Anthropology Program at Kansas State University

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Laura Bathurst

Laura graduated in 1997, with a BA in Anthropology and Spanish (with honors). After studying in Spain for a year, she returned to the US and received a Mellon Fellowship to pursue her doctoral studies in Cultural Anthropology under Dr. Laura Nader at the University of California-Berkeley. After a year of fieldwork among the Takana, an indigenous ethnic group in the tropical forest of northwest Bolivia, she completed her dissertation (PhD Berkeley 2005). She currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the School for International Relations, University of the Pacific. 

Brian Becker

 Brian earned B.S. degrees in Anthropology and Wildlife Biology in 1996, and Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences in 1997 from Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal from 1997-2000. He received his M.S. From University of Florida in Agroforestry in 2004. Brian's research uses satellite imagery to analyze forest productivity on a landscape level to estimate the quantity of woody biomass that might be available for a bio-based industry plant, considering energy content and carbon balance, not just economics. The goal is to build dynamic models in a GIS database to examine scenarios for determining optimal size and sites of such plants. The scenario modeling facilitates considering various bio-fuel crops to optimize energy and carbon balance. Brian is president of the Bioenergy and Sustainable Energy Society. He is also a researcher at the University of Florida in the Phytoremediation and Short-rotation Woody Crops Renewable Energy Program while he works on his doctorate at U Florida.

Lucas Bessire

Lucas graduated cum laude from K-State's anthropology program in 2001, was awarded a Fulbright and went to Bolivia where he did ethnographic research in an Ayoreo Indian village and made a documentary film ("Asking Ayahai"). Pursuing his graduate studies in anthropology at New York University, he received several fellowships and has now completed 21 months of fieldwork with the Totobiegosode, a recently-contacted Ayoreo tribe in Paraguay. Since then, he published several articles and completed a second documentary film ("From Honey to Ashes"), and is now completing his doctoral dissertation.

Bruce Broce

After graduating in 1994 (?), Bruce spent a season in Queretaro, Mexico, where he taught English as a second language and pursued a visual ethnography. He then continued his graduate studies in visual anthropology at Temple University, Philadelphia. After completing his Masters degree, he directed excavations of "disappeared" human remains in Panama, the gruesome legacy of a military dictatorship in his father's homeland. Bruce also did ethnographic fieldwork with Emberra Indians on Panama's Pacific coast. After several years of working for Panama's Truth Commission, investigating human rights violations and crimes against humanity, Bruce returned to Temple to complete his doctorate in anthropology, briefly taught visual anthropology at the University of Vermont, and now works at the KSU Foundation.   

Christine Changho Bruneau

After graduating with a BA in Anthropology at KSU in 1994, Christine Changho traveled to the Philippines where he father’s family had lived for several generations. She then returned and studied law at Tulane University Law School, obtaining her JD in 1998. Specialized in toxic tort defense; products liability; admiralty and maritime defense; environmental law, and general civil litigation, Chrissy has become a prominent lawyer in Louisiana. She has been admitted to the bar in several U.S. District Courts of Louisiana and Texas, and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. A member of several legal associations, including the Association for Women Attorneys in Louisiana, she is an Associate in the professional law corporation Abbott Simses, New Orleans.

Alexandra Buck

Chris A. Deter

Chris was a self-described "ski-bum" from Colorado, and then traveled to Namibia as an undergraduate. This helped spark her interest in anthropology. After graduation, Chris helped excavate human bones in Guatemala where thousands of Maya Indians had "disappeared." Killed by death squads, their bodied were dumped in mass graves. Years later, their bones were found and analyzed by forensic anthropologists. From Guatemala, Chris left for England, where she pursued her graduate studies at the University of Sheffield, and went on to research ancient human teeth at the University College of London, where she obtained her PhD in 2007.

John Hawks

Having graduated in 199?, John won a prestigious fellowship to study paleoanthropology under Dr. Wolpoff at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. He is now an Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is recognized as one of the world's foremost authorities on Neandertals.  Check out his blog.

