Andrew Weitz, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Western Washington University. Dr. Weitz completed his PhD in Integrative Biology in 2018 at the University of California, Berkeley. He completed his BS in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 2011 at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Dr. Weitz also completed postdoctoral research appointments at ETH Zürich (2019) and at Western Washington University (2023) prior to joining the Department of Anthropology.

Dr. Marianne Brasil is a biological anthropologist who studies skeletal evolution and variation in humans and monkeys. Her research spans work in the field, museum, and lab to investigate human origins. She is thrilled to be joining the vibrant faculty in the Anthropology Department at Western in the fall of this year, and is excited to work with Western students and welcome them into her lab! 

Dr. Natalie Baloy is a cultural anthropologist and new faculty member in the WWU Department of Anthropology. Natalie earned her PhD at the University of British Columbia, where she studied urban settler colonialism in Vancouver, BC. Prior to joining the department, Natalie completed a postdoc at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and worked as the Associate Director of Canada House Programs at WWU (the Border Policy Research Institute, the Center for Canadian-American Studies, and the Salish Sea Institute). 

Dr. Mariangela Mihai is a sociocultural and visual anthropologist and filmmaker whose work builds on decolonial, intersectional feminists, and sensory ethnographic methods to understand Christian Indigenous resistance on the India-Bangladesh-Myanmar borderlands. She served as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Global Media and Film, in the Culture and Politics Program (CULP) at Georgetown, an interdisciplinary program that focuses on questions of power and inequality, globally. Her interdisciplinary and multimodal research, transnational teaching and activism, and  long-term commitment to engaged pedagogy and public scholarship have led her to this position, as an Assistant Professor in Anthropology at WWU.

Dr. Jerald Ek Romero(Jerry) is an archaeologist with research interests in community-based participatory research, indigenizing archaeology, human-environmental interactions, and political economy. After spending most of his career focusing on the Maya Lowlands region of Mesoamerica, he has shifted focus to the Salish Sea region. 

2024 Outstanding Student Research Award Recipients:

Students receive awards and recognition at the annual Anthropology Scholars Week Conference 

Jada Love  - The Fibers of Knowing: Coast Salish Weaving and Ontology:

Marcelina Mendoza-Feliciano - Lesson Plan for Skin Color and Color in Mixteco

Kendall Welch - Social Media Warriors: The Use of Social Media as a Weapon in War

2024 Outstanding Graduate Award Recipients from the Anthropology Department

Ashelyn Holm representing excellence in the Anthropology with an Archaeology Focus track.  

 Raven Borsey representing excellence in the Cultural Anthropology track.

 Denny Boettcher representing excellence in the Biological Anthropology track. 

The WWU Anthropology Department was proudly represented by our students, faculty, and emeritus at the 77th Annual Northwest Archaeological Conference in Portland, OR this year with high conference attendance by our Archaeology Focus Undergrads and a multitude of presentations.

Professor Monson traveled to multiple conferences in 2023, including the recent American Association of Biological Anthropology meetings in Reno, NV to present her paper:

2022. Tesla Monson. Teeth, prenatal growth rates, and the evolution of human-like pregnancy in later Homo. Anthropology

ANTH 476 Borderlands

In this experiential bioregional course that includes local field trips, students examine histories, politics, and lived experiences of the land and marine borders of the Salish Sea and across the continent. Students compare and contrast our region's border stories with borderlands around the world. Professor Natalie Baloy

Museology Internship ANTH 470

ANTH 470 is designed to expose students to the workings and issues of museums through "hands-on" experience, readings, and written work. 

ANTH 312 Field Course in Archaeology

The x̌ʷiq̓ʷix̌ʷalqʷuʔ (Blue Water) Archaeological Project is a community-based participatory research program designed to reorient archaeological practice to address the concerns of indigenous communities and promote greater inclusiveness in perspectives, accessibility, and representation in our field. Professor Jerry Ek serves as a co-director with three colleagues from the Stillaguamish Tribe's Cultural Department. The formation of this project involved the reorientation of the WWU Archaeological Field School as an Indigenous-led program centered on local knowledge, tribal research priorities, capacity building, and promotion of unmitigated Indigenous sovereignty over intellectual property. The first season of this new partnership was an unmitigated success, and we will build on the foundation created this summer in 2023 and beyond.