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Department of Anthropology News

Recent News

Dan Mains

Professor Dan Mains new book will be formally published next month through the University of Nebraska Press.

September 15, 2025

Professor Dan Mains new book Nourishing Growth and Suffocating Life: Water, Politics, and Infrastructure in Urban Oklahoma through the University of Nebraska Press will be formally published next month.

Profile of OU’s Archaeological Field School and Research at Spiro

October 06, 2025

OU’s Sooner Magazine profiled the work of Patrick Livingood (Associate Professor, Department Chair), Amanda Regnier (Oklahoma Archeological Survey), and Scott Hammerstedt (Oklahoma Archeological Survey) at Sprio.

JT Lewis, left. Sharn Lambert, right.

Southeastern Archaeology Conference Honors the Great Work of OU Graduate Students and Graduates

November 10, 2025

At the Southeastern Archaeological Conference (SEAC) on November 7, 2025 the great work of current and former University of Oklahoma graduate students was recognized. Bobi Deere, JT Lewis, and Sharn Lambert.


More Recent News

March 28, 2025

Professor Paul Spicer selected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Paul Spicer, who also serves as co-director of the Center for Applied Social Research, is one of 471 scientists and engineers recognized for outstanding scientific and societal contributions across 24 disciplines. He is the only recipient from Oklahoma this year, and one of just 10 Fellows this year in the Section on Societal Impacts of Science and Engineering.



January 21, 2025

Dr. Brian Kemp Co-Publishes a Study in Science Advances.

Former Anthropology undergraduate Ryan Frome and faculty member Dr. Brian M. Kemp co-published a study about ancient relations between canids (dogs, foxes, wolves, coyotes) and some of the earliest human inhabitants of North America/Beringia in Science Advances.


October 14, 2024

Jobs in Anthropology Talk: October 22.

The Anthropology Graduate Student Association (AGSA) would like to invite students to their first event in our Anthropology Job Talk series. One of the objectives of the series is to acquaint students with career paths outside academia.


October 07, 2024

Dan Mains and Amanda Minks Join the Anthropology Faculty.

On Monday, the Anthropology Department welcomes two new faculty members, Dan Mains and Amanda Minks. They are both sociocultural anthropologists and Full Professors. Moving forward, their teaching and service responsibility will be split between Honors and Anthropology. We are excited to have them join the Department!


September 23, 2024

Anthropology Alumni, Evan Feeley, Wins Two Awards

Evan Feeley (Class of 2021, Accelerated BA in Anthropology and MA in Sociocultural Anthropology) works for Cherokee Nation and was recently the recipient of two awards.


September 16, 2024

Join us for "Fresh from the Field+ 2024: OU Archaeologists Share Their Stuff."

On Friday September 20, 2024 from 4-5 pm in Dale Tower 906, archaeologists from across campus will present short talks on their recently completed fieldwork. All are invited to attend.


September 06, 2024

Kim Marshall, Alongside a Team of OU Faculty, Recently Awarded a Large Grant.

Kim Marshall (Anthropology) is co-principal investigator with a team of OU faculty that was recently awarded a $500,000 grant from the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities to establish the nation’s first Center for Creativity and Authenticity in AI Cultural Production.


September 04, 2024

Dr. Sarah Trabert and Dr. Brandi Bethke Published an Article in American Antiquity.

Brandi Bethke (Oklahoma Archeological Survey), Sarah Trabert (Anthropology), and Gary McAdams (Wichita and Affiliated Tribes) recently published an article in American Antiquity on the methods they used to document a 20th century Wichita camp and dance ground.


August 01, 2024

Dr. Courtney Hofman Co-Authors Article

Dr. Courtney Hofman has co-authored an invited perspective in the journal Science that discusses recent research advancements in the field of ancient pathogens with a focus on ethical concerns. Through this perspective, Hofman hopes to encourage others in the field to take note and advocate for the ethical collection and use of data. For more information, please visit the article spotlight on OU News!



Past News

November 03, 2023

Dr. Betty Harris Publishes Review Essay

Betty Harris, along with Ed Sankowski, published a review essay in the journal International Dialogue of Slavoj Žižek’s book Enjoyment and Ideology Surplus-Enjoyment: A Guide for the Non-Perplexed. Dr. Harris and Dr. Sankowski have been writing about the work of Slavoj Žižek, a very innovative philosopher and social critic, and developing further ideas prompted, in part by encounters with his work.


October 27, 2023

Dr. Elyse Singer Receives Two Awards

Dr. Elyse Singer received two recent awards for her recent book Lawful Sins: Abortion Rights and Reproductive Governance in Mexico.


October 17, 2023

Kaylee Tatum and Lilly Parker's Research Featured

Kaylee Tatum (OU '23) and NSF Postdoctoral Fellow Lilly Parker's visit to Unalaksa Island this summer was featured on Aleutian Island Radio and in Newsweek. Learn more about their research through the University of Oklahoma's Research YouTube video.


September 29, 2023

Bonnie Pitblado and OU Students Publish Article in Advances in Archaeological Practice

Bonnie Pitblado along with current and former students Delaney Cooley, Bobi Deere, Meghan Dudley, Allison McLeod, Kaylyn Moore, and Horvey Palacios published an article entitled “The Oklahoma Public Archaeology Network (OKPAN): Leveraging University Resources to Serve Historically Excluded Communities” in the journal Advances in Archaeological Practice.



September 29, 2023

Dr. Misha Klein Coauthors Chapter in Jews Across the Americas

Misha Klein coauthored a piece, "Protest and the End of Community Consensus," (together with historian Michel Gherman from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and using my photos) that has just been published as part of an edited volume, Jews Across the Americas (NYU Press).


August 25, 2023

Dr. Elyse Singer Awarded Two-year Senior Research Award from National Science Foundation

Elyse Singer was awarded a two-year Senior Research Award from the National Science Foundation ($238,000) for a project titled "Bioethical Frameworks Informing Medical Decision-Making around Palliative Care."


August 25, 2023

Dr. Matthew Pailes and Current and Former OU Graduate Students Publish Article

Matt Pailes and current and former OU graduate students Andrew Krug, Jaron Davidson, Dakota Larrick, Justin Lund, and Delaney Cooley had an article published in Latin American Antiquity this summer entitled "Spatial and Temporal Limits of the Casas Grandes Tradition: A View from the Fronteras Valley."


August 25, 2023

Dr. Claire Nicholas Awarded Grant from the USDA

Claire Nicholas recently received a $17,761.00 grant from the USDA to support interview-based research on perceptions and experiences of rural life in the Great Plains, and decisions to stay, leave, or return to rural communities.