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Archaeology

Program Overview

The archaeology faculty of the OU Department of Anthropology maintains a variety of research interests and numerous active field projects in North America. Traditional North American regional strengths include the Plains/Rockies, Southeast, Southwest, and Greater Mesoamerica. Select faculty also have growing involvement in Afro-Eurasian projects. Our faculty specialize in the analysis of diverse materials, including ceramics, lithics, osseus remains (faunal and human), metals, and glass. Methodological strengths include quantitative approaches, GIS and digital applications, remote sensing, geophysical prospection, and archaeometry (archaeological sciences).

Thematic Strengths

Ancient Technology, emphasizing the intersection of technology and ancient economies.
Bioarchaeology/Mortuary Analysis, including the archaeology of death, osteology, cremations, forensic anthropology, embodiment, and social identity.
Community/Collaborative Archaeology, focusing on the development of projects that serve diverse descendant communities and the larger public.
Colonialism centering on investigations of Indigenous resistance and cultural change.
Complex Societies and the development of urbanism.
Cultural Resources Management and the development of practical skills deployable in the private sector and government agencies.
Ecology, incorporating diverse perspectives of historical ecology, landscape studies, human ecology, and cultural ecology.
Households and their role in ancient economies and as the locus for socialization.
Hunter and Gatherers, with faculty that span diverse theoretical, regional, and temporal perspectives.
Museum Archaeology with a special emphasis on NAGPRA.
Peopling of the Western Hemisphere: Including themes of mobility, subsistence, and territoriality.
Trade and Exchange, emphasizing provenance studies that inform political economy investigations.

Shelbie Barlett with an excavated ceramic vessel, Mexico.

Research and Internship Opportunities

Faculty and students collaborate with a broad range of colleagues within and outside the Department of Anthropology on research and to offer hands-on internship experiences for students, including close links to the units listed below:

LMAMR (Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research) is a multi-disciplinary group that incorporates several biological anthropologists who regularly collaborate with archaeologists.

The Oklahoma Archeological Survey (OAS) includes seven archaeological faculty that frequently chair or otherwise serve on Anthropology Department graduate student committees. Researchers at the OAS regularly facilitate research both within and outside of Oklahoma.

The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History includes significant archaeological collections, especially from the state of Oklahoma that form the basis of many graduate student projects. Internships are also available in both the Archaeology and Ethnology Departments of the museum.

Faculty and student research collaborations cross-cut several other academic departments as well, including Religious Studies and Classics and Letters.

There are a number of departments and units that support instrumentation useful in archaeological sciences applications, including Chemistry and Geosciences.

The Oklahoma Public Archaeology Network (OKPAN) offers internships, scholarships, and paid positions to students interested in conducting community-engaged, public-facing research, teaching, and outreach.

Degrees and Course Requirements

Applications are submitted through the University of Oklahoma Graduate College.

Prospective students are strongly encouraged to reach out to potential faculty sponsors prior to the application submission deadline.

The department offers both an M.A. and a Ph.D. degree with an emphasis in archaeology.

Master's Students: Applicants who have not yet received a graduate degree in anthropology should apply to the M.A. in Anthropology. The M.A. program requires 25-28 hours of coursework and 2-5 hours of thesis credit. A thesis is required.
Ph.D. Students: Applicants who already or will hold an M.A. degree in anthropology or an allied field upon entering the program should apply to the Ph.D. in Anthropology with a concentration in Archaeology. Requirements include 61 hours of course work, 29 hours of dissertation research, a comprehensive general exam, and a dissertation. Students who have obtained an M.A. degree in anthropology may count up to 30 hours from the M.A. towards the Ph.D.

Students without a prior field school experience will be expected to attend an OU Anthropology field school or obtain equivalent field experience before matriculation.

A full description of program requirements is provided in the Graduate Student Handbook. Course offerings for the coming year can be located in the OU Course Catalog.

