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Students
in the Anthropology & Geography Programs
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Doctoral
Program Graduates
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Masters
Students
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Doctoral
Program Students |
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Ken
Batai
kbatai1@uic.edu
2000
B.A. Southern Illinois University at
Carbondale
2003 M.A. University of Illinois at Chicago
Physical
Anthropology and Bioarchaeology, Ancient DNA; Peru
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My primary interests are ancient DNA analysis and
Andean archaeology. I am also interested in studying genetic variation
in modern populations to understand demographic and population history.
Currently, I have several projects. The first is a study of ancient DNA
from Peru. Another project involves analyses of published mtDNA data of
modern populations, using population genetics software programs as well
as other software to reconstruct the phylogeny of mtDNA. I
am also performing computer analyses of DNA data from Africa. (10/05) |
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John
Beaver
BeaverJ@nmaicrc.si.edu
Archaeology,
Native American Studies; North America |
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Tarini
Bedi
tbedi1@uic.edu
B.A. 1995
(Social
Science and Theater) Bennington College
M.A. 1998 (Political Science) McGill University
M.A. 2004 (Anthropology) University of Illinois at Chicago
Cultural
Anthropology, Religious Nationalism, Class Formation, Gender &
Globalization; South Asia |
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My project is an ethnographic examination of the expressions of violence, religiosity, morality and justice of women in religious-nationalist political parties in urban India. My fieldwork has been with female party-workers in a militant political organization in the Western Indian state of Maharashtra, India. It looks at the interplay between specific forms of militant political performance and the everyday lives of women who join religious-conservative political parties in urban contexts that are increasingly influenced by media and expanding economic aspirations, and increasingly characterized by both public communal and private household violence due to the competition over urban space and changing moral notions of the home and family life. My research arises out of a critical need to ethnographically address the strategies and incentives of the aggressive politics of conservative political movements as they get expressed and transformed through the local party-worker in their everyday lives. I shed some light on the appeal of such movements, their class-cultural and gendered logics, the ways in which they frame the larger discourse on ethics and morality in their reification and normalization of violence and exclusion, and the social and psychological affirmation they provide. |
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Jeff
Buechler
jbuech1@uic.edu
1995 B.S.
(Environmental Engineering) California Polytechnic State University at
San Luis Obispo
2003 M.A. University of Illinois at Chicago
Archaeology, Ethnicity
and Architectural Style and Socio-Political Relationships, Ancient
Population Movements, Ethnic Identity and Relations, Mayan Hieroglyphic
Texts and Ancient Maya culture, Complex societies; Mesoamerica/Maya
region, Changing
water into wine |
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Rosa
Cabrera
rcabrera@fmnh.org
B.A (Communications Design) University of Illinois at Chicago
M.A. University of Illinois at Chicago
Cultural and Applied Anthropology, Urban Studies, Ethnic
Identity; Museums and Communities |
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My dissertation research
asks to what degree ethnic museums – as they represent their
own cultural heritage –
are instrumental in constructing, defining, maintaining and
transforming community ethnic
identity. (10/05) |
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Sofia
Chacaltana-Cortez
schaca1@uic.edu
2006 M.A.
University of Illinois at Chicago
Archaeology; Peru |
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I
am interested in the strategies imperial or
complex societies use for expansion and incorporation of new
territories. Also,
I am looking at how
less complex societies and local populations were transformed by new
imperial
institutions. For
my dissertation, I am
looking at the characteristics of the Inka empire in the far southern
part of
Peru and northern Chile, an area known as the
Colesuyo.
My research focuses on
Inka tampus (waystations), imperial
institutions that were
systematically built along the extensive roads networks of the Empire. Tampus were
Inka facilities that had
the primary functions of providing foodstuffs and lodging to state
travelers and supporting the local personnel. However, tampus filled other functions that were based on the political and economic
interests of powerful polities, and the needs of local people
and
the environment. Therefore, through the
investigation of tampus in the Colesuyo, I seek to
understand the Inka strategies of incorporation for this
marginalized region
of the southern Andes. |
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K.
Crane
kcrane2@uic.edu
B.A.
