Events
Upcoming Events
45th MMAE Conference
Spring 2024 Guest Speakers in Anthropology
Mark your calendars for the following speakers this semester.
- Friday, March 22, 12:30 (virtual): Carol Sufrin, Punished with Pregnancy: Abortion Denials in U.S. Prisons and the Reproductive Violence of Mass Incarceration
- Wednesday, March 27 (time TBA): Christopher Loperena, The Ends of Paradise: Race, Extraction, and the Struggle for Black Life in Honduras
- Friday, April 19, 12:30: Zachary DuBois, Challenging the Gender/Sex Binary: Embodied Inequalities and Transgender Health
Past Events:
Friday, February 2, at 12:30 pm Dr. Amira Mittermaier will be joining us virtually. Ninety-Nine: A Kaleidoscopic Portrait of Allah.
Spring 2023 Guest Speakers in Anthroplogy
Friday, April 7, 2023 Elizabeth A. Nelson, Postdoctoral Research Associate at Institut Pasteur in Paris, France, will present her lecutre, "Contextualizing Pathogen Evoluction of a Persistent Pandemic: Reconstructing Tuberculosis Evolutionary History in the Americas"
Friday, March 10, 2023 @ 12:10p Dr. Angela Garcia, Associoate Professor of Anthropology at Stanford University will deliver talk "The Hole: An Ethnographic Descent into Mexico City's Anexos" via Zoom.
Friday, March 3, 2023 @ 12:30p Dr. Naveeda Khan, Associate Professor of Anthroplogy at Johns Hopkins University will deliver the book talk "River Life & the Upspring of Nature" in Buttrick 102.
Friday, February 17, 2023 @ 12:10p Dr. Kisha Supernant, Director of the Institute of Prairie and Indiginous Archaeolgy will host a Zoom Lecture on "From Extraction to Restoration: Heart-centered Archaeology for Reclamation and Restorative Justice"
Fall 2021 Guest Speakers in Anthropology
Friday, Sept. 17, at 12:30pm. Dr. Deborah Thomas, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania. Talk title “Archives, Multimodality, and Decolonizing Anthropology.” Virtual Lecture Click Here for Zoom Link .
Wednesday, Sept. 29. Dr. Jason de Leon, Dept. of Anthropology, UCLA. Public reception at Sarratt Gallery 5:15-6:00pm. Talk 6:00-7:00pm. Talk title TBD. Co-sponsored with CLACX, Sarratt Gallery, and the Border of Citizens Group.
Friday, Oct. 22, at 12:30pm: Dr. Robin Nelson, Dept. Of Human Evolution & Social Change, Arizona State University. Talk title "Care in Crises: Evolutionary Studies of the Family and Community & Reflections on our Ongoing Syndemics."
Friday, Nov. 5, at 12:30pm: Dr. Christine Lee, Dept. of Anthropology, Cal State Los Angeles. Talk title "Trade and Trauma along the Silk Road, the evidence from the western frontier of China and Mongolia (700 BC-420 AD)"
Virtual Forum: Formative Interactions in the Central Andes , scheduled for Tuesday, November 9 th from 9am ET/8am CT to 5pm ET/4pm CT.
Michelle Young (Vanderbilt University, Department of Anthropology) and Justin Jennings (Royal Ontario Museum, Department of Art and Culture) invite you to attend a virtual forum on Formative Interactions in the Central Andes .
View Flyer: tinyurl.com/2mf2p2u7
View event schedule: tinyurl.com/2tfd24x8
Register in advance to receive access to the prerecorded lectures:
Forum Abstract:
During the first millennium BCE, a series of ceremonial centers arose throughout the Central Andes. Both local and global in nature, these centers contributed to widespread social, cultural, and economic patterns that would shape future developments of this region. On the local level, the religious experiences offered by these sacred sites encouraged a sense of community for the surrounding populations and provided a platform for emergent local leaders. In addition to serving a local populace, these sites were nonetheless also internationally orientated, drawing in foreign visitors, sharing far-flung ideologies, and participating in long-distance exchange networks. Through their role as pilgrimage destinations, ceremonial centers periodically united adherents from near and far in shared ritual practices. As such, they also served as important loci of social encounters, intellectual exchange, technological innovation, and nodes in complex and far-reaching trade networks.
Early archaeological understandings of the Formative period (also known as the Initial Period and Early Horizon) focused on type-sites, such as Chavín de Huántar or Chiripa. These were traditionally conceptualized as “mother cultures” of the Central Andes, with lesser sites understood as outposts of a centralized religious empire or cult. More recent research suggests that these centers were politically autonomous but interdependent, forming a network that was buoyed by complex, shifting webs of relationships that remain poorly understood. To better understand these sites and their relationships to one another, this seminar brings together scholars working at Formative ceremonial centers across the Central Andes. By highlighting new research and prioritizing extended discussion, the seminar seeks to explore the roles played by these centers and the connections between them.
