News & Events

Kaifa Roland Publishes Article in JLCA

Renee Kuban — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 17:56:53 +0000

Kaifa Roland Publishes Article in JLCA Renee Kuban Mon, 03/30/2026 - 11:56

Professor Kaifa Roland, former CU faculty member now at Clemson University, has published a new article, "Another Four Women: AfroCubana Entrepreneurs as Womanist Praxis in The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology.

Abstract

This article is focused on four Black women entrepreneurs in Cuba's lucrative bed and breakfast home-based tourism economy, asking: (1) what intersectional factors facilitated their entrepreneurial enterprises, (2) how they conceptualize success, and (3) how their narratives illuminate patterns involving gendered race in the country's increasingly market-oriented context, and what opportunities might be on the horizon? Their narratives provide a praxis that demonstrates how despite their distinct paths to cuentapropismo (self-employment), socialist values largely shape their conceptions of success. Nonetheless, historic tropes from the prerevolutionary era involving White (or foreign) patriarchal gatekeepers reveal themselves, even with evidence of potential patrons who were previously inaccessible due to similar social marginalization. By centering these Black women's voices and experiences, this project uses womanism as theory in action.

Read the article Journal of Latin Amercian and Caribbean Anthropology

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Sanggay Tashi Presented at the AAS Conference

Renee Kuban — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 17:32:44 +0000

Sanggay Tashi Presented at the AAS Conference Renee Kuban Mon, 03/30/2026 - 11:32

Sanggay Tashi (Cultural Anthropology, PhD Candidate) recently presented at the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) Annual Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Sanggay's presentation, titled "From Grassland to Grassland: Transformation of Tibetan Pastoral Land and Livelihoods under Renewable Energy Development," examined how the shift toward green energy is impacting traditional Tibetan ways of life.

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Chilton Tippin Successfully Defended His PhD Dissertation

Renee Kuban — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 17:28:29 +0000

Chilton Tippin Successfully Defended His PhD Dissertation Renee Kuban Mon, 03/30/2026 - 11:28

Chilton Tippin successfully defended his PhD dissertation, "Blood of the Desert: Riverine Lifeworlds and the Politics of Water Along the Rio Grande." Jack's committee included Professor Jerry Jacka as advisor, along with Professors Scott Ortman, Donna Goldstein, Alison Cool and Eric Perramond.

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Jack Dalton Successfully Defended His PhD Dissertation

Renee Kuban — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 17:14:10 +0000

Jack Dalton Successfully Defended His PhD Dissertation Renee Kuban Mon, 03/30/2026 - 11:14

Jack Dalton successfully defended his PhD dissertation, "Behavioral Ecology of South African Thick-Tailed Bushbabies (Otolemur crassicaudatus) and Implications on Primate Social and Cognitive Evolution." Jack's committee included Professor Michelle Sauther as advisor, along with Professors Steven Leigh, Fernando Villanea, Nancy Stevens and Andrew McAdam.

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Amanda Rowe Completed 6 Weeks of Fieldwork in Madagascar and Led Programming at the AABA 2026 Annual Meeting

Renee Kuban — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 20:16:17 +0000

Amanda Rowe Completed 6 Weeks of Fieldwork in Madagascar and Led Programming at the AABA 2026 Annual Meeting Renee Kuban Fri, 03/27/2026 - 14:16

Postdoctoral Fellow Amanda Rowe recently completed six weeks of fieldwork in Madagascar and led programming at the American Association of Biological Anthropologists (AABA) 2026 annual meeting.

Fieldwork: In Madagascar, Rowe conducted nocturnal lemur captures and camera trap deployments. She also co-led national park excursions involving approximately 200 local community members.

Symposium & Workshop: At AABA 2026, Rowe organized and chaired the symposium "After Hours: Ecological and Evolutionary Insights from Nocturnal Primates" and the workshop "Rethinking Risk: Integrative Approaches to Fieldwork Safety."

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Carole McGranahan's Co-Authored Peer-Reviewed Article Published in History and Anthropology Journal

Renee Kuban — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 15:43:07 +0000

Carole McGranahan's Co-Authored Peer-Reviewed Article Published in History and Anthropology Journal Renee Kuban Fri, 03/27/2026 - 09:43

Professor Carole McGranahan has published a new peer-reviewed article in History and Anthropology Journal. Co-authored with Deborah A. Thomas, the piece is titled "Disconnected Histories: Cold War Empires in the 21st Century." The article examines the ongoing influence of imperial power structures in the modern era.

Abstract

In this essay, Carole McGranahan and Deborah A. Thomas juxtapose experiences in Jamaica and the Himalayas to attend to the affective dimensions of the Cold War. Arguing that the Cold War stood as an emergent form of empire within already imperial worlds, they show how it reverberates in the present in ways that connect far-flung places that aren't typically brought into relation. If the Cold War did not constitute a rupture, then how might we think about the forms it took (and continues to take) across space and time? How do we think about the ways it has shaped friendships and conflicts, connections and dispossessions, in the everyday lives of people everywhere?

