SMU Anthropology Newsletter
Dallas, Texas
September 2007

ALUMNI NEWS

James Ambrosino
In May 2007, James received his Ph.D. for his dissertation, “Warfare and Destruction in the Maya Lowlands: Pattern and Process in the Archaeological Record of Yaxuna, Yucatan, Mexico.” His advisor is Prof. Dr. David Freidel.

Michelle Amoruso
In December 2007, Michelle received her Ph.D. for her dissertation, “Re-emerging Infectious Disease and Ethnic Stratification: Dengue Fever in Trinidad and Tobago.” Her advisor is Prof. Carolyn Sargent.

Donna Birdwell (Ph.D. 1979)
In the 1970s, Donna Birdwell began a long term research involvement with the village of Chunox in Corozal District, northern Belize. When Dr. Birdwell became faculty advisor for the Rotaract Club at Lamar University, she introduced her students to Chunox. Over the past two years they have contributed to the village in several ways. In 2005 they sent two members down to deliver soccer shoes, uniforms and equipment and to conduct a week of "soccer camp" for the village children. In summer 2006 a group of four Lamar students conducted a week-long "arts and science" day camp for the children and also awarded a scholarship to an eighth-grade graduate to attend the newly opened high school near Chunox. During the 2006-07 academic year the Lamar Rotaract Club has raised an additional $7,000 for more scholarships for Chunox students. A total of eleven students will be attending high school from Chunox this fall as a result of the Rotaract Club efforts. Dr. Birdwell has been gratified by the opportunity to facilitate a concrete benefit for the village and the future well-being of its young people. Dr. Birdwell will be retiring in summer 2008 from her current position as Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Honors Program at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.

Kendall Blanchard (PhD 1971)
Ken writes: "After serving as President at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, I had gone back to the classroom as Professor of Business and Anthropology. Then, in January 2007, I accepted an appointment as Interim President of Georgia Southwestern State University. In June, the University System of Georgia Board of Regents broke with tradition, suspended the rule that prohibited an interim president from assuming the regular position, and named me permanent president at Georgia Southwestern, effective July 1, 2007."

Britt Bousman (Ph.D. 1991)
Britt writes: "I was awarded tenure at Texas State University in San Marcos and promoted to Associate Professor in Fall 2006. I also won the President's Excellence Award in Scholarly/Creative Activity for 2006 at Texas State. Currently, I am conducting field school excavations at a variety of Antelope Creek villages in the Texas Panhandle and Archaic sites near San Marcos. I also collaborate with Dr. James Brink (National Museum, South Africa) on the excavation of Middle and Later Stone Age sites in South Africa. Additionally Michael Bever (SMU PhD 2000) and I are guest co-Editors on the up coming issue of the Bulletin of the Texas Archeological Society entitled Recent Advances in Texas Paleoindian Archeology where we both have articles. Finally I now serve on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Historic Sites Advisory Committee and recently testified in support of their efforts to the Texas House of Representatives' Culture, Recreation Tourism Committee."

Kate Browne (Ph.D. 1993)
Kate writes: "I have just completed a film documentary about Katrina with an Emmy-award winning filmmaker, Ginny Martin. The film, called Still Waiting: Life After Katrina, is scheduled to air on PBS stations around the country on or close to the second anniversary of the storm, August 29. Support of this project came from NSF, Colorado State University, and Women in Film. This is our second film collaboration. Kim Cobb (SMU Public Affairs) has interviewed me about this project. You can learn more about the film at our website: www.stillwaiting.colostate.edu. My personal website is: http://lamar.colostate.edu/~kbrowne/. I have also completed editing a volume, Economics and Morality: Anthropological Approaches, with Lynne Milgram. In addition to being a co-editor for this volume, I am also author of the Introduction to the volume. The book will be published in 2008 by AltaMira Press."

David Crass (Ph.D. 1990)
David writes: "I've been here at GA DNR [Georgia Department of Natural Resources] as State Archaeologist almost 10 years (!!!!); its hard to believe I graduated in 1990."

Robert Graff (Ph.D. 2005)
Robert writes: "I am joining the adjunct faculty in the anthropology department at Boise State University (Idaho), teaching Intro. to Cult. Anth. in Spring 2007. Also, I presented a paper at the national meeting of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists in Atlantic City in June 2007 -- highlighting the importance of incorporating ethnography into work in the area of substance abuse epidemiology."

Amber Johnson (Ph.D. 1997)
Amber writes: "I have recently been promoted to Associate Professor of Anthropology, awarded Tenure, and started learning the role of being the first Chair of a new Department of Anthropology, Geography & Sociology at Truman State University, Kirksville, MO."

Mohsen Mobasher (Ph.D. 1996)
Mohsen writes: "I was recently tenured and promoted to an associate professor of anthropology and sociology at University of Houston-Downtown. I am also finishing a book on Iranian immigrants in the U.S. to be published by the University or Texas Press in Austin next year."

Jeffrey Rose (Ph.D. 2006)
Jeff writes: "I am in a tenure track position at Oxford. I presented an invited paper at the SAA meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico in spring 2006, another paper at a conference for Omani archaeology in Muscat (May 2006), still another paper at the annual Arabian Seminar conference in London (July 2006), and a public lecture for Oman Historical Association in Muscat (May 2006). I directed a second season of fieldwork for my project "The Central Oman Pleistocene Research" program (May 2006). On a personal note, I placed third in the 2006 Mr. SMU bodybuilding championship (April 2006)."

Sue Linder-Linsley (former departmental curator of collections)
Sue writes: "I am currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Oklahoma Museum Association. I am in the process of completing my second year as a panel reviewer for the Institute for Museum and Library Services. As the Executive Director for the Chickasaw Cultural Center, I am heading what has become a national model for Native Language Revitalization. I serve as the PI for a $125,000 grant from the US Dept of Health and Human Services - ANA division, which covers a survey of the language nation-wide and the initiation of a Master-Apprentice Language learning program. I am an invited member of the Envisioning Committee for the Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums 2007 National Conference and will be presenting papers in three sessions during the conference."

Joe Watkins (PhD 1994)
Joe writes: "I have been named Director of the Native American Studies Program at the University of Oklahoma. I am moving to the position following a period as Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico."

Dawn Youngblood (Ph.D. 2003)
Dawn writes: "I received my GIS [Geographic Information Science] graduate certificate in May 2007 from the University of Southern California."