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Kathryn G AllenAssistant Professor Anthropology
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Daxton A GautreauxResearch Technician 1 Anthropology |
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Hadley Kruczek-AaronProfessor Anthropology
Hadley Kruczek-AaronProfessorMacVicar Hall 118B
kruczehf@potsdam.edu
Hadley Kruczek-Aaron (or "Dr. K-A," as her students call her) is an archaeologist whose research examines the ways that class, gender, race, and religion have been lived in 19th-century America. She explored these topics in Everyday Religion: An Archaeology of Protestant Belief and Practice in the Nineteenth-Century (University Press of Florida, 2015), which focused on archaeology carried out at sites associated with central New York abolitionist Gerrit Smith. Since then, she has continued to explore similar questions at sites across northern New York, including those associated with Civil War soldiers, loggers, reformers, tourists, and farmers (especially those associated with Timbuctoo, a 19th-c. community of African Americans in the Adirondacks). Committed to collaborative approaches to archaeology, she has partnered with public institutions, private landowners, descendants, non-profits, and other educators to carry out research and develop curriculum and public programs relating to her work. Hadley, who earned her Ph.D. from Syracuse University, has been a professor at SUNY Potsdam since 2005. Regarding teaching and advising, Dr. K-A came to Potsdam in part because it is a small, teaching-centered college where she can work closely with undergraduates eager to explore their interests in archaeology and anthropology through transformative learning experiences that prepare them for their post-Potsdam worlds. Her teaching philosophy centers on the following core principles: 1.0 that learning happens best in welcoming classrooms where students feel cared for and respected; 2.) that learning is enhanced by doing instead of passive listening; and 3.) that students are challenged and inspired by original research projects that have them engaging with their communities. As a mentor and advisor, she sees her role as encouraging students toward new experiences that give them direction and spark excitement while also guiding them to acquire practical skills that provide them more options when they graduate. Courses currently taught: For press and other media about Dr. K-A's work, see: https://www.potsdam.edu/academics/AAS/depts/Anth/Timbuctoo https://wamcpodcasts.org/podcast/discovering-timbuctoo-a-new-york-minute-in-history/ Selected publications: 2023 Final Report for Phase III Testing at the John Brown Farm State Historic Site (21PR04354), North Elba, New York. Submitted to the New York State Parks and Historic Preservation Office, Peebles Island, NY. 2015 Everyday Religion: An Archaeology of Protestant Belief and Practice in the Nineteenth Century. Society for Historical Archaeology and University Press of Florida, Gainesville. 2015 Race and Remembering in the Adirondacks: Accounting for Timbucto in the Past and the Present. In Race in the Northeast: Archaeological Studies of Racialization, Resistance, and Memory, edited by C. Matthews and A. Manfra McGovern, pp. 134-149. Society for Historical Archaeology and University Press of Florida, Gainesville. 2014 Making Change Materialize: An Archaeology of Social Reform in the Age of Obama.
International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 18(2): 299-315. More Info |
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Sergio D LopezAssociate Professor Anthropology
Sergio D LopezAssociate ProfessorMacVicar Hall 125
lopezsd@potsdam.edu
Sergio D. López (PhD. Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 2008) is a cultural anthropologist who specializes in business anthropology and indigenous communities in Mexico. Sergio has held positions as Chief Financial Officer in European corporations, and he combines this expertise with his long-term fieldwork among the Chol Maya in Chiapas, Mexico. Sergio is the President and founder of AIBR (Network of Iberoamerican Anthropologists), a professional association that connects more than 10,000 anthropologists in Spain, Portugal and all the Latin American countries. He is the director of the journal ARIES, one of the most widely consulted publications of Anthropology in Spanish and Portuguese. He coordinates every year the AIBR International Conference of Anthropology and has designed an internship program for SUNY Potsdam students who want to participate in the organization of this annual conference. To learn more about internship