Spring 2008
On March 24th, 2008, Dr. Cameron L. McNeil
was named the recipient of the 2008
Mary W. Klinger Book Award
for the publication she edited, entitled Chocolate in Mesoamerica: A Cultural History of Cacao,
published by University Press of Florida. The Klinger Book Award is among the highest honors awarded by
the Society for ECONOMIC BOTANY.
Dr. McNeil will be honored in Durham, North Carolina June 5th at the society's annual meeting.
Dr. Daniel F. Austin, Chair of the Awards Committee, said “Even for those of us who are addicted to chocolate, this book opens welcome new vistas. While many of us have worked in forests with wild Theobroma, and in areas of cultivation, most of us have a limited exposure to the cultural history of the plants. By bringing together distinct fields into one single resource, Dr. McNeil has done everyone a great service. The story of chocolate is as savory as the product!”
The Mary W. Klinger Book Award was established in 1996 and is annually awarded by the Society for an outstanding book publication. The Society for Economic Botany is the largest international scientific organization fostering and encouraging research and education on the past, present, and future uses of plants by people.
In April, several anthropology faculty members gave talks during the 77th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in Columbus, Ohio (April 9 - April 12, 2008):
Larissa Swedell, J. Saunders,
M. Pines, A. Schreier and B. Davis. - Alternative reproductive strategies in male
hamadryas baboons: leaders, followers, and solitary males.
Jennifer Muller - The frequency and etiology of rib fractures in the skeletal remains of Washington DC's African American poor
Sara Stinson - Factors
influencing relative sitting height at high altitude.
Nelson Ting - Extinction of critically endangered West African
colobus monkeys will lead to a major loss in molecular diversity.
During the 73rd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Vancouver (March 26 - March 30, 2008), several anthropology faculty members gave talks based on their current research:
Aaron Kendall—Material Culture and Viking Age Trade: Comparison of
Artifacts from Icelandic Farm Sites.
Cameron McNeil—The Fragrance of Elite Identity: Flowers in Maya
Temples and Tombs at Copan, Honduras.
Ekaterina Pechenkina and Xiaolin Ma — Trajectories of Health in Early
Farming Communities of East Asia.
Timothy Pugh —Elite Uses of Spanish Material Culture in Contact Period
Petén, Guatemala.
Joseph Ferraro, Tom Plummer, Briana Pobiner, Jim Oliver and Laura
Bishop—Late Pliocene zooarchaeology of Kanjera South, Kenya.
Kevin Birth gave a talk at Franklin and Marshall College on Feb 18th. The title of his talk is "The Meaningful Irregularity of Time." The event is sponsored by Anthropology, Music, and Africana Studies.
Kevin Birth also has a new article out in the The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute called "The Creation of Coevalness and the Danger of Homochronism."
On March 24th, 2008, Dr. Cameron L. McNeil
was named the recipient of the 2008
Mary W. Klinger Book Award
for the publication she edited, entitled Chocolate in Mesoamerica: A Cultural History of Cacao,
published by University Press of Florida. The Klinger Book Award is among the highest honors awarded by
the Society for ECONOMIC BOTANY.
Dr. McNeil will be honored in Durham, North Carolina June 5th at the society's annual meeting.Dr. Daniel F. Austin, Chair of the Awards Committee, said “Even for those of us who are addicted to chocolate, this book opens welcome new vistas. While many of us have worked in forests with wild Theobroma, and in areas of cultivation, most of us have a limited exposure to the cultural history of the plants. By bringing together distinct fields into one single resource, Dr. McNeil has done everyone a great service. The story of chocolate is as savory as the product!”
The Mary W. Klinger Book Award was established in 1996 and is annually awarded by the Society for an outstanding book publication. The Society for Economic Botany is the largest international scientific organization fostering and encouraging research and education on the past, present, and future uses of plants by people.
In April, several anthropology faculty members gave talks during the 77th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in Columbus, Ohio (April 9 - April 12, 2008):
During the 73rd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Vancouver (March 26 - March 30, 2008), several anthropology faculty members gave talks based on their current research:
Kevin Birth gave a talk at Franklin and Marshall College on Feb 18th. The title of his talk is "The Meaningful Irregularity of Time." The event is sponsored by Anthropology, Music, and Africana Studies.
Kevin Birth also has a new article out in the The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute called "The Creation of Coevalness and the Danger of Homochronism."
