Anthropology News Stories

Congratulations to recent Anthropology PhD graduate Dr. Tomos Evans! On November 12, 2024, Tomos successfully defended his dissertation, “Earthwork Landscapes of Protection and Regulation: Chronology, Construction, and Meaning at Sungbo’s Eredo, Africa’s Largest Known Structure.”

Five Honors students competed for the inaugural Barr Prize in public speaking in the Charles Center's "Thesis in Three" event held as a part of the Graduate & Honors Research Symposium March 22 in Sadler.

PhD Student Kate Brock given travel award to present at the Society for Historical Archaeology conference, attends conference in Ireland to share research on linen manufacturing and folklore.

Graham Callaway & Audrey Horning work with community group in Mecklenburg County to preserve and develop historic 1880s log cabin site with ties to the early years of emancipation in the area.

New articles focus on retracing lost proveniences and the motives behind the removal of famous bronze heads from Nigeria in the early 20th century.

What's Your &? Since our founding, the spirit of the ampersand has been a part of William & Mary. For us, it is more than just a symbol, it is who we are. We’ve highlighted some amazing stories of how students showcase the ands in their lives. Their involvements, passions, and accomplishments show how William & Mary students are getting career ready and learning new things every day.

Tack Faculty Lecture presented by Danielle Moretti-Langholtz, discussing recent findings surrounding William and Mary's Brafferton Indian School

Each year the Department of Historic Resources produces an archaeology month poster, often in collaboration with other organizations or museums. This year, they have partnered with Dr. Martin Gallivan from the College of William & Mary and Dr. Jessica Jenkins from Flagler College to highlight their joint research initiative on archaeological oyster deposits that will help understand past human-environmental relationships and guide current and future conservation efforts.

Ph.D. student Caroline Watson discusses her important summer work with the National Park Service relating to climate impacts on archaeological sites in the Caribbean, and how it ties into her doctoral research on the impacts of hurricanes and other natural disasters on the people and landscape of Puerto Rico.

Recent William & Mary Anthropology alumni Carol Oordt and Mary Lawrence Young sat down with Tomos Evans to discuss their current work in Cultural Resource Management in Hawai'i, how their One-Year MA degrees at William & Mary prepared them for this, and what advice they have for current or prospective students interesting in taking on careers in CRM.

Ph.D. student Maia Wilson sits down with Tomos Evans to discuss her recent work with the National Park Service, and an incredible discovery that she made that may link her family to the site where she’s been (coincidentally) working for her graduate externship under NPS.

Dr. Buffington's STLI Research Tutorial for Anthropology Student Participation June 11-August 11, 2023.

Recent William & Mary Anthropology graduate Dr. Olanrewaju Lasisi discusses his background in archaeology, his research in Nigeria, and his future career at the University of Virginia and the Ohio State University with Tomos Evans.

Ph.D. Candidate Madeleine Gunter-Bassett wins the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) Student Poster Award.

William & Mary faculty, graduate student, and alumni participation and leadership in several organized sessions and talks at SAfA underscores the university's increasing global importance in the study of African archaeology.

Doctoral Candidate Chardé Reid, recently awarded a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship to complete her doctoral research, sits down with friend and colleague Tomos Evans to discuss her journey as an archaeologist, doctoral researcher, and transforming approaches to American history via community-based archaeology.

Doctoral Candidate Tomos Llywelyn Evans will be undertaking consecutive fellowships at Dumbarton Oaks and the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in 2023-2024. His friend and colleague Chardé Reid interviews him about his research, and how the two fellowships will shape his work.

William & Mary Anthropology alumna Dr. Summer Moore discusses with Tomos Evans the influence of her doctoral studies on her current work in Hawai?i, keeping her foot in the door of academia, and any advice she has for current and prospective students interested in working in CRM.

Graduate and Honors students from Anthropology excelled at the GHRS this year, with several prestigious prizes won.

