The Ohio State University Department of Anthropology

09/21/2026

Congratulations to Anthropology PhD student Luxin Yin on the publication of her latest research in BMJ Medical Humanities!

Her new paper, titled "Looking back to look ahead: a BERTopic-assisted scoping review of Medical Humanities (2000–2025)," uses transformer-based topic modeling (BERTopic) and mixed methods to analyze 25 years of research in the field, highlighting shifts toward patient lived experiences, phenomenology, and digital health.

Read the full article here:
https://mh.bmj.com/content/early/2026/09/18/medhum-2025-013682.full?fbclid=IwY2xjawUeRVJwZG9mAWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR7-fzmNR3cos2Cqzi2qtQTv2-m-032FXf7OrXaVEOj8eFRDkQkf_VEO-bkV7w_aem_yeYVQf7CWaivfztKKDeEGw

09/15/2026

Want to thrive in an AI-driven world? Don't just learn to code, study Anthropology!

A recent Wall Street Journal feature highlights a key lesson for the tech era: as artificial intelligence handles raw processing, data analysis, and repetitive technical tasks, human-centric skills become the ultimate competitive edge.

Anthropology equips you with:

🔹 Deep contextual understanding: Decoding how humans interact with systems, culture, and tech.

🔹 Qualitative insights: Seeing the human nuances, ethics, and behaviors that algorithms miss.

🔹 Adaptability: Navigating complex social dynamics and driving meaningful innovation.

The future of tech isn't just about building algorithms, it's about understanding the people who use them!

Read the article here:

College students and workers alike are finding a new set of skills is needed for a rapidly changing workplace.

09/14/2026

Recently highlighted in the Fall 2026 issue of the Ohio State Alumni Magazine, education at Ohio State Marion extends far beyond traditional classroom walls. The entire campus serves as a hands-on environmental learning lab, connecting students directly with the natural world.

OSU Anthropology Professor Dr. Anna Willow serves as the faculty director of Marion's Environmental Learning Labs. An expert in environmental anthropology who studies how communities respond to ecological changes, Willow advocates for viewing the entire campus, every building and prairie path, as an opportunity for learning. Her goal is to embed place-based ecological literacy across all fields of study so future leaders make sustainable decisions wherever their careers take them.

"Students leave. That’s the hardest part. Still, new ones arrive every year, step into the prairie and begin learning from the land." — Professor Anna Willow

09/08/2026

We’re hiring! The Department of Anthropology at The Ohio State University is inviting applications for two tenure-track Assistant Professor positions beginning in Fall 2027.

Assistant Professor in Forensic Anthropology
- Contribute to our growing undergraduate major in forensic anthropology
- Assist the director of our Forensic Anthropology Laboratory with casework in our brand-new, state-of-the-art forensic lab
-Develop and sustain a strong body of empirical research

Assistant Professor in Archaeology
- Research specialization is open, with preference given to North American or Midwestern archaeologists
- Opportunity to direct a field school
- Demonstrate strong potential for a sustained, empirical research program

Both positions are based in Columbus, Ohio.

Check out the postings here:

https://osu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/OSUCareers/job/Columbus-Campus/Assistant-Professor-of-Anthropology_R158482-2

https://osu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/OSUCareers/job/Columbus-Campus/Assistant-Professor-of-Anthropology_R158466-2

08/31/2026

Huge congratulations to Ohio State Anthropology PhD Candidate Samantha Kirgesner on earning the prestigious Big Ten Academic Alliance Smithsonian Predoctoral Fellowship!

Through this fellowship at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute, Samantha will advance her dissertation research focused on ancient protein analysis. Her work aims to develop less destructive, cost-effective methods for analyzing bone fragments to differentiate human from non-human remains, providing a crucial tool to support NAGPRA compliance and assist in the repatriation process.

By pairing innovative mass spectrometry techniques with respectful bioarchaeological practices, Samantha's research is helping build a more ethical future for heritage stewardship and scientific analysis.

Way to go, Samantha! We can't wait to see the impact of your time at the Smithsonian.