(Communications Arts, studies in Textile Arts) Indiana University
M.A. (Art Therapy, with Minority Populations) University of Illinois at
Chicago
M.A. (Social Science Research, conc. in Cultural Anthropology)
University of Chicago
Cultural
Anthropology, Native American Women, Cherokee-Iroquois Relations,
Iroquois Basketry and Material Culture; Eastern U.S. Seaboard During
Contact and Colonial Period (1550-1850 A.D.) |
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Native American women are scarcely present within written histories of
Canada and the U.S. yet they were active participants during the
colonial period. The narratives of Iroquois women are salient
in their material culture. I am interested in extracting
these narratives by examining Iroquois material culture, specifically
basketry. My research explores social as opposed to aesthetical themes
and is ethnohistorical. (10/05) |
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Chris
Davis
cdavis14@uic.edu
1998 B.A. (Chemistry)
Dartmouth College
2003 M.A. University of Illinois at Chicago
Archaeology, Prehistoric
Religion and Folklore, Paleoenvironment;
Caribbean |
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Stephen
Davis
sdavis8@uic.edu
2001 M.A.
(Geography) University of Illinois at Chicago
2007 M.A. (Anthropology) University of Illinois at Chicago
Anthropology and
Geography, Latino Migration and Urban Enclaves,
Globalization; Latin America |
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Shannon
Freeman
sfreem2@uic.edu
1996 B.A. (Anthropology and English) Auburn
University
2001 M.A. (Anthropology) University of Illinois at Chicago
Archaeology
& GIS, LA-ICPMS Mass Spectrometry; Southeastern United States |
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Mark
Golitko
mgolit1@uic.edu
1999 B.S.
(History) University of Wisconsin at Madison
2002 M.A. (Anthropology) University of Illinois at Chicago
Archaeology and
Archaeometry, Belgian Initial Neolithic (Linearbandkeramik Culture) |
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My
research focuses on early Neolithic villages in Belgium of the
Linearbandkeramik (LBK) culture.
I am studying the movement
of ceramics
between villages in the region and beyond using archaeometrical
techniques,
principally inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). This
is part of a larger
project under the
direction of Dr. Lawrence H. Keeley in collaboration with
archaeologists at the Institut Royal de Sciences Naturelles de
Belgique (IRSNB) in Brussels
aimed at further understanding the relationship between warfare,
trade/exchange, and alliance building on the frontier of agricultural
expansion
ca. 5200 BC. (9/05) |
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Ruth Gomberg
rgombe1@uic.edu
1999 B.A. (Spanish) University of Illinois at
Chicago
2006
M.A. (Anthropology) University of Illinois at Chicago
Cultural Anthropology, Urban Ethnography |
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My doctoral dissertation is an examination of the social strategies that Mexican immigrants use to navigate the terrain of work and society in the United States. This ethnographic project focuses on the agency of immigrant workers in overcoming challenges and establishing themselves as workers and members of households and communities in the U.S. My dissertation will provide a micro-level look at how a cohort of Mexican immigrant workers in Chicago create and use social networks, attain resources, combat economic insecurity, nurture dignity and self-esteem, and promote norms that cultivate and help sustain markets for their labor. This study will complement existing research which has focused on the structural conditions that encumber immigrants, by showing how immigrants themselves react and adapt to these conditions. |
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Deb
Green
dgreen10@uic.edu
1999 B.A. University of Washington
2002 M.A. University of Oklahoma
Geoarchaeology; Northwest Coast, Great Plains, Philippines
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My doctoral research is focused on reconstructing
the geomorphology and paleoenvironmental conditions during the rise of
chiefdom-level societies in the Tanjay region of Negros, Oriental
Philippines. I am specifically interested in land clearance practices
associated with swidden fsarming and how these activities may have
contributed to environmental change. The results of project will then
be used to address current models on the evolution of chiefdoms.
