Category: Undergraduate Program

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 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.

Happy Anthropology Day

Happy #AnthroDay!  The Anthropology Department and Emory Anthropology Student Society (EASS) celebrated by hosting an information table and button-making station, where students made their own anthropology-themed buttons.  Students also had the opportunity to share some things they love about anthropology.  Here are some of the responses:

  • the diverse subfields
  • it asks us to think about and account for human values!
  • So much!  People, the brain, evolution, and more.
  • It’s my life!
  • Great classes
  • I love learning about other cultures and people around the world.
  • My class went to the Carlos Museum to see Marie Watts!

You can check out more about Anthropology Day at americananthro.org and by following #AnthroDay!

Congratulations to our 2021 Anthropology Honors Students!

The Anthropology department is proud to recognize our 2021 honors graduates: Margot Bailowitz, Olivia Blackman, Isabella Cantor, Makda Mulugeta, and Anna Wachspress.  In a year which presented unusual research challenges, these students persevered with creativity and resourcefulness, completing rich projects on topics ranging from Native American COVID-19 campaign artwork to the experience of couples aging together in assisted living.  One project, a documentary film following an Atlanta-based civil rights organization, was the first film-based project to be completed in the Anthropology department. 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 in a virtual Anthropology Honors and Awards Ceremony on May 3rd, and graduated with honors at the Emory College graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 16.

You can read more about this year’s honors students and their projects at http://anthropology.emory.edu/home/undergraduate/opportunities/honors-2021.html.  Please join us in congratulating these students on their hard work and accomplishment! 

New Experimental Ethnography Undergraduate Blog Publications

Three experimental ethnography pieces by undergraduate students on COVID-19 experiences have been recently published on the Experimental Ethnography at Emory blog. These works were produced for ANT/THEA 377W “Fieldwork into Performance,” taught by Prof. Vidali in Spring 2019. 

“Rush Monologues” by Aditya Jhaveri is a verbatim ethnographic theater script based on interviews with three international students.

“Face-Time during COVID-19” by Katherine Pitts is a creative nonfiction essay aimed to promote awareness of isolation and the importance of staying connected in a highly disrupted world.

“Silent” by Joy Min is a short ethnographic theater piece documenting the experiences of people who are victims of racist/xenophobic sentiments concerning the origins of COVID-19.

Anthropology majors Naomi Tesema (C20) and Anna Wachspress win Emory Libraries’ undergraduate research awards

Naomi Tesema (C20), earned her BS with honors in Anthropology and Human Biology. She received the Atwood Award for her honors theses titled “Mobile Phone Apps for HIV Prevention Among College-aged Black Women in Atlanta: Preferences and Prototype.”

Anna Wachspress, a junior majoring in anthropology and human biology, received an honorable mention for “Lori Loughlin and the College Admissions Scandal: Frame Analysis of Online Entertainment Magazines,” an assignment for Sociology 289: Crime and the Media.

Read the full article in the Emory News Center.

Klamath Henry (C19) collaborates with Emory’s Carlos Museum to bring educational online activities to families

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The Carlos Museum usually offers great activities and events for families on site. With the closure of the galleries due to COVID-19, the museum has been creating online activities for kids and adults.

Klamath Henry, who graduated with her BA in Anthropology in 2019, created the smARTy pack “Check Out Those Kicks! A look at traditional and contemporary footwear in Native North America” during her Andrew W. Mellon Internship at the Carlos Museum in summer 2019. It  is now available on the Carlos Museum website.