Tags: Franklin College of Arts and Sciences

Theologically Engaged Anthropology
Theologically-engaged anthropology aims to answer big questions

Today’s current sociopolitical changes, much like other periods of time in our history, is a landscape worthy of collaboration between anthropologists and theologists, he said. "Traditionally, anthropologists have focused on the continuity of religious cultural change. Humans value order and predictability, and often behavior that is not in keeping with what is culturally expected is branded as deviant and punished,” said Lemons. “However, this…

photo of woman in lab
Suzanne Pilaar Birch: TrowelBlazer

The new issue of Research Magazine, full of great stories about Franklin College faculty, features a refreshed story we have highlighted in the past: archeologist Suzanne Pilaar Birch on the intersection of pregancy and fieldwork In March 2017, Suzanne Pilaar Birch turned to Twitter for help. The archaeologist and UGA assistant professor was considering an invitation to go on a dig in Cyprus, an offer that seemed irresistible—except that…

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Archeologists use remote sensing to map the history of Parris Island

After discovering the location of an elusive Spanish fort on present-day Parris Island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, archaeologists are working to map the surrounding area to paint a picture of what life was like during various occupations of Santa Elena, the once capital of Spanish La Florida. In 2016, University of South Carolina archaeologist Chester DePratter and Victor Thompson, an archaeologist from the University of Georgia,…

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World Anthropology Day, Feb 15

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UGA to partner in new humanities grant for archeological study

An international research team that includes assistant professor of anthropology and geography Suzanne Pilaar Birch has been awarded Arts and Humanities Research Council UK funding for their four-year project on Radical Death and Early State Formation in the Ancient Near East.  Using new evidence from the Early Bronze Age graves of Başur Höyük, on the Upper Tigris, the project will examine how ritual killing was implicated in…

deserted beach with driftwood
The allure of archeology's mysteries

This attitude was prevalent when Thomas began his archeological research on St. Catherines Island in 1974. Thomas' visit and Signature Lecture was designed to commemorate the transfer of a major trove of artifacts to the UGA Laboratory of Archeology recovered by Thomas and his team on St. Catherines Island. This collection itself and what it implies about Georgia's past underscores this truism shared by Thomas:  "It's not what you find,"…

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Kudos, October 2017

New research projects, diversity certificates and a musical premiere highlight accomplishments of faculty, students and staff during October. A sample: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) awarded more than $9 million in grants to explore gaps in knowledge about antibiotic resistance and pilot innovative solutions in the healthcare, veterinary, and agriculture industries. Professor of plant biology and Franklin College associate dean Michelle…

map of great lakes region
Iroquois: Population Dispersal and Signaling Networks

inquiry for decades. Social network analysis presented here indicates that sites from Jefferson County, New York at the head of the St. Lawrence River controlled flow within regional signaling networks during the fifteenth century A.D. The simulated removal of this group of sites from the networks results in greater network fragmentation. Centrality measures indicate that Jefferson County sites acted as bridges between New York and Ontario…

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Anthropology professor helps Hollywood get 'Apes' right

A rare story combining social science scholarship and the entertainment industry brings anthropology professor Roberta Salmi to the movies: Recordings of gorilla sounds are extremely rare, so sounds used in the entertainment industry are generally not obtained from actual gorillas. In films, they are usually portrayed as screaming, aggressive beasts, when they are actually the opposite. For this summer's blockbuster "War for the Planet of the…

students working on archeological excavation
Archeology Field School Program

Student-focused research in the Archeology Field School summer program provides an opportunity for hands-on learning in surveying, mapping, documentation and excavation methods in an active archeological recovery environment in southwest Georgia. For the last five years, assistant professor of anthropology Jennifer Birch and PhD candidate Stefan Brannan have co-directed the Singer-Moye Archaeological Settlement History Project (SMASH) at Singer-…

pregnant woman with trowel
Travelling (and pregnant) with trowel

Great feature on anthropology professor Suzanne Pilaar Birch in The Guardian: This bunch of smiling, pregnant scientists, evidently glowing as much from the sheer exertion of hard work as from hormones was a surprising spectacle on Twitter. It was around the time tennis champion Serena Williams announced she was having a baby and the internet was buzzing with the news that she’d won the Australian Open while pregnant – without dropping a set. We…

students standing near ancient burial site
Interdisciplinary Field Program - exploring our cultural diversity

The UGA Honors Summer Interdisciplinary Field Program (IFP) operated out of the department of geology is now in its 29th year. This summer’s group of 19 students come from a broad array of majors including geology, anthropology, ecology, engineering, as well as the arts and business. They are experiencing the challenges of outdoor living in temperatures that range from freezing to 115° and seeing more cultural diversity than many study abroad…

students with professor at ancient tomb opening
UGA Classics in Rome

UGA Classics in Rome is currently underway under the direction of Professors Elena Bianchelli and Chris Gregg, a Mellon Professor of Classical Archaeology. Participants and professors live in a small family-run, centrally located hotel in Rome and in their six-week stay they become intimately connected with the city and the Italian life style. Classes are held every morning right in front of the monuments and they focus on the archaeology, the…

