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Faculty Research Interests | Graduate Student Research Interests | Alphabetical Department Directory | Department Administration | Recent Ph.D.s

*Not all graduate students have included information here. The Department Directory has a complete listing. Requests for changes to this page: anthweb@sas.upenn.edu.
	Paul Babb	Physical Anthropology
	Research Interests: Molecular anthropology, primate evolution, population genetics and functional genomics, phylogeographic and migration patterns in non-human primates, and the processes of speciation and adaptation with specific focus on New World primate behavioral and morphological evolution.
	Crystal Biruk	Medical/Cultural, East Africa
	Research Interests: Medical anthropology, explanatory models, social construction of disease, AIDS, health care systems, international NGO culture(s), power and knowledge, gender and health decision making, behavior change.
	Craig N. Cipolla	Archaeology
	Research Interests: Historical Anthropology and Archaeology, Archaeological Method and Theory, Archaeobiology, Zooarchaeology, Ethnohistory, Native America, Colonialism, Practice Theory, Post-Colonial Theory, Social Identity, Material Culture, Materiality, Semiotics, Reservation Life, Butchery-Modification Analysis, Foodways. Current Research: The Brothertown Archaeological Project.
	Morgan Davis	Archaeology, Mesoamerica
	Research Interests: Lowland Maya settlement patterns and landscape; physical anthropology and faunal analysis related to diet and health of prehistoric populations; special interest in issues relating to the identification of social and political organization in the archaeological record.
	Dawn Di Stefano	Archaeology
	Research Interests: Historical Archaeology of the Northeastern US, especially 19th-20th centuries. Fieldwork: Vineland, New Jersey; Sacandaga River Community Pathway, New York.
	Kristen Fellows	Archaeology
	Research Interests: Historical Archaeology; Colonial North America; feminist and gender archaeologies; plantation systems; social stratification; archaeological theory and method. Fieldwork: Monticello, Paynes Town Seminole Site in Florida, Vineland.
	Jill Bennett Gaieski	Historical Archaeology
	Research Interests: Early European centers, urban social and gender stratification in North America; the colonial tavern as first major clearinghouse for social interaction; association between event and place over time in relation to early architecture; state and federal mandates under the National Historic Preservation Act (Section 106). Field work includes: Victorian-era household(s), Vineland, N.J., Valley Forge, Pa., Stevens and Smith homes, Lancaster, Pa., sugar plantation, Pahala, HI.
	Kristen R. Gardella	Archaeology, Andes
	Research Interests: The Andes, Bolivia, Lake Titicaca Basin, GIS, settlement patterns, sacred landscapes, manipulation of the environment, creation of boundaries, pilgrimage, organization of labor, architecture, monumentality, urbanism, state formation. Fieldwork: Tiwanaku, Bolivia; La Milpa, Cuello and Blue Creek, Belize; Holmul, Guatemala; CRM projects in: CT, RI, MA, ME, NJ, PA, MD, VA, and WI. Current Research: Investigating the implications of the re-use of building materials in the construction of several structures at the site of Tiwanaku.
	Omer Gokcumen	Physical Anthropology
	Research Interests: Molecular anthropology, peopling of Anatolia and Europe, relationship between cultural and genetic histories, Central Anatolian Neolithic, ancient DNA, Indo-european origins, origins of Turkic speakers.
	Jane Hickman	Archaeology, prehistoric Greece
	Research Interests: Aegean Bronze Age, material culture studies (specifically ancient jewelry), complex societies, trade, culture collapse (ancient and modern), human osteology/mortuary remains.
	Azra Hromadzic	Cultural Anthropology, Bosnia-Herzegovina
	Research Interests: Political anthropology; Ethno-political violence and post-conflict reconciliation; Post-socialism; Citizenship and globalization; Comparative education; Youth identity and cultures; Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Dissertation Work: “Emerging Citizens: Youth, Education, and Reconciliation in Post-Conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina”
	Radu P. Iovita	Archaeology, Palaeolithic
	Research interests: Human Evolution; Middle Palaeolithic (Europe); Lithic Technology; Mathematical Modelling.
	Jennifer E. Jacobs	Linguistic Anthropology
	Research Interests: Human vocalization, including acoustics, phonetics & phonology, acquisition of vocal expertise, language use, onomatopoeia, singing, expression, tone & intonation, emotions and the social concepts attributed to vocal sounds.   Dissertation work: Middle Eastern Ululation (zaghareet): Vocalization as cultural, affective, and corporeal practice.
	Matthew S. Johnson	Archaeology, Near East
	Research Interests: Near Eastern/Mesopotamian Empires, Bronze Age Collapse and Regeneration, Material Culture and Cultural Change, Ceramic Material Culture. Doctoral Research: Ceramic Material Culture of the Akkadian Empire.
	Michael Joiner	Linguistic/Cultural
	Research Interests: Semiotics; Branding; Product Packaging, Media; Advertising; Pharmacy; Quackery; Disease; France; Medieval Medical texts and technologies; Homonormativity; South Asia. .
	Kyung-Nan Koh	Cultural Anthropology, U.S.
	Research Interests: Gift exchange, (mass) communication, social organization. Dissertation Research: American corporate giving: An ethnographic and discourse based study.
