Department of Anthropology

The first annual Anthropology Research Conference will be held on the afternoon of Friday, March 27.

Graduate and undergraduate students in all fields of anthropology are invited to submit proposals for presentations to be included in the conference by March 1, 2020.

Presentations should be 15 minutes long (they will be timed) and may include PowerPoint slides.

Cash prizes will be awarded in both graduate and undergraduate categories as follows:

Graduate Research

• First Prize | $100
• Second Prize | $50

Undergraduate Research

• First Prize | $100
• Second Prize | $50

To enter your research in the conference, please submit the Anthropology Research Conference Form.

Congratulations to Todd, Ashley and Nick who won the Diversity Field School Award from the Gender and Minority Affairs Committee (Society for Historical Archaeology) for their NSF funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates field school in the Caribbean on the island of St. Eustatius. This award recognizes field schools offering “archaeological practices that foster diversity in research objectives, perspectives, and participation.” The Gender and Minority Affairs Committee “recognizes that diversity is multi-dimensional and thus ‘inclusive of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, abilities, and socio-economic background.’”

Their field school offers a wide range of research opportunities and topics for the students in archaeology, bioarchaeology, and geophysics. Todd, Ashley and Nick strive to include students from a variety of backgrounds. From their field school nomination form: “Between June 2018 and December 2019, 20 undergraduate and 3 graduate students have participated in the field school. Within our goal of providing research opportunities for women and racial and ethnic minorities, 65% of the undergraduate students identified as racial and ethnic minorities, 80% were women, half were first generation college students, and roughly 40% of the students started their studies at a community college. Five undergraduate students would be considered “non-traditional” in that they did not immediately attend college after graduating high school.”

Dr. Kate Spradley Featured on Texas Public Radio | The Dead in the Desert

A two part series from Texas Public Radio featuring Dr. Kate Spradley and Ph.D. students from the new Applied Anthropology program conducting exhumations in the Sacred Heart Cemetery in Falfurrias, Texas.

• The Dead In The Desert: Unknown Burials And Operation I.D.
• The Dead In The Desert: Christian's Journey Home

Treated Like Trash: the project trying to identify the bodies of migrants

The Guardian features Dr. Kate Spradley and undergraduate and graduate students from Texas State University Department of Anthropology as they exhume unidentified human remains in La Grulla, Texas, near the border.

Human Remains Exhumed at La Grulla Cemetery to be Identified through DNA Samples

KRGV reports on Texas State faculty and students conducting exhumations at La Grulla Cemetery near the South Texas/Mexico border.

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