Emic: understanding a culture or system from the perspective of someone within that culture.
The Emic Perspective is the Department of Anthropology's regularly published newsletter where we highlight the accomplishments and research of our faculty, students, staff and Alumni. Interested in receiving our newsletter? Join our mailing list. A catalogue of our newsletters (2022 - Present) is available online.
The Emic Perspective Autumn 2024
Looking back on Autumn 2024
Autumn semester was an exciting time for the Department of Anthropology. We were joined by new faculty and students and celebrated the retirement of our dear Office Manger, Wayne Miller. A number of our students received internal and external funding awards; presented at professional conferences, and completed their degrees! We were fortunate to feature many of our faculty and graduate students on our podcast, A Story of Us, and to sponsor/co-sponsor six different anthropology related talks! Ana Carolina Brito joined us as a visiting Scholar from the Federal University of Pará in Belém Brazil and we have begun building a robust profile of our alumni and their careers in anthropology! We are thrilled to share all of this, and more, with you in this newsletter, and hope you consider following us on social media as we continue to highlight the accomplishments of our department.
Our 2024-25 Graduate Cohort
Our department welcomed eight new graduate students into the PhD program: Jensan Allred; Aden Branstetter; Anqi Chen; Noah Dennison; Kara McWest; Lawrence Mukusha; Oliva Schmalfuss; and Luxin Yin.
New Faculty join the Department
Four new faculty members joined the Department of Anthropology: Assistant Professor Habiba Chichir; Assistant Professor Olanrewaju Lasisi; Associate Professor Nicholas Passalacqua; and Associate Professor - Clinical Katie Zejdlik.
Wayne Miller's Retirement
After 30 years with the Ohio State University, Department Manager Wayne Miller is retiring. Wayne has supported our department tirelessly, and while we are sad to see him go, we wish him the best and hope he enjoys his retirement. Thank you to everyone who made it to Understory to celebrate Wayne, and most importantly, Thank you for everything Wayne!
Autumn 2024 Graduates
- Alexandra Tuggle - PhD Anthropology
- Jennifer Buzuleciu- Anthropology and History (BA)
- Dorian Cady - Anthropology (BA)
- Tristan Cruz - Medical Anthropology (BS) and Neuroscience (BS)
- Tia Holbrook - Anthropology (BA)
- Regan Jacoby - Anthropology (BA)
- Isabella Koper - Anthropology and Sociology (BA)
- Claire Kriemelmeyer - Anthropology (BA)
- Chloe Meares - Anthropology (BA)
- Tobin Provenzale - Anthropology (BA)
- Sage Ray - Anthropology (BA) and History (BA)
- Liya Samuel - Anthropological Sciences (BS)
- Jacob Scheinblum - Anthropology (BA)
- Cynthia Smith - Medical Anthropology (BA)
Grants & Awards
PhD candidates Kaita Gurian and Sydney Hunter received a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant!
Sydney’s dissertation project examines the relationship between agricultural production systems, the local environment, and socio-political organization in the Bronze/Iron Age of Central Asia. Her project explores how agriculture functioned in dry-summer oases outside of state-organized contexts and the scale at which oasis agriculture can be viewed as sustainable. Sydney uses archaeobotany, the study of ancient plant remains, in comparison to environmental indices and the archaeological record to explore these questions.
Kaita's grant, titled “Comparing the impact of early-life stressors on the dentition of males and females” will support Kaita’s dissertation research and data collection. Kaita’s research uses baby teeth to improve current interpretations of stress evidence in past and present populations and uses novel techniques to assess the relationships between known medical stress data and dental measurements.
PhD Candidates Emma Brzezinski and Samantha Kirgesner received a OSU Alumni Grant for Graduate Research and Scholarship!
Emma will use the award to support sample imaging and data collection for her dissertation research focused on characterizing functional adaptation of the human clavicle using a modern skeletal sample. A part of this research aims to investigate how collagen fiber orientation (CFO), which provides information on its loading history, is regionally distributed in clavicle cross-sections. In addition to offering new insight into the role of the clavicle in upper limb function, linking microstructure to loading environments in this way will be used to improve understanding of skeletal adaptation across disciplines.
Samantha's dissertation project aims to modify and develop methods for ancient protein analysis to be less destructive and more cost effective; and to use these methods with collagen in bone fragments to distinguish human from non-human skeletal fragments. The goal of her project is to apply these methods to NAGPRA-compliant collections in order to assist with the repatriation process. As part of her research, Samantha will be conducting mass spectrometry analyses with different mass analyzers and ionization methods as part of the Badu Research Group (Dept. Of Chemistry & Biochemistry, OSU).
Once again, congratulations Kaita, Sydney, Emma, and Samantha!
