Category: Biological Anthropology

Anthropology Student Awards 2023

2023 Undergraduate Student Awards

The Anthropology Department is pleased to announce our 2023 student award winners! For award descriptions and past winners, visit our Departmental Awards webpage. We are so proud of our many impressive students!

Outstanding Senior Award: Hunter Akridge, Rachel Broun

Outstanding Junior Award: Elizabeth Whiteside

Marjorie Shostak Award for Excellence and Humanity in Ethnography:

  • Pamela Beniwal  for her honors thesis “The Effect of Commercialization, Militarization, and Stigmatization of the Breast Cancer Awareness Movement on Breast Cancer Patients”, advised by Mel Konner.
  • Audrey Lu for her ANT 372W class project “The Lives of Charting: An Emergency Room Scribe’s Perspective (ANT 372W project)”, advised by Anna Grimshaw.
  • Alvaro Perez Daisson for his honors thesis “Race-related Health Disparities in Cuba in the Context of COVID-19”, advised by Mel Konner and Kristin Phillips.
  • Christopher Zeuthen for his honors thesis “Veteran Perspectives on Moral Injury”, advised by Mel Konner.

Photo from left to right: Professor Robert Paul, Christopher Zeuthen, Professor Melvin Konner, Audrey Lu, Alvaro Perez Daisson, and Pamela Beniwal.

Trevor E. Stokol Scholarship for Undergraduate Research:

  • 1st Place: Eric Li
  • Maddie Hasson
  • Raya Islam (not pictured)

2023 Graduate Student Awards

The George Armelagos Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student: AJ Jones, Caroline Owens

Delores P. Aldridge Award: Adrian Cato

Anthropology major Maddie Hasson, along with three Emory juniors win elite Goldwater Scholarships.

Four extraordinary Emory College juniors — Jojo Liu, Yingrong “Momo” Chen, Maddie Hasson, and Tamecka Marcheau-Miller — have won the Goldwater Scholarship, the nation’s top scholarship for undergraduates studying math, natural sciences and engineering. This year’s winners, who have made major contributions in labs and authored or co-authored papers on their research, all plan to pursue doctoral degrees in their respective fields. They join 45 previous Emory recipients of the award, which was endowed by Congress in 1986 to honor the late Sen. Barry Goldwater.

Maddie Hasson is an Anthropology major and rising senior honors student who also won the Trevor E. Stokol scholarship for her undergraduate research.

Congratulations Maddie and to everyone on outstanding academic achievements!

Read the full article and winners’ biographies here!

Graduate Sophie Joseph and Professor John Lindo reveal results of genomic study of ancient Andeans.

The Lindo lab specializes in mapping little-explored human lineages of the Americas. 

Previously published research found evidence of the tuberculosis bacterium in the skeletal material of 1,400-year-old Andean mummies, contradicting some theories that TB did not exist in South America until the arrival of Europeans 500 years ago. 

The current paper provides the first evidence for a human immune-system response to TB in ancient Andeans and gives clues to when and how their genomes may have adapted to that exposure.

Among the strongest signals detected were for biomarkers that are switched on in modern humans during an active TB infection. The researchers modeled the timing of selection for several of the genes involved in the TB-response pathways. Although they were not as strong as for exposure to TB, some signals were also detected for biomarkers related to adaptation to hypoxia, or low levels of oxygen in the blood that result from living at high altitude.

“Human-pathogen co-evolution is an understudied area that has a huge bearing on modern-day public health,” Sophie Joseph says. “Understanding how pathogens and humans have been linked and affecting each other over time may give insights into novel treatments for any number of infectious diseases.”

Read the full article here.

Chikako and Brendan Ozawa-de Silva’s piece “A Vaccine for the Loneliness Epidemic” was featured in the Special Issue of Diplomatic Courier for the World Economic Forum

In 2018, then UK Prime Minister Theresa May said, “Loneliness is one of the greatest public health challenges of our time,” and appointed the country’s first minister for loneliness. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called loneliness a “growing health epidemic,” stating that social isolation is “associated with a reduction in lifespan similar to that caused by smoking 15 cigarettes a day.”

What do the following have in common? Rising rates of social anxiety and social withdrawal, alarming rates of suicide (up 51% among teenage girls in the U.S. in just a two-year period from 2019-2021, and up over 300% over a ten-year period), the increasing number of mass shootings, the epidemic of burnout in healthcare and other sectors, eating disorders. All too often, at the heart of each of these is a lack of social connection and the feeling of being loved, accepted, and understood. This is loneliness. Education is the most powerful tool we have for bringing about this change. Recent research in psychology and neuroscience shows that young children and even infants have a natural orientation towards kindness and helping over cruelty.

Read the full article here!

Check out Chikako’s interview about her book, The Anatomy of Loneliness.

Yulia Chuvileva, PhD Alumna in Anthropology, and co-authors present their report on Selling Industrial Gallina Criolla Products in Guatemala.

“Selling Industrial ‘Gallina Criolla’ Products in Guatemala” details these new
corporate marketing tactics of competing with gallina criolla economies of
indgenous and peasant peoples. The report begins by summarizing the latest
science on the economic, ecological, social, nutritional, and taste differences
between gallina criolla and industrial chicken. It shows that the gallinas criollas
that emerge from campesina systems of production are different animals than
the industrial chickens that emerge from industrial systems of production. The
methods of rearing involved, the ecological and economic functions the birds
perform, and the nutritional value and taste of the chicken meat from the two
systems are not the same. At the same time, while gallina criolla production
is one part of agroecological systems that tend towards diversity, industrial
production of commercial chickens tends towards homogeneity.

Read the full report here.

