ECU Department of Anthropology

Excited to share new research highlighting community-driven coral and mangrove restoration efforts in the United States Virgin Islands! 🌊🌿
This important work was led by our own ECU anthropologist, Dr. Cynthia Grace-McCaskey, and PhD student, Alexandra Stevenson, in collaboration with four additional co-authors.
The study explores how local fishers, community leaders, restoration practitioners, and agencies came together through the Hull Bay Coral and Mangrove Restoration Workshop to develop culturally responsive, locally grounded solutions to climate and environmental challenges.
Rather than focusing solely on tourism, participants emphasized protecting fisheries, strengthening shoreline resilience, preserving marine ecosystems, and ensuring future generations remain connected to these vital environments. The project demonstrates how community voices, local ecological knowledge, and collaborative partnerships can shape more fair, resilient, and sustainable restoration practices across the Caribbean and beyond.
Congratulations on this impactful contribution to collaborative environmental research!

ECU Thomas Harriot College of Arts & Sciences ECU Department of Anthropology Alexandra Stevenson Cindy Grace-McCaskey

How do humans and wildlife learn to live together in shared spaces?

ECU Department of Anthropology ECU Thomas Harriot College of Arts & Sciences ECU ALUMNI

Hey, recent ANTH MA grads! Looking for a meaningful career helping students succeed? 📚✨

The Thomas Harriot College of Arts & Sciences at ECU is now hiring Academic Advisors! This is a wonderful opportunity to work with students throughout their academic journey while being part of a supportive and dedicated university community.

If you have a Master’s degree and enjoy mentoring, problem-solving, and helping students reach their goals, we encourage you to apply!

Position #500646
Apply here: https://ecu.peopleadmin.com/postings/93662

Please share with anyone who may be interested in joining the Pirate family! 💜💛 ECU Thomas Harriot College of Arts & Sciences

Congratulations to all of our Anthropology graduates who crossed the stage last Friday! 🎓✨

We are so proud of everything you have accomplished through your hard work, dedication, and perseverance. Whether your next chapter includes graduate school, a new career, travel, research, or changing the world one step at a time, we know you will do amazing things.

Thank you for being part of our Anthropology family. We loved watching you grow, and we cannot wait to see where life takes you next.

Please help us celebrate the Class of 2026! 🖤💛

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥-𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞!

We are happy to share that Dr. Eric J. Bailey, Professor in Anthropology and Public Health at East Carolina University, has been selected for the 2026–2027 cohort of the Engagement and Outreach Scholars Academy (EOSA).

With over two decades at ECU and nearly four decades in academia, Dr. Bailey is a cultural and medical anthropologist whose work focuses on ethnic and rural health disparities. He teaches across both Anthropology and Public Health and leads the Ethnic and Rural Health Disparities Graduate Certificate Online Program.

Through EOSA, Dr. Bailey will collaborate with a community partner to develop research that directly responds to community-identified needs. This initiative brings together faculty, students, and community members to create meaningful, applied scholarship with real-world impact.

As part of the program, Dr. Bailey will mentor students, guide research development, and share outcomes through community engagement and scholarly contributions.

Congratulations to Dr. Bailey on this well-deserved recognition

𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞!🏴‍☠️

Huge congratulations to Caroline King on the successful defense of her graduate internship research!

Caroline’s project, titled “Developing Biological Anthropology Labs for Online Delivery,” explores best practices for launching a biological anthropology lab course in a virtual environment. This research developed a framework that enables students to engage with biological anthropology, including skeletal analysis and evolutionary theory, without being physically present in the lab. Her research ensures that high-quality learning remains accessible and inclusive for non-traditional or underrepresented students. ECU Anthropology is proud of the dedication and vision she has shown throughout this process.

Please join us in celebrating Caroline’s hard work and this academic milestone!💛💜

Check out this great article about our own Pam Morris and her outstanding Pirate family! We're so happy to have you as such a knowledgable and enthusiastic part of our MA program, Pam. (And we're so happy to get to work with your fantastic sister Hannah in the Dean's Office, too!) ECU Thomas Harriot College of Arts & Sciences

ECU Family Ties Purple and gold run deep for one East Carolina University family as they come together to celebrate spring commencement.

Celebrating another successful defense! 🎓
Congratulations to ECU Anthropology graduate student Stephen Johnson on successfully defending his internship research, “Archaeological Conservation: Preserving Waterlogged Wood from the Queen Anne’s Revenge.” 🏴‍☠️
Stephen presented the work he conducted during his internship at the Queen Anne’s Revenge (QAR) Conservation Lab, focusing on the intricate processes of waterlogged wood conservation. His research contributes to the preservation of artifacts from their collection, ensuring these organic remains are stabilized and protected for future study.
ECU Anthropology is incredibly proud of Stephen’s dedication to hands-on work with the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources throughout his internship. Please join us in celebrating this milestone in his career! 💜💛

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐟𝐀𝐀: 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐮! ✈️

ECU Anthropology professor, Dr. Blakely Brooks, recently organized a session featuring our students who attended last summer’s study abroad program in Peru, at the 86th Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) in Albuquerque, NM. This session, titled “Experiences from the Field: Study Abroad and Ethnographic Research,” highlighted the experiences students had in Peru while working with local highland communities. Ethnographic research and the study abroad program were discussed as ways to facilitate experiential learning opportunities.

Last year’s field school taught students the methods of cultural domain analysis and had them use these techniques to study the impacts of climate change on local Andean communities. The SfAA session included discussions on the development and promotion of the study abroad program, course design, student perspectives, research team building, and the value of conducting ethnographic fieldwork.

Looking ahead, Dr. Brooks will return to Peru this summer for another field school session with our students to conduct further research! 🏔️✨