MSU Department of Anthropology

Iron scissors, glass beads and iconographic rings from the 1630s, recovered at a site in Marquette County. They may have arrived before any European did, moving inland along Indigenous exchange networks that were already centuries old.

In her opening chapter in Post-Contact Archaeology of Michigan and the Upper Great Lakes Region (Berghahn Books), Dr. Jessica L. Yann asks what happens when archaeologists stop treating "contact" as a single moment and start asking how Indigenous communities persisted and adapted across two centuries of shifting power in the Great Lakes. Her answer is a four-part continuum that reframes the questions the field asks about colonialism, persistence and resilience.

Dr. Yann earned her doctorate in MSU's Department of Anthropology in 2019 and now serves as the university's NAGPRA Program Manager, with a secondary appointment in the department.

Read the full article: https://anthropology.msu.edu/2026/08/13/rethinking-contact-what-michigans-earliest-trade-goods-actually-show/

Congratulations to Dr. Phyllis Johnson, assistant professor in the MSU Department of Anthropology, on her new article in the Cambridge journal Advances in Archaeological Practice.

The piece looks at how cultural resource management, the branch of archaeology that makes up most of the field's jobs in the US, can build healthier and more sustainable workplaces. Drawing on her experience directing an archaeology lab, she offers a practical model for putting staff wellbeing at the center of how the work gets done.

She now leads MSU's cultural resource management lab, where she trains students for careers in the field.

The artcile is open access, so anyone can read it in full.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/advances-in-archaeological-practice/article/putting-the-people-before-the-work-creating-healthy-working-environments-in-crm/3C2CAB4BA8C1AA6E0F412E83587BEBB9

Congratulations to Dr. Carolyn Isaac on her reappointment as assistant professor of anthropology. 🎉

Dr. Isaac is a biological anthropologist specializing in forensic anthropology. Her research focuses on the histological progression of cranial fracture healing, developing methods that help forensic practitioners estimate the age of healing fractures. She also leads collaborative work integrating artificial intelligence with radiographic identification techniques.

Dr. Isaac serves as director of the MSU Forensic Anthropology Laboratory, which partners with law enforcement and medical examiner offices in the search, recovery and identification of deceased individuals. The lab also trains the next generation of forensic anthropologists, with doctoral students gaining hands-on casework experience alongside faculty practitioners.

Congratulations to Dr. Elizabeth Drexler on her promotion to professor of anthropology.

Dr. Drexler's research examines violence, human rights, transitional justice, and impunity in Indonesia and Timor-Leste, work she has sustained for more than 20 years. She is also the director of Peace and Justice Studies at MSU and the author of "Infrastructures of Impunity: New Order Violence in Indonesia" (Cornell University Press, 2024), which was translated into Bahasa Indonesia in 2026.

In ongoing research, she explores structural injustice and visual culture in the U.S. and globally.

Well-deserved, Dr. Drexler. 🎉

Recent GLIS and Anthropology graduate Catelyn Arnold has been selected as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant for the 2026–27 academic year. 👏

This fall, she'll head to South Korea to teach, learn, and build meaningful cross-cultural connections through education.

“Fulbright offers the opportunity to build genuine relationships with students and the local community while continuing to improve my Korean language skills and deepen my understanding of international education and global exchanges,” she said.

Congratulations, Catelyn! 💚

The Department of Anthropology is proud to congratulate Md "Monir" Moniruzzaman, associate professor of anthropology, on being named a Fulbright finalist for the 2026-27 academic year. Moniruzzaman was selected for a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to conduct work in Bangladesh, one of five MSU faculty members chosen this year.

The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government's flagship international academic exchange program, supporting scholars who teach, study and conduct research around the world.

Read more from MSUToday: https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2026/06/12-msu-scholars-students-named-2026-27-fulbright-finalists