Anthropology Newsletter - Winter 2020

Winter 2020 Edition

Table of Contents

Letter from the Chair

Whew, what a year! We had a lot of ups and downs, and a historic year, but Anthropology at Washington University didn’t just survive, it thrived. This year saw some electric moments (our virtual commencements for undergrads and grad students were epic), amazing teaching (the course Pandemic: Science and Society in the fall is the largest course ever taught at the university), outstanding research (a daily accomplishment but one worth celebrating), and innovations in education, scholarship, and community building. The year wasn’t easy; we had some valued colleagues depart for new opportunities, and McMillan Hall has been a ghost town since mid-March. What I miss most is the in-person opportunities that I’d taken for granted: the hallway conversations about that cool paper I just read, bumping into students while waiting in the coffee line, or popping my head into an office to talk about matters great and small with colleagues. We are embarking on a new semester under trying circumstances but I’m optimistic about our future. Mostly, though, I’m grateful. Grateful to our students for their dedication and adaptability, to our faculty colleagues who have rolled with many punches, to the amazing staff in the department that have kept the operation moving forward despite all the obstacles, and to you, our friends, colleagues, and students past and present. You support and sustain us and we can’t thank you enough. 

Stay safe and stay in touch. 

T.R. Kidder

2020 Anthropology Graduation Ceremony

2020 Anthropology Graduation Ceremony

Carolyn Barnes

Carolyn Barnes is a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, where she teaches courses in the Global Health and Environment track.

David Ansari

David Ansari is a medical and psychological anthropologist with research and teaching interests centered at the intersections of migration and health, trauma and psychotherapy, health services and organizations, and clinical and therapeutic training. David joins the Department of Anthropology from the University of Chicago, where he completed his PhD. David teaches in the Department’s Global Health and Environment track.

Theresa E. Gildner

Theresa Gildner is a human biologist whose research expertise is biocultural health determinants. She is especially interested in how lifestyle variation and environmental conditions influence health outcomes and how these factors can produce and perpetuate health disparities, with implications for the design of more effect intervention programs.

Anthropology Departmental Awards 2020

Fiona Marshall

James W. and Jean L. Davis Professor in Arts and Sciences was elected into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in April 2020.

Gayle J. Fritz

​Professor Emerita of Archaeology received the 2020 Mary W. Klinger Book Award for “Feeding Cahokia” from the Society for Economic Botany.

Rebecca J. Lester

Professor of Sociocultural Anthropology book, “Famished: Eating Disorders and Failed Care in America” won third prize in the 2020 Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic Writing, an annual juried competition by The Society for Humanistic Anthropology.

Jacob Holland-Lulewicz

Lecturer in Archaeology findings on the inhabitation of the Dyar Mound in present day central Georgia’s Lake Oconee was named a Top 10 Discovery in 2020 by Archaeology Magazine.

Krista Milich

Assistant Professor of Biological Anthropology was named a 2020 Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award honoree from Emerson Electric Company.

Alyse Kuhlman

Administrative Coordinator was named a recipients of the Dean’s Community Response Award for her efforts to help students and departments adapt and thrive during the pandemic.

Krista Milich

Assistant Professor of Biological Anthropology was named a recipients of the Dean’s Community Response Award for her efforts to help students and departments adapt and thrive during the pandemic.

Mana Hayashi Tang

Graduate Student of Archaeology as named a recipients of the H. Kathleen Cook Prize which is awarded annually to the graduate student(s) who best exemplifies the myriad characteristics that Kathleen championed. These include excellence in scholarship, dedication to teaching, and commitment to building and sustaining the graduate student community in the Department of Anthropology and at Washington University in St. Louis.

Anthropology Alumni

The Anthropology Alumni Database is a great way for our alumni to connect with former classmates, our undergraduate students to network with alumni in their chosen field, and the list we use to send out the newsletter. Let us know if we need to update or add your information.

Anthropology Alumni Directory