Noteworthy

JUSTIN DUNNAVANT featured on multiple media platforms

Justin Dunnavant, assistant professor of anthropology and core faulty member of the Cotsen Institute, has had his research recently featured on several media platforms. He was profiled in the June 14 UCLA Magazine article “Deep Diver: Justin Dunnavant.” He was interviewed on May 4 on Bay Area radio station KALW on the topic of the environmental effects of the global slave trade. Another piece aired on June 3 when he was interviewed on Wisconsin Public Radio as a National Geographic Explorer on “What we can learn from sunken slave ships.” Dunnavant was referenced in a May 15 broadcast on a local NBC news channel in a story discussing the Alabama Historical Commission providing updates on Clotilda recovery. He was also featured on Dan Snow’s May 15 podcast “Diving for Lost Slave Shipwrecks.”

STEPHEN ACABADO co-authors “Indigenous Archaeology in the Philippines”

Stephen Acabado, associate professor of anthropology, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, and the incoming chair of the Archaeology program of the Cotsen Institute, is one of the co-authors of “Indigenous Archaeology in the Philippines: Decolonizing Ifugao History,” together with Marlon Martin. This book was published by the University of Arizona Press in April and highlights how collaborative archaeology and indigenous knowledge among the Ifugao contested enduring colonial narratives. The authors explain how the Ifugao made decisions and undertook strategies that benefited them during colonial times. The archaeological record shows how the Ifugao successfully resisted the Spanish conquest and subsequently accommodated American empire building. This book illustrates how descendant communities can take control of their history and heritage through active collaboration with archaeologists. Drawing on the experiences in the Cordillera region of the Philippines, the authors demonstrate how changing historical narratives facilitate empowering peoples who are traditionally ignored in national histories.

GREG SCHACHNER, REUVEN SINENSKY, and KATELYN BISHOP contribute to book honored by SAA

The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) has named Becoming Hopi: A History the recipient of its 2022 Scholarly Book Award. The book, published by the University of Arizona Press, is co-edited by Wesley Bernardini, Stewart B. Koyiyumptewa, Gregson Schachner, and Leigh J. Kuwanwisiwma. Schachner, an associate professor of anthropology and chair of the Interdepartmental Archaeology Program; Reuven Sinensky, a doctoral student in anthropology at UCLA; and Katelyn Bishop, who received her PhD in anthropology in 2019 and is assistant professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, co-authored multiple chapters in the volume. The award will be presented on April 1, at the Annual Meeting of the SAA in Chicago.

The SAA announcement commended the book as follows: “Becoming Hopi shows a masterful interwoven collective work of conventional archaeological data and Hopi traditional knowledge to carefully study the Hopi Mesas of Arizona. In this volume, the voices of the Hopi are integrated with archaeological and ethnographic work conducted over two decades to show an important Indigenous group of the American Southwest with its rich and diverse historical tradition dating back more than 2,000 years. This tradition is deeply rooted in time, and the voices of the Hopi can be heard by scholars and non-experts. In addition, the collaborative effort resulted in a book that can be used by members of the Hopi community to learn about their own past.”

JUSTIN DUNNAVANT talks on NPR about marine archaeology and technology

Justin Dunnavant, assistant professor of anthropology and a core faculty member of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, discussed the use of advanced technology in marine archaeology in the episode of “Marketplace,” National Public Radio, February 22. A podcast of the episode can be found here.