Message from the chair, February 2023
We are wrapping up an especially busy and productive time in our department. Among other accomplishments, over the past few months, our faculty, staff, and students participated in a successful effort to recruit two new Assistant Professors with expertise in biological anthropology and public health. Both new faculty members will join us in August (more details about them in the next newsletter!).
Our undergraduatelearning community and Anthropology Graduate Student Organization coordinated several community-building activities over the past few months, including a Halloween tour of historic Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit, craft and movie nights, peer working groups and tutoring sessions.
Between August and November, I had the pleasure of leading over a dozen current and former students in the excavations at the site of a 19th-century saloon in Hamtramck as part of my Archaeological Field Methods class. The excavation project, conducted in partnership with the Hamtramck Historical Museum, culminated in a well-attended archaeology day at the museum, which was open to the public and hosted by our students.
We also experienced some major changes to our department's personnel and programming. In August, Dr. Yuson Jung succeeded Dr. Steve Chrisomalis as director of graduate studies after he completed a productive 12-year run in the position, mentoring a generation of graduate students through our program. We are all immensely appreciative of Dr. Chrisomalis' tireless efforts to grow and maintain the strength of our graduate program over the past decade.
In September we bid farewell to our beloved department secretary, Uzma Khan, who was the backbone of our front office administration for over 15 years. She was the first person many of us got to know when we entered the department. As a daily constant in the front office, we all cherished her camaraderie and support. Uzma and her husband Adeel have relocated to Houston, Texas. Although we will miss them tremendously, we wish them the best in their new adventures.
On a brighter note, we welcomed three new colleagues to the department: Dr. Andrew Maske, Dr. Erfan Saidi Moqadam and Blake A. Pierce. Each brings new energy and expertise to our community. We also celebrated two successful dissertation defenses, and we are proud to add to our alumni ranks Dr. Summar Saad and Dr. Michael Thomas!
Finally, we launched a new Graduate Certificate of Museum Practice, a 12-credit program for students and practitioners who wish to gain or expand upon the professional skill sets necessary to work in various museum positions.
The department and the Grosscup Museum of Anthropology are returning to a full schedule of in-person events this semester, including:
- "First Fridays in Anthropology" speaker series during the afternoons of March 3, Apr. 7, and May 12
- AAA Anthropology Day on Feb. 16
- 10th annual Transformations student conference, organized by our Anthropology Graduate Student Organization on Saturday, March 4 (Purdy-Kresge Library, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
- New exhibit, "The Science of Culture," in the Grosscup Museum of Anthropology in March. The exhibit showcases anthropology as a STEM discipline
- Celebration of National Arab American Heritage Month in April
As always, all friends of the department are welcome to attend our events. We encourage our alumni to reach out and share updates so that we may feature them on our website and in future newsletters.
All the best,
Krysta Ryzewski