	Chana Kraus-Friedberg	Archaeology
	Research Interests: Historical archaeology, United States (Hawaii), landscape archaeology, plantation archaeology, cemetery landscapes, mortuary ritual, material culture, agency, creolization.
	José María López Bejarano	Archaeology, Bolivia
	Research Interests: Andean complex societies; Tiwanaku urbanism; Inka ideology; state formation; site formation processes; microartifact analysis; graphical reconstructions; settlement patterns; interregional interactions; sacred landscapes; ethnohistory; material culture; materiality. Fieldwork: Excavations – Inka settlement at Pumapunku temple, Tiwanaku, Bolivia; Late Intermediate period settlement surveys; Bolivian altiplano and valleys; Survey and excavation of high altitude sanctuaries.
	Michael McLaughlin	Archaeology/Paleolithic
	Research Interests: Neanderthals, lithics, Paleolithic lifeways, Pleistocene hominid evolution, Paleolithic migration, assemblage systematics, excavation methodology, quantitative methods, experimental archaeology, computer applications in archaeology.
	Adam Mohr	Cultural Anthropology, Africa
	Research Interests: African Christianity, Pentecostalism, healing, global religious networks, urban anthropology, nationalism, Ghana, Ethiopia.
	Brandy L. O'Neil	Biological Anthropology, Multisited
	Research Interests:  Developmental evolutionary theory, ethical legal and social implications (ELSI) of the Human Genome Project, semiotic theory, sociality, evolutionary basis of semiosis, ethics of teaching human nature, philosophy of male-female difference discourse, four-field anthropology.   I am recruiting participants from around the world for a study of variability in HNPP (hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies).
	Jordan Pickrell	Archaeology
	Research Interests: Historical archaeology; public outreach archaeology; settlement patterns and practices in the American West. Fieldwork: Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, California, Vineland, New Jersey, and New Providence, Bahamas.
	Zeljko Rezek	Archaeology
	Research Interests: Paleolithic Archaeology; Mediterranean Circle, Near East; Late Pleistocene Modern Humans; Archaeological Theory and Methods; Lithic Technology; Quantitative Methods; Spatial Analysis, GIS; Site Formation Processes; Archaeometry
	Noel B. Salazar	Cultural Anthropology
	Research Interests: Anthropology of tourism and travel; globalization, localization and 'glocalization'; transnational and translocal networks; culture and language contacts; popular culture; social theory; applied anthropology; public interest ethnography. Fieldsites: Indonesia (Southeast Asia), Tanzania (East Africa), Belgium (Europe). Dissertation research: Global connections and local tour guiding in Indonesia and Tanzania - A comparative case study.
	Seran Schug	Cultural Anthropology, U.S.
	Research Interests: Aesthetic anthropology, semiotics, medical anthropology and the role of the arts in healing rituals, embodiment, anthropology of dance, performance studies.
	Utsav A. Schurmans	Archaeology, Paleolithic
	Research Interests: Middle Paleolithic, Near East and North Africa, Western Europe, Lithic technology, Spatial analysis, Use of quantitative methods and computer applications.
	Teagan Schweitzer	Archaeology
	Research Interests: Historical Archaeology, Colonial through Victorian periods in America, foodways in the past and how they relate to issues of identity construction, archaeological theory. Fieldwork: Monticello, Mount Vernon, Hilea Plantation Village in Hawaii, Vineland.
	Janet L. Six	Archaeology
	(at Penn) (in Hawaii)
	Research Interests: Archaeology of the modern world; industrial archaeology; landscape archaeology; plantation archaeology; creolization/ethnogenesis; material culture and meaning; public interest/outreach archaeology. Fieldwork Includes: Thomas Eakins House, Philadelphia, PA; historical sites in PA and NJ; plantation archaeology in Jamaica and Hawai'i. Dissertation Research: Hilea Plantation Village c. 1870, District of Ka’u, Hawai'i
	Judith Storniolo	Linguistic/Cultural, Mesoamerica
	Research Interests: Language change and variation, linguistic reconstruction of ancestral Mayan languages and decipherment of Mayan inscriptions. Field work experience: Maya in Yucatan, Chiapas, Guatemala and Honduras. Dissertation: A Grammatical sketch of Proto-Eastern Cholan.
	Chris Thornton	Archaeology, Archaeometry
	Research Interests:  Middle East, Central Asia, Eurasian Steppe, SE Europe; Chalcolithic to Iron Age; archaeometallurgy, archaeomaterials, organic residues, geochemistry, material science, archaeogenetics & molecular anthropology; trade & exchange, identity construction, interaction spheres, Indo-European studies, socio-economic theory, archaeology & science in relation to the modern world.
	Megan Tracy	Cultural Anthropology, China
	Research Interests: Accountability, standardization, citizenship, organizations, publics, anthropology of development, 'green' agriculture, Northern China.
	Hannah Voorhees	Cultural Anthropology, Alaska
	Research interests: Indigenous identity politics; indigenous subjectivity; blood idioms and the use of genetics in state indigenous policies; tourism; art markets; power of objects; consumerism and authenticity; repatriation; ecological knowledge; intercultural relations and inequality in settler societies; arctic and sub-arctic regions.