Message from the Chair

We are pleased to be able to share our newsletter with you. We hope that this and future issues of the newsletter will help to keep you connected to your former department and up-to-date on news from our programs.

And lots of news there is. Last year the department added a new medical anthropologist to our faculty, Meghana Joshi, PhD, who has conducted research on infertility in Germany. Joshi has emerged as one of our most outstanding teachers, and her work is gaining attention from our graduate students as well. In addition, we will welcome two new assistant professors to the department in January: Stephanie Poindexter, PhD, is a primate behavior specialist who comes to us from a post-doctoral research position at Boston University; and Nicholas Holowka, PhD, is a biological anthropologist who studies the evolution of human gait, and has most recently been a post-doc at Harvard University. These two outstanding researchers will add both depth and breadth to the biological/physical anthropology program.

In addition, we are also excited about the recent expansion of the programs that we offer. We now have a BA/MA program that allows students to complete both a BA and an MA degree in five years with a concentration in medical anthropology, allowing upper-level undergraduate anthropology majors early access to our graduate program in medical anthropology. Student interest in our new MA in Critical Museum Studies continues as the largest program cohort was admitted this fall. Critical Museum Studies is also a model program for bringing together several departments, including Art, Arts Management, Classics, Media Study and Anthropology.

Please visit the department’s website and Facebook page for more information and news.

Finally, on a sadder note, I’m sorry to report that Chris Duggleby, PhD, passed away on July 20, 2019. I’m sure that hundreds of former students will remember Duggleby and her courses from her nearly 50 years of teaching for UB. We also have to report the sad news of the death of Warren Barbour, PhD, on December 28, 2019, after a long illness. Barbour taught at UB for over 40 years, and his many students, colleagues, friends and family mourn his loss.

Donald Pollock
Interim Chair