Recent Student Research

Recent student research focused on archaeology includes:

MA:

A Ceramic Analysis of a Caddo Village Site in the Northern Caddo Frontier: An Archaeological Investigation of the School Land I Site (34DL64) in Delaware County, Oklahoma. (MA, 2023). John Hueffed.
Perception, visibility, and intervisibility in the late Archaic landscape of the Black Mesa region of Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado. (MA, 2023). Daniel Lestarjette.
Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Obsidian in Oklahoma: Conveyance Zones on the Southern Plains (MA, 2023). J. Matthew Oliver.
Dancing with the Spirit Realm: An Iconographic Analysis of Renewal Imagery on the Engraved Shells from Craig Mound at Spiro, Oklahoma. (MA, 2023). Raphael Schwarz, Jr.
Ravenscroft (34BV198) Bison Skull Piles: Explorations of Purpose and Meaning. (MA, 2022). Caitlin Baker.
The Roles of Bedrock Mortars in Rockshelters of Eastern Oklahoma. (MA, 2022). Harmony Cole.
Settling in at the Cross Bar Ranch: Antelope Creek Settlement Patterns and Distributions in the Texas Panhandle. (MA, 2022). Michael Krause.
Digging Deep into the Summer Activities at Bull Creek (34BV176): A Late Paleoindian Site in the Southern Plains. (MA, 2022). Alanis Ramos Berrios.

PhD:

Evaluating Borderlands: A Regional Archaeological Social Network Analysis of the Ceramics of Late Pre-Contact Cultures in the Ozarks and Adjacent States. (PhD, 2021). Paige A. Ford.
Alternate Pathways to Ritual Power: Evidence for Centralized Production and Long-Distance Exchange between Northern and Southern Caddo Communities. (PhD, 2017). Shawn Lambert.
Touching the Past: Examining Social Memory Practices in the Mimbres Region of Southwest New Mexico. (PhD, 2017). Alison Livesay.
Black Rocks in the Borderlands: Obsidian Procurement in Southwestern New Mexico and Northwestern Chihuahua, Mexico, A.D. 1000 to 1450. (PhD, 2016). Sean Dolan.
Social Boundaries between Ceramic Design Production Groups at Classic Mimbres Sites, A.D. 1000-1130. (PhD, 2015). Thomas Gruber.

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Biological Anthropology

Program Overview

The Anthropology Department at the University of Oklahoma has a broadly-based Master's program in biological anthropology, and offers a Ph.D. in Anthropology with an emphasis on Human Health and Biology. Our Human Health and Biology track is an integrative Biological and Medical Anthropology Ph.D. program focusing on the adaptation, evolution, and behaviors of human ancestors and contemporary populations. The primary specialization areas of the faculty and the biological anthropology academic program are genetic/molecular anthropology, medical anthropology, paleopathology, demography, human-animal interactions, and biocultural adaptation.

What do fractures say about human-animal interactions in the past? Fractured (left) versus normal femur of a domestic dog from the Late Archaic Flint River site, Alabama.

Thematic Strengths

Biological anthropology faculty have specific expertise in:

The Microbiome
Molecular Anthropology
Ancient DNA
Multi-omic methods (aka, panomics and integrated omics)
Population genetics
Bioarchaeology
Forensic Anthropology

Research and Internship Opportunities

Dr. Hirschfeld with a statue of Charles Darwin

Students conduct their thesis, dissertation, and other graduate-level research in consultation with the faculty. To aid in this process, each graduate student is assigned a faculty mentor upon entry into the program. That individual may or may not ultimately become the student's committee chair.

The wide variety of independent research opportunities in biological anthropology for the Master's and Ph.D. programs include research at the Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research (LMAMR), the Oklahoma Archeological Survey, the Center for Applied Social Research, the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, and with Anthropology faculty members.

