Will Moreau Goins (BA 1984) receives Lifetime Achievement Award

William Goins (BA 1984) has received a Lifetime Achievement Award in the Arts from State of South Carolina. In April, 2008, he also received the Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award, an annual award presented by the South Carolina General Assembly.

An author, activist, educator, recording artist, community leader, crafts artist, Will Moreau Goins is an active member of the state's arts community. In the tradition of Iroquois and Cherokee orators, Goins is a well-known and requested presenter. "As our most requested speaker, Dr. Goins reached thousands of South Carolinians, from students to senior citizens, presenting on a variety of folk heritage and humanities topics...Dr. Goins is an excellent historian, a strong speaker, and a passionate advocate of the arts," added Randy Ankers, executive director of the SC Humanities Council.

"Goins's knowledge is deep and his professionalism in unmatched..I can think of no more worthy recipient for this award than Dr. Will Moreau Goins," stated Ed Bolt, site manager, Pickens County Museum Hagood Historic Site.

Goins has dedicated his life honoring all his ancestors and preserving, presenting and performing Native American music traditions, beadwork and storytelling. "He is an accomplished artist a tireless community activist and certainly a constant promoter of art. He is, in my view, a valuable asset to the state of South Carolina, his Native people, and the arts," said Rep. Joseph H. Neal of South Carolina's general assembly.

Alumni Publications and Presentations

Peggy Fleming (MA Anth 1969) has published two books featuring her photographs: In Her Place and Small Town in the Big City. They can be viewed on her website, http://www.peggyflemingphotographer.com/.

Michelle H. Raxter (MA Anth 2004) is lead author of an article ("Stature estimation in ancient Egyptians: A new technique based on anatomical reconstruction of stature") published online in February, 2008, by the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

Presenting at this year's AAA meetings were Akiko Sawamoto (MA Anth-Development 2001) and Jessica Falcone (MA International Development Studies with a concentration in Anthropology 2002). Both have received doctorates, Akiko from Columbia University in Education and Anthropology, Jessica from Cornell in Anthropology.

Hope Williams (MA Anth 2005) was a coauthor of an October, 2007, article in Nature on "Early human use of marine resources and pigment in South Africa during the Middle Pleistocene." She is a student in Arizona State University's School of Human Evolution and Social Change.

Alumni Go On for Advanced Degrees

Graduate Study by Alumni

• Doris (Grage) Duangboudda, (MA-ID 2005) will be attending UC Davis' PhD program in anthropology


• Bonnie (Richard) Dixson (MA-MT 2007) will be attending UCLA's Anthropology PhD program


• Chris Bloechl (MA 2007) will be attending the University of Chicago's PhD program in Anthropology


• Robyn Le Blanc (BA Arch/Classics/History 2008) will be attending the UNC's PhD program in Classical Archaeology


• Jessica Calvanico (BA 2008) will be attending the University of Chicago's Master of Arts Program in Social Sciences


• Savannah Fetterolf (BA 2008) will be attending Columbia University's Master of Arts in Museum Anthropology


• Nadia Rahman (MA-ID 2008) will be attending Oxford University's PhD Program in Anthropology


• Harris Greenberg (BA Arch 2005) received his MA from University College London's Program in Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology

Jane B. Hart Awards Honor Undergraduates

At its annual May commencement celebration, the Department announced the 2008 winners of the Jane B. Hart Awards for Academic Achievement and Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis.

Congratulations to Lucy Jickling (Anthropology), Sneh Patel (Archaeology), and Lance Levenson (Biological Anthropology) for having the highest GPAs within their majors.

Congratulations to Jessica Calvanico (Anthropology), Robyn Le Blanc (Archaeology), Lance Levenson (Biological Anthropology), and Lia Schwartz (Biological Anthropology) for writing honors theses of exceptional merit.

Jane B. Hart, an anthropology alumna and former astronaut, generously created an endowment to support anthropology at GW. Starting in 2004, part of the money has been used for student awards. Names of all winners to date are at http://www.gwu.edu/~anth/ugrad/hartawards.cfm.

Prof. Miller Wins Teaching Prize and Gives Charge

Prof. Barbara Miller, professor of anthropology and international affairs and director of the Elliott School’s Culture in Global Affairs Research and Policy Program, was awarded this year’s Harry Harding Teaching Prize by the Elliott School. She was also asked to give the charge to graduates at the Elliott School graduation in May, 2008.

The prize, named for Harry Harding, University professor of international affairs and dean of the Elliott School from 1995 to 2005, is awarded to a member of the faculty who has demonstrated sustained excellence in teaching and who has made extraordinary contributions to the education of Elliott School students.

"The best part of my day is when I am in the classroom," said Miller. "Interacting with our students is energizing and uplifting, because they have traveled to so many places, are interested in so many issues, and aspire to achieve so much."

In her charge, Miller offered the graduates five pieces of advice: "Don’t ever stop asking questions, do not fear failure, keep improving your basic skills, have fun and take care of yourself, and be great."

Congratulations Profs. Feldman, Merritt and Vlach!

Prof. Ilana Feldman's book, Governing Gaza: Bureaucracy, Authority, and the Work of Rule, 1917-1967, has been issued by Duke University Press. It is a study of Gaza under British and Egyptian rule, illuminating how government administration carried on in an atmosphere of continual crisis. The work is based on two years of ethnographic research with retired civil servants in Gaza and on archival research in Gaza, Cairo, Jerusalem, and London.

Prof. Marilyn Merritt was awarded the first-place prize in the 2008 Ethnographic Poetry Competition, sponsored by the Society for Humanistic Anthropology, for her poems “Waiting for a Young Poet in Niamey" and "Dakar Rhythms of Ramadan." All winning poems will be published in the Society's journal, Anthropology and Humanism.

On April 4, 2008, Prof. John Michael Vlach delivered the keynote address to the 40th meeting of the Louisiana Folklore Society, which was held at the University of New Orleans. In his speech "Shotgun Houses: Their Future 35 Years Later," he reviewed his path breaking research on the history of Louisiana's distinctive vernacular housing. Given that thousands of shotgun houses were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, the future of this 200 year old form is at risk as new modern (and alien) replacements are beginning to take their place. If not studied carefully, the shotgun house tradition may be lost within a few decades.

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