06/13/2026
This June, NIU celebrates LGBTQ+ Pride Month. Anthropology is proud to celebrate diversity in all its forms and ensure a welcoming environment for all in our classes. If you're in town, consider joining the celebration this week: https://calendar.niu.edu/event/niu-celebrates-pride-4182?utm_campaign=Spring-2023&utm_medium=email&utm_source=NIU-Today
06/06/2026
From NIU to the Ivy League: After graduating last month with a degree in anthropology and a minor in art history, Skye McCord will earn a funded master's degree in archaeology from Cornell University. https://bit.ly/4xgIf3s
NIU Department of Anthropology
05/15/2026
The department would like to congratulate our faculty members Dr. Dana Bardolph and Dr. Micah Morton on receiving tenure and promotion to Associate Professor!
This career milestone comes after many years of work to establish their body of published work, teaching and international reputation in Archaeology and Cultural Anthropology, respectively. This honor reflects both faculty members' consistently high-impact research, teaching and service.
The approval process began a full year ago and concluded a few days ago with the final vote of the NIU Board of Trustees!
Congratulations to our newly minted Associate Professors! πππ
05/12/2026
Congratulations to graduating senior Skye McCord, one of two students who had their stories featured at Saturday's commencement ceremony! ππππππ
Meet NIU Class of 2026 Grad Skye McCord
Learn how Skye McCordβs experiences in the classroom as an Anthropology Major and outside the classroom studying in Italy shaped her future.
05/09/2026
We love graduation season! πππ Congratulations to all of our grads and honorees!
05/08/2026
Congratulations Mehrab Hasan on your successful MA thesis defense today! ππππππ
05/05/2026
Congratulations to the 21st Annual SAA Ethics Bowl ChampionsβNorthern Illinois University!
The SAA Ethics Bowl is a competitive debate for undergraduate and graduate students where teams analyze and defend solutions to real-world ethical dilemmas in archaeology, helping students build strong ethical decision-making skills before encountering similar situations in their careers.
The AIA is a regular Ethics Bowl sponsor and offers each of the winners a complimentary student membership to the AIA. Well done to all of this year's competitors!
πΈ Dana Bardolph, Emma Bell, Abigail (Abby) Deewaard, Justine Dioneda, Angelina (Angie) Guiterrez, and Alia Moran
05/05/2026
NIU Anthropology's delegation to the Society for American Archaeology meeting in San Francisco last week!
We're proud to announce that the NIU team (2 MA students and 3 undergraduates) took first place in the Ethics Bowl! Undergraduate research was also well-represented - Skye McCord presented a poster on Etruscan tombs, Angie Gutierrez presented a paper on tuition and wage prospects for careers in archaeology, and Alia Moran presented a paper on how βliving archaeologyβ documents the present and centers community voices. Well done, Huskies!
05/01/2026
Congratulations to our MA student Ruth Otaigboria on her successful MA defense this week. Ruth, advised by our own Dr. Bennardo, studied "Cultural Models of Long Covid".
It is well established that cultural framing changes how individuals conceptualize health care and seek access to treatment and other care. Ruth's work specifically revealed such differences in Nigerian immigrants in the US with non-immigrants.
Congratulations! ππ
04/30/2026
NIU Anthropology incoming at the Society for American Archaeology meetings today in San Francisco!
Five of our NIU students are accompanying our own Dr. Bardolph-Carlsen - the team is presenting research from Peru and North America, and participating in the ethics bowl competition!