Alumna Casey McHugh Works for USAID in Liberia

Casey McHugh (M.A. Anth-ID 2011), was recently appointed to the position of Education Program Support Specialist at USAID/Liberia. She will be providing support on the conceptualization, design, documentation, and management of USAID education assistance projects in Liberia. Previously, Casey worked in Liberia as a research assistant for Prof. Steve Lubkemann.

"art + evolution" exhibit at GW

On Monday, March 25, an exhibit opened in Smith Hall at GW. The exhibit, entitled “art + evolution: exploring the creative mind,” is the product of collaboration between the Department of Fine Arts and the Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology (CASHP), and was curated by Roxanne Goldberg and CASHP students Kes Schroer and Serena Bianchi. It explores the origins of human creativity through the work of local DC artists, and photographs taken by CASHP members during their travels and laboratory work. Monday night, Anthropology Department professor Alison Brooks inaugurated the program with a lecture on symbolism and human evolution. On Thursday, March 28, the opening reception will be held in Smith Hall (801 22nd St) between 6:00 and 8:00 pm.


The exhibit will remain open April 5.

Alumnus Hermon Farahi Is Documentary Filmmaker

Hermon Farahi (M.A. Anth-Int’l Dev. 2011) has recently returned from Mt. Everest working as a documentary filmmaker with the LoveHopeStrength cancer foundation. Farahi and his coworkers produced a series of short documentaries about their journey on Mt. Everest. You can see their daily uploads at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6mR6zcipx49k5DhD4QHeEfTA4NBLpl3c.

Publication on Running!

CASHP doctoral candidate Kevin Hatala, alumna Heather Dingwall, and Chair and Professor Brian Richmond, along with James Madison University professor Roshna Wunderlich, published a paper in PLOS One last month. The paper, entitled “Variation in Foot Strike Patterns during Running among Habitually Barefoot Populations,” discusses the strike pattern during running. The researchers carried out the project in northern Kenya with the help of the Daasanach people, who grow up barefoot. Scholars have long hypothesized that populations who grow up wearing shoes move their feet differently during walking and running than peoples who grow up without shoes. The results demonstrate that the Daasanach people strike their heel first during slow running, though they strike with the middle and front of the foot when speed increases. 

The publication is available at: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0052548

The publication was also covered by several news outlets, see the following to see their takes on this article:

23 Jan 13  New York Times, Gretchen Reynolds, "Is There One Right Way to Run?"  (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/is-there-one-right-way-to-run/)

21 Jan 13  Washington Post, Lenny Bernstein, "‘Minimalist’ running style may be undermined by new findings from Kenya."  (http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/minimalist-running-style-may-be-undermined-by-new-findings-from-kenya/2013/01/18/e1f4100c-60d2-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712_story.html)

11 Jan 13  Outside, Joe Spring, Adventure Lab, "Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Barefoot Running Form."  (http://www.outsideonline.com/blog/fitness/challenging-the-conventional-wisdom-on-barefoot-running-form.html)

10 Jan 13  Runner's World, Amby Burfoot, "New Study Reaches Different Conclusion On Kenyan Foot Strikes." (http://www.runnersworld.com/barefoot-running-minimalism/new-study-reaches-different-conclusion-kenyan-foot-strikes)

9 Jan 13  Scientific American, Katherine Harmon, "Some Barefoot Runners Tip Orthodoxy Back on Heels."  (http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2013/01/09/some-barefoot-runners-tip-orthodoxy-back-on-heels/)

9 Jan 13  Yahoo! News, Katherine Harmon, "Some Barefoot Runners Tip Orthodoxy Back on Heels." (http://news.yahoo.com/barefoot-runners-tip-orthodoxy-back-heels-223500291.html)

9 Jan 13  Science Daily, Lee Dye, "Variation Found in Foot Strike Patterns in Predominantly Barefoot Runners." (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130109185856.htm)

Alumna Alexandra Ratzlaff Receives Fulbright Award

Alexandra Ratzlaff (BA Archaeology & Classical Humanities 2003), a member of the GW excavation staff at Tel Kabri in Israel since 2005, has received a Fulbright grant to Israel for the coming academic year, to complete a research project tentatively entitled "Roman Impact on a Multi-Ethnic Region: Achziv (Ecdippa) in the Western Galilee during the Roman Period." Ms. Ratzlaff will be completing her Ph.D. in Archaeology from Boston University this spring and then using the Fulbright at the University of Haifa as a post-doctoral fellowship.