedzic

    Dr Erica DzedicDr. Erica Dziedzic is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology, who has taught for the department several times. At the young of 8, Erica decided she wanted to become an archaeologist and made it a reality in August of 2016 when she received her doctorate from our department under the guidance of Dr. Lynne Goldstein. Early during her collegiate career, the love for archaeology had her gravitating towards anthropology because of its ability to answer questions about human behaviors by focusing on cultural groups rather than individuals. The way in which groups of people use art to convey information sparked her curiosity as a child because we have been creating art for thousands of years. She believes, as do many, that it is an integral part of our humanity. This sentiment continues to drive both her research and teaching.

    Dr. Dziedzic’s dissertation research focused on the organization of geometric designs on Andean ceramic vessels. Using the archaeological record as a tool to explore the cultural messages encoded within art and design, her dissertation allowed her to analyze the information these designs offer us regarding human interactions with their environment. Her research interests still closely align with this, focusing on art and design as forms of communication that can be relayed through the mortuary archaeology of prehispanic, Andean South America.

    The creativity of art and forms of design carries over into her work on campus. Dr. Dziedzic employs the creative processes and the exciting opportunities that present themselves in academia in her pedagogy and utilizes the dynamic work environment of the MSU campus to invigorate both her teaching and research endeavors. Through teaching, Dr. Dziedzic engages with anthropology in innovative ways, tailoring her classes to the students’, often first, experiences with anthropology. Why are people interested in anthropology as a field and what drives them to want to learn more about it? Engaging with her students offers a way to answer these questions and has ignited a newfound passion. Had she not had the opportunity of being an adjunct lecturer, she would have never known how much she loved teaching.

    Dr Dzedic in Peruvian lab
    Dr. Dzedic working on ceramic analysis in Peru

    Dr. Dziedzic says The Department of Anthropology at MSU prepared her for a successful career by allowing her to take each new professional step, one at a time. Large research and writing projects can be daunting, but Erica feels that her mentors worked with her at each hurdle to break the overwhelming into small, manageable parts. The advice she received from her advisors continues to help her find a balance between career (research, travel, teaching) and family.

    Eventually, Dr. Dziedzic plans to explore the role perception plays in how humans process and transmit information through art forms and behavioral patterns through interdisciplinary teamwork. Over the course of the summer months and the coming year, we should look for several articles from Erica about ceramic form and design.

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