News and Events

Highlighted here are newsworthy items, colloquia, lectures and events that are of special relevance and interest to anthropology.

Please see the menu to the side for regular department seminars open to the public, the department newsletter, posters on display, and other events links. All events have been posted to the Anthropology Calendar. To access and download the public calendar please click here

Speakeasy Fridays - Winter 2012

Sponsored by the Diversity Committee

January 27 - Diversity and Inclusion in Teaching

The 50-minute workshop will cover topics such as microaggressions, privilege, and unexamined bias. Our goals are 1) to raise awareness of language and text in our teaching that may (unintentionally) alienate students and colleagues; and 2) provide tools and resources to help us make our classrooms and syllabi sensitive to diversity issues and reflect inclusivity.

February 24 - Hardwork and Grit

Dissertation Defenses - Winter 2012

Elda Miriam Aldasaro Maya, a PhD student in Environmental Anthropology, will be defending her dissertation on TBD

Yu Huang, a PhD student in Sociocultural Anthropology, will be defending her dissertation on TBD

Hsun-Hui Tseng, a PhD student in Sociocultural Anthropology, will be defending her dissertation on TBD

Winter 2012 Dissertation Colloquia

Michele Statz, Sociocultural Anthropology Graduate Student
February 2 at 1pm in Thomson 403
"Limited Relief: Rights and Culture in the Legal Contact Zones of Unaccompanied Fujianese Child Migration"

Rochelle Fonoti, Sociocultural Anthropology PHC
February 21 at 3pm in Denny 401
"Mapping Fa'asamoa: The Life Histories of Samoan Students at South Seattle Community College"

Erik Gjesfjeld, Archaeology PHC
March 9 at 3:30pm in Denny 401
"Reconstructing Social Networks in Uncertain Environments using Archaeological Pottery"

To request disability accommodations, contact the Disability Services Office Coordinator at least ten days in advance of the event: 543-6450 (voice); dso@u.washington.edu

Alaska Anthropological Association Meetings

"Northern People and Landscapes in Times of Change"

39th Annual Meeting
Alaska Anthropological Association
February 29 – March 3, 2012
Hotel Deca, University District
Seattle, WA

Sensitivity to change has always been a hallmark of Northern communities. The anthropological/ archaeological/historical record gives witness to tremendous endurance, creativity, and resilience in the face of climate, ecological, and social change. This record also provides insights into the limits of resilience, wrenching conflicts and profound tragedies from broad to very local and personal scales. For the 2012 annual meeting, we encourage symposia and individual presentations focusing on the ever more pressing need to understand the human dimensions of changing landscapes. Welcoming the eclectic mix of presentations that makes every aaa annual meeting fresh and engaging, we look especially for contributions that seek to draw lessons for the future from research into the peoples and cultures of past and present.

Sponsored by the University of Washington Department of Anthropology
and the Burke Museum of Natural and Cultural History with the Burke Archaeology Department

Registration and submission can be made from the association website click here

Online Registration Begins December 15, 2011!

Contact Ben Fitzhugh if you have any questions about this meeting.

Dissertation Defenses - Autumn 2011

Barbara Grub, a PhD student in Environmental Anthropology, will be defending her dissertation on Wednesday December 14th, at 3pm in Denny Hall, M-32, entitled: Culture, Ecology and Livestock Development in Two Nuosu Yi Villages in Liangshan, China

Autumn 2011 Dissertation Colloquia

Raul Garcia, Sociocultural Anthropology PhC
November 22 at 11am in Denny 401
"From the Fields to the Corners: Day Workers in the Pacific Northwest"

Lisbeth Louderback, Archaeology PhC
December 9 at 3:30 in Denny 401
"The Ecology of Diet Breadth, Grinding Stones, and Small Seeds in the Basin-Plateau Region, USA"

To request disability accommodations, contact the Disability Services Office Coordinator at least ten days in advance of the event: 543-6450 (voice); dso@u.washington.edu

In the News

Graduate Student, David Giles and his dissertation research are profiled in the November 4, 2011 issue of the Seattle Time

