Department of Anthropology, UMN

Students will gain experience needed to get a job in the cultural resource management industry in ANTH 5269 Analysis of Stone Tool Technology with Professor Gilbert Tostevin this spring. The course offers practical lab experience in analyzing archaeological collections of stone tools to learn about human behavior in the past.

Maria A. Nieves-Colón, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Head of the Anthropological Genetics Laboratories at the University of Minnesota, interviewed for an article in "Current Biology" where she discusses how she got interested in genetics and science's biggest problems.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098222401635X?dgcid=author

What evidence do we use to support what we know? What linguistic resources do we have for indicating the sources - and our evaluations - of that knowledge? And how are these processes related to authority, truth, and value? Check out ANTH 4980: Topics in Sociocultural Anthropology - Evidence and Evidentiality with Professor David Valentine this spring. This course brings together the linguistic concept of evidentiality with enduring debates about the nature of evidence, proof, and veracity in anthropology, philosophy, scientific and legal practice, and political life.

Lily Obeda, a teaching specialist in the Department of German, Nordic, Slavic & Dutch, University of Minnesota, and Gilbert Tostevin, professor of Department of Anthropology, UMN, talk about Minnesota's Scandinavian past and how it informs the state's future for the Minnesota Daily.
z.umn.edu/a1lm

Join Professor Gilbert Tostevin this spring in ANTH 2006/3006 Humans and Aliens: Learning Anthropology through Science Fiction, where students will explore the relevance of biological anthropology, social anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and archaeology to humanity’s future through individual pairings of anthropology texts and science fiction stories. The course’s juxtaposition of anthropological literature to science fiction stories is designed to provide students with the ability to see how our future is more dependent on how humanity works (as anthropology understands it), than merely what the next technological invention has to offer us.

ANTH 3004 Great Controversies in Anthropology taught by Professor David Lipset explores notable controversies in the study of anthropology. Some of these include: Is human "reason" the same in all cultures? Whose "voices" should be heard? Is it possible to agree on a set of universal individual or cultural rights? Find out Spring 2025.

Interested in Northern European archaeology from the Roman Period to the time of the Vikings? Consider taking ANTH 4043/MEST 4043 Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings: Archaeology of Northern Europe in Spring 2025. Taught by Professor Peter Wells, this course examines social and political organization, cross-cultural interaction, art and symbolism, and religion and ritual.

Students in ANTH 3306W Medical Anthropology will learn about relations among human affliction, health, healing, social institutions, and cultural representations cross-culturally. Check it out this spring!

Ever since the discovery of the first Neanderthal skull in Germany in 1856, debate has raged in science as in popular culture over the degree of humanity of Neanderthals, our closest prehistoric relatives. Join Professor Gilliane Monnier this spring in ANTH 4077W: Neanderthals: Biology and Culture of Humanity's Nearest Relative where students will review the fossil, archaeological, and genetic evidence on the origins, adaptations, and ultimate fate of the Neanderthals. In addition, they will examine the shifting views on Neanderthals in relation to the changing intellectual and sociopolitical climate of the last 150 years.

Wei Ye will be defending her dissertation on December 16 at 1:00pm CST! Join us in 317 Blegen Hall, or via Zoom, to hear about, "Making Chinese Medicine in Kenya". You can contact the Department of Anthropology at [email protected] for more information.

Join Professor David Lipset this spring in ANTH 3147 Digital Anthropology if you are interested in how recent developments and adoption of new digital technologies, especially smart phones, social media, and gaming, have prompted academic and popular interest in and debates about the relationship of this technology to society. Anthropologists and other social scientists have been discussing in what ways technology in its various forms interacts with human culture for many years. How does it change society? How does society define its uses and meanings?

"Seeking to gain some work experience outside the world of academia, Deniz Coral-Irwin–who completed her program as a graduate student in Department of Anthropology in the summer of 2024–spent a summer as a research intern at Metro Transit, the Twin Cities primary public transportation operator. During her time there, she applied her academic skills to the fast-paced, collaborative environment of non-academic research. Her experience offered her a new perspective on how research can shape public service."

Research on the Move: Deniz Coral-Irwin’s Internship at Metro Transit Graduate student Deniz Coral-Irwin talks about her internship at Metro Transit. “I wanted to have work experience outside of academia before graduating.”

Obtain hands-on-experience in identifying, classifying, and interpreting archaeological objects in ANTH 3015/5016 Africa and African Diaspora Archaeology this spring with Professor Bula Wayessa. Students in this course will examine the evolution of human behavior in Africa and look at subsequent social, cultural, and technological developments as shown in archaeological records including artifacts, ecofacts, rock art, and structures at archaeological sites. They will also discuss methods used to identify archaeological records and how these records can be used to reconstruct past ways of life.

Are you interested in what can be known only, or primarily, from an evolutionary perspective? How evolutionary biology of humans might lead to better evolutionary theory? How physiology, development, behavior, and ecology coordinate/co-evolve in humans? Join ANTH 3002: S*x, Evolution, and Behavior: Examining Human Evolutionary Biology with Professors Michelle Brown and Michael Wilson this spring to learn about methods/theories used to understand humans in an evolutionary framework.

Interested in learning more about Anthropological approaches to contemporary American society/culture? Check out ANTH 4047 Anthropology of American Culture with Professor David Valentine this spring. Course topics include tensions between market and family, unity, diversity, individualism, and community.

Euphoria Rising, a graduate anthropology student is excited to share her current work. In light of our current socio political climate, Rising examines the relationship between higher education institutions and activism.

Euphoria Rising: The Link Between Activism and Higher Education PhD/graduate student, Euphoria Rising, examines the push and pull between repression and social change within higher institutions.

Ever wonder how European Society was formed? Learn how archaeologists analyze/interpret artifacts to develop knowledge about formation of European society, from earliest evidence of human occupation to Roman period this fall in ANTH 3027W: Archaeology of Prehistoric Europe with Professor Peter Wells.