Research Specialties

Anthropology involves the comprehensive study of human experience. The most basic questions anthropologists ask are “How are humans the same, and how are they different in all times and in all places on earth?” but also “What distinguishes the human from other species and how do different humans understand that difference?” Anthropologists explore these questions by examining people through biological, archaeological, linguistic, and social lenses. Our faculty specialize in specific world regions and in specific fields of study.

Research by Geographic Regions

Africa: Eastern, Central

Kieran McNulty
Professor
kmcnulty@umn.edu

Martha Tappen
Associate Professor
tappe004@umn.edu

Asia: East, South, Southeast

Hoon Song
Associate Professor
songx080@umn.edu

Caribbean

Erin Durban
Assistant Professor
edurbana@umn.edu

Maria Nieves-Colón
Assistant Professor
mnievesc@umn.edu

Eurasia

Gilliane Monnier
Associate Professor
monni003@umn.edu

Martha Tappen
Associate Professor
tappe004@umn.edu

Gilbert Tostevin
Associate Professor
toste003@umn.edu

Europe

Stuart McLean
Professor
mclea070@umn.edu

Gilliane Monnier
Associate Professor
monni003@umn.edu

Hoon Song
Associate Professor
songx080@umn.edu

Karen-Sue Taussig
Associate Professor
taussig@umn.edu

Gilbert Tostevin
Associate Professor
toste003@umn.edu

Peter Wells
Professor
wells001@umn.edu

Latin America

Maria Nieves-Colón
Assistant Professor
mnievesc@umn.edu

Middle East

Aisha Ghani
Assistant Professor
aghani@umn.edu

Serra Hakyemez
Assistant Professor
hakyemez@umn.edu

Gilbert Tostevin
Associate Professor
toste003@umn.edu

North America, United States

Erin Durban
Assistant Professor
edurbana@umn.edu

Aisha Ghani
Assistant Professor
aghani@umn.edu

Katherine Hayes
Associate Professor
kathayes@umn.edu

Karen Ho
Associate Professor
karenho@umn.edu

Hoon Song
Associate Professor
songx080@umn.edu

Karen-Sue Taussig
Associate Professor
taussig@umn.edu

David Valentine
Associate Professor
valen076@umn.edu

The Pacific

David Lipset
Professor
lipse001@umn.edu

Research Specialities by Discipline

Archaeology

Archaeological Theory & Ethics

Katherine Hayes
Associate Professor
kathayes@umn.edu

Gilbert Tostevin
Associate Professor
toste003@umn.edu

Archaeologies of Culture Contact

Gilbert Tostevin
Associate Professor
toste003@umn.edu

Peter Wells
Professor
wells001@umn.edu

Archaeologies of Settler Colonialism

Katherine Hayes
Associate Professor
kathayes@umn.edu

Bronze Age Archaeology

Peter Wells
Professor
wells001@umn.edu

Ceramic Analysis

Katherine Hayes
Associate Professor
kathayes@umn.edu

Cultural Transmission Theory

Gilbert Tostevin
Associate Professor
toste003@umn.edu

European Archaeology

Gilliane Monnier
Associate Professor
monni003@umn.edu

Gilbert Tostevin
Associate Professor
toste003@umn.edu

Peter Wells
Professor
wells001@umn.edu

European Iron Age & Roman Archaeology

Peter Wells
Professor
wells001@umn.edu

Experimental Archaeology

Gilliane Monnier
Associate Professor
monni003@umn.edu

Martha Tappen
Associate Professor
tappe004@umn.edu

Gilbert Tostevin
Associate Professor
toste003@umn.edu

Heritage Studies

Katherine Hayes
Associate Professor
kathayes@umn.edu

Historical Archaeology

Katherine Hayes
Associate Professor
kathayes@umn.edu

Hunter-gatherer Archaeology

Gilbert Tostevin
Associate Professor
toste003@umn.edu

Lithic Residue Analysis

Gilliane Monnier
Associate Professor
monni003@umn.edu

Lithic Technology

Gilbert Tostevin
Associate Professor
toste003@umn.edu

Material Culture Studies

Katherine Hayes
Associate Professor
kathayes@umn.edu

David Lipset
Professor
lipse001@umn.edu

Gilbert Tostevin
Associate Professor
toste003@umn.edu

Peter Wells
Professor
wells001@umn.edu

Microarchaeology

Gilliane Monnier
Associate Professor
monni003@umn.edu

Neanderthal Behavior

Gilliane Monnier
Associate Professor
monni003@umn.edu

Gilbert Tostevin
Associate Professor
toste003@umn.edu

Origins of Modern Humans

Gilbert Tostevin
Associate Professor
toste003@umn.edu

Paleolithic Archaeology

Gilliane Monnier
Associate Professor
monni003@umn.edu

Martha Tappen
Associate Professor
tappe004@umn.edu

Gilbert Tostevin
Associate Professor
toste003@umn.edu

Pleistocene Eurasia

Gilbert Tostevin
Associate Professor
toste003@umn.edu

Taphonomy

Martha Tappen
Associate Professor
tappe004@umn.edu

Visual Representation & Identity

Peter Wells
Professor
wells001@umn.edu

Zooarchaeology

Martha Tappen
Associate Professor
