The Anthropology department at Kent State University is a
center for research and training. The department has
faculty in the three subfields of anthropology: archaeology,
cultural anthropology and biological anthropology. There
are eight full time faculty members as well as a number of
part time and affiliated faculty. Faculty and students
are active in research programs, ranging from the lab to the
Solomon Islands. The department offers a minor and major (B.A.
or B.S.) in anthropology. Students accepted into the M.A.
program focus on one of the three fields. Biological anthropology
students can earn a Ph.D. in the Biomedical Sciences, Biological
Anthropology Program. The Anthropology department at Kent State University is housed
in the recently renovated Lowry Hall located on Hilltop Drive. Please look at the department's
faculty and program web pages for more information about specific opportunities.
Image left: Student records architectural detail at Dr. Manahan's archaeological excavation at Xuenkal, Mexico. Image: K. Manahan
Teaching
and Research
Dr. MaryAnn Raghanti tests primate hormonal levels at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
All anthropology courses are taught
in our well-equiped and configured Lowry Hall facility. We have two small seminar rooms, a 40-seat teaching classroom and a 140-seat
auditorium available for standard courses. There is also a teaching lab for undergraduate courses focusing on analytical and laboratory methods.
A computer lab with up to date statistical software is available for graduate students and Anthropology
majors.
Our faculty and departmental project laboratories
in Lowry Hall include facilities for research in biological anthropology and archaeology.
The biological anthropology students and faculty have access to anatomy, osteology, histology,
and casting labs. We
have a world-class collection of primate casts, including living and extinct species. The histology
lab is equipped for dissection, immunohistochemistry, photo- and video-microscopy, image analysis,
and fossil preparation. Laboratory work in archaeology is centered on the analysis of stone
tools, ceramics, and paleoethnobotanical remains of North American archaeological sites. We also are developing a focus in GIS and landscape archaeology in lowland Mesoamerica with
the addition of a new faculty member, Kam Manahan. Kent State University is also
a repository for over 350,000 artifacts from archaeological excavations, and for the written records
and photographs that document their recovery. These collections constitute the largest university
collection of archaeological materials in Ohio and one of the largest collections in the region.
Archaeology bench lab, Lowry Rm 228.
Faculty and graduate students in
the department conduct research in numerous countries around the world. In the past they have worked
in Mexico, Honduras, Venezuela, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Nepal, India, Peru, and the Solomon Islands. Take a look
at our individual faculty web pages for more information on faculty research.
Dr. Rick Feinberg's research on Buka Island, Papua New Guinea can take unexpected turns. Here in 2000 he captured thisview of a saltwater crocodile that recently had eaten two men. The victim's relatives shot crocy and removed the remaining human remains for proper burial. Image: R. Feinberg
White-faced saki feeding, Brownsberg, Suriname. Image: N. Robl
