University of Alabama Department of Anthropology

As we start preparing for the fall semester, Bama Anthropology is thrilled to announce our next department chair - Dr. Katherine Chiou!

🎉 Dr. Chiou has been with Bama Anthro since 2017 and, among her many accomplishments, is a well-established ethnoarchaeologist, co-director of the Artificial Intelligence Teaching Enhancement Initiative at UA, and an outstanding mentor and colleague. 👏 Please join us in congratulating and welcoming her to this role! 🐘

SAVE THE DATE! Next Saturday, Dr. Silva and Elena Riley will be running a workshop - "Tacos, Tortillas, and Tostadas: Mexican and Central American Food Traditions from Past to Present" and you won't want to miss it!
This session will draw from archaeology and anthropology to explore the foodways of Mexico and Central America. We’ll look at examples from archaeological sites and modern-day home gardens to appreciate the function and beauty of the region’s farming and food traditions. We will end by making tortillas and try for the signature “poof” that indicates a delicious handmade tortilla with ingredients donated by Mi Pueblo Supermarket. We welcome everyone and invite members of the Mexican and Central American diaspora to share their experiences in this bilingual session.
📆Saturday 8/15
📍Center for Food Education (Birmingham, AL)
⏰10-11:30am
💲5
Register here: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/gcfworkshops/event/tacos/

Save the date! Bama Anthro student Cords Hulsey will be part of a panel at Auburn discussing the history of labor in Alabama!!
📍Pebble Hill • 101 S. Debardeleben Street, Auburn
📆 September 11, 2026
⏰11:45am

Register here for free: https://cla.auburn.edu/cah/programs/labor-history-symposium/

UPDATE FROM THE FIELD!
In May, Dr. Marysia Galbraith led a group of UA graduate and undergraduate students in conjunction with a team of international volunteers from the Association of Descendants of Jewish Central Poland (ADJCP) and local community members to restore a Jewish cemetery in Żychlin Poland. The goal of the project was twofold, first to help restore and care for the cemetery and second to use ground penetrating radar (GPR) to locate a Holocaust mass grave.

The first step was to clear the area, which had become overgrown with shrubs and small trees. This labor-intensive process took multiple days and could not have been completed without community support, including students from a local high school. Additionally, volunteers worked to maintain the cemetery and memorial monument, including weeding and repainting railings.

UA Anthropology PhD candidate Claiborne Sea, an expert in geophysical archaeological methods, led the GPR survey. This noninvasive method allows archaeologists to visualize disturbance underground without excavation. Analysis of the data is still ongoing but hopefully will provide the necessary information to officially recognize the site and lay the groundwork for memorial efforts.

Additionally, Dr. Galbraith was a guest of honor at the unveiling of a new exhibit at the Saski Palace Museum in Kutno for her efforts in association with the ADJCP to display a Torah dating to the early 1900’s that was recently rediscovered.

Before we start thinking about heading back to campus, we want to share what Bama Anthro professors Drs. Rachel Cajigas and Elliot Blair have been up to this summer - they were busy leading the joint UA / American Museum of Natural History May interim semester field school on St. Catherines Island, GA!

Students worked with professors and museum archaeologists on a Late Archaic period (5000-3000 BP) shell ring site and participated in excavations, laboratory work, shallow geophysical prospection, and experimental archaeology.

🐘 Roll Tide Roll! 🐘

New Publication Alert! Dr. Courtney Helfrecht co-authored a paper with Drs. Drew Pearl, Daniela Susnara, and Teairra Evans entitled "Reflecting on Identity Development for Community-Engaged Scholars: A Mini Case Study." Find it in the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement (open access) at this link: https://openjournals.libs.uga.edu/jheoe/article/view/4213

Did you go to the SAA meeting in April? Bama Anthro sure did! Check out all the presentations by our faculty and students!! Make sure to ask them questions about their research when you see them this fall!

Bama Anthro's Dr. Flavio Silva and Morenike Samuel have been hard at work at the Smithsonian over the last several weeks! While Dr. Silva has served as a guest instructor, Morenike has been collaborating on a research project. They'll be back home soon - make sure to ask them about their experiences in D.C.!

If you're anywhere close to the Starkville Public Library in Starkville, MS, you won't want to miss Bama Anthro PhD student Austin Lee's talk on Tuesday, 7/21 at 6pm!

🕵️‍♂️ COLD CASES. FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY. GENETIC GENEALOGY. 🦴🔬
What does it take to solve a mystery that's been cold for decades?

Join Austin Lee from The University of Alabama as he explores how forensic anthropology and genetic genealogy are helping investigators uncover new clues and solve long-forgotten cases.

Free and open to the public.