Degrees and Course Requirements

The University of Oklahoma offers a broad range of graduate-level biological and medical anthropology courses, including Population Genetics, Anthropology and the Health of Indigenous People, Gender and Health, the Anthropology of Aging, Human Adaptability, Medicine and Society, Human Variation, Theory and Method in Biological Anthropology, and Human Evolutionary History.

Special topics courses and seminars in biological anthropology and advanced biological anthropology are also offered. Recent special topics courses and seminars include Biology of Poverty. Please see the OU course catalog for a complete list of anthropology courses. Please click here to see the courses offered during the current and upcoming semester.

Master's students interested in biological anthropology should apply to the M.A. in Anthropology. Master's students complete 25-28 hours of course work and a thesis (2-5 hours). Course work includes a core course in biological anthropology and in two of the three following subfields: archaeology, linguistics, or sociocultural anthropology. Students also take elective course work focused in biological anthropology. Please see the Graduate Program Requirements for details.

Ph.D. students interested in biological anthropology should apply to the Human Health and Biology track. Students are required to take four core courses in biological anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, and sociocultural anthropology, if they have not already done so in their Master's program, an advanced theory course (Theoretical Foundations of Biological and Medical Anthropology), as well as two additional methods courses. Ph.D. requirements include 90 hours of credit (61 credit hours of course work plus 29 hours of dissertation research). Please see the Graduate Program Requirements for details.

Recent Student Research

Recent student research focused on biological anthropology and/or medical anthropology includes:

Wister Valley Fourche Maline: A Contested Landscape (Ph.D. dissertation)
Measuring Mimbres Populational Health Status During the Pithouse to Pueblo Transition (M.A. thesis).
Parents' Perceptions on Medical Care and Services for their Children with Down Syndrome in Tulsa, Oklahoma (M.A. thesis).
Sherwood Washburn's Continuing Legacy (M.A. thesis).
Perception and Management of Type II Diabetes: The Narrated Experience of Diabetes in an Absentee Shawnee Community (M.A. thesis).
Mortuary Variability at the McDuffee Site (3CG21): A Middle Mississippian Site From Northeastern Arkansas (M.A. thesis).
Health Maintenance in Lima, Oklahoma: Intersections of Folk Medicine, Spirituality and Biomedicine (M.A. thesis).
A Cross-Cultural Study of Adaptations to Chronic Arthritis in Hispanic-Americans (M.A. thesis).
A Prospective Cohort Study of Maternal Factors in Childhood Asthma: Parity, Obesity, Fetal Growth, and Social Stressors (Ph.D. dissertation).

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Human Health and Biology

Program Overview

Contemporary challenges in human health require interdisciplinary approaches to understand the complex interplay of social and biological processes. Our graduate program in Human Health and Biology is designed to prepare students to engage in work at the interface of biological and medical anthropology.

The Human Health and Biology Ph.D. track is an integrative Biological and Medical Anthropology program focusing on human adaptation, evolution, health-related behavior, and health outcomes. Viewing the evolution of humanity through biological and cultural interactive processes provides an understanding of how humans adapted and are adapting to the dynamic worlds of the past and present. With its interdisciplinary faculty of biological and medical anthropologists, our Ph.D. program in Human Health and Biology is designed for students interested in the complex interplay of biology and culture. We welcome students interested in investigating health-related topics from a biological, medical anthropology, or integrative perspective. Students focused on biological anthropology can research human biological evolution and variation, including skeletal biology, genetics, and infectious disease. Students pursuing medical anthropology can research all aspects of medicine, medical technologies, affliction, suffering, and healing in cross-cultural perspective. An integrative perspective might take the form of a largely culturally focused project that is strongly grounded in disease biology or a biological project that seriously considers the community context and implications of its findings.

