![Hale Science Spring 2023](/anthropology/sites/default/files/styles/email_large/public/newsletter-intro/hale_science_spring_2023.jpg?itok=Wkd4tQ4K)
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The spring equinox has arrived in Boulder which means snow should be on the way soon!
It’s been a busy semester in Hale so far. We are officially back to welcoming visitors to the department for in-person lectures. This has been wonderful and intellectually stimulating. It is good to be back. Guests have included archaeological Carlos Codorva, biological anthropologist Katie Grogan, and cultural anthropologist Kelly Fayard. This week we are hosting Ken George and Kirin Narayan as our distinguished cultural anthropologists. All are welcome to their talks Tuesday, March 21 and Thursday, March 23 at 4 pm in the Paleontology Hall of the CU Natural History Museum, as well as to a reception in the department on Wednesday, March 22 at 3 pm in the anthropology seminar room (Hale 455).
We had another fun and inspiring accepted student weekend in February. Thanks to the graduate committee and our graduate students for their thoughtful work to warmly welcome these future grad students. Biological anthropology professor Fernando Villanea gave a keynote lecture as did UCLA cultural anthropology professor Bharat Venkat. We are excited for the new students who will join us in August!
Finally, the Department of Anthropology graduation will be Thursday, May 11 at 4:30 pm outside Hale on the lawn. We are delighted to have just-retired professor Terry McCabe as commencement speaker this year. Congratulations in advance to all our graduates!
Please read on to learn about the innovative work CU anthropologists are doing on campus and around the world.
With all good wishes for spring break,
Carole McGranahan, Chair
Graduate Student News
Department Spotlights
![Dr. Sauther and Ring-tailed lemur at her research site](/anthropology/sites/default/files/styles/email_feature_thumbnail_large/public/dr._sauther_and_ring-tailed_lemur_at_her_research_site_.jpg?itok=ZKVLr6-M)
Faculty Spring 2023
Michelle Sauther (Professor, Biological Anthropology)
As primate biologists I study how habitat change affects the behavior and biology of strepsirrhine primates. My research on wild ring-tailed lemurs has documented how both immediate and long-term environmental factors such as climate and anthropogenic change affect Malagasy primate behavior, biology and conservation. My research on South African nocturnal primates uses state of the art technology to advance our understanding of these difficult to study primates.The legacy of my research will be to further the understanding of how primates living outside of tropical climates adjust to variable weather and climate conditions and events, which will inform how primates living in changing, fluctuating environments may adapt to changes in climate in the coming years.
![Rob in the field](/anthropology/sites/default/files/styles/email_feature_thumbnail_large/public/rob_weiner_in_the_field.jpg?itok=saRU7C4l)
Graduate Student Spring 2023
Rob Weiner (Ph.D. Archaeologyin Progress)
My dissertation research involved documentation of monumental roads associated with Chaco Canyon (ca. AD 800-1200) in partnership with the Navajo Nation. This fieldwork revealed the consistent patterning of small architectural features along roads that block, channel, and otherwise prescribe movement, as well as offerings of broken ceramics. I also found that the roads’ termini were a mix of watery places, prominent landforms, shrines, and astronomical bodies. Ultimately, my dissertation argues that road-related practices of sensorially engaging processions and ritual races—and the powerful entities of water, land, and sky that roads engage—were central elements driving the history of Chaco.
![Em Fox Field Photo](/anthropology/sites/default/files/styles/email_feature_thumbnail_large/public/emfox-fieldphoto.jpg?itok=QR0IK5ud)
Undergraduate Student Spring 2023
Em Fox (BA Anthropology in Progress)
Em’s research investigates identity and inequality in a historic cemetery in Nederland, Colorado. In addition to using data they collected about the grave markers at the Nederland Cemetery, Em is also incorporating information gathered from historic records into their research. Their work will contribute to the existing body of research on cemeteries as well as provide valuable genealogical information to the Nederland community.
![alsion_formanack in the field](/anthropology/sites/default/files/styles/email_feature_thumbnail_large/public/alsion_formanack_in_the_field.jpg?itok=VrGSDc50)
Alumni Spring 2023
Allison Formanack (Ph.D. Anthropology 2018)
Professor Allison Formanack (Assistant Professor, University of Southern Mississippi) has a new article in print, "." Her article argues that while home ownership in the US has historically favored white Americans, its biases also generate a class of white homeowners who struggle to achieve respectability because their homes are mobile.
Faculty News
Alumni
Distinguished Lecture in Cultural Anthropology
Kenneth George
4PM Tuesday, March 21
Paleontology Hall
Distinguished Lecture in Cultural Anthropology
Kirin Narayan
4PM Thursday, March 23
Paleontology Hall