Featured on A Story of Us Podcast
- Dr. Nicholas Passalacqua: Andrew Mitchel and Dr. Nicholas Passalacqua discuss an article on the legal and social ramifications for wrongdoing, the definition of forensic anthropology, the process of completing a case analysis, a textbook project Dr. Passalacqua has worked on, and an ethics book Dr. Passalacqua is co-writing with OSU alumnae Marin Pilloud.
- Madee Green: Andrew Mitchel and PhD Candidate Madelyn (Madee) Green discuss research on isolation in islands, Madee's fieldwork in Japan with prehistoric Jomon populations, the Sannal Maruyama site, and her teaching strategies.
- Butch Wright: Andrew Mitchel and PhD Candidate Harold "Butch" Wright discuss readings on commensality, social network analysis, and food insecurity as well as Butch's fieldwork in They then cover Butch's fieldwork in Parque das Tribos in Manaus, Brazil.
- Ben Mertus: Andrew Mitchel and PhD Candidate Benjamin (Ben) discuss the article Beyond Wiindigo Infrastructure, the concept of ecotourism in anthropology and Ben's fieldwork in Manawan, Quebec.
- Katie Zejdlik Andrew Mitchel and Associate Clinical Professor Dr. Katie Zejdlik discuss the joys of reading fiction as a way to decompress, Dr. Zejdlik's work on mortuary contexts in Romania/Transylvania and her approach to teaching archeology and forensics.
Available on SoundCloud, Apple podcasts and Spotify!
Conferences
August 30th, doctoral candidate Madee Green presented her dissertation research at the annual European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) conference in Rome, Italy.
September 6th, doctoral candidate Steven Rhue presented his dissertation research at the European Health Psychology Society (EHPS) conference in Cascais, Portugal.
On September 9th, doctoral candidate Kaita Gurian presented at the American Society of Primatologists (APA) conference in Riviera Maya, Mexico.
Department Sponsored Lectures
This semester the department was fortunate to sponsor/co-sponsoer six Anthropology related talks. In early September Dr. Marta Castilho da Silva (Ohio State University) presented on her research in Mato Grosso do Sul, looking at we mitigate the climate crisis through a culture of care that can recover ecosystems while promoting well-being. In October Dr. Nicholas Conard (University of Tübingen) highlighted how small excavations have yielded high quality data that have revise our views of how Neanderthals and modern humans harvested and cultivated plants; Dr. Chirs Hoffman (University of São Paulo) spoke how changes in dietary patterns are influencing the gut microbiome of the Brazilian population; and Dr. Elizabeth Holdsworth (Ohio State university) presented results from the Lactation and Cannabis Study, which measured cannabis compounds (e.g., THC) in milk before and after moms used cannabis, and compared infant development outcomes between moms who used cannabis while breastfeeding and a control group. For November, Dr. Janet Childerhose (Ohio State University) discussed the promise of fentanyl test strips as an overdose prevention tool and the unique research contributions that anthropologists can make to inform our understanding of this complex landscape; while Dr. Vanessa Castañeda (Davidson College) presented on their research on baianas de acarajé, predominantly older, working-class Black women who are street vendors in Salvador, Brazil, that sell typical regional foods with culinary origins in West Africa.
Thank you to everyone who was able to join us for these exciting presentations! We regularly post upcoming events on the Department of Anthropology's Events Page and social media (tagged below) and hope you will join us for more events this spring!
Visiting Scholar From Belém, Pará, Brazil
This semester we were fortunate to be joined by Ana Carolina Brito, PhD Student in Anthropology at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) in Belém, Pará, Brazil. Ana is PhD student in Anthropology at the Federal University Pará (Universidade Federal do Pará - UFPa) and member of the Microbiome Project, a interdisciplinary collaboration between OSU, the University of São Paulo, and and UFPa that examines infant and mother health and wellbeing. Mentored by Dr. Piperata, Ana spent the semester advancing her PhD project and working on manuscripts related to her research.
It was a pleasure having Ana with us this semester and we hope to see here again soon, both at in Belém and at OSU!
Research
Our faculty and students conduct research all over the world, exploring the human experience with both prehistoric and modern context. Much of the research productivity in the Department of Anthropology derives from sustained, long-term research programs directed by individual faculty in collaboration with domestics and international institutions. This approach to research is central to our productivity as it supports numerous research grants, fieldwork experiences, laboratory investigations, and publications.
You can keep up to date with the research of our students and faculty by following our Research Page, where we regularly highlight student and faculty research and our Publication page where publications authored by our faculty and graduate students are listed.
Career Profiles
Curious about the potential careers path in/with anthropology? See what our alumni are up to on our new pages dedicated to highlighting the divers careers they find themselves in. On our Career Profiles page you can read interviews with alumni conducted by students of Anthropology 3005: Careers with Anthropology and explore additional career resources and alumni profiles on our Careers for Graduate Students page. We try update the page regularly and if you would like to share your story please send an email to Steven Rhue (rhue.3@osu.edu) and Dr. Mark Moritz (moritz.42@osu.edu).