News & Events

Thomas Hanson Accepts Position with the Bureau of Reclamation

Renee Kuban — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 18:24:46 +0000

Thomas Hanson Accepts Position with the Bureau of Reclamation Renee Kuban Fri, 10/04/2024 - 12:24

Graduate student, Thomas Hanson (Cultural Anthropology, PhD Candidate) accepted and started a permanent position with the Bureau of Reclamation in the Upper Colorado Basin, Western Colorado Area. Thomas now serves as the staff archeologist for the Area Office Program Manager for all aspects of the cultural resources program concerning Traditional Cultural Properties, archeology, history, and cultural resources management within the Area Office.

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Carole McGranahan Edits and Contributes to the Himalaya Journal Special Section

Renee Kuban — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 18:12:32 +0000

Carole McGranahan Edits and Contributes to the Himalaya Journal Special Section Renee Kuban Fri, 10/04/2024 - 12:12

Professor Carole McGranahan edited and co-wrote the introduction and an essay in HIMALAYA - The Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies Special Section - Himalayan Flashes: Regional Ethnography in Short Form

Summary

As HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies, celebrates its 52nd year, we are thrilled to present Volume 43, Issue 2, Autumn 2024. This issue is especially notable because it features the unique collection ‘Himalayan Flashes: Regional Ethnography in Short Form’, co-edited by Sienna R. Craig and Carole McGranahan. The collection emerges from a new wave of ethnographic writing that values brevity without sacrificing depth or nuance. Curated from sessions at leading conferences, these flash ethnographies offer powerful glimpses into the social and cultural landscapes of the Himalayan region, spanning from Nepal’s highlands to urban environments in the United States. Despite their concise format, these essays resonate with rich insights, making this issue a landmark in the journal’s history and in the broader field of Himalayan studies. This issue also carries five research articles, one photo essay, one conference report, and one film and two book reviews.

Read the Special Section and Professor McGranahan's essays in

HIMALAYA - The Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies Special Section - Himalayan Flashes: Regional Ethnography in Short Form

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Sanggay Tashi Publishes Article in Himalaya

Renee Kuban — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 18:03:10 +0000

Sanggay Tashi Publishes Article in Himalaya Renee Kuban Fri, 10/04/2024 - 12:03

Graduate Student Sanggay Tashi (Cultural Anthropology, PhD Candidate) published, "Meeting Lhamo," in The Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies.

Abstract

This story describes a snapshot of a Tibetan nomadic woman who later became a construction worker after moving to a settlement town. It highlights some of the challenges her family faces as they move away from herding life and embrace a new way of life.

Read the article in

Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies

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Two-Way Star Travis Hunter an Anthropology Major

Renee Kuban — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 17:48:28 +0000

Two-Way Star Travis Hunter an Anthropology Major Renee Kuban Mon, 09/30/2024 - 11:48

Did you know CU Buffs’ two-way star Travis Hunter (BA Anthropology in progress) is an Anthropology major? While dominating both sides of the ball, Travis is also diving into the study of humanity. Whether he’s chasing Heisman dreams on the field or exploring human history in the classroom, Travis is showing what it means to excel at CU Boulder. We’re proud to have him as part of our Anthropology community!

Read more about Travis's love of Anthropology in

USA Today

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Kate Goldfarb's Co-Edited Book Difficult Attachments Published by Rutgers

Renee Kuban — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 21:31:23 +0000

Kate Goldfarb's Co-Edited Book Difficult Attachments Published by Rutgers Renee Kuban Tue, 09/24/2024 - 15:31

Professor Kate Goldfarb's co-edited book, Difficult Attachments - Anxieties of Kinship and Care published by Rutgers University Press.

Description

Anthropologists have long considered kinship as the basis for social solidarity. Indeed, the idea that kinship is grounded in positive sociality has found its way into most anthropological accounts and has served as an orienting framework directing decades of scholarly research. But what about when it is not? What about instances when kinship is anything but ‘warm and fuzzy’ but is characterized, instead, by neglect, violence, negative affect, or a lack of nurturance and care? In the three interlinked sections of this volume, the view that kinship is about “solidarity” and “care” is challenged by exploring how kin relations are not only about connection and inclusion but also about disconnection, exclusion, neglect, and violence. Kinship relationships that feel “positive” and “good” take a great deal of perseverance and work; there is nothing “natural” about kinship ties as being based on positive sociality. In these chapters, the contributors take seriously the contingency of kinship relations (the moments when kinship breaks down or is a source of suffering) and how this prompts scholars to develop new theoretical and methodological perspectives.

Get the book:
Use Discount code RUP30 for 30% off!

Rutgers University Press

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Will Taylor's Reserach Featured in the Conversation

Renee Kuban — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 16:04:44 +0000

Will Taylor's Reserach Featured in the Conversation Renee Kuban Tue, 09/24/2024 - 10:04

Professor Will Taylor's research on domesticating horses had a huge impact on human society − this new science rewrites where and when it first happened and is featured in The Conversation.