Thematic Strengths

Across our program, faculty have expertise in:

Community engaged research
Ethics (bioethics; ethics and death; ethical, legal, and social implications)
Infectious disease (emerging and evolving)
Anthrozoology (human-animal interaction, contemporary and ancient)
Death and dying
Life course development (childhood and aging)
Reproduction and fertility
Anthropological demography
Food and nutrition

Biological anthropology faculty have specific expertise in:

The Microbiome
Molecular Anthropology
Ancient DNA
Multi-omic methods (aka, panomics and integrated omics)
Population genetics
Bioarchaeology
Forensic Anthropology

Medical anthropology faculty have specific expertise in:

Applied medical anthropology
American Indian health and mental health
Rural health
Health disparities
Health systems, clinical and translational research
Reproductive politics
Political economy
Health crises in fragile states
Bioethical quandaries at the beginning and end of life

Research and Internship Opportunities

Thesis, dissertation, and other graduate-level research is conducted in consultation with faculty. To aid in this process, each graduate student is assigned a faculty mentor upon entry into the program. Ultimately, this individual may or may not serve on or chair the student's graduate committee. Students have a wide variety of independent research opportunities in biological and medical anthropology for the Master's and Ph.D. programs. These include research at the Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research (LMAMR), the Center for Applied Social Research, the Oklahoma Archeological Survey, and the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, and research with Anthropology faculty members.

Degrees and Course Requirements

community based health education in Peru

The University of Oklahoma offers a broad range of graduate-level biological and medical anthropology courses including special topics courses and seminars (click here for the OU course catalog; click here for courses offered during the current and upcoming semester). Ph.D. students in the Human Health and Biology track take core courses in biological anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, and sociocultural anthropology, if they have not already done so in their Master's program. They also take an advanced theory course (Theoretical Foundations of Biological and Medical Anthropology) as well as two additional methods courses. Ph.D. requirements include 90 hours of credit (47 - 61 credit hours of course work plus 29 - 43 credit hours of dissertation research). For more information, please see the application procedures and graduate program requirements.

Recent Student Research

MA

A Hybrid Approach to Assessing Giardia Intestinalis Genetic Diversity in Two Traditional Human Populations. (MA, 2020). Abigail Gamble.
Impact of Sample Collection Preparation On Metabolomic And Microbiome Profiles. (MA, 2019). Jacob Haffner.
Choice and Patterns in Midwife Use in the United States. (MA, 2019). Kelsey Stewart..
Biomolecular Preservation in Dental Calculus from the Teotihuacan Ritual Landscape. (MA, 2019). Sterling Wright.
Using Anthropological Perspectives to Integrate the Social and Medical Models of Disability. (MA, 2017). Mary Williams.

PH.D.

Studies in Anthropological Metabolomic and Microbial Approaches. (PhD, 2023). Jacob Haffner.
Museum Biomolecules: Examining Human Pathogens and Assessing Differential Collection Preservation with Dental Calculus from the National Museum of Natural History. (PhD, 2020). Rita Austin.
Factors Influencing Ecological Dynamics of the Human Microbiome. (PhD, 2020). David Jacobson.
Chinese International Students’ Migration Experiences: A Biocultural Analysis of Health, Food, and Migration. (PhD, 2019). Dong Yue.
Novel Techniques for the Description and Interpretation of the Modern Human Gut and Ancient Human Oral Microbiome. (PhD, 2018). Allison Mann.

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Applied Medical Anthropology

Program Overview

The MA in Applied Medical Anthropology is a 2-year program that includes a specialized curriculum in Applied Medical Anthropology. Embedded in our Human Health and Biology (HHB) program, students engage with medical, cultural, and biological anthropology perspectives on human health. The program prepares students to contribute anthropological knowledge and methods to health research, health care systems, and community health programs.

The Applied Medical Anthropology MA is geared toward students with a variety of career trajectories and goals, including those planning to work in health research, medical school applicants who need to bolster their applications, and health care providers who wish to broaden their perspectives on health, illness, and healing, and to gain new research skills.

Degree and Course Requirements

This 34 credit hour curriculum features 4 core courses in medical, sociocultural, and biological anthropology; classes on applied anthropological methods, ethnography, and statistics; and theoretical and topical courses in culture and health. Students complete an internship in applied medical anthropology, which provides valuable hands-on experience in the practice of anthropology. For more information click here.