Fall 2007
Several Antthropology faculty members delivered oral presentations to the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association held between November 28 and December 2, 2007 in Washington DC. Dr. DeBoer delivered his talk on "ethnogenesis in the long and short run," to a symposium on Long-Term Patterns of Ethnogenesis in Indigenous Amazonia organized by Jonathan Hill and Alf Hornborg. Dr. McNei organized a symposium on Mesoamerican Relationships with Nature. Dr. Pugh gave a talk on his recent research in Guatemala to a symposium entitled "Bridging Identities: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Maya Ethnicity in Long Term Perspective" organized by Bethany Myers.
Dr. Kevin Birth's book
"Bacchanalian Sentiments: Musical Experiences and Political Counterpoints in Trinidad" is
forthcoming in January 2008 from Duke University Press. In this book Dr. Birth draws on fieldwork
he conducted in one of Trinidad’s ethnically diverse rural villages to explore the relationship between music and social and political consciousness on the island. He describes how Trinidadians use the affective power of music and the physiological experience of performance to express and work through issues related to identity, ethnicity, and politics. He looks at how the performers and audience members relate to different musical traditions. Turning explicitly to politics, Birth recounts how Trinidadians used music as a means of making sense of the attempted coup d’état in 1990 and the 1995 parliamentary election, which resulted in a tie between the two major political parties. Bacchanalian Sentiments is an innovative ethnographic analysis of the significance of music,
and particular musical forms, in the everyday lives of rural Trinidadians.
Dr. Kate Pechenkina has two chapters in the recently
releasededited volume Ancient Health:
Skeletal Indicators of Agricultural and Economic Intensification, edited by
Mark Nathan Cohen and Gillian M. M. Crane-Kramer. University Press of Florida. The two chapters are entitled
"Skeletal biology of the Central Peruvian Coast: consequences of changing population
density and progressive dependence on maize agriculture" PDF
and "Diet and health in the Neolithic of the Wei and Yellow River Basins, Northern China."
PDF
Consequences of Contact:
Language Ideologies and Sociocultural Transformations in Pacific Societies,
a volume edited by
Miki Makihara and Bambi B. Schieffelin has been released by Oxford University Press.
Several Antthropology faculty members delivered oral presentations to the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association held between November 28 and December 2, 2007 in Washington DC. Dr. DeBoer delivered his talk on "ethnogenesis in the long and short run," to a symposium on Long-Term Patterns of Ethnogenesis in Indigenous Amazonia organized by Jonathan Hill and Alf Hornborg. Dr. McNei organized a symposium on Mesoamerican Relationships with Nature. Dr. Pugh gave a talk on his recent research in Guatemala to a symposium entitled "Bridging Identities: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Maya Ethnicity in Long Term Perspective" organized by Bethany Myers.
Dr. Kevin Birth's book
"Bacchanalian Sentiments: Musical Experiences and Political Counterpoints in Trinidad" is
forthcoming in January 2008 from Duke University Press. In this book Dr. Birth draws on fieldwork
he conducted in one of Trinidad’s ethnically diverse rural villages to explore the relationship between music and social and political consciousness on the island. He describes how Trinidadians use the affective power of music and the physiological experience of performance to express and work through issues related to identity, ethnicity, and politics. He looks at how the performers and audience members relate to different musical traditions. Turning explicitly to politics, Birth recounts how Trinidadians used music as a means of making sense of the attempted coup d’état in 1990 and the 1995 parliamentary election, which resulted in a tie between the two major political parties. Bacchanalian Sentiments is an innovative ethnographic analysis of the significance of music,
and particular musical forms, in the everyday lives of rural Trinidadians.
Dr. Kate Pechenkina has two chapters in the recently
releasededited volume Ancient Health:
Skeletal Indicators of Agricultural and Economic Intensification, edited by
Mark Nathan Cohen and Gillian M. M. Crane-Kramer. University Press of Florida. The two chapters are entitled
"Skeletal biology of the Central Peruvian Coast: consequences of changing population
density and progressive dependence on maize agriculture" PDF
and "Diet and health in the Neolithic of the Wei and Yellow River Basins, Northern China."
PDFConsequences of Contact:
Language Ideologies and Sociocultural Transformations in Pacific Societies,
a volume edited by Miki Makihara and Bambi B. Schieffelin has been released by Oxford University Press.
Drawing on ethnographic and linguistic analyses, this edited volume examines situations of intertwined linguistic and cultural change unfolding in specific Pacific locations in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Its overarching concern is with the multiple ways that processes of historical change have shaped and been shaped by linguistic ideologiesreflexive sensibilities about languages and language useheld by Pacific peoples and other agents of change. The essays demonstrate that language and linguistic practices are linked to changing consciousness of self and community through notions of agency, morality, affect, authority, and authenticity.
