Category: Undergraduate Program

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.

 

Congratulations to our Student Award Winners

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Photo left to right, top to bottom: Isabel Slingerland, Claire Biffl, Emma Hanlon, Evan Amaral, Rebecca Rusnak, Sara Kauko, Shreyas Sreenath.

The Anthropology Department is pleased to announce our 2020 student award winners!  Please join us in congratulating undergraduates Isabel Slingerland, Claire Biffl, Emma Hanlon, Evan Amaral and Rebecca Rusnak, and graduate students Sara Kauko and Shreyas Sreenath.  Undergraduate awards were conferred at a virtual celebration on Friday, April 24.  See below for detailed award descriptions.  We are so proud of our many impressive students!

2020 Undergraduate Student Awards

Outstanding Senior Award: Isabel Slingerland

Outstanding Junior Award: Evan Amaral and Rebecca Rusnak

Marjorie Shostak Prize for Excellent and Humanity in Ethnographic Writing:

  • Claire Biffl for her honors thesis “Experiences of Aging, Kinship, Death, and Independence in an Independent Living Facility”
  • Emma Hanlon for her honors thesis “Negotiating Spirituality: Ritual, Language, and Space in the First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta”

2020 Graduate Student Awards:

Marjorie Shostak Prize for Excellent and Humanity in Ethnographic Writing: Shreyas Sreenath for his dissertation “Black Spot: An Account of Caste and Discards in 21st Century Bangalore”

George Armelagos Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student: Sara Kauko and Shreyas Sreenath

 

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

Anthropology Honors Students Complete Theses Remotely

Honors2020
Top row from left: Naomi Tesema, Riana Peskopos, Rachel Kim, Nora Keatley; middle row: Ru Prasad, Adama Kamara, Sarena Ho, Jahnvi Jain; bottom row: Emma Hanlon, Elisabeth Crusey, Claire Biffl, Dr. Kristin Phillips

The Anthropology department is proud to recognize eleven seniors who successfully defended honors theses, most of them holding defenses remotely and completing their projects from home after the University closed due to the COVID-19 epidemic.  Their projects, the culmination of a year (or more!) of independent research and writing, were completed under the supervision of faculty advisors and committee members from within and outside of Anthropology, with support from faculty honors coordinator Dr. Kristin Phillips. These students were honored in a virtual Anthropology Honors and Awards Ceremony on April 24th.  One student, Rachel Kim, graduated from Emory in December, and the others are scheduled to graduate with honors on May 11.

Please see below for a full list of theses, and join us in congratulating these students on their hard work and accomplishment!

Claire Biffl – Experiences of Aging, Kinship, Death, and Independence in an Independent Living Facility

Advised by Kristin Phillips

 

Elisabeth Crusey – “Does anybody have ibuprofen?”: An Investigation of Emory Undergraduates’ Over-the-Counter Analgesic Use

Advised by Bisan Salhi (School of Medicine)

 

Emma Hanlon – Spiritual Community, Sacred Congregation: Ritual, Discourse, and Space in the First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta

Advised by Anna Grimshaw

 

Sarena Ho – Father Absence and Young Adult Romantic Relationship Ideals

Advised by Craig Hadley

 

Jahnvi Jain – Effects of a Brief Breath Focused Mindfulness Meditation Intervention on Heart Rate Variability and Dissociation in Patients with PTSD and Dissociation

Advised by Negar Fani (School of Medicine)

 

Adama Kamara – The Politics of Empowerment and Black Female Sexuality: Perceptions Through the Lens of Atlanta’s Trafficking Networks

Advised by Bayo Holsey

 

Nora Keathley – Latinx Women and Labor in the Digital Age: Exploring Childbirth and Medical Authority Through the Use of YouTube

Advised by John Lindo

 

Rachel Kim – Representation Matters: Changing Portrayals of Asian-Americans in Hollywood Films from 1993-2019

Advised by Anna Grimshaw

 

Riana Peskopos – The Queer Female Medical Narratives

Advised by Anna Grimshaw

 

Ruhika Prasad – Mental Illness and Pregnancy among Women in Mysore, India: Health Provider and Women’s Perspectives

Advised by Joyce Flueckiger (Religion)

 

Naomi Tesema – Mobile Phone Apps for HIV Prevention Among College-Aged Black Women in Atlanta: Preferences and Prototype

Advised by Rasheeta Chandler (Nursing) and John Lindo

 

A list of all previously completed Anthropology honors theses is available at

http://anthropology.emory.edu/home/undergraduate/opportunities/honors.html

Happy Anthropology Day!!

