Hi All,
Welcome back to a new Academic Year! Some news and notes from in and around the department:
Congratulations to our Summer 2019 Graduates
Please join me in congratulating our most recent students to earn the Doctorate in Anthropology: Myrian Barboza, Ben Burgen, Kelly Chapman, Jorge Garcia, Elise Geissler, Karen Leslie, Ginessa Mahar, Aaron Victoria, and Iliana Vargas were awarded their their Ph.D. degrees the the University’s August Commencement. Samantha McCrane and Nolan Ruark were awarded their M.A. degree in Anthropology. Congratulations to all of our students!
Welcome to New Faces in our Department
We are fortunate to welcome multiple new faces to Anthropology this year. Joining our faculty are Drs. Dan Contreras, Alix Johnson, Gabriel Prieto, Saul Schwartz, and Kim Valenta. We are very excited to have these outstanding scholars join our faculty. Please join me in welcoming them to the Department, and please take the time to point them in the right direction as they adjust to the Turlington maze.
Post-doctoral scholar Dr. Emily Zovodny also joins us this fall. She will be working closely with Dr. John Krigbaum, in the Bone Chemistry Lab for the next two years. Dr. Zavodny is a zooarchaeologist who works primarily in the Balkans, specifically in Croatia. In addition to her SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Emily Dr. Zavodny is the recipient of a National Geographic Early Career Grant.
We also welcome Dr. Ginessa Mahar, the new Anthropology Librarian in the George A. Smathers Libraries. Dr. Mahar will be working closely with us over the coming years. In her position as librarian, she can provide assistance with acquisitions and instruction in addition to providing services and support for proposal writing, data management, digital humanities, publishing and data archiving, and data visualization and informatics.
Sunday Welcome Back Picnic
Last year we revived an old tradition: the Welcome Back Picnic, which we will proudly continue. This year’s Welcome Back Picnic (Vol. 2, No. 2) will be at Depot Park This Sunday, August 25th from 1-4 pm. We will provide hot dogs, hamburgers, and veggie burgers, expertly prepared by grillmaster Trevor Duke! We will provide non-alcoholic drinks, but the Box Car is close by if you wish to enjoy an adult beverage. We are asking everyone to bring a side dish or dessert to share and show off your mad casserole and/or dessert skills. We hope you can join us! If you are interested in helping with set-up or clean-up, you can contact Karen Jones (knjones@ufl.edu).
Turlington Renovations and Clean-up
If you’ve been in and around Turlington, you’re well aware that it is still something of a disaster. We experienced HVAC renovation work one the course of the summer. Most of that work is completed, but construction of new homes for Jewish Studies and African-American studies are ongoing on the first floor. Construction is expected to continue through the end of December. We are also still cleaning up around our basement and first floor spaces.
The good news is that we are back in our main office on the first floor, and we are (mostly) at full speed. Special thanks to our office staff (Juanita Bagnall, Pam Freeman, Karen Jones, and Pat King) and all of the students who helped pack, move, move again, and clean up over the summer.
Be aware that we’re not quite out of the woods yet: Turlington will be shut down over Labor Day Weekend. Beginning Friday evening on Aug. 30, Turlington will close while a work crew installs a new power supply. There will be no power to the building, and no one will be allowed access until Tuesday morning, September 3. I would advise unplugging any electronics you have in the building, just to be safe. I would also advise doing something like enjoying the long weekend.
FASA Updates
The Florida Anthropological Student Association (FASA) is a graduate anthropology club that sponsors a number of social, fundraising and educational events throughout the year. Annual social events include both Potlatch and the Armadillo Roast, in addition to numerous other events. FASA provides opportunities for students to meet other anthropology students and faculty members in social settings. Consider becoming involved! FASA will hold elections for the 2019-2020 officers, so graduate students should be on the lookout for a link to nominations, followed by a link for voting. Any member of the graduate program in good standing may stand for election to FASA! Interested? Want to know more? Contact current President Hannah Toombs (toombshannah@ufl.edu) for more information.
John Krigbaum Receives Grant to Improve Access to 3D Computing
Congratulations to Dr. John Krigbaum, who collaborated with colleagues across UF (in CLAS, Smathers, FMNH, Medicine, and Education) and was awarded funding for the proposal “Expanding Capacity for 3D Data Analysis.” Advances in Computed Tomography (CT) provide critical opportunities to improve educational innovation at UF for students, faculty and staff. CT is a technique that produces high fidelity volumetric representations of living or inanimate objects, allowing enormous amounts of external and internal information to be recovered in three dimensions. Advances in 3D digitization coupled with new analytical techniques are rapidly transforming science and education. 3D innovations in technology have huge potential for fostering research initiatives and developing lifelong skills that will have an immediate impact on the student experience at UF and beyond.
The grant will fund the installation three 3D workstations with the high-end volumetric analysis software suite VG StudioMax (www.volumegraphics.com) in the George A. Smathers Libraries to maximize accessibility and foster innovation and collaboration. These Workstations will provide novel and public environments for students to engage in using and learning 3D technology and develop research projects to garner extramural funding. The Marston Science Library 3D lab also has facilities designed to provide learners the opportunity to create virtual reality applications, analyze large research datasets, or develop collaborative projects. This is terrific news, and congratulations to Dr. Krigbaum for making it happen.
Jobs in Anthropology
Emory University’s Department of Anthropology is hiring three biological anthropologists. This cluster will include two positions at the Assistant Professor level and one at the Associate Professor level. Our program is highly regarded with robust undergraduate and graduate programs and the new hires will be expected to contribute to each. The department also values innovative and rigorous research and houses excellent resources including ancient and modern DNA labs, the Laboratory for Comparative Human Biology, the Laboratory for Darwinian Neuroscience, and the Paleolithic Technology Laboratory.
Those interested can apply at https://apply.interfolio.com/66080. Applications will be accepted through November 1, 2019.
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona is hiring a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in Biological Anthropology. The faculty member will teach undergraduate classes in biological anthropology, such as introduction to biological anthropology, human evolution and variation, primatology, health systems, and forensic anthropology. Research will be in a medicine/health field, with strong focus on disparities, and/or human rights, and/or environmental health. The successful candidate will demonstrate an interest in involving undergraduates in research and/or field activity, an ability to work in an interdisciplinary environment, enthusiasm for a hands-on, learn-by-doing approach to education, and teacher/scholarship. Applicants whose work demonstrates a commitment to inclusive excellence and diversity in higher education are particularly encouraged to apply. For a full description of the position and application portal, please go to the following link. http://apply.interfolio.com/66886
AAA Membership Awards
Are you an archaeology student who plans on presenting at the 2019 AAA/CASCA Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada? If so, please apply for one or more of the Archaeology Division’s student awards.
All students who are presenting in Vancouver are eligible to apply for the free AAA Membership Award. We have 20 to give away (value $75-$135)! Please click here for more details: http://ad.americananthro.org/awards/#Student_Membership
Our other award is the Diversity Student Travel Grant, which is open to student presenters who are from historically under-represented groups. We have 4 of these travel grants to give away (value of up to $600)! Please click here for more details: ad.americananthro.org/awards/#Student_Diversity Please note that this application is more involved and requires a letter of reference.
Both student award applications are due on September 15, 2019 and all winners will be recognized at the Archaeology Division’s Business Meeting in Vancouver.
That’s all for now. If you have an item for the scrapbook, let me know and we’ll add to the next edition. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.
Peter Collings
Associate Professor and Chair
Jessie Ball duPont-Magid Term Professor
Department of Anthropology
University of Florida