Department of Anthropology
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Faculty Research
People often cannot believe how encompassing a field anthropology is, and how much it matters to very current issues. That is, until they read about some of the current research being done by our faculty members. Below we offer a few highlights, however all faculty members are conducting research; details available in each faculty member's profile.
Visual culture and the environment
Luis Vivanco's new area of research involves research on how the media, zoos, and other public institutions help shape popular understanding of environmental issues. Studying the cultural and political aspects of "saving nature" is not new to Vivanco, whose scholarship has focused on it for some time, mostly in Costa Rica and Mexico. Read more about his education, courses taught, and publications.
Health and nutrition, diversity, identity, colonization and migration in the ancient Tiwanaku society of the Andes
Deborah Blom's recent pursuits in mesoamerica have led to publications and conference papers on human sacrifice, mortuary ritual, population movement, health and diet, social complexity, trade, and human body modification as a means of expressing identity. Blom specializes in archaeology and biological anthropology. Learn more about Blom's research and find links to her C.V. and personal website.
Advancing research on street children of India
"As a viewer, Jonah Steinberg, assistant professor in anthropology, enjoyed the 2008 Academy Award-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire." As a scholar, whose research focuses on the cultural and social aspects of India's street children, he took issue with the romanticization of the children's lives and the public's perception of their daily existence.
Steinberg's motivation isn't necessarily to debunk the movie's portrayal of street children in India, but rather to advance research in an area that has produced surprisingly little academic literature. A $233,654 grant from the National Science Foundation, pending final approval, will allow Steinberg, who has also conducted research in South Asia on the sociocultural aspects of globalization, to focus on street children who have run away from their rural village homes to New Delhi." This article continued on UVM Today.
Last modified September 08 2009 02:57 PM