Anthropology awards and achievements: Winter/spring 2022

Wayne State's Department of Anthropology celebrates student and faculty awards, publications and other accomplishments during the winter and spring 2022 semesters.

Student awards

Dr. Newman presents Gavin Baltes
with the Grosscup Award.
  • Gavin Baltes (undergrad major): Gordon L. Grosscup Award for outstanding student achievement.
  • John Cardinal (M.A. student): C.S. Demeter Memorial Scholarship for research in historical archaeology.
  • Casey Carter (M.A. student): First annual Carter Award for outstanding contributions to baking for departmental Seminars.
  • Caitlin Cassady (Ph.D. candidate): WSU Graduate School's Summer Dissertation Fellowship.
  • Michael Drasher (Ph.D./M.D. student): WSU Graduate School's three-minute Thesis Competition and Bolger and Rottenberg Award in engaged and community-based anthropology.
  • Mariah McClendon-Smith (M.A. student): Barbara E. Aswad Award.
  • Virginia Nastase (M.A. student): Michigan Historic Preservation Network's annual student scholarship.
  • Kimberly Shay (Ph.D. candidate): WSU Graduate School's Summer Dissertation Fellowship.
  • Patience Williams (M.A. student): A. Hugley Award from the Grosscup Museum of Anthropology.
  • Anastasia Woody (M.A. student): M.M. Dion Award in archaeology.
M.A. student Virginia Nastase (right) received the
Michigan Historic Preservation Network
student scholarship. Pictured here with
Julia DiLaura (M.A. student) and Allison Delaney ('19).

Faculty awards

Dr. Chrisomalis receives the WSU Board of Governors Award from President M. Roy Wilson and two WSU Governors.

Julie Lesnik has been invited to give a keynote address on her edible insect research at the 59th annual Nobel Conference at Gustavus Adolphus College this October. The conference is the first and only educational event in the U.S. to receive authorization and support from the Nobel Foundation.

Mark Luborsky: Received the WSU Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award & was elected to the WSU Academy of Scholars.

Andy Newman: "A People's Atlas of Detroit" was named runner-up for the Lewis Mumford Prize for Best Book by the American Society of Urban and Regional Planning History.

Krysta Ryzewski: Historic Preservation Book Award, University of Mary Washington, Center for Historic Preservation for Detroit Remains: Archaeology and Community History of Six Legendary Places.

Research grants

  • Lauren Hayes: Received the Fraser Center's Fraser Fellowship: Re-envisioning the Future of Work along with her Co-PI Emilia Guevara at the University of Maryland for their project titled, "Re-defining Reproductive Labor in an Ongoing Pandemic."
  • Thomas Killion: Received a Faculty Professional Development Grant, Wayne State University for Contemporary Ethnoarchaeological research in Spain.
  • Mark Luborsky: Received funding for "Social and Health Care For Older Persons As Learning Organizations: Method To Co-Create Learning Organizations In Health And Social Care Over Time, 2021 - 2024". FORTE - Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare. (federal funding Sweden). Dual-PI: Luborsky/Josephsson.
  • Mark Luborsky: Renewed funding for "Advancing Person-Centered Care for Old People living with frailty using Narrative Strategies". FORTE - Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare. (federal funding Sweden). Dual-PI: Luborsky/Josephsson.
  • Megan McCullen, Tamara Bray, Randy Haas, Thomas Killion, Julie Lesnik and Krysta Ryzewski: Received WSU Arts and Humanities Research Grant Funding for "Occupied Detroit: Native American Landscapes in an Urban Colonial Place."
  • Krysta Ryzewski: Received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities Research & Development Program for her deep mapping & digital atlas project, "Hamtramck Historic Spatial Archaeology Project." Co-PIs: Dan Trepal & Don Lafreniere (Michigan Tech).

In the news

Tamara Bray and Krysta Ryzewski were featured by WSU GEARS in the February edition of their Women in STEM series.

Julie Lesnik was featured in a New York Times opinion video "The Joy of Cooking (Insects)."

Mariah McClendon-Smith receives
the Barbara E. Aswad Award.

Barry Lyons: VIRGINIA'S CALLING will be the featured film in this year's Evangelical Environmental Network's Flourishing Future Film presentation, to be screened on Apr. 21 together with a training and planning session to prepare participants to bring the film to their churches and communities.

Faculty and student publications

Borell, L, Mondaca, M and Luborsky, M. Reconceptualizing "Meaningful" - challenges for occupational therapy research. Scandinavian J. of Occupational Therapy.

Colleen Linn, Febria, Catherine M., Donna R. Kashian, Kory RT Bertrand, Brittanie Dabney, Matthew Day, Madison Dugdale, Kate O. Ekhator et al. "Early career researchers benefit from inclusive, diverse and international collaborations: Changing how academic institutions utilize the seminar series." Journal of Great Lakes Research (2022).

Hedden, B. J., Comartin, E., Hambrick, N., & Kubiak, S. (2021). Racial Disparities in Access to and Utilization of Jail and Community-Based Mental Health Treatment in 8 Midwestern Jails in 2017. American Journal of Public Health, 111(2), 277-285.

Swanson, L. & Hedden, B. J. (2021, Oct. 25). Behavioral Health Crisis Calls to Michigan Dispatch Centers: Survey Results and Implications. [Conference presentation.] Michigan Public Safety Telecommunications Conference, Kalamazoo, MI, United States.

Kheibari, A., Hedden, B.J., Comartin, E., Kral, M., & Kubiak, S. (2021). Law Enforcement and Suicide Calls for Service: A Mixed-Methods Study of Suicide Attempts and Deaths. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying.

Samuel, Preethy S., Kathryn Wright, Christina Marsack-Topolewski, and Rosanne DiZazzo-Miller. "When More Is Too Much: Compound Caregiving, Barriers to Services, and Service Support for Older Families of People With Disabilities." Families in Society, (Dec. 2021).

Dunkle, Ruth E.a*, Cavagnini, Katharinea, Cho, Joonyoung a, Sutherland, Laura, Kales, Helenc, Connell, Cathleend, and Amanda Leggette. Social Work in Health Care. "Exploring Dementia Care in Acute Care Settings: Perspectives of Nurses and Social Workers on Caring for Patients with Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms."

Michael Drasher (Ph.D./M.D. student) received the Bolger-Rottenberg Award. Also pictured: Dr. Chrisomalis (center) and Rory Bolger (right).
John Cardinal (M.A. student) received the C.S. Demeter Award. Also pictured: Dr. McCullen.

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