Anthropology

Illustration of a historic maritime harbor.

Research connecting the land and the sea

Ph.D. candidate Chelsea Cohen, a historical and maritime archaeologist in Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences, combines terrestrial and underwater methods in her research of historical port cities, agroforestry, and maritime culture.

From The McNeil Center for Early American Studies ・

An image of people picking through a dump with a handful of skyscrapers along the horizon

The anthropology of plastics in India

Doctoral candidate Adwaita Banerjee uses ethnographic research to document the ecological transition of the Deonar dumping ground, where thousands of Dalits and Muslim migrants mine the area for plastic that can be resold and recycled.

Kristina García ・

Lorraine Ruppert wears virtual reality headset.

Making virtual worlds

In a class this spring, Jeffrey Vadala of the Penn Brain Science Center taught students to analyze virtual reality landscapes and create their own.

Erica Moser ・

Kathleen Morrison.

Kathleen Morrison on biodiversity and climate change

The faculty director of the Environmental Innovations Initiative, her research spans anthropology, archaeology, and paleoecology, involving the study of historic climates and environments, with a focus on South Asia.

From the Environmental Innovations Initiative ・



Media Contact


Louisa Shepard

Louisa Shepard Senior News Officer
lshepard@upenn.edu

In the News


Associated Press

Archaeologists discover 4,000-year-old canals used to fish by predecessors of ancient Maya

Jeremy Sabloff of the School of Arts & Sciences and Penn Museum says that ancient fish-trapping canals show continuity in Maya culture.

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Artnet News

Do these ancient seals unlock clues to the origins of writing?

Holly Pittman of the School of Arts & Sciences and Penn Museum helped contribute to a study arguing that ancient Sumerian seals used to brand products shaped the formation of cuneiform, humanity’s earliest known example of writing.

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The Conversation

Reconstructing heritage after war: what we learned from asking 1,600 Syrians about rebuilding Aleppo

In a co-authored survey of residents of the Syrian city of Aleppo, PIK Professor Lynn Meskell identifies four key themes for the reconstruction of heritage sites after conflict.

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BBC

From Ancient Egypt to Roman Britain, brewers are reviving beers from the past

Patrick McGovern of the School of Arts & Sciences and Penn Museum oversaw the first hi-tech molecular analysis of residues found in bronze drinking vessels during a 1950s excavation of an ancient Turkish tomb.

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Time

Why Indigenous artifacts should be returned to Indigenous communities

The Penn Museum is noted for creating its “Native American Voices: The People—Here and Now” exhibit with the help of tribal representatives.

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Associated Press

International Women’s Day is a celebration and call to action. Beware the flowers and candy

Kristen Ghodsee of the School of Arts & Sciences explores International Women’s Day as a tool for activism in Russian history.

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