Jenny [Schrag] James

 As an under-graduate anthropology student, Jenny spent a summer studying Mennonite-Indian relations in the Gran Chaco of Paraguay. After graduation in 1994, she continued her studies at the University of Arizona, where she completed her Masters in Cultural Anthropology. Specializing in Applied Anthropology, she has been a researcher at the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology. Her projects included an ethnographic study of the social impacts of the offshore oil industry on workers and their families in Southern Louisiana. She has also worked on cultural resource projects with the National Parks Services and managed the data of a large-scale food security survey effort in Haiti. In 1999, Jenny and her husband moved to San Diego. She founded the San Diego office of an applied social science research firm and is now Vice-President of Harder+Company. Trained as an anthropologist, she has strong technical skills in social science research methods, participatory research, action research, data management, and decision-making. Also a proud mother, Jennifer manages and directs project treams involved in research and technical assistance for a wide range of funders, public agencies, and community-based organizations in California and beyond. Her projects include early childhood development, tribal education, child welfare, and the humanities.

Rose Wishall Ediger

With a BA in Anthropology and French (summa cum laude) at KSU in 2001, Rose entered the Graduate Program of Anthropology at the American University, Washington DC. Having completed her Masters, she is currently completing her doctoral thesis. This thesis is based on over two years of participant observation and interviews conducted in a francophone African Catholic congregation and among its members. She has attended weekly church services; prayer and committee meetings; congregation activities such as dinners, retreats, and prayer services; and she has interviewed congregation members—focusing on Central African women—and followed them in their daily routines. Rose focuses on the meanings of Christianity and Catholicism in this particular congregation, and on the ways that contact among various networks of people affect these meanings. In addition to completing her PhD, Rose is a mother of two, has worked as a research assistant at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, and presents her research at international conferences. In 2008, Rose won the prize for Best Qualitative Study at the Mathias Student Research Conference.

David R. Howell

Having graduated from our program in 1971?, David R. Howell chose a career with the US Federal Government. He was acting Director of Policy & Planning, Bureau of Immigration Enforcement and Chief of Policy & Strategy, Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security. Now he is Acting Chief Human Capital Officer, US Citizenship & Immigration Services

Clark Spencer Larsen

Hailing from Nebraska, Clark Spencer Larsen is an anthropologist who has become an internationally known specialist in bioarchaeology. After his BA in anthropology (with honors) at KSU in 1974, he pursued his graduate training in anthropology at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (PhD 1980). In 1999, he became the Amos Hawley Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. That same year, he was elected President of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (1999-2001). In 2002, Ohio State University offered him a position as Distinguished Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Ohio State University. He has spent most of his professional career directing the La Florida Bioarchaeology Project, involving the collaboration of scientists from the United States and elsewhere. Methods of analysis include biomechanics, paleopathology, dietary reconstruction (stable isotope analysis, tooth microwear). A popular account of the project is presented in “Skeletons in our Closet: Revealing our Past Through Bioarchaeology” (Princeton U Press, 2000). Dr. Larsen currently chairs OSU's Dept of Anthropology and co-directs the Global History of Health Project, involving the collaboration of scientists and study of skeletons from Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.

Robert J. Losey

Dr. Robert Losey was raised on a cattle ranch in western Kansas and  attended KSU from 1990 to 1994. He received his masters degree in  1996, and Ph.D. in 2002, both from the University of Oregon. In 2003 he was a post-doctoral research fellow at the Smithsonian Institution.  Specialized in zooarchaeology, mortuary archaeology,  and ethnography of the Pacific Northwest and Siberia, he is currently an associate professor at the Department of  Anthropology, University of Alberta.

Abra Lyman

Abra completed her anthropology undergraduate training at KSU in 2002, went to Kenya, and then worked for a few years at Cultural Survival. She is active in the Maasai native rights movement in East Africa. Recently, Abra completed her anthropology and law training at American University, with a dual degree  (JD and MA Cultural Anthropology). 

Mark Maddox

After graduating in our program with a BA in Anthropology in 1998, Mark continued his graduate training in cultural anthropology and sociolinguistics at Tulane University, New Orleans, where he is specializing in the Maya Indian cultures of Mesoamerica. His specific research interests focus on language maintenance, shift, and revitalization in conjunction with issues of bilingual education, economics, religion, and politics in Kaqchikel Maya and other indigenous communities throughout Mesoamerica. He married a fellow doctoral student, a Maya from Guatemala, and has completed his fieldwork among the Mayas of San Antonio Aguas Calientes and the Quinizilapa Valley, Sacatepequez, Guatemala. Mark is currently completing his doctoral dissertation at Tulane University.

Lauren Markley

Lauren Markley graduated from our program in 1993 (?), and continued her anthropology studies at the University of Toronto, Canada. There she completed her thesis paper "Hominid Paleoecology at the Mio-Pliocene Boundary," and successfully finished her MA in Anthropology, May 1996.