(10/05) |
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Deirdre
Guthrie
dguthr1@uic.edu
B.A. (with Honors in
Community Studies) University of California at Santa Cruz
M.A. University of
Illinois at Chicago
Cultural
Anthropology, Gender, Tourism, Transnational Studies; Dominican Republic |
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Jacqueline Jackson
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Melanie Kane
mkane2@uic.edu
2001 B.S. (Anthropology and Environmental Studies)
Tulane University
2007 M.A. University of Illinois at Chicago
Physical Anthropology, Medical Anthropology,
Reproduction, Health
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Ellen Kang
ekang6@uic.edu
1992 B.A. Northwestern University
2001 M.A. University of Illinois at Chicago
Cultural Anthropology, Global Economies,
Mesoamerica
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Nam
Kim
nkim3@uic.edu
B.A. (International
Relations) University of Pennsylvania
M.A. (Political Science) New York University
M.A. (Anthropology) University of Illinois at Chicago
Cultural Anthropology,
Warfare and Social Evolution, with emphasis on Metal Age Societies in
Vietnam |
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This proposed project seeks to examine the underpinnings of social
complexity and political centralization in the Bac Bo region of Metal Age
Vietnam. To be evaluated is the relationship between warfare and the
emergence of complex polities defined anthropologically as chiefdoms and
states. Through archaeological fieldwork, data will be collected to
identify the embryonic conditions present when small-scale, acephalous,
and egalitarian communities became subsumed within larger, more complex
polities. In collaboration with Vietnamese archaeologists, preliminary
survey, test excavation, and artifact analysis will be conducted at the
site of Co Loa, a fortified, proto-urban citadel in the Red River Valley
near Hanoi. In reconstructing the chronological history for Co Loa’s
fortifications, the project seeks to determine if political centralization
in the Bac Bo region preceded its colonization by the Chinese Imperial Han
at 111 BC. Project results will have broad implications for both state
formation theory and debates surrounding the origins of Vietnamese
civilization, and will also build a foundation for future collaboration between Vietnamese and American researchers. |
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Patrick
Knight
pknigh1@uic.edu
2001 B.A. (Mass Communications) St. Xavier
University
2004 M.A. (Anthropology) University of Illinois at Chicago
Cultural Anthropology, Media Anthropology,
Cyberspace,
Tourism, Slavoj Žižek's Notion of Ideological Fantasy, Psychoanalytical
Methodology; Ireland. |
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Jason Laffoon
jlaffo1@uic.edu
2004 B.A. University of Illinois at
Chicago
2006 M.A.
University of Illinois at Chicago
Archaeology, Ancient DNA; Caribbean |
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I am investigating patterns of ancient migrations in the Caribbean through a multi-dimensional approach. My research will utilize the analysis of non-metric dental traits, trace element and particularly stable isotope analysis in conjunction with bioarchaeological and mortuary data to identify, assess, and interpret migration patterns and processes. I seek to reinvestigate the role that migrations may have played in the social and cultural developments of the ancient Caribbean. |
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Paul
Lakosky
plakos1@uic.edu
1990 B.A. University of Minnesota
2004 M.A. University of Illinois at Chicago
Cultural
Anthropology, Social Organization, Medical Anthropology, Globalization
and Public Health, Contexts of Uncertainty, Risk Theory, HIV/AIDS. |
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Alex Markovic
amarko2@uic.edu
2006 B.A. University of Illinois at Chicago
2007 M.A. University of Illinois at Chicago
Cultural Anthropology (Ethnography & Ethnohistory),
Culture and Identity; Balkans |
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My research focuses on the construction and negotiation of ethnic identity
of the Roma in southeastern Serbia. I specifically focus on the inter-ethnic
interactions between non-Rom celebrants and Romani musicians in the
context of the performing of music, and how music becomes a site of
ritualized performance and the negotiation of Romani ethnic identity. My
work also hopes to understand how global, political, and economic forces
are
impacting the performance of identity and the construction of ethnicity by
the Rom with respect to music and musical performance. |
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Lisa
Niziolek
lnizio1@uic.edu
1996
B.A. University of Chicago
2003
M.A. University of Illinois at
Chicago
Archaeology,
Ceramics, Craft Specialization, Chiefdoms, Ethnoarchaeology;
Philippines and Ireland |
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I am interested in examining production and
exchange relationships in
pre-state societies through ceramic analysis, in areas including
the prehispanic Philippines and Neolithic Ireland.
