UCF Department of Anthropology

09/30/2026

Dr. Sinelli is at the UCF Study Abroad Fair today! 🌎✈️

Stop by to learn more about UCF in Turks and Caicos | Caribbean Archaeology and explore this study abroad opportunity with UCF Anthropology.

📍 UCF Student Union, Key West Room 218A
🕙 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

Come say hello and learn more about the program!

Can’t stop by? Learn more about the program here:
https://studyabroad.ucf.edu/_portal/tds-program-brochure?programid=10080

09/28/2026

Lunch & Learn with the GAA!

Join the Graduate Anthropology Association for a Lunch & Learn featuring the Dixon Career Development Center!

Learn more about the resources and services available to help you explore career paths, strengthen your professional development, and prepare for your future. Bring your lunch and come ready to learn!

📅 October 2
⏰ 12:00 PM
📍 HPH 409M

All are welcome, we hope to see you there!

09/22/2026

09/18/2026

The search is on!

Today, UCF Anthropology students and faculty used ground-penetrating radar (GPR) around Millican Hall in the search for UCF’s 1976 bicentennial time capsule.

The same technology our team uses in archaeological and bioarchaeological research was put to work right here on campus, offering students a hands-on opportunity while helping uncover a piece of UCF history.

The big question: Did we find it?

Stay tuned as we get closer to the time capsule’s official opening on December 1, 2026 — 50 years to the day after it was buried.

UCFHistory

09/18/2026

On December 1, 1976, students buried a bicentennial time capsule on campus, to be opened in 2026.

Now, in preparation for the official opening of the capsule on December 1, 2026, UCF Anthropology is taking the first step: finding it.

Today, September 18, Integrative Anthropological Sciences Ph.D. students will conduct a GPR scan, under the supervision of our bioarchaeology faculty, to help locate the capsule beneath the surface.

Can anthropology help uncover a piece of UCF history that has been waiting 50 years to be rediscovered? Stay tuned!

09/15/2026

You’re invited to celebrate 20 Years of UCF Anthropology! ✨

For two decades, the UCF Department of Anthropology has been a place for discovery, research, teaching, and connection — and we’re excited to celebrate this milestone with our community.

Everyone is welcome! Whether you’re an alum, student, faculty or staff member, a friend of the department, or simply curious about anthropology and want to learn more about what we do, we’d love to have you join us.

📅 Friday, October 16
⏰ 10:30 AM–12:00 PM
📍 Fairwinds Alumni Center

Come explore highlights from our 20-year history, discover some of the research and fieldwork happening in the department, visit interactive stations, meet members of our community, and enjoy light refreshments.

🔗 RSVP and learn more: tinyurl.com/9npdcrmc

We hope to see you there! 🎉

09/14/2026

The Graduate Anthropology Association is hosting a series of informal Q&As with Anthropology faculty, giving students the opportunity to get to know their professors a little better and learn more about their research and experiences.

For this session, we’ll be talking with Dr. Emily Zavodny, an environmental archaeologist whose research focuses on zooarchaeology and isotopic studies.

📍 Trevor Colbourn Hall, Room 208
📅 Friday, September 18
⏰ 1:00 PM

All are welcome to join us, ask questions, and get to know Dr. Zavodny a little better!

09/11/2026

Want to succeed in an AI world? Study Anthropology.

A recent Wall Street Journal article makes the case that, as AI continues to reshape the workplace, the most valuable skills may be the ones technology struggles to replicate.

The article highlights anthropology for its ability to help people:
• understand people, culture, and society
• think critically and adapt to change
• step back and see the bigger picture
• develop metacognition — the ability to think about how we think and understand the systems we are part of
• explore one of the most important questions of all: what makes us human?

As the article notes, knowledge can increasingly be automated or commoditized by AI, but the ability to understand people, think critically, and adapt remains essential.

The future still needs people who understand people. Start building those skills in a UCF Anthropology course.

Whether you’re looking for a course that changes the way you see the world, considering an Anthropology major, or thinking about graduate study, there’s a place for you at UCF Anthropology.

• Learn more about our undergraduate program:
https://sciences.ucf.edu/anthropology/bachelor-of-arts-degree/

• Explore our graduate programs:
https://sciences.ucf.edu/anthropology/graduate-anthropology/

Scan the QR code to read the Wall Street Journal article or go to: https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/want-to-succeed-in-an-ai-world-study-anthropology-cbb2d368

Think like an anthropologist. Prepare for what’s next.

09/08/2026

How do you clean a bone without changing its chemistry?

New interdisciplinary research from UCF examines how different methods used to clean skeletal material can affect its elemental composition.

In the study, researchers Magdalena Jackson, John Lucchi, Kristen Livingston, and Matthieu Baudelet compared five maceration methods using 54 porcine ribs and evaluated the cleaned bones using XRF, LIBS, and ICP-MS.

Their findings show that the method used to prepare skeletal material matters: dermestid beetle maceration most closely matched the control samples for LIBS and ICP-MS, while enzymatic maceration was the closest match for XRF.

The work highlights the interdisciplinary nature of research at UCF, bringing together expertise from the National Center for Forensic Science, Department of Chemistry, Department of Anthropology, and CREOL – The College of Optics and Photonics.

The article, Comparison of Maceration Methods for the Elemental Analysis of Porcine Ribs, was published online September 4 in Applied Spectroscopy Practica.

Congratulations to the research team!

Read the full article: doi:10.1177/27551857261472526 (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/27551857261472526)

09/02/2026

Thinking about graduate school in anthropology? 🎓✨

Join Dr. Scott Branting and Giovanna Scheraldi for a virtual UCF Anthropology Graduate Program Information Session to learn more about our M.A. and Ph.D. programs. We’ll discuss admissions, degree requirements, program structure, research opportunities, and answer your questions during a live Q&A.

📅 September 23
⏰ 3:00 PM
💻 Virtual

Register today by scanning the QR code or visiting go.ucf.edu/4qLDBrf.