Skip to main content
Skip to main menu Skip to spotlight region Skip to secondary region Skip to UGA region Skip to Tertiary region Skip to Quaternary region Skip to unit footer

Slideshow

Tags: anthropology

New research from anthropology professor Victor Thompson sheds light on innovative hunter-gatherer practices in early Florida: [The] Calusa ruled South Florida for centuries, wielding military power, trading and collecting tribute along routes that sprawled hundreds of miles, creating shell islands, erecting enormous buildings and dredging canals wider than some highways. Unlike the Aztecs, Maya and Inca, who built their empires…
New research from UGA Anthropology has found that the practice of feeding wildlife could be more detrimental to animals than previously thought. In a paper published recently in Nature Scientific Reports, researchers found that feeding wildlife can disrupt the social lives of animal communities, which they discovered by observing and documenting the behavior of moor macaque monkeys along a wooded roadway on the island of Sulawesi in eastern…
The spread of agriculture from the Near East and Fertile Crescent through Turkey and into Europe around 10,000 years ago was a complex and multifaceted process, one that archaeologists are trying to understand using one of the latest scientific techniques: stable isotope analysis.  A new paper published in the journal PLOS One by Suzanne Pilaar Birch, assistant professor of geography and anthropology at the University of Georgia, and…
12 UGA students and recent alumni have been selected to receive international travel-study grants offered through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, the sixth straight year—and 10th time in the past 11 years—that UGA has received 10 or more offers. Of the 12, nine were able to take advantage of the opportunity. Four received academic and arts grants, and five will be teaching English. Eight are students or alumni with…
Two graduate students from the University of Georgia have been selected as finalists for the 2020 John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship, sponsored by the National Sea Grant College Program. The finalists will spend one year in Washington, D.C. in marine policy-related positions in legislative and executive branches of the federal government. The students will join 69 other finalists in the 2020 class representing 27 of the 34 Sea…
More than 100 researchers gathered in Athens in May when the University of Georgia hosted the Radiocarbon and Archaeology 9th International Symposium. The symposium, held at the Classic Center, showcased current archaeological research that employs radiocarbon dating, as well as recent developments in the radiocarbon technique. Along with a full range of academic sessions and lectures, the symposium also included several social events and field…
Though causes of the civilizational collapse that took place in the Maya lowlands of southeastern Mexico and Central America during the Terminal Classic Period (1200 – 900 before present) remain uncertain, changing precipitation patterns have long been suspected. Now, a new study from the University of Georgia and the Florida Museum of Natural History establishes fossilized white-tailed deer teeth as part of the climate record, a reliable proxy…
Next week, the Franklin College and the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts at the University of Georgia and the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at the University of Notre Dame will host the second annual Berlin Seminar in Transnational European Studies: The week-long residential seminar brings together 20 faculty members and Ph.D. students from both institutions, representing all ranks and many different…
University of Georgia student Sarah Riggs will be joining the National Geographic Society’s Human Journey Grants team as its first intern: The Human Journey team focuses its research on cultures and cultural sustainability to learn more about who we are and what our future will be. The team focuses on a diverse range of topics, from extinct ancient grains and the sustainability of palm oil to climate change. Grants support projects studying…
The Center for Applied Isotope Studies provides crucial research and analytical expertise in radiocarbon dating on campus and around the world. The commitment of its faculty, staff and students also stretches into helping young people think about science by bringing anthropology to life: [Former CAIS research scientist Alice Hunt] wanted a way to hook undergraduate students while teaching them the skills professors are…
Come explore one of the most fascinating disciplines on campus as we celebrate World Anthropology Day today, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Baldwin Hall: Anthropology Day is a day for anthropologists to celebrate their discipline while sharing it with the world. The Department of Anthropology at UGA has organized activities and displays to showcase how this field helps in understanding humanity's past, present and future. All members of the public and…
The University of Georgia Laboratory of Archeology, established in the late 1940's, marked another important milestone in its distinguished history on January 18 at the celebration of its new location in Athens. Organized within the department of anthropology, the Laboratory provides opportunities for students of varied backgrounds to engage in archaeology and history, serving the intellectual growth of our undergraduate and graduate…
