Department Faculty

Full Time Faculty

Elise Andaya (PhD, NYU, 2007)
Assistant Professor
Interests: Medical anthropology
Areas:Cuba
E-mail:  eandaya@albany.edu

Lee S. Bickmore (PhD, UCLA, 1989)
Associate Professor
Director, Linguistics and Cognitive Science Program
Interests: Linguistics, phonology, tone, stress, historical linguistics
Areas: Africa, Polynesia
E-mail:  l.bickmore@albany.edu

George Aaron Broadwell (PhD, UCLA, 1990)
Professor
Interests: Linguistics, syntax, historical linguistics
Areas: North America
E-mail:  g.broadwell@albany.edu

Hetty Jo Brumbach (PhD, SUNY-Albany, 1978)
Associate Curator of Anthropology
Chair, Graduate Affairs Committee
Museum Associate, New York State Museum, State of New York, 2003-present
Interests: Archaeology, ecology, ethnoarchaeology, museum studies, and gender.
Areas: North America
E-mail:  brumbach@albany.edu

Tom D. Brutsaert (PhD, Cornell University, 1997)
Associate Professor
Interests: Biological anthropology, adaptation to high altitude, exercise and energetics, nutrition
Areas: the Andes
E-mail:  tbrutsae@albany.edu

Louise M. Burkhart (PhD, Yale, 1986)
Professor
Interests: Ethnohistory/Historical ethnography; colonialism and evangelization; symbolic, interpretive, and postmodern anthropology; Mesoamerican religions (pre-Columbian, colonial, and contemporary); textual analysis; Mesoamerican history and ethnology; Native North American and Mesoamerican literatures; Nahuatl catechistic and devotional literature; folklore and folk narrative; Nahuatl language; and pre-Columbian and Indo-Christian art.
Areas: Mesoamerica
E-mail:  burk@albany.edu

Jennifer Burrell (PhD, New School for Social Research, 2005)
Assistant Professor
Interests: Political economy, structural and political violence, human rights, forensic anthropology, transitional states, migration, development, gender, neoliberalization, anthropology and history
Areas: Mesoamerican and Latin America
E-mail: jburrell@albany.edu

James Collins (PhD, UC-Berkeley, 1983)
Professor
Chair, Anthropology Department
Interests: Linguistics, social theory, Athabaskan studies, education studies
Areas: North America
E-mail:  collins@albany.edu

Sharon N. DeWitte (PhD, Pennsylvania State University, 2006)
Assistant Professor
Interests: Human Biology, Osteology, Paleopathology, Paleodemography
Areas: Europe
E-mail: sdewitte@albany.edu

Timothy B. Gage (PhD, Pennsylvania State University, 1982)
Professor
Interests: Human biology, demography, population genetics, quantitative methods
Areas: Oceania
E-mail:  tbg97@albany.edu

Robert W. Jarvenpa (PhD, Minnesota, 1975)
Professor
Interests: Socio-cultural anthropology, ecology, social change, interethnic relations, ethnographic methods, Circumpolar societies, Native North Americans
Areas: Northern Europe, Central America
E-mail:  jarvenpa@albany.edu

John S. Justeson (PhD, Stanford, 1978; MS in Computer Science, Stanford, 1988)
Professor
Interests: Linguistics, historical linguistics, language and prehistory, variation and change, writing systems, probabilistic and simulation models, Mesoamerican languages and hieroglyphic writing, Elamite, Indus Valley writing
Areas: Mesoamerica
E-mail:  justeson@albany.edu

Gail H. Landsman (PhD, Catholic University, 1982)
Associate Professor
Interests: Cultural anthropology, gender, reproduction, feminist theory, disability studies, social movements, American culture, Iroquois
Areas: North America
E-mail:  landsman@albany.edu

Walter E. Little (PhD, University of Illinois, 2001)
Assistant Professor
Interests: Cultural and Ethnic Identity, Cultural Performance, Gender Relations, Marketplace and Household Economics, Transcultural Studies - Tourism, Urban Anthropology
Areas: Mesoamerica
E-mail:  wlittle@albany.edu

Marilyn A. Masson (PhD, University of Texas, 1993)
Associate Professor
Director, Institute for Mesoamerican Studies
Interests: Archaeology, cultural evolution, political organization, human ecology, ancient religion, zooarchaeology, lithic analysis
Areas: Mesoamerica, North America
E-mail:   massonma@albany.edu

Sean M. Rafferty (PhD, Binghamton University, 2001)
Assistant Professor
Interests: Archaeology, Archaeometry, Ritual Practices
Areas: Eastern North America
Email:  rafferty@albany.edu

Robert M. Rosenswig (PhD, Yale University, 2005)
Assistant Professor
Interests: Archaeology, Origins of Social Complexity
Areas: Mesoamerica
Email: rrosenswig@albany.edu

Lawrence M. Schell (PhD, University of Pennsylvania, 1980)
Professor
Director, Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities
Interests: Biological anthropology, medical anthropology
Areas: urban North America
E-mail:  l.schell@albany.edu

David S. Strait (PhD, SUNY Stony Brook, 1998)
Associate Professor
Co-Director, Human Biology Program
Interests: Biological Anthropology, Hominid Evolution
Areas: Africa
E-mail: dstrait@albany.edu

Stuart Swiny (PhD, University of London, 1979)
Associate Professor
Director, Institute for Cypriot Studies
Interests: Archaeology of Bronze Age Cyprus
Areas: Cyprus
E-mail:  swiny@albany.edu

James W. Wessman (PhD, University of Connecticut, 1976)
Associate Professor
Interests: Economic anthropology, political economy
Areas: Caribbean, Latin America
E-mail:  wessman@albany.edu

Emeritus Faculty

Robert M. Carmack (PhD, UCLA, 1956)
Professor Emeritus
Interests: Social Anthropology, Ethnohistory, Mesoamerican Studies, Social Theory
Areas: Central America
E-mail:  rcarmack@albany.edu

Ernest Scatton (Ph.D. Harvard University)
Professor Emeritus
Interests: Slavic (esp. South Slavic) and general lingustics; Bulgarian language and literature
Areas: Eastern Europe
Past editor, Slavic and East European Journal; Past president, AATSEEL
Email:  scattone@albany.edu

Richard G. Wilkinson (PhD, Michigan, 1970)
Professor Emeritus
Interests: Biological anthropology, osteology, bioarchaeology
Areas: North America

Gary A. Wright (PhD, University of Michigan, 1968)
Professor Emeritus
Interests: Archaeology, Symbolic Ecology
Areas: North America
E-mail:  wright@albany.edu

Adjunct Faculty

Daniel D. White (PhD, University at Albany, 2005)
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Interests: Human paleontology, primate brain evolution, evolution and human behavior
Areas: Africa, Western Europe
E-mail: dwhite@uamail.albany.edu

Krassi Rangelova
Lecturer
E-mail: krassi.rangelov@gmail.com

Annette McLeod (Richie)
Lecturer
E-mail: am272559@albany.edu