Several members of the William & Mary Anthropology Department have been actively working with the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative and its partners to monitor important heritage landscapes in areas of conflict.

The Tyler Lecture Series Symposium, presented by the Harrison Ruffin Tyler Department of History

Anthropology Ph.D. candidate Olanrewaju Lasisi recently won the Graduate Studies Advisory Board Award for Excellence in Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences.

Ph.D. Candidate Claudia Escue recently published her work on taro farming in Rurutu, French Polynesia, in an article in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology (co-authored with Professor Jennifer Kahn).

Faculty and graduate students from William & Mary played an import role in several 2022 and 2023 winter conferences this academic year.

MA student Emily Hull details her experiences in undertaking work as an intern for the William & Mary Center for Archaeological Research (W&MCAR).

Archaeologists ask questions in their search for knowledge. They ask the dirt they excavate to reveal a narrative of the past. They coax out patterns in the data they compile. They ask ancient bones to tell a story. However, to build a nuanced approximation of the past, they ask questions of each other.

Visiting scholar Chenyuan Ma joins the Anthropology Department this fall to advance her doctoral research on dance cultures in China.

Anthropology Ph.D. Candidate Tomos Llywelyn Evans was recently awarded a Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant for his research project on Sungbo's Eredo.

Professor Brad Weiss undertakes research on the impacts of climate change, forest fires, and resulting smoke on winemaking in California.

Anthropology Graduate Student Graham Callaway Publishes an Article on 'The Archaeology of Living Things'.

Caroline Donovan '23 spent the summer unearthing Colonial Williamsburg's hidden history.

Through a summer research grant, Jack Boyd '23 identified 75 potential sites for inclusion in a new African American Heritage Trail in Williamsburg.

Anna Arnsberger '25 helps to reveal enduring connections among families, foodways, and place at James Monroe's Highland.

In August, Affiliated Scholar of Anthropology Dr. Hayden Bassett was featured in a Washington Post article focused on his work with the Army Monuments Officer Training program.

Anthropology Graduate Student Rebekah Planto Received Sanders Award for Excellence Undergraduate Mentoring

Anthropology Alumna Gail Williams Wertz Published an Article on Collaborative Archaeological Research

Matt Borden won the Gloria S. King Research Fellowship

Anthropology senior Ellie Henry competed with the Women's Swim Team to win the Colonial Athletics Association Championship. The team was also named SwimSwam's team of the month.

The work of Anthropology Adjunct Professor Hayden Basset was featured in the New York Times article "Ukraine War Bares U.S. Army Delay in Creating New ‘Monuments Officers.'"

Anthropology undergraduate student Ellie Renshaw will be an Archaeological Collections Fellow at Fort Ticonderoga through their Edward W. Pell Graduate Fellowship program this summer.

Anthropology Alumni Gail Williams Wertz was awarded Alumni Medallion by the Alumni Association

Rebekah Planto's article on new findings at Bacon's Castle is published in Post-Medieval Archaeology

In Memoriam, Africana Studies faculty remember Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Satoshi Ito by Omiyemi (Artisia) Green

William & Mary is in the top 5 in The Register of Professional Archaeologists’ 2021 registration rank list.

William & Mary’s Commonwealth Center for Energy and the Environment had its genesis about a decade ago after members of the university’s Board of Visitors expressed interest in encouraging new research, especially interdisciplinary initiatives.

In departments and initiatives throughout William & Mary, efforts have been underway for nearly two decades to build up relationships with descendant communities and include their members as a vital part of the university’s research efforts.

Andrea Wright, Jinlan Liu Asian and Pacific Islander American Studies (APIA) Faculty Research Award recipient, plans to use the funds to support a research project focused on the impact of green energy projects on people’s lives in India, Kuwait and Virginia.

Anthropology students share their research projects on IAD 2021

Yijie Zou is a Ph.D. student in William & Mary’s Department of Anthropology. He is planning a return to the west African country to continue observing the interaction of the Chinese community and native Ghanaians.