New research by an international team based at UGA raises questions about the timing and nature of early interactions between Indigenous Peoples and Europeans in North America: The European side of first contact with indigenous people and settlement in northeast North America is well known from European sources. Until now it's been assumed that the finds of dated European artifacts provide a timeline for the indigenous peoples and…
The University of Georgia once again hit double digits in the number of international travel-study grants offered to its students and recent alumni through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. With 18 students selected, this marks the fifth straight year—and ninth time in the past 10 years—that UGA has received 10 or more offers. Of the 15 students and alumni who will be able to participate, four of the six academic and arts…
Franklin College double major Trisha Dalapati has immersed herself in UGA oppportunities, from volunteering to studying abroad to conducting laboratory research: During my freshman fall, a friend introduced me to the Lunchbox Garden project. LBG is an afterschool outreach program where UGA students visit a local elementary school twice a week. The group plans lessons on gardening and sustainable living, and volunteers provide the…
Ph.D. student Isabelle Holland Lulewicz, an archaeologist studying climate change and an endurance horseback rider, is featured in the most recent issue of the Graduate School magazine: She is also a scientist and anthropologist keeping to a much longer course: to earn her third UGA degree in the fall of 2019. She completed undergraduate degrees in anthropology and geology in 2015 and entered graduate studies. Lulewicz draws…
A title that would make an extraordinary single article [or film], but this triumvirate of stories in the media over the weekend featuring Franklin College faculty provides a handy illustration of the breadth of arts and science scholarship. Professor emeritus of history James Cobb in TIME magazine: During the 1950s and ‘60s, New York-based publications like TIME, Newsweekor Harper’s regularly devoted special issues or…
Today’s current sociopolitical changes, much like other periods of time in our history, is a landscape worthy of collaboration between anthropologists and theologists, he said. "Traditionally, anthropologists have focused on the continuity of religious cultural change. Humans value order and predictability, and often behavior that is not in keeping with what is culturally expected is branded as deviant and punished,” said Lemons. “However, this…
The new issue of Research Magazine, full of great stories about Franklin College faculty, features a refreshed story we have highlighted in the past: archeologist Suzanne Pilaar Birch on the intersection of pregancy and fieldwork In March 2017, Suzanne Pilaar Birch turned to Twitter for help. The archaeologist and UGA assistant professor was considering an invitation to go on a dig in Cyprus, an offer that seemed irresistible—except that…
Franklin faculty members, students and alumni have been featured in a broad variety of media this month. A sampling: IRS computer glitch caused by "master file" issue – associate professor of history Stephen Mihm quoted on NPR  Voting laws for felons can be hard to follow – assistant professor of sociology Sarah K.S. Shannon quoted in the New York Times The 2018 hurricane season looms but Hurricane Maria still…
After discovering the location of an elusive Spanish fort on present-day Parris Island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, archaeologists are working to map the surrounding area to paint a picture of what life was like during various occupations of Santa Elena, the once capital of Spanish La Florida. In 2016, University of South Carolina archaeologist Chester DePratter and Victor Thompson, an archaeologist from the University of Georgia,…
An international research team that includes assistant professor of anthropology and geography Suzanne Pilaar Birch has been awarded Arts and Humanities Research Council UK funding for their four-year project on Radical Death and Early State Formation in the Ancient Near East.  Using new evidence from the Early Bronze Age graves of Başur Höyük, on the Upper Tigris, the project will examine how ritual killing was implicated in…
Taken together, these portraits and captions became the subject of a vibrant blog. HONY now has over twenty million followers on social media, and provides a worldwide audience with daily glimpses into the lives of strangers on the streets of New York City.   With a degree in history, Stanton moved to Chicago and worked in finance until he decided on a new direction. HNY is truly sui generis in the realm of social media and has had…
It is the beginning of a massive influx of students into Athens and the University. By one count I heard this morning, there are 7,500 new people moving into dorms and apartments and houses around town this week. That's a lot of new energy to contemplate entering a large university in a very small town, and there are all kinds of local news stories about the experience, as well there should be. Young people beginning a new part of their lives -…

Support Franklin College

We appreciate your financial support. Your gift is important to us and helps support critical opportunities for students and faculty alike, including lectures, travel support, and any number of educational events that augment the classroom experience. Click here to learn more about giving.