opportunities, please contact Dr. Sergio Lòpez at lopezsd@potsdam.edu Courses at SUNY Potsdam Dreams, Half of our Life Business Anthropology In the Mind of the Other Professionalism in Anthropology Anthropology, Film, and Modern Literature in Spain Cultures of Latin America Spanish Modern Culture, Literature and Film Spanish Culture Contemporary Spanish 101, 102, 103 Selected publications Lòpez, Sergio D. 2023. "Bancos de Silicon Valley, holografía y antropología cuántica." (Silicon Valley Banks, Holography and Quantum Anthropology). ARIES, Anuario de Antropología Iberoamericana. Mayo 2023. Lòpez, Sergio D. 2021. "Los valores culturales de los mercados de valores" (Cultural values of the stock market values). In Creatividad y Futuro: horizontes antropológicos. Homenaje a Ricardo Sanmartín Arce, edited by Beatriz Moncó and Eloy Gómez Pellón. Bellaterra Eds. Lòpez, Sergio D. and Lydia Rodríguez. 2019. "Performing Healing: Repetition, Frequency, and Meaning Response in a Chol Maya Healing Ritual." Anthropology of Conciousness, Vol. 30, Issue 1, pp. 42-63. Lòpez, Sergio D. and Lydia Rodríguez. 2019. "The crossroads of time." In The Culture of Invention in the Americas, edited by P. Pitarch. and J.A. Kelly, 158-184. Lòpez, Sergio D. 2018. "Antropología aplicada a la inteligencia competitiva. Narrativas sobre el uso de los grandes y pequeños datos" (Anthropology applied to competitive intelligence. Narratives on the use of big and small data) Revista de Economía Industrial, 406: 59-69. Lòpez, Sergio D. 2017. Antropología de la Empresa (Business Anthropology). Book. Bellaterra Eds. Lòpez, Sergio D. 2014. "Santos Familiares y Brujos. Análisis de Creencias y Disputas Sociales en dos Relatos Choles." (Family Saints and Witches. An Analysis of Religious Beliefs and Social Conflict in two Chol Stories). In Entre Diversidades. Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades. Vol. I (1): 149-170. More Info |
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Nasser R. MalitAssociate Professor, Biological Anthropology Anthropology
Nasser R. MalitAssociate Professor, Biological AnthropologyMacVicar Hall 118A
malitnr@potsdam.edu
Nasser Malit, Ph.D. Dr. Nasser Malit holds a BA in Anthropology from the University of Nairobi, as well as an MA and PhD in Paleoanthropology from SUNY Binghamton, New York. He has extensive fieldwork experience in paleontology, archaeology, and forensic science. Over the years, Dr. Malit has spearheaded independent research projects and collaborated with leading researchers in the field.
His current work focuses on the Plio-Pleistocene fossil sites in the Central Highlands of Kenya (CHK), which have produced significant discoveries, including hominin remains and archaeological artifacts. These findings are crucial for expanding our understanding of human evolution beyond the Rift Valley System. Dr. Malit also serves as the Principal Investigator for the Buffalo Springs Project in Samburu, where he led the excavation of a nearly complete early Holocene human skeleton, now awaiting formal dating. Additionally, his research in the Miocene deposits of Sibiloi marks the first formal documentation of a petrified forest in Kenya. This project holds significant implications for studying climate change during the Middle Miocene in the Turkana Basin and for understanding the emergence of C4 grasses. Beyond Sibiloi, Dr. Malit has contributed to research at other Miocene sites, including Locherangany, Lothagam, and Buluk in the Lake Turkana Basin, as well as Songhor in western Kenya. His expertise extends to identifying human and faunal remains, and he consults with the New York State Troopers Forensic Unit, aiding with human identification cases. Dr. Malit has a strong commitment to mentoring students, actively involving them in his research during his tenure as a faculty member at SUNY Potsdam. He has also published on fossil remains from Kenya, further enriching the field with his findings and insights. Selected Publications and Presentations 2025 Malit, N.R., Kirera, K. M., Waweru, V., Sveshnikova, A., Miggins, D.P., Ngalla, J., Omuombo, C., Kinyanjui, R., Grossman, A., Muchemi, F., Chege, L. N. Mwangi, J., & Kinyua, R. An Assessment of Stature and Ecogeographic Profile of Human Remains from A Medieval Burial in the Central Highlands of Kenya. Annual Meeting of the Paleoanthropology Society, April 22-23, 2025. Denver, CO. 2024 Henkes, G., Beck, C., Feibel, C., Poulsen, C. J., Uno, K. T., Bahadori, A., Becel, A., Cox, S. E., Fortelius, M., Green, D. R., Hemming, S., Holt, W., Kinyanjui, R. N., Liutkus-Pierce, C. M., Malit, N., Mana, S., Miller, E., Rowan, J., Rasbury, E. T., Russo, G., Smiley, T., Sousa, F., Stinchcomb, G. E., Ungar, P. S., Vitek, N., žliobaite, I., & Other TMP Members. (2024). Miocene landscape reconstruction and faunal evolution in Kenya's Turkana Basin: A report from the Turkana Miocene Project. