news and announcements
On January 13th, Dr. Margaret Bruchac of the University of Connecticut gave a talk entitled 'Consorting with Savages: Indigenous Informants and American Anthropologists' as part of the Department's colloquium series. The entire talk can be viewed here. Dr. Bruchac, of Abenaki Indian descent, is a
scholar, performer, and historical consultant who specializes in
interpretations and representations of northeastern Native American Indian
peoples, from the colonial era to the present. For more information about Dr. Bruchac and her work, check out her web profiles through The School for Advanced Research and The University of Connecticut, or her website, here.
A
research team from Penn's Anthropology Department has released a study of
genetic markers among populations in the Altai region at the intersection of
Russia, Mongolia, China, and Kazakhstan. Led by Associate Professor Theodore
Schurr, they compared these markers to those found in Native American
populations, searching for the kind of genetic links that indicate common
ancestry. The team has published their findings in the most recent issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics. To read more, click here.
This past week, Provost Vincent Price announced the appointment of Dr. John L. Jackson Jr. as Senior Advisor for Diversity. Dr. Jackson will work with a variety of University leaders to "make recommendations for diversity goals and programs, develop
appropriate means of assessment, and help implement Penn’s Action Plan
for Faculty Diversity and Excellence." Here in the Department, Dr. Jackson is the Richard Perry University Professor of Communication and Anthropology. This semester he is teaching two courses- Urban Ethnography: Documenting City Life and Documentary, Ethnography, and Research. You can learn more about his research interests and publications here.
Penn
Anthropology welcomes our first Visiting Professor and Post-Doctoral fellow in
the program in the anthropology of Africa and the African Diaspora. Visiting Professor Dominique Somda joins us from the London School of Economics.
She is teaching the graduate proseminar for Africana Studies, and in the spring
will teach a course examining Africa and post-colonial development. Lyndon Gill,
most recently from Princeton University, is teaching on Black Queer Studies. He will teach "Erotic Subjectivity" in the spring 2012 semester.
Click on the pictures to read more.
Dr. John Sanchez is formerly with The American University, in
Washington, DC, where he served as the Academic Director of the American Indian
Leadership program and taught American Indian Leadership and Politics. He is
visiting this fall and teaching a course on how media frames
American Indian cultures and the relationship between media and public
schools—the two major ways of knowing in the United States, and how all
this impacts American Indian policy, identity and education. Under Dr. Sanchez’ leadership President
Clinton’s panel on race initiatives recognized this program as one of the five
top programs in the country.
Read more on Dr. Sanchez here.
Dr.
Gregory L. Possehl, professor emeritus of anthropology in the School of Arts
and Sciences and curator emeritus of the Asian collections at the University of
Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, passed away on October 8
at age 70. Dr. Possehl was a leading expert on rise of the Indus civilization in India and
Pakistan. His research projects include the exploration of the Ghelo and
Kalubhar Valleys in the state of Gujarat and the excavations of the Sorath
Harappan sites of Oriyo Timbo, Babar Kot and Rojdi. In 2003 he
received the Outstanding Academic Book Award from Choice magazine for Indus Civilization; A Contemporary
Perspective.
Read more on Dr. Possehl's life and career here.
On Friday, October 14, Dr. Claudia Valeggia, Associate Professor in our department attended the PECASE Award Ceremony at the White House. President Barack
Obama named Dr. Valeggia, as one of 94 recipients of the Presidential Early
Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed
by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the
early stages of their independent research careers. You can read more about Dr. Valeggia's research here:
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~valeggia/.
Read more about Dr. Valeggia's honor here, or see pictures from the event here.
Read more about Dr. Valeggia's research in Penn Current, linked here.
Greg Urban, Arthur Hobson Quinn Professor of Anthropology in the School of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded both the Ira H. Abrams Memorial Award for Distinguished Teaching and the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. Teaching at Penn since 1994, Urban is “one of the most captivating lecturers at Penn.” He is celebrated for his “ability to solidify even the most abstract notions of.. cultural anthropology in fascinating and informative examples which are readily understood by undergraduates.” He is “particularly interested,” notes a colleague, “in making arcane anthropological concepts relevant to students’ daily lives. … he seeks to help students think interrogatively—to pose interesting questions about the world.”