Check out the full feature on Ohio State Graduate School news here:

https://gradsch.osu.edu/news/2026/08/27/ohio-state-doctoral-candidate-samantha-kirgesner-earns-prestigious-big-ten-academic

08/28/2026

New research suggests that no matter what we eventually determine the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees to be, we’ll learn it was a primate that climbed trees. Humans and chimpanzees began their separate evolutionary paths between 6 and 7 million years ago when they split from the las...

08/28/2026

A Purdue-led archaeological project in Uzbekistan is bringing together researchers from the College of Liberal Arts, College of Engineering, and College of Science to investigate how iron was produced in one of the medieval world’s most important metallurgical regions.

During this season’s excavations, the team uncovered a 1,000+-year-old iron-smelting furnace containing 600 kilograms of slag (the waste byproduct of smelting). Located in the historic region of Khorezm along major Silk Road trade networks, the site offers vital clues into how medieval steel, famous for its strength and flexibility, was produced and traded during the Islamic Golden Age.

The project draws on expertise from Purdue’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. Professor Ali Bramson and Graduate Student Sam Harris assisted the team in using Ground Penetrating Radar to identify buried features and guide future excavation. This allows researchers to locate areas of archaeological interest while minimizing disturbance to the site.

In addition, Ohio State University arcaeobotanist Sydney Hunter will examine charcoal recovered from the furnace to identify the fuel sources used in iron production and explore their environmental impacts.

Read the full feature on Purdue Liberal Arts News:

A Purdue-led archaeological project in Uzbekistan is bringing together researchers from the College of Liberal Arts, College of Engineering, and College of Science.

08/19/2026

New research from The Ohio State University Department of Anthropology sheds new light on one of the biggest questions in human evolution: How did our earliest ancestors move through the trees?

In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences based on observations of wild sooty mangabeys in Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, researchers discovered that these monkeys use an exceptionally flexible midfoot while climbing vertical tree trunks. Despite having feet that differ anatomically from chimpanzees, mangabeys achieve nearly the same climbing performance through a different biomechanical solution.

The findings suggest that early human ancestors with more monkey-like feet may also have been effective vertical climbers, offering new insight into the evolution of locomotion before habitual bipedalism.

The study was authored by Luke Fannin, incoming Assistant Professor in the OSU Department of Anthropology, Carmen Pape, a recent OSU Anthropology graduate, and Scott McGraw, Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology. Their work highlights the value of long-term field research in Taï National Park and the important contributions of undergraduate researchers to cutting-edge scientific discovery.

Congratulations to Luke, Carmen, and Scott on this exciting contribution to evolutionary anthropology!

08/13/2026

A new study published in PLOS ONE featuring the work of OSU anthropology faculty members and colleagues explores how environmental disruptions leave their mark on human tooth morphology!

By looking at individuals with documented health histories from Tezonteopan, Mexico, researchers investigated the connection between Linear Enamel Hypoplasia (LEH) (grooves or lines in enamel caused by periods of physiological stress or malnutrition during childhood) and the physical shape of permanent maxillary first molars.

What did they discover?
🦷 Stress leaves a footprint: The presence of enamel defects formed during molar development was linked to slightly larger crown sizes, decreased principal cusp spacing, and a reduction in accessory cusps (like cusp 5).

🦷 Timing is everything: Unlike past studies that looked at stress across all front teeth, focusing specifically on stress during the exact window of molar formation revealed a clearer picture of how developmental disruptions alter tooth shape.

🦷 Support for evolutionary models: The observed reduction in cusp spacing and accessory traits aligns with the Patterning Cascade Model, reinforcing that early-life environmental stress can unpredictably alter how tooth cusps form and space out.

This research adds to a growing body of work showing that tooth morphology isn't just genetic, it can reflect a complex story of human growth, environment, and early-life health!

Read the full open-access article on PLOS ONE here:

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0354698

08/10/2026

Swidden agriculture — often called “slash-and-burn” — has been practiced on every inhabited continent throughout human history, and for decades it has been blamed for the destruction of the world’s rainforests. However, a new study of more than 18,000 forest patches around the world found ...