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 56(5). https://doi.org/10.1130/abs/2024AM-402921 Kirera, Francis M., Malit, N., Kinyanjui, R., Omuombo, C., Muchemi, F., Waweru, V., Grossman, A., Muge, S., & Kinyua, R. (2024) New fossiliferous and archeological sites in the central highlands of Kenya. Abstract, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, EAAPP. 2023 Malit, N.R., Baab, K. L., Kirera, K. M., Waweru, V., Daniel P. Miggins, D.P., Ngalla, J., Omuombo, C., Kinyanjui, R., Grossman, A., Nderitu, F., Chege, L. N. & Kinyua, R. (2023). The first occurrence of a Middle Pleistocene Hominin from the Central Highlands of Kenya. AABA Abstract. Reno, NV. Kinyanjui, R. N., Grossman, A., Kirera, F. M., Waweru, V., Malit, N.R., Omuombo, C., Mashaka, H., Chege, L. N., Nderitu, F., & Kinyua, R. (2023) Newly discovered Plio-Pleistocene sites in west Mt. Kenya: Potential tropical high-elevation refugia? PAGES Mag. Vol. 31, No. 1:26-27. https://doi.org/10.22498/pages.31.1.26 2014 Cote, S., Malit, N. and Nengo, I. Additional mandibles of Rangwapithecus gordoni, an early Miocene catarrhine from the Tinderet localities of Western Kenya. Am J Phys Anthropol 153 (3) p. 341-512. 2013 Malit, N. Are the Neandertals Finally Becoming Human? In: Ellis E. Mcdowell-Loudan, Editor. Human Evolution and Survival: Candid Conversations on the Human Story. Cognella Academic Publishing. p. 43-78. 2009 Gebo, D., Malit, N. and Nengo I. O. New proconsuloid postcranials from the early Miocene of Kenya. Primates.50:311-399. 2003 Malit, N. R., Ngalla, J. E. & Kirera, F. M. The palaeoenvironmental interpretation of the Plio-Plestocene locality of Gatarakwa, Central Kenya, and its significance in understanding hominid evolution. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. Vol. 120, S36:145. Courses Taught: More Info |
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Timothy C MessnerAssociate Professor, Archaeology Anthropology
Timothy C MessnerAssociate Professor, ArchaeologyMacVicar Hall 119A
messnetc@potsdam.edu
http://www.archaeoverse.com/Messner is an environmental and experimental archaeologist whose research broadly addresses the relationships between people, technology, and the natural world. As a field archaeologist with over 20 years of experience, Messner has conducted excavations throughout the Northeast and Middle Atlantic region. Since 2016, he has maintained an active research program in the Adirondacks, which demonstrates deep Indigenous histories in the region. Messner has incorporated students in many aspects of this work including shoreline surveys, backcountry exploration, excavations in remote wilderness locations, consultations with descendent communities, and the analysis, interpretation, and display of artifacts. In addition to field-based inquiries, Messner also engages experimental and experiential methods to research human-environmental interactions. He has examined the production of ancient watercraft through the reconstruction of a stone age dugout canoe, explored Ice-age hunting techniques by fielding a collegiate atlatl team, and investigated historic building trades through the construction of a timeframe cabin using only traditional hand tools. As Director of HEARTH (Handcrafted, Experiential Archaeological Research and Teaching Hub) he has used this one-of-a-kind workshop/ laboratory/public outreach facility for the preservation and revitalization of craft and the traditional trades. Since its inception he has helped facilitate workshops in stone tool production, hearth cooking, woodfire oven baking, blacksmithing, hide tanning, hard cider making, maple sugaring, and more (You can follow us on Instagram). A few of the courses Messner teaches on regular rotation include Historical Ecology, Archaeology of Eastern North America, Experimental Archaeology, Ancient People and Places, and Introduction to Archaeology. More Info |
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Randy L MitchellVolunteer, Adjunct Associate Anthropology, Chemistry |
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Christine L PaquetteResearch Technician Anthropology |
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Morgan B PerkinsDepartment Chair (Anthropology) and Associate Professor Anthropology, Art
Morgan B PerkinsDepartment Chair (Anthropology) and Associate ProfessorMacVicar Hall 130A
perkinmb@potsdam.edu