tappe004@umn.edu

Biological/Evolutionary Anthropology

Ancient DNA

Maria Nieves-Colón
Assistant Professor
mnievesc@umn.edu

Cranial Evolution & Ontogeny

Kieran McNulty
Professor
kmcnulty@umn.edu

Geometric Morphometrics

Kieran McNulty
Professor
kmcnulty@umn.edu

Human Evolution

Kieran McNulty
Professor
kmcnulty@umn.edu

Martha Tappen
Associate Professor
tappe004@umn.edu

Gilbert Tostevin
Associate Professor
toste003@umn.edu

Molecular Anthropology

Maria Nieves-Colón
Assistant Professor
mnievesc@umn.edu

Out of Africa Studies

Martha Tappen
Associate Professor
tappe004@umn.edu

Primate Evolution

Kieran McNulty
Professor
kmcnulty@umn.edu

Sociocultural/Linguistic

Animality/Animal Studies

Hoon Song
Associate Professor
songx080@umn.edu

Stuart McLean
Professor
mclea070@umn.edu

Biopolitics, Science & Technology Studies

Erin Durban
Assistant Professor
edurbana@umn.edu

Hoon Song
Associate Professor
songx080@umn.edu

Karen-Sue Taussig
Associate Professor
taussig@umn.edu

David Valentine
Associate Professor
valen076@umn.edu

Ecologies

Erin Durban
Assistant Professor
edurbana@umn.edu

David Lipset
Professor
lipse001@umn.edu

Stuart McLean
Professor
mclea070@umn.edu

Economy, Capitalism, Business, Finances & Class

Erin Durban
Assistant Professor
edurbana@umn.edu

Karen Ho
Associate Professor
karenho@umn.edu

David Lipset
Professor
lipse001@umn.edu

Empire, Colonialism & Postcolonial Studies

Erin Durban
Assistant Professor
edurbana@umn.edu

Aisha Ghani
Assistant Professor
aghani@umn.edu

Serra Hakyemez
Assistant Professor
hakyemez@umn.edu

Katherine Hayes
Associate Professor
kathayes@umn.edu

Stuart McLean
Professor
mclea070@umn.edu

Maria Nieves-Colón
Assistant Professor
mnievesc@umn.edu

Gender, Sexuality & LGBTQ History

Erin Durban
Assistant Professor
edurbana@umn.edu

Karen Ho
Associate Professor
karenho@umn.edu

David Lipset
Professor
lipse001@umn.edu

David Valentine
Associate Professor
valen076@umn.edu

Human Space Exploration

David Valentine
Associate Professor
valen076@umn.edu

Landscape, History & Memory

Serra Hakyemez
Assistant Professor
hakyemez@umn.edu

Katherine Hayes
Associate Professor
kathayes@umn.edu

Stuart McLean
Professor
mclea070@umn.edu

Hoon Song
Associate Professor
songx080@umn.edu

David Valentine
Associate Professor
valen076@umn.edu

Linguistic

David Valentine
Associate Professor
valen076@umn.edu

Media & Representation

Serra Hakyemez
Assistant Professor
hakyemez@umn.edu

David Lipset
Professor
lipse001@umn.edu

Stuart McLean
Professor
mclea070@umn.edu

Hoon Song
Associate Professor
songx080@umn.edu

Medical Anthropology

Karen-Sue Taussig
Associate Professor
taussig@umn.edu

Modernity & the Future

David Lipset
Professor
lipse001@umn.edu .

Stuart McLean
Professor
mclea070@umn.edu

Hoon Song
Associate Professor
songx080@umn.edu

David Valentine
Associate Professor
valen076@umn.edu

Poetry, Music, Theatre & Performance

Stuart McLean
Professor
mclea070@umn.edu

Power Politics, Citizenship & National Identity

Aisha Ghani
Assistant Professor
aghani@umn.edu

Serra Hakyemez
Assistant Professor
hakyemez@umn.edu

Stuart McLean
Professor
mclea070@umn.edu

Hoon Song
Associate Professor
songx080@umn.edu

Race, Ethnicity, Migration & Diasporas

Aisha Ghani
Assistant Professor
aghani@umn.edu

Serra Hakyemez
Assistant Professor
hakyemez@umn.edu

Katherine Hayes
Associate Professor
kathayes@umn.edu

Karen Ho
Associate Professor
karenho@umn.edu

Stuart McLean
Professor
mclea070@umn.edu

Maria Nieves-Colón
Assistant Professor
mnievesc@umn.edu

Religion & Philosophy

Aisha Ghani
Assistant Professor
aghani@umn.edu

Stuart McLean
Professor
mclea070@umn.edu

Hoon Song
Associate Professor
songx080@umn.edu

Social Justice & Human Rights

Erin Durban
Assistant Professor
edurbana@umn.edu

Aisha Ghani
Assistant Professor
aghani@umn.edu

Serra Hakyemez
Assistant Professor
hakyemez@umn.edu

David Valentine
Associate Professor
valen076@umn.edu

Social Theory

Serra Hakyemez
Assistant Professor
hakyemez@umn.edu

David Lipset
Professor
lipse001@umn.edu

Stuart McLean
Professor
mclea070@umn.edu

Hoon Song
Associate Professor
songx080@umn.edu

Symbolic Anthropology

David Lipset
Professor
lipse001@umn.edu

Hoon Song
Associate Professor
songx080@umn.edu

Paleoanthropology

Paleoanthropology

Kieran McNulty
Professor
kmcnulty@umn.edu

Gilliane Monnier
Associate Professor
monni003@umn.edu

Martha Tappen
Associate Professor
tappe004@umn.edu

Gilbert Tostevin
Associate Professor
toste003@umn.edu