Happy Anthropology Day!!

The American Anthropological Association (AAA) designates the 3rd Thursday of February as Anthropology Day, a day to “celebrate what Anthropology is and what it can achieve” while “sharing it with the world around us.”  Emory Anthropology students stopped by today to share what they love about Anthropology, which included things like:

“It focuses on concepts I have always thought about but have never been able to articulate.  Anthro promotes understanding and acceptance for/of differences!”

“It allows me to apply cultural competence to the social justice issues that I am passionate about.”

“I love anthro because it opens my mind into thinking in new ways and broadens my world view!”

“It connects us to our ROOTS!”

“Because it’s teaching me how to be a more empathetic doctor and human.”

“It provides multi-dimensional perspectives that apply to many disciplines.”

“Anthropology has taught be how to be in the world in a meaningful way.”

We love to see how studying anthropology allows our students to feel more connected to each other and the world, while focusing on a broad range of interests and applications.  Whatever our specific goals and inspirations, we all believe in the power of anthropology to help make the world a better place!  #AnthroDay

Anthro Day 2020 - writing

Abbe McCarter (C19) receives Bradley Currey Jr. Seminar Award

Anthropology and human biology graduate Abbe McCarter  received the Bradley Currey Jr. Seminar Award for her project “Food Insecurity on the Cattaraugus Reservation.” This was part of her honors thesis titled “Windows into the Lived Experiences and Health Consequences of Food Insecurity on the Cattaraugus Reservation: Implications for Indigenous Peoples’ Food Sovereignty”. She graduated in May with highest honors.

“I am beyond grateful for the Rose Library and their consideration for the Bradley abbe.pngCurrey Jr. Seminar Award. This award allowed me to travel to the Seneca Nation of Indians’ Cattaraugus Reservation and conduct first hand qualitative and quantitative research. The experience as a whole provided me with significant lessons in conducting anthropological research as I examined the lived experiences and health consequences of food insecurity and sovereignty for Indigenous Peoples. I am certain that this award, the mentorship of Dr. Vidali and the rest of Emory’s Anthropology department, and the completion of my honors thesis, contributed to me achieving my current position – as the 2019/20 Melvin Ember intern with HRAF at Yale University working with some of the most important minds and data in cross-cultural research. Having the opportunity to travel to the Cattaraugus Reservation was absolutely critical, and allowed me to foster relationships with interlocutors in the field and embark upon a course of study which will continue to grow for years to come thanks to the Bradley Currey Jr. Seminar Award!”

She is one of eleven Emory students who recently received undergraduate research awards for their library research. Read more in the Emory News Center.

 

 

 

Katya Bobrek (19C) received NSF funding

Anthropology major Katya Bobrek was one of six recent Emory graduates to receive NSF funding and the only one to be awarded the prestigious grand right after receiving her undergraduate degree. She graduated in May with high honors in Anthropology and Human Biology. The title of her honors thesis was “Genomic Analysis and Natural Selection Scan of Mexican Mayan and Indigenous Populations” and her advisor was Dr. John Lindo.

“I’m so thankful for the opportunity given to me by NSF. What excites me the most aboutbobrek.png my research is its interdisciplinary nature. I would never have found this niche if not for the education I received at the Emory Anthropology department. There I discovered my love of anthropology, health, and scientific research. It’s because of Emory Anthropology that I found what I am most passionate about.” Katya Bobrek

Read more in the Emory News Center.