D.Phil. University of Oxford, 2000 I am a sociocultural anthropologist with research interests in expressive and symbolic culture; especially the anthropology of art, museum anthropology, and engaged anthropology-with an evolving focus on the anthropology of climate change. Beginning with extensive fieldwork in China spanning several decades, my work on the intersections between traditional and contemporary art has become increasingly global, bringing together issues concerning consumption and material culture, globalization and social change, migration and refugees, environmental art, and the subtle intersection between shared and restricted knowledge. I aspire towards collaborations-between students and teachers, artists and anthropologists-and applied learning to develop creative, cross-cultural forms of engagement to envision and create a humane climate and future. Courses Taught: Primary Current Project: Museums Without Borders is comprised of several past and ongoing collaborative exhibitions developed through a collective of anthropologists, artists and museum curators. While topics have varied, its current priority is to engage with the climate crisis by uniting the unique qualities of anthropology, art and museums through displays beyond the conventional spaces of museums. We seek to identify innovative ways to help one another, and to help create a humane climate, broadly defined. Selected Past Exhibitions: For Our Only Home. St. Lawrence University. 2024. Co-curated with Cathy Shrady. A cross-cultural exhibition on artistic reflections on the climate crisis. Designed to accompany Tibetan Buddhist Chenrezig Sand Mandala: Healing and Compassion in Challenging Times. Richard F. Brush Gallery, St. Lawrence University. Painting on Location: The Art of Lin Haizhong. Roland Gibson Art Gallery, SUNY Potsdam. 2012. Bag of Wisdom: Igbo Knowledge and the Art of Obiora Udechukwu. Hosmer Gallery, SUNY Potsdam. 2007. Icons and Innovations: The Cross-Cultural Art of Zhang Hongtu. Roland Gibson Art Gallery, SUNY Potsdam. 2003. What Are We Leaving for the Seventh Generation? Seven Haudenosaunee Voices. Co-curated with Katsitsionni Fox. Roland Gibson Art Gallery, SUNY Potsdam, Iroquois Indian Museum, Howes Cave, NY and Akwesasne Museum, Hogansburg, NY 2002-2003. Selected Publications: "'A Hundred Ways to Learn' About Zhang Hongtu." 2015. In Zhang Hongtu: Expanding Visions of a Shrinking World. Jerome Silbergeld and Luchia Liu, eds. Durham: Duke University Press. Asia Through Art and Anthropology: Cultural Translation Across Borders. 2013. Edited with Fuyubi Nakamura and Olivier Krischer. London: Bloomsbury. More Info |
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Lydia RodriguezAssociate Professor, Linguistic Anthropology Anthropology
Lydia RodriguezAssociate Professor, Linguistic AnthropologyMacVicar Hall 243
rodrigl@potsdam.edu
View CVhttp://www.lydiarodriguez.aibr.org/ Education Ph.D. 2014, University of Virginia Profile I am a linguistic anthropologist with an interest in linguistic relativity, the anthropology of time, spontaneous gesture, and discourse analysis. My work explores the relationship between grammatical categories and cognition, and how the language that we speak may influence thought patterns and worldview. My research focuses on the multi-modal analysis of conversation and discourse in a variety of cultural and linguistic contexts; I have conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Quito (Ecuador), Madrid (Spain), Chiapas (Mexico), and Dallas (United States). Lately, I have become interested in politicians' gestures and their relationship to political discourse. Some of my latest research examines gesture-speech mismatches in political discourse and the effects of deception in speech-accompanying gestures. I welcome inquiries from students and colleagues interested in linguistic anthropology. Select Publications Rodríguez Cuevas, Lydia. 2023. "Las lenguas del parlamento." In ARIES, Anuario de Antropología Iberoamericana, October 2023. doi:10.11156/aries/2023.AR0011910. Rodríguez, Lydia. 2023. "The Languages of the Mind." In Déjà Lu (World Council of Anthropological Associations). Issue 11, March 2023. Rodríguez, Lydia. 2022. "Dickens in Chol." Language and Cognition. Issue: Time in language and Cognition: Understudied Venues. Heng Li and Julio Santiago, eds. 14: 2, 303-331. doi:10.1017/langcog.2022.1 Rodríguez, Lydia. 2021. "Los lenguajes del pensamiento." Revista de Antropología Iberoamericana (Journal of Iberoamerican Anthropology) 2021, 16, 1: 61-87. AIBR AWARD TO THE BEST ARTICLE IN IBEROAMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGY. Rodríguez, Lydia. 2019a. "Time is not a line. Temporal co-speech gestures in Chol Mayan".