Summer 2007
Mandana Limbert received ACLS (American Council of Learned Societies) fellowship for this year (2007-2008) for her project Oman, Zanzibar, and the Politics of Becoming Arab.
Larissa Swedell's 2006-2007 Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, was renewed through the end of 2007. She will continue to teach at UCT and conduct research on South African chacma baboons until her return to New York in January 2008.
Dr. Kevin Birth's paper, entitled "The Creation of Coevalness and the Danger of Homochronism," has been accepted for publication by the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute.
Several new faculty members have joined the Department of Anthropology starting Fall 2007:
Frances Forrest,
a Chancellor's Fellow at the Graduate Center's PhD
Program in Anthropology, will be teaching
Introduction to Human Evolution (ANTH102).
Her research focuses on paleoanthropology.
Beatriz Perez-Sweeney,
a recent graduate of Columbia University, will be offering
Introduction to Human Evolution (ANTH102).
Her doctoral dissertation focuses on the molecular systematics of Leontopithecus (a group of New World primates) and population genetics of L. chrysopygus.
Ellas Kalamida
,
a recent graduate of Rutgers University, will be offering Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (ANTH101).
She is a cultural anthropologist researching the symbolism of the revival of some old "rebetika" songs and their use for wedding parties.
May
On Monday, May 8th, 2006 the Queens College Department of Anthropology hosted the Annual Honors and Awards Ceremony to recognize our outstanding graduating Majors and Minors.
Student Awards for Department of Anthropology 2007 are:
Hortense Powdermaker Award:
Bracha Feit
Paul Mahler Memorial Award:
Simon Wong and Patricia Sherin
Lynn Ceci Archaeology Award:
Yocasta Peña-Brent
Faculty Award:
Bracha Feit and Raina Kulinski
Thesis Honors:
Yocasta Peña-Brent, Bracha Feit, José Vila
Most Promising Student Award:
Karina Ortega
Service Award:
Yocasta Peña-Brent
Honors:
Majors graduating with honors -
Bracha Feit, Meredith Ilchert, Simarpreet Kaur, Raina Kulinski, Tanya Moradi, Yocasta Peña-Brent, Patricia Sherin, Nicole Vega, Simon Wong, Jessie Yang, Martyna Zmijewska
Minors graduating with honors -
Sophie Antonopoulos, Linda Benzakarya, Kanwal Chaudhary, Melissa Chen, Joey Cohen, Lisa Ebe, Christie Lech, Olivia Olbrei, Markos Papadatos
April, 2007
On April 29, at the Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Warren DeBoer,
served as a discussant in a symposium organized by former Queens College faculty member John Blitz, entitled
"Neighborhood, Community, and Polity: Alternative Interpretations of Mississippian Societies."
On April 26, at the Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Tim Pugh
gave a talk discussing his recent research in Guatemala, entitled "The Archaeology of Contact and Colonialism in Peten, Guatemala."
Kate Pechenkina presented a talk on burial status and skeletal health at
the Middle Yangshao site of Xipo in Northern China.
Cameron McNeil gave a talk entitled "Lessons for the Present in Ancient Land-use Patterns."
On April 19,
Sam Byrd
gave a talk about his recent research, entitled "People Left Behind: Hidden Native Populations on the Gulf Coast,"
at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Anthropology of North America (SANA).
A paper by Dr. Kevin Birth, entitled "Time and the Biological Consequences of Globalization" has been published in the April issue of Current Anthropology. In this paper Professor Birth discusses temporal conflicts between locations on the globe, desynchronization of biological cycles, and lack of correspondence between those cycles and social life. The full text of this paper is available in CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY Volume 48, Number 2:215-236. PDF
March, 2007
On March 27, Tom Plummer and his collaborators, James Oliver, Colleen Delaney-Rivera, Fritz Hertel, Francis Forrest, and Jason Hodgson, presented a poster
entitled "Expanding the taxonomic range of omnivores and carnivores in feeding experiments and the application of actualistic tooth
mark data to zooarcheological analysis" to the Paleoanthropology Society 2007 Annual Meeting held at the Penn Museum at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
On March 31, Kate Pechenkina and her collaborator, Ma Xiaolin, presented a poster entitled
"Work or violence: Tramatic injuries during the Chinese Neolithic," to the orfganized symposium on Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Migration and Human Health in Ancient East Asia.