Forum Format:
The forum will be held virtually as a Zoom Webinar and will be bilingual; presentations, comments and questions can be offered in Spanish or English, depending on the preference of each participant. The goal of the event is to host a sustained conversation about the current state and future directions of research in the study of Formative period (also known as the Late Initial Period and Early Horizon) in the Central Andes. We therefore emphasize discussion, while using a pre-recorded presentation on recent research to begin the conversation. The forum will consist of four round table sessions organized by region: Northern, Central, South-Central, and Far South, and one final discussion session with all participants. For each round table, a Presenter will have offered a prerecorded lecture 30-45 minutes in length, detailing new data that have resulted from their recent investigations, and the round table discussions will use these presentations as a point of departure for an engaging conversation. The forum will be open to the public to view and submit questions through the Question and Answer function. Participants and attendees will be able to access these prerecorded lectures in the week preceding the live virtual event.
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Michelle Young (Universidad de Vanderbilt, Departamento de Antropología) y Justin Jenning s (Museo Real de Ontario, Departamento de Arte y Cultura) lo invitan a asistir a un foro virtual sobre Interacciones Formativas en los Andes Centrales , programado para el martes 9 de noviembre de 9 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. CT hasta las 5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. CT.
Ver folleto: tinyurl.com/2mf2p2u7
Resumen del foro:
Durante el primer milenio aC, surgió una serie de centros ceremoniales a lo largo de los Andes centrales. Tanto local como global, estos centros contribuyeron a patrones sociales, culturales y económicos generalizados que darían forma a los desarrollos futuros de esta zona. A nivel local, las experiencias religiosas ofrecidas por estos sitios sagrados fomentaron un sentido de comunidad para las poblaciones circundantes y proporcionaron una plataforma para los líderes locales emergentes. Además de servir a la población local, estos sitios también tenían una orientación internacional: atraían visitantes extranjeros, compartían ideologías lejanas y participaban en redes de intercambio a larga distancia. A través de su papel como destinos de peregrinaje, los centros ceremoniales unieron periódicamente a los adherentes de cerca y desde lejos en prácticas rituales compartidas. Como tales, también sirvieron como lugares importantes de encuentros sociales, intercambio intelectual, innovación tecnológica y nodos en redes de intercambio complejas y de largo alcance.
Los primeros conocimientos arqueológicos del período Formativo (también conocido como Período Inicial y Horizonte Temprano) se centraron en sitios tipo, como Chavín de Huántar o Chiripa. Estos fueron conceptualizados tradicionalmente como "culturas madre" de los Andes Centrales, con sitios menores entendidos como puestos de avanzada de un imperio o culto religioso centralizado. Investigaciones más recientes sugieren que estos centros eran políticamente autónomos pero interdependientes, formando una red impulsada por redes complejas y cambiantes de relaciones que aún no se comprenden bien. Para comprender mejor estos sitios y sus relaciones entre sí, este seminario reúne académicos que trabajan en centros ceremoniales formativos en los Andes centrales. Al destacar las nuevas investigaciones y priorizar la discusión extendida, el seminario busca explorar los roles que tuvieron estos centros y las conexiones entre ellos.
Formato del foro:
El foro se llevará a cabo virtualmente como un Webinar Zoom y será bilingüe; las presentaciones, comentarios y preguntas se pueden ofrecer en castellano o en inglés, según la preferencia de cada participante. El objetivo del evento es albergar una conversación sostenida sobre el estado actual y las direcciones futuras de la investigación del Período Formativo (también conocido como Período Inicial Tardío y Horizonte Temprano) en los Andes Centrales. Por lo tanto, enfatizamos la discusión, mientras usamos una presentación pregrabada sobre investigaciones recientes para comenzar la conversación. El foro constará de cuatro sesiones de mesa redonda organizadas por región: norte, central, sur-central y extremo sur, y una sesión final de discusión con todos los participantes. Para cada mesa redonda, un(a) presentador(a) habrá ofrecido una ponencia pregrabada de 30 a 45 minutos de duración, detallando los nuevos datos que han resultado de sus investigaciones recientes, y las discusiones de la mesa redonda utilizarán estas presentaciones como punto de partida para generar una conversación. El foro estará abierto al público para ver y enviar preguntas a través de la función de preguntas y respuestas. Los participantes y asistentes podrán acceder a estas conferencias pregrabadas en la semana anterior al evento virtual en vivo.
Hostile Terrain 94
A Participatory Art Installation Project Examining the Humanitarian Crisis at the US/Mexico Border
September 7 – October 1, 2021 · Sarratt Gallery, Vanderbilt University · Nashville, TN
Click Here for more information: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/sarrattgallery/hostile-terrain
The Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Fair
An opportunity for undergraduates to share their work in a campus-wide celebration of undergraduate student research. The fair is sponsored by the Office of Immersion Resources.
Click here for more information.
Anthropology Undergraduate Students presenting:
Joshua Woods | 4:30 - 5:30pm
Presentation Title: "Heart Health in the Heartland: The Sociocultural Salience of Genetics and Family History."
Alyssa Bolster | 5:30 - 6:30pm
Presentation Title: "A Transition from Tradition: Employing TA3 and Traditional Age & Sex Estimation Methods to Study Paleodemography in Umm an-Nar Arabia."