This time of year is absolutely my favorite at the University of Washington. The start of Spring Quarter and the blossom of the cherry trees are but two ways this campus springs to life once again. And after two busy quarters, much has come to fruition in the Department of Anthropology as well. In this issue of AnthropoLog we highlight a number of these wonderful developments.
It is with great excitement that I share the news that two of our colleagues have received promotions. Sociocultural anthropologist Sasha Welland is an internationally recognized feminist scholar whose work draws upon many disciplines, including anthropology, women studies, art, history, literature and Asian American Studies. Her most recent book, Experimental Beijing, is a groundbreaking ethnography of Chinese artists and the contemporary art world, delving into the history and social responses to the marginalization of women artists in China. Archaeologist Marcos Llobera is one of the world’s leading innovators of computational methods for the analysis of archaeological data. His prime area of interest is in landscape archaeology, a field that investigates the interaction between people and the environments in which they lived. Both Sasha and Marcos will be promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure next September. We could not be more thrilled to have these incredibly generous and accomplished scholars as our colleagues.
A number of other transitions among our faculty and staff are featured in this edition of AnthropoLog. Additionally, we feature activities and accomplishments of our graduate students, who play a vital role in contributing to the vibrant intellectual community in our department. Our graduate students continue to be incredibly successful in conducting exciting, cutting edge field research. For many, this work requires obtaining grant or fellowship support, and as you will see, they have been having tremendous success. Pilot research, funded by our generous donors, contributes in no small way to this success. We extend our sincere thanks to those of you who have donated to support graduate student research, as well as our other funds.
As ever, we remain most eager to stay in touch with all our friends of anthropology. Our e-newsletter is just one way we hope to stay in touch. Our website also lists events that we encourage you to attend, if possible, and has links for making donations. The website also features news, and we welcome our alumni to share items that we might post. We welcome your continued involvement, and thank you for your interest and support.
Best,
Bettina