Finally, each year the university presents awards to two faculty for their contribution to international service. The Department of Anthropology is pleased to have received more of these awards per faculty capita than any department on campus. Nancy Coinman's work is currently being supported with grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society. Anthropology faculty pursue scholarly activities in various parts of the globe, ranging from central Iowa to Latin America, the Caribbean, China, Africa, and the Middle East. Research interests include such things as ethnoarchaeology of Jewish cemeteries, African indigenous knowledge systems, Levantine prehistory, lithic technologies, changing Chinese economic practices, medical decision making in rural Latin America, and comparative cultural responses to deglaciation in Poland and the US Midwest.
New hires bring in expertise in agricultural anthropology, the study of gender, and commodification.
The recent addition of a biological anthropologist has added exciting dimensions to the program in the areas of forensic anthropology and paleopathology. Prior to the beginning of the 1998 academic year the department hired a specialist in contemporary Native American culture. Anthropologists on this campus are rigorous practitioners of integrating research and teaching. Countless ISU students have benefited from close association with anthropology faculty research endeavors. Through a process of summer field schools and occasional employment opportunities resulting from contracts and grants, over the years Joseph Tiffany and Nancy Coinman have given students the opportunity to participate in archaeological excavations.