People in what is now Washington state were smoking Rhus glabra, a plant commonly known as smooth sumac, more than 1,400 years ago. The discovery, made by a team of WSU researchers, marks the first-time scientists have identified residue from a non-tobacco plant in an archeological pipe. “The research casts doubt on the commonly held […]
When it comes to the great civilizations of human history, the pen really might have been mightier than the sword. “There’s a fundamental relationship that exists between the way in which societies process information and how large they are able to become,” said Tim Kohler, WSU an archaeologist and a corresponding author of an international […]
Anthropology instructor Jack McNassar is the recipient of this year’s Excellence in Online Teaching Award. The student-nominated honor, now in its fourth year, acknowledges WSU Global Campus faculty members who engage, inspire, support, and show care for their students. “Professor McNassar continually inspired me and the other students in
Fifteen faculty and graduate student researchers from multiple colleges and campuses across the University recently joined forces to form the WSU COVID‑19 Infant, Maternal, and Family Health Research Collaborative. Spanning a variety of disciplines, including biological sciences, anthropology, and psychology, the collective already has a half dozen studies lined up to address critical questions related […]
Some of the most common mental disorders, including depression, anxiety and PTSD, might not be disorders at all, according to a recent paper by WSU biological anthropologists. The researchers propose a new approach to mental illness that would be informed by human evolution, noting that modern psychology, and in particular its use of drugs like […]
Areas of the planet home to one-third of humans will become as hot as the hottest parts of the Sahara within 50 years, unless greenhouse gas emissions fall, according to research by scientists from China, United States (at WSU) and Europe The rapid heating would mean that 3.5 billion people would live outside the climate […]
Responding to the global need for more skilled professionals in health, social and environmental sciences, and public policy, the College of Arts and Sciences will launch an interdisciplinary degree in human biology this fall. The new degree is designed for rigorous study in the natural and social sciences, and will be unique in Washington state […]
The discovery of the oldest tattooing artifact in western North America earned a WSU PhD student international acclaim from the likes of National Geographic, the Smithsonian, and the New York Times. Now, faculty, staff, and students will have the opportunity to learn firsthand about the ancient implement and the Ancestral Pueblo people of Southeastern Utah […]
WSU researchers Tiffany Fulkerson and Shannon Tushingham set out to determine how a rapidly evolving demographic and professional landscape is influencing the production and dissemination of knowledge in American archaeology. Their study, published in American Antiquity in July, found that women, who now make up half of all archaeologists in North America, and professionals working […]
WSU Vancouver cultural anthropology student Emma R. Johnson will spend the summer in the office of U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, serving as the university’s first Udall Native American Congressional intern. “On May 29, I’m scheduled to board a plane headed to Washington, D.C., and soon I’ll be at work in the senator’s office learning first-hand how […]