To read the article in the Seattle Times click here.
To read the article in the Seattle PI click here

Natural and Cultural History of the Kuril Archipelago

Kuril Biocomplexity Project Synthesis Conference and Workshop

Interested parties are invited to attend a conference/workshop on the Natural and Cultural History of the Kuril Archipelago in the Northwest Pacific Ocean. Scientific results will be presented on the integrated history of Volcanism, Tectonics (Earthquakes, Tsunamis), Oceanography, Climate, Ecology, and Human Settlement based on a half decade of international and interdisciplinary research coordinated by the University of Washington (CSDE, QRC, Anthropology, ESS) in collaboration with academic and scientific institutions of Russia and Japan.

Please see the attached flyer for program information.

Depth of Field - Anthropology Through the Lens

Open House Reception

Location: Odegaard Library, Room 220
Date: October 28, 2011
From: 5:00-7:00pm

Click here for further details

Depth of Field - Anthropology Through the Lens

A student photo exhibit sponsored by the UW Anthropology Diversity Committee

Depth of Field : (1) the range of object distances within a photograph that are imaged with acceptable sharpness; (2) the relative experience of fieldwork.

TTL : [Through the Lens] (1) metering system that measures light or exposure through the taking lens of a camera; (2) manner of observation: perspective.


How do we see? How do we observe the world around us? Anyone who has picked up a camera knows that looking through a lens necessarily changes the way we appreciate the scene before it. What do we foreground, and what do we let fall into the distance? This exhibit showcases the visual work of UW Anthropology students and images from their field research from all over the world. Comprised mostly of images taken by graduate students, we hope this collection will open your eyes not only to the variety of human cultures but also to the many ways we can study them. We invite you to take a moment, and see the world through someone else’s lens.

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011—DECEMBER 18, 2011
Odegaard Library, 1st Floor, West Photo Cases (behind circulation)

Click here for further details

In the News

Professor Devon Peña is interviewed in Cascadia Weekly"Last Ditch Effort: Building a productive commons of land, water and food."

To read the article in Cascadia Weekly click here.

In the News

Professor Donald K. Grayson has been elected to the the National Academy of Sciences. To read the article in UW Today click here.

Anthropology Graduation Ceremony, 2011

We are overjoyed to annouce the class of 2011, and congratulate them all to a successful future.

The Anthropology Department Graduation Ceremony was held on Sunday, June 12th, 2011. To see photos from the event, please become a fan of UW Anthropology on facebook:

Click here to become a fan and see photos from the 2011 graduation ceremony

UW Anthropology Annual Outreach Event

"A Taste of Spring"

The UW Department of Anthropology & the UW Farm invite you to a reception and dinner featuring guest speaker Molly Wizenberg, UW Anthropology alumna and author.

Click here for further details - Tickets are required

Thursday May 26, 2011
Center for Urban Horticulture
6:00 - 9:00pm

In the News

Ben Fitzhugh's work in the Kuril Biocomplexity Project is discussed in the article "Foggy, volcanic Kuril Islands illuminate limits of where humans can live (with slideshow), appearing in UW Today. To read the article, click here.

In the News

Continued coverage of the Maury Island dig, a collaborative effort of King County, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians and the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle. King County archaeologist and former graduate student Tom Minichillo discusses the project.

Click here to read about it in the Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber.

In the News

Former graduate student and current King County archaeologist Tom Minichillo, and current graduate student Jacob Deppen, where both quoted in the Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber. They discuss their recent work on a collaborative project with the Puyallup Tribe, King County, and the Burke Museum.

Click here to read about it in the Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber.

In the News

Congratulations to Profs. Stevan Harrell and Ben Marwick - and Grad Students Amy Jordan and Lauren Rhodes for receiving ACLS grants and fellowships.

Click here to read about it in UWeek.

In the News

A&S Perspectives covers the work of the UW Farm where Ann Anagnost and Devon Peña have been devoting some of their time.

Click here to read the article.

In the News

Professor Emeritus James Nason is talked about in the A&S Perspectives article "Tribal Museum Program Launches with UW Involvement."

Click here to read the article.