Janelle Meyers Menard

Janelle completed her undergraduate studies at KSU with a BA in French and a BSc in Anthropology in 1994. Already interested in medical anthropology, she received a graduate fellowship to pursue a Masters in Anthropology at the University of Alabama, followed by a Masters in Public Health at the University of South Florida. Janelle is currently completing her PhD in Medical Anthropology at the University of South Florida. Her research interests  focus on Caribbean ethnomedicine, medical treatment choice, Martinique, Haiti, political economy of cervical cancer, cancer epidemiology, cancer disparities, Caribbean immigrant women's health, cultural competency in U.S. health care, medical anthropology in public health.

Trever Murawski

While at K-State (2002-2004), Trever gained archaeological training and experience in the classroom and at several sites in eastern Kansas under the direction of Drs. Ritterbush, Logan, and Roper.  After graduation he worked as an archaeologist out of Denver before enrolling in the graduate program in archaeology at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia (2005-2007).  There he gained new experiences while studying and working in eastern Australia.  He earned his M.A. in 2008.  His thesis, which was based on fieldwork at Lake Mulurulu and Lake Mungo, focused on mid to late Holocene lithic reduction techniques in relation to mobility in the Willandra Lakes Region.  Since returning to the United States he has been employed by R.C. Goodwin & Associates, a CRM firm based out of New Orleans, LA with offices in Frederick, MD, Tallahassee, FL, and Lawrence, KS.  He continues to work on all phases of archaeological survey in the central and eastern United States out of the Kansas office.  During this time he has also had the good fortune to join the first archaeological expedition on the island of Vanua Levu in Fiji.  He remains interested in the archaeology of Australia, the Pacific Islands, and American Great Plains.

Matt Padilla

Matt attended KSU from 2000 to 2003 and graduated with a BA in anthropology.  In 2006, he earned a Master's in anthropology with a minor in GIS from New Mexico State University.  While at NMSU, he focused on the theoretical underpinnings of cultural resource management (CRM).  During his summers at K-State and NMSU, Matt worked as a field archaeologist with the US Forest Service on the Black Hills National Forest and the Plumas National Forest.  After obtaining his graduate degree, he worked for two years on the Plumas National Forest in Northern California as a CRM archaeologist.  Matt and his family recently returned to South Dakota where Matt is a district archaeologist on the Black Hills National Forest.  There he manages historic and prehistoric archaeological sites on public land and protects them from damage caused by development, vandalism, and catastrophic wildfire.

Judith M.S. Pine

After graduating from our program at KSU in 1985, Judith continued her graduate training in linguistic anthropology at the University of Washington. After doctoral fieldwork in Thailand, she obtained her PhD and is now an Assistant Professor at Western Washington University.

Beth Shirley

Since graduation from K-State, Beth Shirley has been a student of the Museum Studies Program at the University of Kansas.  She expects to graduate with her Master's degree in May 2009.  She currently works as a graduate assistant for the University Archives at Spencer Research Library.  In addition to her position in the University Archives, she also served as the Lela Barnes Intern for the Library and Archives division of the Kansas Historical Society during the summer of 2008.  After graduation she plans to pursue a career in Museum Education or Archives and Records Management.

Eric Skov

Eric enrolled at K-State in 2004 to pursue a degree in Secondary Education with a specialization in History. However, he soon switched to Anthropology with special interest in archaeology. While at K-State, Eric gained hands-on training through the 2006 Kansas Archaeological Field School and worked on projects in the KSU Archaeology Lab and field under Brad Logan.  Lauren Ritterbush provided encouragement to gain practical experience outside the university. Following the field school, Eric did CRM archaeology in Mississippi , Alabama (2006) and Wyoming (2007).  In 2007 Eric was awarded the Patricia J. O'Brien Award for Outstanding Student in Archaeology.  After graduating from K-State Magna Cum Laude with degrees in Anthropology and History, Eric assisted Brad Logan with the 2008 field school, then took a position with RC Goodwin, a CRM firm in Lawrence, KS. He is currently researching graduate programs as time between archaeological projects allows.

