Tag: anthropology


A&S in the News: July 9-15, 2017

Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program COLLEGE NEWS: July 9: Tuscaloosa News – July 9 Seventeen college students from a variety of academic programs participated in the summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program in chemistry at The University of Alabama in 2017. The program is funded by the National Science Foundation. The NSF has supported the REU program in the UA department of chemistry for 31 years, providing 371 students, mainly from primarily undergraduate institutions in the Southeast, a 10-week summer research […]

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A&S in the News: July 2-8, 2017

Saturday in the Park Saturday in the Park features river cane arrow-making: Tuscaloosa News – July 1 The University of Alabama’s Moundville Archaeological Park continued its Saturday in the Park programs this weekend with river cane arrow-making with Greg Drowningbear. Saturday in the Park is a series of demonstrations and presentations related to Native Americans, archaeology, natural history, sustainable gardening and more. Many of the topics directly relate to the recently renovated exhibits in the Jones Archaeological Museum or the archaeology, […]

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A&S in the News: June 18-24, 2017

Maya People Today Dispelling myths about ancient, modern Maya peoples: Publicnow.com – June 19 Think of the word ‘Maya’ and free associate.  Does Mel Gibson’s 2006 film ‘Apocalypto’ spring to mind?  Unless you’re a Mayanist, you’re likely to think of ancient peoples who had a taste for blood and writing skills that were ahead of their time. A new book edited by a UMUC faculty member tells a very different story.   “First, Maya people exist today.  And more than 6 […]

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An Unexpected Anniversary Surprise

Drs. Michael and Milady Murphy.

From the November 2016 Desktop News | “To surprise someone after 30 years of marriage is no small feat,” said Dr. Michael Murphy, an emeritus professor and former chair in UA’s Department of Anthropology. But on Oct. 8, Murphy revealed a months-in-the-making anniversary surprise to his wife Dr. Milady Murphy, the Wellness Center director and division chair of health and wellness at Shelton State Community College. According to Milady, the couple had already exchanged gifts the evening of their anniversary when Michael […]

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UA Professor Links Mothers’ Mental Health to Infant Growth

From the January 2016 Desktop News | In Mwanza, Tanzania, where nutritional deprivation runs rampant, Dr. Jason DeCaro, an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology, recently discovered that when families don’t have a reliable source for food, their babies don’t thrive as well. But surprisingly it’s not all about the food.  “Household food insecurity is about more than just nutrition,” DeCaro said. “When you can’t reliably feed yourself and your family, it erodes mental, social, and physical health even […]

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College Establishes New Academic Minors

From the April 2015 Desktop News | Two interdisciplinary minors focused on burgeoning academic fields have been created and can be pursued by students beginning in fall 2015. The first, cybercrime, will combine classes on the technical aspects of thwarting cyber attacks and processing digital forensic evidence with classes on understanding criminal motivations. The second, Latin American, Caribbean and Latino studies, will allow students to explore the social, cultural, linguistic, political, economic and biological diversity of nations that make up […]

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Campfires Help Lower Blood Pressure

From the December 2014 edition of Desktop News | A University of Alabama anthropologist has found that, consistent with anecdotal reports, hearths and campfires can lower blood pressure and likely played important roles in the evolution of the human social brain. Christopher Lynn, an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology, conducted a three-year lab-based study on the subject. In an article published in Evolutionary Psychology, Lynn discussed preliminary results from the study, in which he isolated the sensory aspects […]

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Student explores Louisiana salt trade with archeological dig

You’d think that spending the summer at the site of Louisiana’s oldest French settlement would be nothing short of grand. But Paul Eubanks, a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology, tells a different story. Eubanks’s six-week stay in Natchitoches involved daily ventures into the swamps of northwestern Louisiana and ample amounts of digging as he conducted research for his dissertation, which will focus on the history of salt production in the area. Though he describes Natchitoches as a town […]

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Researchers Collaborate with Head Start

Can what you teach preschool students have lasting effects on them and on their family’s health and well-being? That’s what a group of University of Alabama researchers, in collaboration with Community Service Programs of West Alabama, hopes to determine. With a $2.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, the researchers have the potential to impact national policy on early childhood education. Their study will involve implementing a new curriculum and […]

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Anthropologist Awarded Fulbright Grant

From the June 2014 Desktop News | A UA researcher will spend the next year examining the resurgence of interest in Jewish culture in Poland with the goal of understanding the space Jews fill in Polish history. Dr. Marysia Galbraith, associate professor in New College and the Department of Anthropology, will spend the 2014-2015 school year teaching and conducting research in Poland as a Fulbright scholar. The grant supports nine months of research and teaching in Poland, though Galbraith will remain in […]

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