Dr. Michael Blakey will be honored with the President's Award from the American Anthropological Association at the upcoming Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD.

Prof. Andrea Wright has won the Jinlan Liu APIA Faculty Research Award.

An exhibition of works by Native American artists curated by Dr. Danielle Moretti-Langholtz will be on display in Muscarelle Museum of Art

For years, Professor Deborah Denenholz Morse’s classes on Victorian fiction and the Brontës have been popular with W&M students from a variety of majors. Now, anyone can experience Morse’s fascinating lectures through her new course on Audible.

Martin Gallivan, professor and chair of William & Mary’s Department of Anthropology, was a consultant in the design of Machicomoco State Park.

Anthropology Ph.D. Student Tomos Evans was awarded an Exploration and Field Research Grant by The Explorer Club Washington Group (ECWG), the largest local chapter of the International Explorer Club.

Erin Schwartz, a Ph.D. candidate in William & Mary’s Department of Anthropology, is studying enslaved women of the community of Buffalo Forge, a 19th century ironworks in Glasgow, Virginia.

Four W&M students were recently awarded fellowships from the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), a program aimed at increasing diversity among college and university faculty.

The royal palace at Ijebu-Ode was the center of economic, political and ritual life in the great Ijebu kingdom for a millennium, maybe more.

With the 2020-21 academic year concluding next month, William & Mary President Katherine Rowe will be holding a special Community Conversation with student Commencement award recipients at 3 p.m. on Friday.

We are proud of W&M Anthropology community members Rebekah Planto, Chardé Reid, and Dr. Michelle Lelièvre who will be participating in the TAG 2021 Virtual Conference, which will take place April 30 - May 2.

Abram Clear ’21, a linguistics and anthropology major, discovered a lot about himself during his college years, and he’s quick to credit the inclusive and welcoming home W&M provided throughout that time.

A digital showcase of undergraduate accomplishment will roll out throughout the month of April.

W&M alum Travis Parno ('06) locates 1634 settlement at Historic Saint Mary’s City

Register to attend Boston University's upcoming panel: "Community-Centered Archaeologies and Public History"

PhD candidate Chardé Reid shares her thoughts on community, reparations, and steps towards reconciliation.

Graduate student Chardé Reid's paper "“It’s Not About Us”: Exploring White-Public Heritage Space, Community, and Commemoration on Jamestown Island, Virginia" was published in the International Journal of Historical Archaeology.

Olanrewaju Lasisi, 5th-year M.A./Ph.D. student, was recently awarded a Dumbarton Oaks Junior Research Fellowship.

A small white building that sits tucked away on the William & Mary campus once held an 18th-century school dedicated to the religious education of enslaved and free Black children, researchers have determined.

Human remains have been discovered in an archaeological dig at the site of a historic African American church in Colonial Williamsburg, experts announced Monday.

The Department of Anthropology is pleased to announce Mark D. Anderson as the winner of the 2021 Vinson Sutlive Prize for his book From Boas to Black Power: Racism, Liberalism, and American Anthropology.

Dr. Michael Blakey was interviewed by CBS Sunday Morning about his work on the Columbian Harmony Ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Please join W&M’s Dr. Michael Blakey as he presents “African Diasporic Activist Scholarship: Beyond the Enlightenment, Toward the Democratization of Science," as the featured speaker at the NY Academy of Sciences’ annual anthropology lecture, conducted via Zoom on Monday, Feb. 22nd at 6:30 pm.

As fellows at W&M’s Center for Geospatial Analysis, Kira Holmes ’17 and Colleen Truskey ’17 showed the power of maps.

Current M.A./P.h.D. student Malachi Tripaldi recognized in the SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program newsletter.

On September second Dr. Blakey Michael Blakey will be a panelist for "Reclaiming the Ancestors: Indigenous and Black Perspectives on Repatriation, Human Rights, and Justice," sponsored by the the Society of Black Archaeologists, in partnership with the Indigenous Archaeology Collective and the Peabody Museum.