Kenda Stewart

Kenda grew up on a farm in rural Kansas, studied cultural anthropology at KSU and graduate with a BA in Anthropology and German in 2001. Interested in feminist anthropology, she continued her graduate training at the University of Iowa.  After spending two years in Israel/Palestine completing her fieldwork and interning for the Mossawa Center, an advocacy center for Palestinian Arab citizens in Israel, she has returned to Iowa to begin writing her dissertation.  Her research focuses on the cultural political implications of women’s soccer in Israel, focusing primarily on the only Palestinian Arab women’s soccer team in the Israeli league.  Her work at the Mossawa Center focused primarily on writing position papers and recommendations to members of the European Parliament and Commission and other international actors whose policies affect the Palestinian Arab citizens in Israel. Kenda is now a Crossing Borders Fellow at the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies and Ph.D. candidate in sociocultural anthropology at the University of Ohio.

Merrily Stover

After her BA in Anthropology at KSU in 1970, Merrily Stover pursued her graduate training in cultural and linguistic anthropology at the University of Hawaii. Her field research on land and social changes was conducted in American Samoa and supported by the National Science Foundation. Involved in distance learning since 1992 when she first taught for the British Open University in London, she served as Academic Director for Behavioral and Social Sciences, and Humanities, in the Open Learning program, University of Maryland University College (1993-97). In 1997, she was selected for the inaugural program of the Certificate in Distance Education for Professionals, awarded by Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany, and the Institute for Distance Education, University System of Maryland. Dr. Stover also taught at University of London Birkbeck College, Monterey Institute of International Studies, and the University of Hawai'i in a special program in American Samoa. Currently, she is Professor and Assistant Dean for Communication, Arts, and Humanities, at the University of Maryland University College. 

Stan Struble

Past President of Nebraska’s Writers Guild, author Stan Struble graduated from our program with a BA in Anthropology (1974). His publishing credits include articles and fiction novels, including Filth Eater and Sins of the Jaguar, both set in Mexico, as is his latest anthropological novel Descent Into Xibalba soon to be published in Spanish. Stan is a Family Teacher, certified Parent Trainer, a youth counselor at Boys Town, NE and an adjunct Sociology teacher for Metropolitan Community College in Nebraska.

John Tomasic

 John obtained his BA in anthropology at KSU in 1997.  Long fascinated by the ancient Maya, he has participated in and led numerous archeological excavations in Central America (Guatemala and Honduras).  After a Masters in anthropology at the University of Kansas (2001), he received his doctorate in mesoamerican archaeology at Vanderbilt University (2009).  His dissertation research at the site of K’o, Guatemala examined long-term patterns in power and wealth in ancient Maya economies, and was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and National Geographic Society.  His dissertation is available at http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu//available/etd-03242009-093236/  John is currently a visiting assistant professor of anthropology at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky and is actively publishing his research.

Caroline [Chapman] VanSickle

Michael Wesch

After two years at the University of Southern California, Michael returned to the Great Plains and enrolled in his parents' alma mater. He graduated with a BA in Anthopology (summa cum laude), and continued his studies in cultural anthropology at the University of Virginia. He obtained a Jacob Javits Fellowship as well as a National Science Foundation Fellowship, and did his doctoral fieldwork in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Having obtained his PhD at U Virginia in 2005, he is now an Assistant Prof of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University. Especially since Spring 2008, his pioneering work in digital ethnography and media ecology has attracted worldwide attention. In 2008, the Carnegie Foundation elected him a US Professor of the Year.

Sarah Engler Wesch

Sarah graduated in 1997 and went on to complete her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at American University in 2004.  Her dissertation research explored how body image and conceptions of beauty were changing among women in rural Papua New Guinea under Western influence.  She is now a clinical psychologist at Kansas State University Counseling Services.

Rebecca (Whitehill) Wood

Rebbecca is currently the Project Coordinator, NSF ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Program, at Kansas State University.  After graduating as an anthropology major, she was hired as Community Development Director and Interim Economic Development Director, City of Liberal, KS. After a number of years, she became Economic Development Representative, Kansas Department of Commerce & Housing. Rebecca then returned to K-State, first as Assistant Director and Project Coordinator "Kansas Service-Learning Consortium", next as Interim Executive Director, Kansas Campus Compact (KSCC), and then as Assistant Director, Kansas Center for Rural Initiatives (KCRI). In her career so far, she has worked on issues such as economic development, historic preservation, cultural diversity, civic engagement and gender equity.  Proud of her two kids, ages six and three, Rebecca has just completed her Master of Business Administration (MBA , 2009).

Brian T. Wygal