The symposium was held as a part of Seventy-Sixth Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.
On March 30, an anthropology major, Patty Sherin, presented a poster entitled "Radiography of the pubic symphysis: an alternative method for the age at death estimation of human skeletal remains." to the Seventy-Sixth Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.
On March 16, Professor Tim Pugh gave a guest lecture to
the Anthropology Department of the University at Albany, SUNY,
on his recent research in Maya Archaeology.
Professor
Warren DeBoer has a chapter entitled
"Salient representations of the American Past" in the recently
releasededited volume A Pre-Columbian World, edited by
Jeffrey Quilter and Mary Miller. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D. C.
On January 12, Professor Warren DeBoer
gave a talk to the Biannual Meeting of Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America (SALSA), at Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Two new Adjunct Faculty Members will be joining the Department of Anthropology starting Spring 2007:
Cameron McNeil, a recent CUNY graduate, currently conducts research at Copan, Honduras. She will be offering Ecology and Culture (ANTH 302).
Aaron Kendall, Ph. D. Candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center, will be offering Introduction to Archaeology (ANTH 103). His research interests include North Atlantic Archaeology, the Viking Age, and Medieval economies and trade.
Cameron McNeil, who will teach Ecology and Culture in Spring 2007,
recently published an edited volume called Chocolate in Mesoamerica: A Cultural History of Cacao.
This volume brings together scholars in the fields of archaeology, history, art history, linguistics, epigraphy, botany, chemistry, and
cultural anthropology to explore the domestication, preparation, representation, and significance of cacao in ancient and modern communities of the Americas,
with a concentration on its use in Mesoamerica.
From the botanical structure and chemical makeup of Theobroma cacao and methods of identifying it in the archaeological record, to the importance of cacao during the Classic period in Mesoamerica, to the impact of European arrival on the production and use of cacao, to contemporary uses in the Americas, this volume provides a richly informed account of the history and cultural significance of chocolate.
Dr. Timothy Pugh also has a chapter called Cacao, Gender, and the Northern Lacandon God House in this volume.
During the month of November, serving as a forensic linguist, faculty member Doreen Schmitt participated in preliminary investigations relating to allegations against a municipal official of "contract steering" (deliberate wording of an open bid civil contract in such a manner that only a particular company/contractor offers the product/service). Although she was unable to adequately substantiate a claim of "non-genericity" (i.e., specificity) of the linguistic terminology involved,
she did, however, uncover a possible "smoking gun" during the preparation of her report to the prosecutors. Schmitt alone requested and examined the original approved contract bid proposal document and noted that it differed significantly and critically from the alleged "true" copy on the contract in circulation--namely with regard to the subsequent insertion of the very linguistic terms at issue. This evidence strongly suggested that the defendant willfully and illicitly altered the approved original so as to steer the bidding process.
On November 18, Patty Sherin, an Anthropology major, received the
student prize for best poster presented to the
Biological Anthropology Section
during the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association in San Jose. Her poster was entitled
"Radiography of the pubic symphysis: aging human skeletal remains".
On November 16, Professor Murphy Halliburton gave a talk on his recent research to a session entitled "Resistant to Treatment: Drug-resistant
Disease as a Medical, Social, and
Public Health Problem" during the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association in San Jose.
During the last week of October Professor Warren DeBoer and Professor Jim Moore gave presentations to
Foundations of Archaeological Inquiry Conference on "Invisible Citizens: Slavery in Ancient Pre-State Societies" at Snowbird, Utah
On November 16, Patty Sherin,an Anthropology major, presented a poster entitled
"RADIOGRAPHY OF THE PUBIC SYMPHYSIS: AGING HUMAN SKELETAL REMAINS" to the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association in San Jose.
On October 28, Francisco Mesa and Grace Seo, anthropology majors, with Marc Tollis, a biology major, presented a
poster entitled
"Evaluation of two sampling methods to assess
vegetation in an Acacia-Scrub Savannah" at the
Metropolitan Association of College and University Biologists conference 8.
Markos Papadatos, anthropology manor, has recently published two articles in The Knight News. His articles are entitled
"
Justice: For the Individual or the Immigrant?" and "
"Little Children," Big Movie."
Lauren Talerman,an Anthropology majorwone
Boren Undergraduate Scholarship to study Arabic in Egypt this past summer. Read about Lauren Talerman in
Queens College Faculty and Staff News.
During the first week of October, Patty Sherin,an Anthropology major, was visiting the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.