The goal of my dissertation project is to provide a better
understanding
of earthenware production in the prehispanic Philippine chiefdom of
Tanjay
through chemical analysis of pottery and clay. The project also
includes
ethnoarchaeological observations of living potters, ethnohistoric
research
of pottery production through Spanish and Chinese records, analysis of
ethnographic and archaeological museum artifacts associated with
pottery production and use, and analysis of photographs of traditional
pottery production in the Philippines. (2/06) |
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Rahul
Oka
roka1@uic.edu
2000 B.A. Lawrence
University
2001 M.A.
University of Illinois at Chicago
Archaeology and
Cultural Anthropology, Market Exchange; Africa and India |
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Peoples, goods and ideas
have moved between Africa and Asia for over 3000 years. One outcome of
these interactions was
the development of ports along the Asian and East African coasts over
the past two millennia. The floruit of this trade
was in the late 14th century CE when over 2000 port settlements along
the Indian Ocean
littoral (coastal) linked various parts of Asia and Africa so that
African ivory, Indian
cotton cloth, Chinese silks, Middle Eastern perfumes as well as grains,
metals, ceramics moved in large quantities from West Africa to China,
Korea and
Japan. However, between 1500-1800 CE, most of these towns declined
and/or were abandoned across the Indian Ocean and the parties
blamed for this have been the Portuguese, other Europeans or the Little
Ice Age. My
research, supervised by Dr. Chap Kusimba, seeks to understand urban
decline from local, regional and global perspectives using
archaeological,
ethnographic and archival data. I
compare the process of decline in coastal East Africa (at the site of
Mtwapa, Kenya)
and Western India (Chaul). My thesis tests the hypothesis that major
political
changes within Afrasia between 1500-1600 CE were the main reasons
behind urban
decline and not European intrusion or the declining climate conditions.
(10/05) |
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Rebecca
Osborn
rosbor1@uic.edu
1999 B.A. Kansas State University
2002 M.A. University of Illinois at Chicago
Archaeology
and Physical Anthropology, Bioarchaeology; Peru |
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William
Pestle
wpestl2@uic.edu
B.A. University of Michigan
MSc University of Bradford
Bioarchaeology, stable isotopes, food and
society, Caribbean prehistory |
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Sara
Pfannkuche
spfann1@uic.edu
B.A.
Michigan State University
Archaeology,
Geoarchaeology and Settlement Patterns; North America |
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My dissertation area is the Pecatonica River
Valley in Northern Illinois. My research interest is learning about
how people used river valleys: what landforms were used by
prehistoric and historic peoples within the river valley and how did
that preference change through time? Also, did this change in landform
utilization affect subsistence or settlement patterns? Lastly, I'm
interested in comparing settlement patterns along large river systems
(such as the Mississippi) to patterns along small river systems
(Pecatonica) to see whether they are comparable. |
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Russ S. Quick
rquick2@uic.edu
1997 B.A. Anthropology (M.C.L.),
Appalachian State University
1997 B.A. History (M.C.L.),
Appalachian State University
2001 M.A. Anthropology,
University of Illinois at Chicago
Archaeology, GIS; Belgium |
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Matt Schauer
mschau5@uic.edu
2004 B.A. (History) University of Minnesota
2007 M.A. University of Illinois at Chicago
Defensive architecture, Imperial frontier theory, GIS analysis and the
archaeology of warfare. Working at the Pambamarca fortresses of the Inca
Empire in Northern Ecuador.
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Nicola
Sharratt
nsharr2@uic.edu
2004 B.A.
University of Cambridge
2007 M.A. Anthropology,
University of Illinois at Chicago
Archaeology, Gender; South
America (Andes) |
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Andrew
Wyatt
awyatt1@uic.edu
1989
B.A.
Antioch College
1999 M.A. University of Illinois at Chicago
Archaeology,
Paleoethnobotany; Mesoamerica (Belize) |
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I am studying
archaeology and archaeobotany in the Maya region, reconstructing
Classic Maya agricultural practices through the excavation and analysis
of
ancient plant remains. My dissertation will focus on
how the Maya were able to develop a complex, state level society in an
area traditionally considered inhospitable to large scale agriculture.
