Man at a computer shining a bright light on a prehistoric grinding implement used to process food.

Department of Anthropology News

Anthopology focuses on the spectrum of the human experience from the past to the present. With a comprehensive and well-integrated curriculum, the Department of Anthropology teaches and trains students in a way that balances methodological and theoretical approaches in anthropology. Our courses and research programs are relevant on local and global scales, and we provide students with an insightful understanding of our shared humanity and diversity human cultures around the world.

Current Anthropology News

man leaning on wall painted with bright colors
People | October 10, 2023

The College of Science Alumnus of the Year has taken a learning-by-doing approach as a professor and now dean at the College of Southern Nevada.

woman standing outside in front of pond and bushes
People | September 15, 2023

Though she didn't become a marine biologist, the Graduate College Alumna of the Year charted a course that now supports researchers.

Graduation surprise
Campus News | August 1, 2023

News stories from the summer featuring UNLV students and faculty.

Decorated grad cap at UNLV commencement
Campus News | May 5, 2023

President Keith E. Whitfield continues decades-long commencement tradition, honoring 10 students who embody the academic, research, and community tenacity of the graduating class.
 

students surveying site at Valley of Fire
Campus News | April 13, 2023

UNLV students survey Nevada's rich history and gain valuable fieldwork experience in revived archaeology class.

A laser beam emitting a blue light is projected into a diamond anvil cell
Research | December 27, 2022

Groundbreaking discovery was the norm for Rebel researchers in 2022. Here's a selection of our favorite news-making UNLV research highlights from the year. 

Anthropology In The News

Public Good
November 8, 2023

Speaking with the street vendors standing at Las Vegas intersections and highway off ramps on Public Good — a podcast audio series about Southern Nevada's urban public spaces and the people who depend on them.

Live Science
October 17, 2023

A deep dive into nearly 12,000 years of violence in the Middle East reveals that bloodshed skyrocketed as proto-states, or state-level society, began to emerge about 6,500 years ago and spiked again as drought and superpowers took hold about 3,200 years ago, according to an analysis of battered human skulls and bones.

Las Vegas Review Journal
September 15, 2023

“¡Viva México!” Julián Escutia Rodríguez shouted outside North Las Vegas City Hall building Thursday night.

Science Times
August 22, 2023

As its water level drops, multiple human remains have already been found in Lake Mead. Many believe that more are waiting to be discovered.

Science Times
August 22, 2023

As its water level drops, multiple human remains have already been found in Lake Mead. Many believe that more are waiting to be discovered.

Slate
July 26, 2023

Is deep kissing a universal human behavior?

Anthropology Experts

An expert in the evolution of human nutrition, hunter-gatherer societies, and the division of labor between the sexes. 
An expert in forensic anthropology, bioarchaeology, human remains, and skeletal biology.
An expert on the anthropology of migration, gender, social movements, and activism.
An anthropologist and expert on hunter-gatherer adaptations in American Southwest to arid environments, and the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture
An expert in love and intimacy.
An expert in medical anthropology, health, disease, and maternal nutrition. 

Recent Anthropology Accomplishments

November 20, 2023
Nicholas Barron (Anthropology) published an article titled, "Lessons in Safe Logic: Anthropological and Liberal Imaginings of Termination," in the Journal of Anthropological Research. The article frames renewed calls for disciplinary decolonization within the entwined and shifting histories of US liberalism and federal Indian policy in the post-…
November 14, 2023
Iván Sandoval-Cervantes (Anthropology) published an article titled, "Gaining Voice through Injury: Voice and Corporeality in Animal Rights Activism in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico," in the academic journal Cultural Anthropology. The article explores the relationship between non-human animals and "voice" in animal rights/well-being activism in Ciudad…
November 9, 2023
Iván Sandoval-Cervantes (Anthropology) was interviewed for Episode 3: Intersections, of the podcast series Public Good. In this episode, Iván was interviewed by Tashina Lazcano, the creator and host of the podcast, on the cultural and social significance of street vendors in Las Vegas. 
October 20, 2023
Jennifer Byrnes and graduate students Taylor Flaherty, Liam Johnson, Katharine Woollen, Dayanira Lopez, Katherine Gaddis, SaMoura Horsley (all Anthropology), published an article titled, "Speaking of Sex: Critical Reflections for Forensic Anthropologists," in Humans. This essay outlines language and terminology recommendations as they relate to…
September 27, 2023
Iván Sandoval-Cervantes (Anthropology) published an article in SAPIENS: Anthropology Magazine about Mexico's animal protection movement and how it has become co-opted by political actors that push "tough-on-crime" narratives that de-politicize the animal protection movement and promote simplistic views of how to solve the problem of animal abuse. 
September 20, 2023
Nicholas Barron (Anthropology) presented a paper, "Lessons in Safe Logic: Reassessing Anthropological and Liberal Imaginings of Termination," for the Consortium of History of Science, Technology and Medicine's History of Anthropology Working Group on Sept. 6. The paper is part of a forthcoming journal article that documents the relationship…