After completing the MA, students may be interested in pursuing a PhD in Human Health and Biology. Most course requirements for the Applied Medical Anthropology MA meet the degree requirements for the HHB PhD, with 60 credits remaining to PhD completion.

Research and Internship Opportunities

Empty Chairs in Waiting Room in Medical Facility.

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Medical Anthropology Students and Faculty Gathered Around Table Working on Computers.

Linguistic Anthropology

Program Overview

The Department of Anthropology at OU has a strong commitment to the study of language and its relationship to culture, society, and cognition.

Thematic Strengths

Our particular strengths lie in:

Oklahoma and related Native American Languages
Indigenous South American Languages
Language Documentation, Analysis, Description, and Archiving
Language and Cultural Reclamation
Language Ideologies
Community Engaged and Inclusive Methodologies
Verbal Art and Performance
Historical Linguistics and Grammaticalization
Language Teaching Pedagogy
Language and Identity
Ethnographic and Discourse-centered Approaches
Oral Literature and Poetics
Myth (Sacred Narratives) and Ritual
Multilingualism and Language Contact

Research and Internship Opportunities

Students in Linguistic Anthropology at OU have unique research opportunities that extend beyond the classroom.

The Native American Languages Collection, at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History offers students several research opportunities in Native languages of Oklahoma. The archives house over 6,000 media and print resources in languages of Oklahoma and North America. Students may use the recording facilities and equipment. They have the opportunity to participate in language programming at the museum, including the annual Oklahoma Native American Youth Language Fair and museum exhibits. The department has a two-year Graduate Research position for students in Linguistic Anthropology.

Oklahoma Native Language Association

The Oklahoma Native Language Association is a Native-run organization of language teachers in state. Several faculty are members of the ONLA Teaching Team, which gives workshops in linguistics for Native communities, teaching methodology, language acquisition, and curriculum and materials development. Students may gain experience in teacher training with the ONLA Teaching Team as well as experience in organizing the annual conference and training workshops.

Degrees and Course Requirements

Our department offers graduate degrees in Linguistic Anthropology and Applied Linguistic Anthropology at the M.A. level. Additionally, students interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in Linguistic Anthropology may do so through the Ph.D. in Sociocultural Anthropology with an emphasis in Linguistic Anthropology. More information on program requirements can be found through the graduate program requirements page, and specific course descriptions can be found in the OU course catalog. Please click here to see the list of courses offered during the current and upcoming semester.

The M.A. in Linguistic Anthropology is a four-field, anthropology degree emphasizing the relationship of language as it shapes and is shaped by social life. Students receive a strong foundation in ethnographic methods and skills, through which students may study language performance, language and identity, and discourse analysis, among other topics.

Recent Student Research

MA

Decolonizing the Indigenous Language Classroom: A Heteroglossia of Ideological Shift in Indigenous Language Revitalization. (MA, 2017). Martyne Farris.
"I Live in Boley, America”: Exploring a Contemporary Identity for African American Boley Residents. (MA, 2016). Suzette Chang.
From Phenomenology of Language to a Theory of Sociological Praxis: Perception, Ideology, and Meaning in Multimodal Linguistic Discourse. (MA, 2016). Loren Hov.
Language Revitalization Through Pawnee Music. (MA, 2016). Taylor Moore.
Repurposing the Comparative Method for Pawnee Language and Dialect Revitalization. (MA, 2016). Zachary Rice.

PH.D.

Negotiating Acceptance: A Sociocultural Analysis of Second Language Users’ Constructions of Speakerhood in Cherokee Nation Language Revitalization. (PhD, 2014). Candessa Tehee.

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Sociocultural Anthropology

Program Overview

Sociocultural anthropology adopts a holistic approach to the study of the diversity and meaning of the human experience for contemporary peoples around the world. Historically, sociocultural anthropology at OU has been engaged in research and teaching on Native North America. Today, in addition to this strength, sociocultural professors conduct and supervise research in Latin America, Africa, and elsewhere.