Across human history, no single animal has had a deeper impact on human societies than the horse. But when and how people domesticated horses has been an ongoing scientific mystery.

Half a million years ago or more, early human ancestors hunted horses with wooden spears, the very first weapons, and used their bones for early tools. During the late Paleolithic era, as far back as 30,000 years ago or more, ancient artists chose wild horses as their muse: Horses are the most commonly depicted animal in Eurasian cave art.

Following their first domestication, horses became the foundation of herding life in the grasslands of Inner Asia, and key leaps forward in technology such as the chariot, saddle and stirrup helped make horses the primary means of locomotion for travel, communication, agriculture and warfare across much of the ancient world. With the aid of ocean voyages, these animals eventually reached the shores of every major landmass – even Antarctica, briefly.

As they spread, horses reshaped ecology, social structures and economies at a never-before-seen scale. Ultimately, only industrial mechanization supplanted their near-universal role in society.

Read the feature:

The Conversation

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Lauren Hosek, Robin James and Will Taylor's Science Advances Article Featured in CU Boulder Today

Renee Kuban — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 15:44:57 +0000

Lauren Hosek, Robin James and Will Taylor's Science Advances Article Featured in CU Boulder Today Renee Kuban Tue, 09/24/2024 - 09:44

Professor Lauren Hosek, Robin James (Biological Anthropology PhD in Progress) and Professor Will Taylor publish, "Tracing Horseback Riding and Transport in the Human Skeleton," in Science Advances. This article was also featured in CU Boulder Today.

Abstract
Among the most widely used methods for understanding human-horse relationships in the archaeological record is the identification of human skeletal pathologies associated with mounted horseback riding. In particular, archaeologists encountering specific bony changes to the hip, femur, and lower back often assert a causal link between these features and prolonged periods of mounted horseback riding. The identification of these features have recently been used to assert the early practice of mounted horseback riding among the Yamnaya culture of western Eurasia during the third and fourth millennium BCE. Here, we summarize the methodological hurdles and analytical risks of using this approach in the absence of valid comparative datasets and outline best practices for using human osteological data in the study of ancient animal transport.

Read the feature and the article below:

CU Boulder Today

Science Advances

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Alumna, Dawa Lokyitsang Presents Keynote at the Tibetan Conference

Renee Kuban — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 15:29:09 +0000

Alumna, Dawa Lokyitsang Presents Keynote at the Tibetan Conference Renee Kuban Tue, 09/24/2024 - 09:29

Alumna, Dawa Lokyitsang (Anthropology, PhD 2024) presented the keynote lecture, "The Dalai Lama's Future Succession: Understanding the 14th Dalai Lama and His Formidable Contributions," at the The Dalai Lama: A Conference on Leadership, Devotion, and Succession.

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Sarah Kurnick, Cristian Figueroa, and Nicholas Puente Present at the RMPA Conference

Renee Kuban — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 15:05:38 +0000

Sarah Kurnick, Cristian Figueroa, and Nicholas Puente Present at the RMPA Conference Renee Kuban Tue, 09/24/2024 - 09:05

Professor Sarah Kurnick, Cristian Figueroa (Archaeology PhD in Progress), and Nicholas Puente (Archaeology, PhD Candidate) presented their research at the 9th Annual Rocky Mountain Pre-Columbian Association Research Colloquium held at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

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Michelle Sauther's Research and Article Featured in CU Boulder Today

Renee Kuban — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 21:27:34 +0000

Michelle Sauther's Research and Article Featured in CU Boulder Today Renee Kuban Mon, 09/23/2024 - 15:27

Professor Michelle Sauther's Research and Article Featured in CU Boulder Today.

In 2003, a team of primatologists led by CU Boulder trapped, tagged and released a male ring-tailed lemur in the Bezà Mahafaly Special Reserve in Madagascar. The researchers captured him one more time in 2004, but after that, the lemur disappeared, never to be seen again.

That is, until 2008 when his internally placed electronic tag, similar to a dog’s microchip, showed up in a pile of scat from a forest cat. This predator is related to domestic cats and was likely introduced to the island off the coast of Africa hundreds of years ago.

Now, that case of cat predation is part of a new study exploring how such attacks could endanger the conservation of lemurs. Over the course of 14 months, researchers from the United States and Madagascar became lemur crime scene investigators. They gathered a wide range of data, including camera trap photos, scat samples and eye-witness reports to unravel the mystery of who is eating these primates at Bezà Mahafaly.

Their findings suggest that predators not native to Madagascar, such as forest cats and dogs, may kill more lemurs than scientists once believed. Lemurs live only in Madagascar, and several species are already in danger of going extinct.

“It’s not that people didn’t know that predation was happening,” said Michelle Sauther, lead author of the new study and a professor of anthropology at CU Boulder. “But they’ve mostly been looking at other conservation priorities like the effects of deforestation.”

She and her colleagues published their findings last month in the journal Folia Primatologica.

Read the article: CU Boulder Today

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