Life, death, and the Amazonian litter layer Asmall farm in the Andean-Amazonian foothills. Image: Kristina Lyons. Life, death, and the Amazonian litter layer Kristina Lyons’ new book explores the Colombian world of litter layers, seeds, and soils; Amazonian farmers, narcos, and the War on Drugs
Alex Chen’s lessons from Ebola Alex Chen’s lessons from Ebola Alex Chen, a doctoral candidate in anthropology, studies emerging disease preparedness, and how air and airflow is the most powerful tool against disease.
‘Disease knows no borders’ ‘Disease knows no borders’ From the history of science to medical anthropology, governance, and economics, Penn experts look at the history of global health from different perspectives to see what the future may hold.
Naskapi connections: Restorative research in the Penn Museum collection Penn anthropologist Margaret Bruchac, left, speaking with visitors from the Naskapi Nation in Canada about the Penn Museum’s collection of more than 400 objects from their community acquired in the 1930s by Frank Speck, a founder of Penn’s Anthropology Department. Naskapi connections: Restorative research in the Penn Museum collection A blog post about a child’s hunting jacket made of caribou hide caught the attention of a high school students in the Naskapi Nation in Quebec. A group visited the Penn Museum to view artifacts made by their ancestors.
The curious case of ancient bear bones at a Mississippi dig site Megan Kassabaum is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology in the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania and the Weingarten Assistant Curator for North America at the Penn Museum. The curious case of ancient bear bones at a Mississippi dig site Penn and UNC Chapel Hill researchers theorize that the considerable black bear remains indicate an animal that was a food source and considered close kin to the people who lived there 1,300 years ago.
Nourishing the brain with conversations about food Penn archaeologist Megan Kassabaum (left) and biocultural anthropologist Morgan Hoke organized the series on food taking place at the Penn Museum on Mondays. During the fall semester, academics from nine institutions spoke on a range of topics, from food as life sustaining to how pizza and sushi gained their prominence. Spring semester, the talks have turned inward, focusing on the research happening across the University. Nourishing the brain with conversations about food A yearlong colloquium from Penn Anthropology offers a steady diet of research perspectives, delving into how this facet of culture affects modern health and practices, and broadens our historical outlook.
Battling longer, more intense fire seasons Q&A Battling longer, more intense fire seasons In a Q&A, doctoral student Clare Super describes her research into wildland firefighting, the impact on firefighters, U.S. policy around wildfires, and parallels to what’s happening in Australia.
An Inca ceremonial center, recreated in a digital landscape An Inca ceremonial center, recreated in a digital landscape Students use computer graphic technologies to bring historic sites to life as part of a summer research program and fall semester course that unites anthropology and computer science.