spotlight
Professor Norbert Ross named Fulbright U.S. Scholar award recipient
Aug. 31, 2026—Professor Norbert Ross was named a Fulbright U.S. Scholar award recipient. Professor Ross will be spending a year in Xalapa, Veracruz teaching all-women collectives improv theater. Read more about his research, prior Fulbright experience, and what he aims to accomplish with his second Fulbright award here!
Vanderbilt Anthropology Faculty Report Featured in ‘Nashville Scene’ Cover Story
Aug. 25, 2026—The Scene, a newspaper covering local news, politics, arts, music, and food featured a cover story that highlights a report written by several Anthropology faculty. The report titled, “Beyond Temperature: A Cultural Contexts Approach to Heat and Health” was published by Vanderbilt Cultural Contexts of Health Initiative, and authored by Edward Fischer, Ashley Carse, Tatiana...
Tiffany Fracchia has been working to account for the more than 70,000 missing soldiers from World War II
Jan. 7, 2026—Tiffany Fracchia has been working to account for the more than 70,000 missing soldiers from World War II—and with the help of her students, they successfully identified a soldier who had been missing in action since 1944. Read more.
Ari Caramanica featured in ‘The Conversation’ on Peru’s irrigation, agriculture, and archaeology
Apr. 16, 2025—Ari Caramanica, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, highlights the importance of culture and Indigenous knowledge in Peru’s irrigation and agricultural systems. Read more in her feature in The Conversation here.
Psychologist, philosopher, and anthropologist discuss love’s biggest questions | Agree/Disagree
Feb. 19, 2025—Check out Prof. Kim McKinson in Psychologist, philosopher, and anthropologist discuss love’s biggest questions | Agree/Disagree!
Monica Keith awarded Gibbs Leadership Prize for Best Manuscript of 2024 in ‘Women’s Health Issues’
Feb. 10, 2025—Monica Keith, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, was awarded the Charles E. Gibbs Leadership Prize for the Best Paper published in Women’s Health Issues in 2024. Her paper titled “Social Determinant Pathways to Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy Among Nulliparous U.S. Women,” was co-authored by Melanie Martin and recognized for its original research contributions that address critical...
Geophysical survey work by the Vanderbilt Institute for Spatial Research (VISR) locates cemetery of enslaved people at The Hermitage
Dec. 20, 2024—In the summer of 2023, the Vanderbilt Institute for Spatial Research (VISR), directed by Professor and Chair of Anthropology Steve Wernke, was approached by the Andrew Jackson Foundation to help with determining the location of a cemetery for enslaved individuals on property of The Hermitage. VISR has since assisted with georeferencing of historical maps to...
Tiffiny Tung named senior fellow for Harvard’s Dumbarton Oaks Pre-Columbian Studies Program
Nov. 15, 2024—Tiffiny Tung, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of Social and Natural Sciences, Professor of Anthropology and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, has been named a senior fellow in the Pre-Columbian Studies program at Harvard’s Dumbarton Oaks. The fellowship underscores Tung’s notable contributions to anthropology and Andean archaeology, recognizing her research as an anthropological bioarchaeologist who investigates...
Steve Wernke’s mapping project awarded NSF grant for the largest-ever archaeological survey
Sep. 20, 2024—Steve Wernke, Professor and Chair of Anthropology, has secured a $625K NSF grant with collaborators to map archaeological sites across the Andes Mountain Range and advance our understandings of Andean settlement systems and human-modified landscapes. Read more about it here.
Monica Keith’s work on health impacts of different childcare models published in Social Science & Medicine
Sep. 17, 2024—Monica Keith, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, co-authored a new publication in Social Science & Medicine exploring the health impacts of different childcare strategies among subsistence-based families in Bangladesh as working parents balance trade-offs between economic and childcare needs. Read more about it here.