Previously, I joined a
multi-disciplinary project at Motul de San Jose in the Peten rainforest
of Guatemala, studying economic interaction in the Maya Lowlands during
the Classic Period (A.D. 250-A.D. 900). |
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Masters Students
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Erin Antalis
eantal2@uic.edu
B.A. Florida State University
Cultural Anthropology; South America |
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Paul
Bick
pbick2@uic.edu
2005 M.A. NorthEastern University (Linguistics)
Haiti, Rethinking Community based Conservation |
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Zachary Blair
zblair2@uic.edu
2005 B.A. University of Central Florida
2006 M.A. (Liberal Studies-Race, Gender, and Sexuality) University of
Missouri - Kansas City
Cultural Anthropology, Urban Anthropology,
Environmental
Anthropology, Queer Communities and Culture, Race and Gender; North
America (United States)
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Gabriel Cantarutti
gcanta2@uic.edu
B.A.
University of Chile
Archaeology; South America |
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Laura Chadwick
lchadw2@uic.edu
B.A. Austin College
Cultural Anthropology, Politics of Human Rights;
Southern Africa, Eastern Africa, China |
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Rebecca
Deeb
rdeeb2@uic.edu
2002
B.A. Oberlin College
Archaeology,
Gender, Landscape, Museum Studies; Mesoamerica |
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Rory Dennison
rdenni2@uic.edu
B.A. Minnesota State University - Moorehead
Archaeology; China |
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Kaelyn Dillard
kdilla2@uic.edu
B.A. (Anthropology and Psychology) Tulane University
Archaeology, Andes |
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Virginia Hess
vhess2@uic.edu
B.A. Miami University
Archaeology; North America, Caribbean |
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John Hicks
jhicks5@uic.edu
B.A. Ohio University HTC 2007
Anthropology Major with Minors/certificates in Spanish, GIS and Environmental Studies |
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Caleb
Kestle
ckestl1@uic.edu
2004 B.A.
University of Illinois at Chicago
Archaeology;
Mesoamerica |
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Megan Klein
mklein5@uic.edu
2001 B.A. (Spanish) University of Iowa
2001 B.B.A. (Management & Organizations) University of Iowa
2004 M.A. (Spanish Literature) Loyola University of Chicago
Cultural Anthropology, Gender,
Globalization, Immigration, Labor; Aymará communities in
South America (Bolivia) |
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Erin Lutgens
elutge2@uic.edu
B.A.
University of Michigan
Archaeology; North America,
Europe |
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Jim
Meierhoff
jmeier3@uic.edu
2004 B.A.
University of Illinois at Chicago
Archaeology,
Mayan Hieroglyphs; Mesoamerica |
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John F Michels
jmiche7@uic.edu
1999 B.S. University of Wisconsin at La Crosse
2002 M.Ed. University of Wisconsin at La Crosse
Cultural anthropology, Canada |
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Melyssa
Navis
mnavis2@uic.edu
B.A.
DePaul University
Environmental
Geography |
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Sarah
Nevins
snevin2@uic.edu
B.A. Michigan State University
Archaeology, Rise and Development of Complex
Societies; Mesoamerica, Andes |
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Matthew Piscitelli
mpisci2@uic.edu
B.A. Boston University
Household Archaeology, Preceramic Peru, Cultural Ecology, Ancient Warfare, Evolution of Complex Society |
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Evin
Rodkey
erodke2@uic.edu
1999 B.A. (Psychology) Indiana
University-Bloomington
Cultural Anthropology |
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Luisa J. Rollins
lrolli2@uic.edu
B.S. in Economics University of Central Florida
M.A. in International Business University of Florida
Cultural and Ecological Anthropology, Tourism, Environment, Ethnobotany and Gender, Latin America |
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Mark Sanders
msande8@uic.edu
B.S. The National College of Chiropractic
M.P.H. University of Illinois at Chicago
M.B.A. Keller Graduate School of Management
J.D. John Marshall Law School
Environmental Geography, GIS, Ecological Geography |
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Neslihan Sen
nsen2@uic.edu
B.A. Bogazici University
M.A. Istanbul University
Cultural Anthropology; Middle East |
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Larissa Smith
lmsmith4@uic.edu
B.A. University
of Arizona
Socio-cultural
Anthropology,
Archaeology, Ethnoarchaeology, Cross-Cultural Religious Similarities;
Prehistories of Pacific, East African, and Native
North American
Cultures |
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Jennifer
Starbird
jstarb2@uic.edu
2001
B.A. Lake Forest College
Archaeology,
Artifact Conservation; Mesoamerica
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