With thirty-nine federally recognized Native American tribes in the state (and numerous other resident Native communities), thirteen Historically Black towns, a surprising array of immigrant groups, and many local religious and cultural practices that are unique in the country, the state of Oklahoma provides students with rich opportunities for developing ethnographic and ethnohistorical skills, as well as their own research projects. Students are also encouraged to pursue research projects elsewhere in the country and abroad.

Thematic Strengths

Faculty members have a wide range of experience and expertise, with the following theoretical and topical concentrations.

Medical Anthropology
Political Economy
Gender & Sexuality
Politics & Policy
Applied Anthropology
Engaged Anthropology
Human-Animal Interactions
Race, Ethnicity, Indigeneity Language & Culture
Expressive & Material Culture
Environmental Anthropology

Research and Internship Opportunities

The University campuses in Norman, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa, are each home to world-class institutions that offer research and internship opportunities for students. On the main campus in Norman, students may participate in research projects and internships through the Center for Applied Social Research, the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, and the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. Additionally, students have access to the wealth of information stored in the Western History Collections. Beyond Norman, resources include the Oklahoma Historical Society in Oklahoma City, and federal and regional archives and depositories.

Research with Tribal Communities

The Department has a long history of collaborative relationships with tribal communities in Oklahoma. The resulting research has helped to support tribal goals of attaining or maintaining federal recognition, documenting tribal histories and languages, providing better health care, reviving and repatriating material culture and stories, and establishing tribal cultural studies and native language education programs. This collaboration contributes to student field research opportunities in the areas of historical anthropology, medicine, genealogy, politics, sociolinguistics, and oral history.

Degrees and Course Requirements

Our department offers degrees in Sociocultural Anthropology at the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. levels.

At the M.A. level, students can elect to take an M.A. in Anthropology with a Concentration in Sociocultural Anthropology. The department also offers an accelerated B.A. + M.A. in Sociocultural Anthropology which can be completed in five years. For more information on degrees and requirements at the graduate level, see our graduate program description.

At the Ph.D. level, we welcome applications for our Ph.D. program in Sociocultural and Linguistic Anthropology, with an emphasis in Sociocultural Anthropology.

Interested students should contact faculty members in the sub-field to discuss research interests before applying. We especially welcome inquiries from those uniquely positioned to work with diverse communities across our state and region.

Recent Student Research

MA

Between the leaves: cannabis policy, medicalization, and user communities in the Sooner State. (MA, 2023). Katherine Perry.
White Cherokees on Red Earth: Blood and Belonging. (MA, 2021). Evan Feeley.
In Search of the Emerald City: Life Next to a Kansas Superfund Site. (MA, 2021). Jaycie Thaemert.
Remembrance and Perseverance in History of the Native American Church in Oklahoma. (MA, 2019). Aleksandr Chudak.
The Transformation of Biological Research and Science in Native American Communities. (MA, 2019). Noah Collins.
Visual Sovereignty and Indigenous Film Festivals: A Case Study on The Native Crossroads Film Festival. (MA, 2019). Caitlin Severs.
Choice and Patterns in Midwife Use in the United States. (MA, 2019). Kelsey Stewart.
Stewardship or Dominion? An Ethnography of Climate Change in Evangelical Oklahoma. (MA, 2017). Miriam Laytner.

PH.D.

Anthropological Literacy: Toward a Holistic Understanding of the Varieties of Human Experience through Oklahoma Social Studies Education. (PhD, 2021). Allison McLeod.
Strategies for Survival with Diabetes: An Investigation of the Structural Factors Impacting Health Disparities and Chronic Disease Management. (PhD, 2016). Steven Gomez.
Concurso Fever: The Epidemic Sweeping Brazil. (PhD, 2016). Lauren M. Simons.

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