Read the article History and Anthropology

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Donna Goldstein's Co-Authored Article Published in The Journal of the History of Biology

Renee Kuban — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 17:41:38 +0000

Donna Goldstein's Co-Authored Article Published in The Journal of the History of Biology Renee Kuban Thu, 03/26/2026 - 11:41

Professor Donna M. Goldstein and Anthropology Alumna Magda Stawkowski (now tenured faculty at the University of South Carolina) have published a new article in the Journal of the History of Biology. The piece, "Of Epistemes and Insects: How Drosophila and Butterflies Shape Our Understanding of Radiation Risk," is the result of a multi-year research collaboration.

Abstract

This paper explores the complexities of extrapolating insect data to understand nuclear exposure effects on humans. Within radiation research, animal studies are invaluable tools for understanding biological effects of radiation exposure. However, data are often employed selectively, exposing unsettled science in extrapolating animal data to human radiation effects. Here we focus on our understanding of the genetic effects of radiation exposure, and how the debates about the long-term effects on humans were molded by research carried out on the model organism known as Drosophila; disagreements among scientists occurred within the constraints of research on this model organism, creating what we see as a possible Drosophila bias. By tracing how Drosophila became the dominant model organism for radiation genetics, we show how this choice created an epistemic framework that often dismissed contradictory evidence from other organisms, including the more recent Lepidoptera data from Fukushima. Even when animal studies demonstrate harm, they are often dismissed due to the belief—and some of the science—of human exceptionalism: that humans are intrinsically more resilient than animals. In this work, we consider Michel Foucault’s ideas on epistemes as they apply to human exceptionalism in the context of radiation effects, mutation, and harm. By examining these two cases genealogically, we demonstrate how Drosophila’s dominance established frameworks of population resilience that persist to this day, leading to the dismissal of contradictory butterfly findings as inconsistent with “conventional understanding” rather than as challenges to what counts as legitimate evidence in radiation biology.

Read the article in the Journal of the History of Biology

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Kate Goldfarb Awarded a CHA Small Grant

Renee Kuban — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 15:36:05 +0000

Kate Goldfarb Awarded a CHA Small Grant Renee Kuban Tue, 03/24/2026 - 09:36

Professor Kate Goldfarb awarded a Center for Humanities and the Arts (CHA) Small Grant. The grant will provide critical funding for the project, "Launching the Marshall Fire Story Project Archive: A Collaboration with the Louisville Historical Museum." This initiative is a meaningful collaboration aimed at preserving the lived experiences of those affected by the Marshall Fire.

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Sarah Klassen's Co-Authored Article Published in Science Advances

Renee Kuban — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 15:16:32 +0000

Sarah Klassen's Co-Authored Article Published in Science Advances Renee Kuban Tue, 03/24/2026 - 09:16

Sarah Klassen, Assistant Director of the Center for Collaborative Synthesis in Archaeology (IBS) and Anthropology instructor co-authored article, "The distribution of power and inclusiveness across deep time" published in Science Advances.

Abstract

This study presents a global, deep-time comparative analysis of governance, questioning entrenched viewpoints about the origins and evolution of democratic institutions. Drawing on archaeological and textual data from 40 case observations across 31 polities, we develop a quantitative framework to assess governance along a collective-autocratic axis, defined by two key dimensions: concentration of power and citizen inclusiveness. Using bridging arguments and robust proxies, we construct an autocracy index to assess where cases fall on this axis and examine them in relation to population size, hierarchical complexity, geographic region, modes of fiscal financing, bureaucratic structure, ritual practices, and socioeconomic inequality. Neither polity population nor geographic region tightly correlates with the collective-autocratic axis of governance, challenging extant neoevolutionary 91��Ҹ�. Instead, the strongest associations for autocratic governance are with external financing, patrimonial bureaucracy, spectacular ritual, and high inequality. The study underscores the diversity and persistence of collective governance, offering a scalable methodology for future comparative research and reframing historical narratives.

Read the article Science Advances

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Nicholas Puente Publishes Article in Mexicolore

Renee Kuban — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 21:15:05 +0000

Nicholas Puente Publishes Article in Mexicolore Renee Kuban Mon, 03/23/2026 - 15:15

Nicholas Puente (Archaeology, PhD Candidate) published a new outreach article, "Subterranean Worlds of the Ancient Maya." Published on Mexicolore, an educational platform for Mesoamerican history, Nicholas’s work explores the profound spiritual and physical significance of caves in ancient Maya religion. His article is now being utilized as a key teaching resource for schools and museums throughout England, bridging the gap between academic research and public education.

Read the full article Mexicolore

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