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Major collection moves to Laboratory of Archeology

St. Catherines Island, located along the Georgia coast, is a culturally and ecologically unique barrier island that contains diverse evidence of human occupation that spans more than 4,000 years. It is home to the most completely excavated Spanish mission in the Southeast; archaeological work on the island has been taking place for more than 42 years. The extensive archaeological collection that includes artifacts and other…

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TrowelBlazers - Raising Horizons

An international collaboration dedicated to outreach activities aimed at encouraging participation of women and underrepresented groups in archaeological, geological, and palaeontological science, Trowelblazers has convened and participated in panels discussing women in science at the Royal Society and the London Feminist Conference, and a wide variety of events and activities including the Cambridge Science Festival, Skeptics in…

ancient hand-drawn map in color
Noted and Quoted, September 2016

Research and expertise of Franklin faculty members mentioned widely in the media in September (plus a few notable examples from August): University researchers discover remains of 16th century Spanish fort associate professor of anthropology Victor Thompson mentioned in multiple outlets – R&B, Beaufort Gazette, The Atlantic, Kokomo Tribune, ABH, Ancient Origins HyperSolar names chemistry professor John Stickney as scientific advisor –…

young woman with mountain
Remembering Ashley Block

Anthropology graduate student Ashley Block, the victim of a tragic accident earlier this week, was a conservationist, athlete and one of our best: Thursday morning, more than 200 people filled the church’s Common Room at Emmanuel, where Block became a treasured member of the church community as soon as she arrived in Athens as a University of Georgia graduate student two years ago. She was a Eucharistic minister for the church, licensed by…

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Noted and Quoted, summer 2016

Expert voices and new research had Franklin faculty featured in the media on a range of subjects from climate change to the 'love hormone' to the discovery of a Spanish fort on the South Carolina coast. A sampling (only through July!): Just a few more bites: Defining moderation varies by individual, study finds (Michelle vanDellen, psychology) – ScienceDaily You can't lose weight with moderate eating – Times of India Study reveals that eating "…

two people in a field
Archeologists find 16th-century fort San Marcos

A team of archaeologists led by University of South Carolina's Chester DePratter and UGA's Victor Thompson has located the remains of a Spanish fort erected in 1577 in the Spanish town of Santa Elena, on present-day Parris Island, S.C. For decades, attempts to find it have failed, and Fort San Marcos stayed hidden until new technology brought it to light: San Marcos is one of five Spanish forts built sequentially at Santa Elena over its 21-…

man next to sea view
Four UGA students offered Boren Scholarships

• Rebekah Worick, a junior from Dahlonega, majoring in international affairs in the School of Public and International Affairs. "The exceptional students I work with raise the level and broaden the scope of dialogue surrounding national security issues," said Elizabeth Hughes Sears, Boren Awards campus representative and student affairs professional in the Honors Program. "In their demonstrated commitment to using critical language skills…

students outdoors on a dig
Baldwin Hall expansion becomes anthropology project

The Baldwin Hall expansion construction site has garnered new attention over the last few months. The department of anthopology faculty and students will now curate and study the remains that have been recovered: Work to locate and exhume remains from gravesites at the site has been underway since the first remains were inadvertently discovered on Nov. 17, 2015. Baldwin Hall is adjacent to the Old Athens Cemetery, which UGA has been working…

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Noted and Quoted, November 2015

In new stories about history, art, climate, psychology and the environment, Franklin faculty provided key insights in media from around the world. A sample from the past month: Examining Hurricane Patricia. Marshall Shepherd, professor of atmospheric sciences, was asked if the storm’s media coverage was over-hyped. “Are you kidding me? How can you over-hype a record-shattering hurricane, packing EF-5 tornado winds, and approaching a major…

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Saving Cultural Heritage in Iraq and Syria

A timely archeology lecture on Monday Nov. 16 at 4:30 p.m. in the GMOA: experience a talk straight from current headlines: As the Cradle Crumbles: Islamic State, the destruction of archaeological sites, and saving cultural heritage in Iraq and Syria. The lecturer, archaeologist Tina Greenfield, has worked in archaeological sites in Iraqi Kurdistan, among other Near Eastern sites, researching the earliest empires of the ancient world. She was…

four male students with trophies
Franklin College Kudos

The Georgia Debate Union won the recent intercollegiate tournament at Vanderbilt University - details on that, along with a few other honors and accomplishments from the month of October: Two teams representing the Georgia Debate Union, which organizes and fields competitive policy debate teams at the University of Georgia, emerged victorious at the 2015 Vanderbilt intercollegiate debate tournament held in Nashville, Tennessee. The tournament…


Alumna among 'Underground Astronauts' to Homo naledi cave

The startling discovery in a South African cave announced this week was the result of some very dangerous, underground work. The derring-do - discovery of Homo naledi, a close ancestor of humans - came courtesy of a fossil excavation team that included UGA anthropology alumna Hannah Morris: Spelunking in a dark, labyrinthine cave is a tough ask at the best of times. Add fossil excavation through an 18-centimetre wide gap into the…
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