The past year was a tumultuous one for many in our community, for higher education, and for the world.
Here in the Anthropology Department, we persisted through all of this year’s challenges by doing what we do best: continuing to build an empathetic and ethical community committed to the advancement of knowledge in pursuit of human wellbeing.
The Department of Anthropology at Northwestern has long been marked by the personality of its founder, Melville Herskovits. Herskovits came to Northwestern in 1927 as an Assistant Professor in the Sociology Department. It was more than ten years later, after his promotion to full professor, that he founded the anthropology department in 1938.
This year, the Department of Anthropology was excited to announce the launch of the Herskovits Prize for Best Dissertation in Africanist Anthropology, to be housed at Northwestern.
As the 2025-26 academic year comes to a close, Northwestern finds itself in the unenviable position of bidding farewell to beloved colleague Mary Weismantel. On May 14, a beautiful retirement celebration served as a sendoff, replete with a live Andean band and moving tributes from faculty across the university. Mary kindly shared a few reflections on her intellectual trajectory, time at Northwestern, and next big adventure.
Our Department has a strong commitment to providing and fostering innovative research opportunities for undergraduates. Doris Warriner's ongoing research with WCAS sophomore, Volodymyr Sobko, is an impressive example of this type of collaboration.
Our world today is ever-changing and Anthropology provides a cross-cultural analysis and better understanding of diversities and inequalities worldwide. Understanding cultural, biological, archaeological, and linguistic differences and similarities is central to everything we do. Graduates, we applaud you! We are eager to see what you will do in the years to come!
Our graduate students continue to be stellar intellectually, professionally, and personally. The past two years have been a true test of resilience for us all. Despite these clear challenges, our graduate community has continued to grow stronger. Support networks between students as well as mentorship relationships between students and faculty have developed in new ways, and our shared determination to find viable ways forward creates a sense of hope even on the hardest days.
Cedar Turner graduated from Northwestern University in 2024 with a BA in Cultural Anthropology along with a Minor in German and BM in Oboe Performance. In this interview, they reflect on their time at NU and share a bit about what their life looks like post-grad.
Lisa Overholtzer received their PhD from Northwestern University in 2012. They are currently Associate Professor of Anthropology and William Dawson Chair at McGill University, as well as the Graduate Program Director. In this interview, they reflect on their time at NU and share a bit about what their life looks now.
The Department of Anthropology's faculty and and postdoctoral fellows have received several notable awards and honors over the last year.
One of the highlights of our spring quarter was the May 13th Investiture celebrating our own Dr. Shalini Shankar as the Stanley G. Harris Endowed Professor in the Social Sciences. This honor recognizes Shalini’s extraordinary scholarship and her immense contributions in teaching and mentoring here at Northwestern.
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