Journal of Pragmatics. 151 (2019): 1-17 Rodríguez, Lydia and Sergio López. 2019b. "Performing Healing: Repetition, Frequency, and Meaning Response in a Chol Maya Healing Ritual." In Anthropology of Consciousness, Vol. 30, Issue 1, pp. 42-63. TOP DOWNLOADED ARTICLE IN ANTHROPOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS DURING ITS FIRST 12 MONTHS OF PUBLICATION Rodríguez, Lydia and Sergio López. 2019c. "The crossroads of time". In The Culture of Invention in the Americas. P. Pitarch. and J.A. Kelly, eds. 158-184. Sean Kingston. Rodríguez, Lydia. 2016. "From Discourse to Thought: An Ethnopoetic Analysis of a Chol Mayan Folktale" Signs and Society 4 (2): 278-231. University of Chicago Press. Rodríguez, Lydia. 2013. "Repetición y paralelismo en una ceremonia de pedida matrimonial Chol" In Entre Diversidades, 1: 121-147. Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas. Courses at SUNY Potsdam: More Info |
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Jaimin D WeetsAssociate Professor Anthropology
Jaimin D WeetsAssociate ProfessorMacVicar Hall 245
weetsjd@potsdam.edu
Dr. Jaimin Weets earned his M.A. in Bioarchaeology from Arizona State University and his Ph.D. in Archaeology from The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Weets has excavated in the U.S. Midwest, Southwest, and Eastern Woodlands, Denmark, and studied bioarchaeological collections in Ireland and from Vanuatu in the southwestern Pacific. His geographic areas of interest include Europe, North America and the Pacific Islands, with a focus on prehistoric human migration, human dentition, osteology, mortuary behavior, chemical sourcing of cultural materials, and demography. Selected Publications and Presentations: Weets JD (2014) When Irish Teeth Are Smiling: Genetic Origins of a Celtic People. Paper presentation. International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI, May, 2014. Weets JD (2013) Where are the Celts?: Biological Continuity from Ireland's Neolithic to Early Christian Era. Presentation. 48th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 2013. Weets JD. (2009). A Promising Mandibular Molar Trait in Ancient Populations in Ireland. Dental Anthropology, Vol. 22, No. 2. Weets JD (2006). Dental Variation in Ireland Through Its Prehistory and Early History. Poster presentation. Society for American Archaeology 71st Annual Meeting. San Juan, Puerto Rico, April 26-30. Weets JD, C Carr, D Penney and G. Carriveau. (2004) Pipe Caches and the Social Affiliation of Mortuary Ritual Participants at the Tremper site, Ohio. In Gathering Hopewell: Society, Ritual, and Ritual Interaction, edited by C. Carr and D. T. Case. Carr, C, B Goldstein and JD Weets (2004) Estimating the Sizes and Compositions of Mortuary-related Gatherings at Scioto Hopewell Earthwork-mound Sites. In Gathering Hopewell: Society, Ritual, and Ritual Interaction, edited by C. Carr and D. T. Case. Weets JD (2004). A Dental Anthropological Approach to Issues of Migration and Population Continuity in Ancient Ireland. Ph.D. thesis. The Pennsylvania State University. Weets JD (1996) The Dental Anthropology of Vanuatu, Eastern Melanesia. Master's Thesis, Arizona State University. Courses taught: ANTH 100 Riddles of the PastWAYS 102 Frauds and Hoaxes ANTH 106 Ancient People and Places ANTH 111 Introduction to Anthropology ANTH 202 Cultural Anthropology GEOG 350/ANTH 353 World and U.S. Geography GEOG 360/ANTH 357 Social Geography ANTH 347 Humans, Disease and Death ANTH 367 The Prehistory of Europe ANTH 368 Peopling of the World ANTH 369 Vikings ANTH 372 Celts ANTH 393 Professionalism in Anthropology ANTH 457 Dental Anthropology More Info |
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Nichole M. WilsonAdministrative Assistant 1 Biology, Computer Science, Mathematics, School of Arts & Sciences, Anthropology, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Environment and Sustainability, Chemistry, Physics
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