She obtained radiographs of more than 100 os coxae belonging to modern human skeletons from the Robert J.
Terry Anatomical Skeletal Collection while at the museum. This collection consists of the skeletons of individuals with a known age at death
and a record of their medical history, allowing a controlled study of age related changes in the pubic symphysis.
A paper by Markos Papadatos, an Anthropology minor, entitled "Queens College Wins Cisco Award" has been published in The Knight News.
Read the paper.
Doreen Schmitt provided expert testimony as a forensic linguist which contributed to a favorable settlement for
the plaintiffs in an age discrimination civil lawsuit . This positive outcome of the case resulted even despite a prior finding of
"no reasonable cause" by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against the plaintiffs.
Mandana Limbert received ACLS (American Council of Learned Societies) fellowship for this year (2007-2008) for her project Oman, Zanzibar, and the Politics of Becoming Arab.
Larissa Swedell's 2006-2007 Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, was renewed through the end of 2007. She will continue to teach at UCT and conduct research on South African chacma baboons until her return to New York in January 2008.
Dr. Kevin Birth's paper, entitled "The Creation of Coevalness and the Danger of Homochronism," has been accepted for publication by the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute.
Several new faculty members have joined the Department of Anthropology starting Fall 2007:
Her doctoral dissertation focuses on the molecular systematics of Leontopithecus (a group of New World primates) and population genetics of L. chrysopygus.
On Monday, May 8th, 2006 the Queens College Department of Anthropology hosted the Annual Honors and Awards Ceremony to recognize our outstanding graduating Majors and Minors.
Student Awards for Department of Anthropology 2007 are:
Hortense Powdermaker Award:
Bracha Feit
Paul Mahler Memorial Award:
Simon Wong and Patricia Sherin
Lynn Ceci Archaeology Award:
Yocasta Peña-Brent
Faculty Award:
Bracha Feit and Raina Kulinski
Thesis Honors:
Yocasta Peña-Brent, Bracha Feit, José Vila
Most Promising Student Award:
Karina Ortega
Service Award:
Yocasta Peña-Brent
Honors:
Majors graduating with honors -
Bracha Feit, Meredith Ilchert, Simarpreet Kaur, Raina Kulinski, Tanya Moradi, Yocasta Peña-Brent, Patricia Sherin, Nicole Vega, Simon Wong, Jessie Yang, Martyna Zmijewska
Minors graduating with honors -
Sophie Antonopoulos, Linda Benzakarya, Kanwal Chaudhary, Melissa Chen, Joey Cohen, Lisa Ebe, Christie Lech, Olivia Olbrei, Markos Papadatos
April, 2007
A paper by Dr. Kevin Birth, entitled "Time and the Biological Consequences of Globalization" has been published in the April issue of Current Anthropology. In this paper Professor Birth discusses temporal conflicts between locations on the globe, desynchronization of biological cycles, and lack of correspondence between those cycles and social life. The full text of this paper is available in CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY Volume 48, Number 2:215-236. PDF
March, 2007
"Salient representations of the American Past" in the recently
releasededited volume A Pre-Columbian World, edited by
Jeffrey Quilter and Mary Miller. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D. C.
Cameron McNeil, a recent CUNY graduate, currently conducts research at Copan, Honduras. She will be offering Ecology and Culture (ANTH 302).
Aaron Kendall, Ph. D. Candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center, will be offering Introduction to Archaeology (ANTH 103). His research interests include North Atlantic Archaeology, the Viking Age, and Medieval economies and trade.
Cameron McNeil, who will teach Ecology and Culture in Spring 2007,
recently published an edited volume called Chocolate in Mesoamerica: A Cultural History of Cacao.
This volume brings together scholars in the fields of archaeology, history, art history, linguistics, epigraphy, botany, chemistry, and
cultural anthropology to explore the domestication, preparation, representation, and significance of cacao in ancient and modern communities of the Americas,
with a concentration on its use in Mesoamerica. From the botanical structure and chemical makeup of Theobroma cacao and methods of identifying it in the archaeological record, to the importance of cacao during the Classic period in Mesoamerica, to the impact of European arrival on the production and use of cacao, to contemporary uses in the Americas, this volume provides a richly informed account of the history and cultural significance of chocolate.
Dr. Timothy Pugh also has a chapter called Cacao, Gender, and the Northern Lacandon God House in this volume.
This summer, two Anthropology majors, Grace Seo and Francisco Mesa,
attended a 