John Lindo publishes research on ancient DNA, aiding our comprehension of migration patterns in South America before the arrival of Europeans

The research found different and previously undetected ancestry in a man and a woman dating back 800 and 1,500 years, both from an archeological site in eastern Uruguay. This supports the theory of separate migrations from North America into different areas in South America. “We’ve now provided genetic evidence that this theory may be correct,” Lindo tells Phys.org.

Dr. Lindo published The genomic prehistory of the Indigenous peoples of Uruguay in PNAS Nexus, Co-authors are Roseirys De La Rosa, Andre L C d Santos, Mónica Sans, Michael DeGiorgio, and Gonzalo Figueiro.

Anthropology Honors Students 2022

Photo left to right: Back row: Dr. Debra Vidali, Emily Edwards, Clio Hancock, Phoebe Einzig-Roth, Shreya Sharma.  Front row: Vijwala Yakkanti, Rosseirys De La Rosa, Sabrina Jin, Priscilla Lin.  Not pictured: Michele Chen, Thisara Gunawardana, Cora Hirst, Bushra Rahman.

The Anthropology department is proud to recognize our 2021-2022 honors graduates!  In another year of uncertainty and challenging research conditions, we had a new record number of students completing honors projects.  This year, twelve Anthropology students successfully defended honors theses, the culmination of a year (or more!) of independent research and writing.  All projects were completed under the supervision of faculty advisors and committee members from within and outside of Anthropology, with support from faculty honors coordinator Dr. Debra Vidali.  These students were honored at our Anthropology Honors and Awards Ceremony on April 25th.  Two students graduated in December, and ten are scheduled to graduate with honors at the Emory University Commencement Ceremony on Monday, May 9th.

Please see below for a full list of thesis.  You can read more about this year’s honors students and their projects on our website.  Please join us in congratulating these students on their hard work and accomplishment! 

Michele Chen: Acquisition of Reproductive Health Knowledge: How girls in Georgia learn about their reproductive bodies
Advisor: John Lindo

Rosseirys De La Rosa: Understanding the Evolutionary History of Ancient Indigenous Individuals in Uruguay
Advisor: John Lindo

Emily Edwards: People, plants, and prescriptions: Effects of herbal supplements on pharmaceutical drug metabolism
Advisor: Cassandra Quave

Phoebe Einzig-Roth: Acute PTSD and Depression Symptoms in African American Women Newly Diagnosed With Breast Cancer
Advisors: Jennifer Stevens, Mel Konner

Thisara Gunawardana: Analysis of the COVID-19 Response in Sri Lanka
Advisor: Mel Konner

Clio Hancock: Close Quarters: An Investigation of Neighborhood Effects and SARS-CoV-2 in Chicago
Advisor: Craig Hadley

Cora Hirst: Evidence of Selection on Circadian Regulation of the Immune System in Ancient Iberia
Advisor: John Lindo

Sabrina Jin: New Perspectives on Race and Racism Among Brazilians of Asian Descent
Advisors: Jessica Ham, Craig Hadley

Priscilla Lin: Realities of First-Generation, Low-Income Scholars at Predominantly White Institutions: The Emory Experience
Advisor: Justin Hosbey

Bushra Rahman: Frustration responses of single mothers to prolonged infant crying
Advisor: Jim Rilling

Shreya Sharma: A Political Economy Approach to Understanding Abortion in Nepal
Advisor: Craig Hadley

Vijwala Yakkanti: Associations Between Emotion Regulation and Heart Rate Variability in Trauma-Exposed Black Women
Advisor: Negar Fani, Mel Konner

2022 Graduate Student Awards

Chikako Ozawa-de Silva, Elena Lesley, Bruce Knauft, Bradd Shore

Marjorie Shostak Award for Excellence and Humanity in Ethnography: 

  • 1st prize: Elena Lesley  for her dissertation “Testimony as Transformation: Resilience, Regeneration, and Moral Action through Spiritually-Adapted Narrative Therapy in Cambodia”, advised by Bruce Knauft.
  • Runner up: Tatenda Mangurenje for her dissertation “Fractured Belonging: Black Police Officers and the New Civil Rights Movement”, advised by Peter Brown.

George Armelagos Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student: Megan Beney Kilgore and Scott Schnur

2022 Anthropology Undergraduate Student Award Winners

2022 Undergraduate Student Awards

The Anthropology Department is pleased to announce our 2022 student award winners!  In addition to granting a record number of departmental awards, we were thrilled to be able to honor seven rising seniors with our first ever Trevor E. Stokol Scholarship, for research which they will be conducting during their senior year.  Undergraduate awards were conferred at a ceremony on Monday, April 25.   We are so proud of our many impressive students!

For award descriptions and past winners, visit our Departmental Awards webpage.

Outstanding Senior Award: Rosseirys De La Rosa, Sabrina Jin, and Priscilla Lin

Outstanding Junior Award: Hunter Akridge, Rachel Broun, Abhiram Manda

Marjorie Shostak Award for Excellence and Humanity in Ethnography:

  • Priscilla Lin  for her honors thesis “Realities of First-Generation, Low-Income Scholars at Predominately White Institutions: The Emory Experience”, advised by Justin Hosbey.
  • Lauren Oates for her Capstone project “Places of Permanent Precarity: An Examination of Palimpsest Landscapes in Dekalb County’s Constitution Lakes Park”, advised by Kristin Phillips.

Trevor E. Stokol Scholarship for Undergraduate Research

  • Hunter Akridge
  • Pamela Beniwal
  • Sophia Bereaud
  • Nicole Felix-Tovar
  • Danielle Mangabat
  • Alvaro Perez Daisson
  • Christopher Zeuthen
Hunter Akridge, Pamela Beniwal, Sophia Bereaud, Nicole Felix-Tovar, Alvaro Perez Daisson, Christopher Zeuthen. Not pictured: Danielle Mangabat.