News

Anthropologist: Primates face deepening threat of extinction
2018-08-09 - According to a new study published this month by Paul Garber and colleagues in PeerJ, while wild primates occur in 90 countries, 65 percent of wild primate species live in just four countries—Brazil, Madagascar, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Out of these species, 60 percent...
Highlighting Illinois researchers in clinical and translational neuroscience with unique approaches to improving neurological function and brain health
2018-07-23 - Dr. John Polk’s research focuses on human locomotor biomechanics, with particular interest in relating locomotor behavior to brain size and development and skeletal morphology in humans, nonhuman primates and other mammalian model organisms. His work contributes to a better...
Study: Two ancient populations that diverged in the Americas later reconverged Finding by anthropologist challenges previous research
2018-06-12 - A new genetic study of ancient individuals in the Americas and their contemporary descendants finds that two populations that diverged from one another 18,000 to 15,000 years ago remained apart for millennia before mixing again. This historic “reconvergence” occurred before or during their...
Faculty member publishes Op Ed on National News
2018-05-13 - On April 20, 2018 Professor of Anthropology Jane Desmond, a specialist in human-animal relations, published an Op Ed on CNN.com highlighting the dangers of the Opioid epidemic for police dogs and new initiatives in law and medicine to help dogs who might be at risk. You can find...
Statement from the Department of Anthropology
2018-04-09 - UIUC Anth. Dept Statement: The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), as passed in 1990, requires museums and other institutions to follow a process developed for transferring culturally affiliated human remains and associated funerary...
Professor Kathryn Clancy discusses sexual harassment and misconduct in the sciences.
2018-03-07 - Kathryn Clancy, professor of anthropology, has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives in a hearing devoted to sexual harassment and misconduct in the sciences. The ...
News-Gazette highlights CS + Anthro Students
2018-02-22 - "Both anthropology and computer science majors are problem-solvers by nature, said UIUC's Anthropology Professor Jessica Greenberg, director of undergraduate studies. They bring different skills to analyze fundamental challenges such as: What makes us human? How can technology improve social...
Faculty Stands in Solidarity with GEO and Graduate Students
2018-02-10 - The faculty of the Department of Anthropology stands in solidarity with GEO and with our graduate students. Our graduate students are a vital part of the research, teaching and community service missions of this institution. As instructors they inspire, engage and support our undergraduate...
"Ancient American goddesses on display"
2018-02-02 - TIMOTHY PAUKETAT | Anthropology Professor, Associate Director of Research, Illinois State Archaeological Survey CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new exhibit at the U. of I.’s Spurlock Museum offers a glimpse of the artistic and spiritual legacy of the American Indian people...
The man who found Lucy Donald Johanson wins the 2017 College of LAS Alumni Achievement Award for major discoveries on human origins
2017-10-26 - Johanson (BA, '66, anthropology) spotted the fragment of an elbow sticking from the ground, and he immediately recognized that it came from a human skeleton. A careful dig followed, and Johanson and his team wound up uncovering 40 percent of a...
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) Statement
2017-10-05 - We the undersigned faculty members of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign condemn the Trump Administration's recent decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). We recognize that this decision is likely to...
Congratulations to Dr. Petra Jelinek and Alexandra J. Zachwieja (PhD Candidate|Biological Anthropology) who successfully organized and instructed students at this year's 4H Academy in Anthropology during the last week of June.
2017-07-21 - Allie says "We really had a great group of 15 students: 9-12th graders from across Illinois. I really tried to give the students hands on experience in 4 field anthropology. We worked with forces of evolution, dog domestication, genetics, human paleontology, tool use, forensic scene...
Anthropology Doctoral Student Nicole Cox wins the Graduate Student Paper Prize at 2017 Central States Anthropological Society Meetings
2017-07-14 - Nicole Cox wins the Graduate Student Paper Prize at 2017 Central States Anthropological Society Meetings for her paper "Troubling Tradition: Questions of Authority, Costume and Embodiment in Kathak"
Dr. David W. Plath, Emeritus, Department of Anthropology. New documentary film So Long Asleep; waking the ghosts of a war
2017-07-06 - Dr. David W. Plath, Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign new documentary film So Long Asleep; waking the ghosts of a war has been selected for screening in October during the annual ...
New book by Professors Virginia Dominguez and Jane Desmond published by the University of Illinois Press.
2017-06-27 - Read more about this book at the University of Illinois Press page for this book. Chapters include: Part I. Whose "America"? Whose "Anti-Americanism"? 1. Internationalizing African American Studies...