Research
The Department of Anthropology offers a variety of original research opportunities for students, both undergraduate and graduate.
The Border Studies Archive
The Border Studies Archive, a part of the University Library, houses collections focused on the folklore, histories and lives of people living along the U.S.-Mexican border in South Texas. Our collections include aural, material and visual documentation related to (1) Border Music, (2) construction of the Border Wall and Border Security more generally, (3) Latinas and Politics, (4) Spanish Land Grants, (5) Traditional Mexican American Folklore and (6) Visual Border Studies. In addition to these six areas, we have a substantial collection of Border Oral History Interviews. Feel welcome to visit us on the third floor of the library at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools (CHAPS)
The Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools (CHAPS) was established in 2009 to:
- Create archaeologically and historically literate citizens who are aware of their local cultural and natural history and of its importance to the future of the Rio Grande Valley.
- Help local school districts develop interdisciplinary K-12 curriculum to prepare students for future enrollment in the STEM subjects.
- Teach students the importance of stewardship to include site preservation, ethics and laws that affect our non-renewable local resources.
The Anthropology Digital Visualization Lab (ADVL)
The Anthropology Digital Visualization Lab (ADVL) was founded to provide UTRGV students and faculty the opportunity to create and interact with digital models of material culture, and to create three dimensional recreations of these objects. The ADVL houses a NextEngine 3D Laser Scanner and MakerBot Replicator 3D Printer, as well as computers and software to create 3D models from scanner data, digital photographs, and online repositories.
The ADVL's inaugural 3D scan of a Hidalgo projectile point on loan from the Museum of South Texas History.
The Anthropology Digital Visualization Lab
Recent Faculty and Student Projects/Events
Virtual Valdivia : " Virtual Valdivia is home to an online database of archaeological ceramics from the Valdivia culture of coastal Ecuador. Valdivia dates between 4400 and 1450 BC. It is one of the earliest ceramic traditions in the Americas. The Virtual Valdivia database includes object record data for hundreds of ceramic vessels to facilitate inter-site analysis by archaeologists around the world.
Virtual Valdivia is a project developed by Dr. Sarah M. Rowe as part of the Institute on Digital Archaeology Methods & Practice sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the MATRIX Center for Digital Humanities & Social Sciences at Michigan State University. The Virtual Valdivia database is hosted by Open Context."
Recent Faculty Publications
- Cantu, Adelita, Margaret A. Graham, Ann V. Millard, Isidore Flores, Meaghan K. Mugleston, Iris Y. Reyes, and Ester S. Carbajal. 2016. Environmental Justice and Community‐Based Research in Texas Borderland Colonias. Public Health Nursing 33 (1):65-72.
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Ewen, Charles Robin, and Russell K. Skowronek. 2016. Pieces of Eight: More Archaeology of Piracy. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
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Graham, Margaret A. and Russell K. Skowronek. 2016. Chocolate on the Borderlands of New Spain. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 20(4):645-665.
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Hinojosa, Servando Z. 2015. In this Body: Kaqchikel Maya and the Grounding of Spirit. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
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Rowe, Sarah M. 2016. Ceramic Variation and Negotiated Communities in the Late Valdivia Phase of Coastal Ecuador. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 43:69-82.
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Vega, Rosalynn A. 2016. Commodifying Indigeneity: How the Humanization of Birth Reinforces Racialized Inequality in Mexico. Medical Anthropology Quarterly. doi:10.1111/maq.12343
- Yaworsky, William, Mark Horowitz, and Kenneth Kickham. 2015. Gender and Politics Among Anthropologists in the Units of Selection Debate. Biological Theory 10:145-155.