Department News and Events
- Transnational Discourses of Islamic Community Conference
- Faculty News
- Distinguished Lecturers
- Community Speaking Series
- Center for Asian Studies Speaker Series
- Alumni Newsletter
- Commencement
- 50th Anniversary Celebration
For more details about any event contact: anthro@colorado.edu.
Transnational Discourses of Islamic Community Conference
The Transnational Discourses of Islamic Community Conference, October 24, 2008, will critically analyze the content and appeal of the notion of a global Islamic community of faith through an explicitly comparative and interdisciplinary approach. Through scholarship situated in a diverse mix of national, cultural and historical settings, this conference will analyze the allure of the concept of a global Islamic community at the margins of and outside of the Middle East. The project includes faculty from multiple disciplines on the University of Colorado campus and a selection of esteemed outside scholars.
The conference is organized by Ruth Mas and Carla Jones, and is funded by an Innovative Seed Grant from the University of Colorado, and by the Center for Asian Studies. The conference will be held from 9:00-5:30 in the British Studies Room (M549) in Norlin Library.
Faculty News
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Russ McGoodwin was a participant at the symposium, "Coping with Global Change in Marine Social-Ecological Systems," which was held in Rome, Italy, July 8 - 11, 2008. The symposium's primary sponsors were Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics (GLOBEC), Eur-Oceans, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO/UN). The registered participants included more than 218 scientists and academics from more than 51 countries. Russ presented a paper titled "Building Adaptive Capacity in Fisheries Impacted by Global Change," and was also an invited member of the symposium's Distinguished Closing Panel.
- The Vice Chancellor for Research and Provost announced the award winners for the Second Annual Innovative Seed Grant Program (IGP). Anthropologists walked away with 40% of the awards, with winning proposals by Darna Dufour, Steve Lekson, Michelle Sauther, and Payson Sheets. The awards provide up to $50,000 for research, scholarship, and creative works to UC-Boulder faculty that involve new initiatives and take investigators in creative, and sometimes high-risk/reward directions; and have tangible payoffs in terms of future funding, scholarly or artistic impact, and development of news collaborations. See the IGP website for complete details.
- Dennis McGilvray has recently published Crucible of Conflict: Tamil and Muslim Society on the East Coast of Sri Lanka (Duke University Press 2008). The book, which is based upon his fieldwork in Sri Lanka since 1969, analyzes the matrilineal social structure and ethnic identities of Tamil-speaking Hindus and Muslims in a strategic region of the island. Combining ethnographic and historical perspectives, the book concludes with an epilogue entitled "Fieldnotes from the War Zone" tracing the impact of the violence on traditional elements of Tamil and Muslim social life. A reviewer calls it "one of the most important books on Sri Lanka to be published in decades."
- The National Science Foundation devoted a page to Matt Sponheimer's work on their reality check website, Archaeology from Reel to Real. Learn more about Sponheimer's work with strontium isotope analysis, where "X" Never, Ever Marks the Spot". With NSF funding, Dr. Sponheimer and an international team of scientists from England, Germany, South Africa, and the United States have developed and applied new techniques to study the way ancient hominins moved across ancient landscapes. This knowledge is critical for testing a variety of hypotheses about human evolution.
- Donna Goldstein is the Principal Investigator on a new (2007-2010) National Science Foundation grant titled, "Global, National and Local Articulations: The Case of Pharmaceutical Policies in Argentina and Mexico". The research project is both collaborative and interdisciplinary and is exploring questions of intellectual property, regulation, and human rights as they affect access to HIV/AIDS drugs in Latin America.
- Michelle Sauther and Matt Sponheimer have received an Innovative Grant Program (IGP) grant for their project "Using Biogeochemistry to Assess Human-Induced Ecological Disequilibrium in Madagascar".
- Payson Sheets received an NSF grant for his January-March field season at the Cerén site in El Salvador, to excavate the magnificently preserved manioc fields. He was also awarded an Innovative Research Grant from the Graduate School for his planned research there in early 2009.
- Payson Sheets has been named a College Professor of Distinction by the College of Arts and Sciences. The honorific title "College Professor of Distinction" is reserved for scholars and artists of national and international distinction who are also recognized by their College peers as teachers and colleagues of exceptional talent. Sheets joins an elite group of 12 professors named for this title since it was instituted in 2005. Information regarding the title and the selection process.
- Art Joyce, as part of a collaborative team from the Rochester Institute of Technology, has been awarded a research grant from NASA: Hyper-spectral and Multi-spectral Satellite Imagery and the Ecology of State Formation and Complex Societies. This grant will be used for remote sensing studies that will enhance Art's field research.
- Bert Covert has been awarded a Faculty Fellowship for the 2008/2009 academic year for a project titled, "Conservation and Ecology of the Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey." He has also been awarded a National Science Foundation Grant for 2008.
- Russ McGoodwin was an invited participant at the 4th Global Forum Conference on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands, April 7-11, 2008, held in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Global Forum is the leading forum for high level policy dialogue on ocean issues. The conference brought together 430 ocean and coastal leaders from around the world representing 71 countries, from all sectors including governments, intergoverenmental and international organizations, NGO's, the business community, and scientific institutions. Invited to join the Fisheries and Aquaculture Working Group of the Global Forum last Fall, Russ authored a policy brief for the conference titled "Climate Change and Fisheries,” which was one among only nine policy briefs that were distributed to conference participants.
- Doug Bamforth's edited volume, The Allen Site: A Paleoindian Camp in Southwestern Nebraska, is fresh off the University of New Mexico Press. The Allen Site in southwestern Nebraska has nurtured the interest of archaeologists and paleontologists with abundant signs of a long history of human, animal, and environmental activity. Doug "...focuses primarily on Paleoindian land use represented by the Allen Site and the adjacent smaller sites collectively known as the Medicine Creek Paleoindian sites."
Distinguished Lecturers Series
Please see Distinguished Lecturers for more information on our speaker series.
Community Speaking Series - Graduate Student Speakers
The goal of the Community Speaking Series is to facilitate interactions between the Anthropology Department and local communities. For more information, contact Jamie Dubendorf at james.dubendorf@colorado.edu.
Center for Asian Studies' Speaker Series
Email Carole McGranahan for more information regarding CAS events.
- Catch up on our yearly round up of department news! See Newsletters for more.
The Anthropology Department will hold its Spring recognition ceremony in CHEM 140 immediately following the University Graduation which is on Friday, May 9, 2008 at 8:30 AM in Folsom Stadium. For full details on the University Graduation please go to www.colorado.edu/commencement. There are campus maps on the CU homepage at www.colorado.edu/visit.
- The Anthropology recognition ceremony:
- No RSVP required. Friends and family are all welcome.
- Caps and gowns are encouraged.
If you have any other questions, feel free to call the Department office at 303-492-2547.
50th Anniversary Celebration: Sept 8 - 9, 2006.
- The celebration was a huge success! View Photos

