Research
The department’s faculty conduct research in a variety of areas related to anthropology, including material culture studies, heritage management, bioarchaeology, primatology and historical archaeology. Students often participate in these research projects as part of their coursework or as invited by faculty members. These research projects result in presentations at Sonoma State research symposia and at regional and national professional conferences, and in publications in peer-reviewed venues.
Anthropological Studies Center Projects
Professor of Anthropology Thomas Whitley is the director of the Anthropological Studies Center. Since 1974, the ASC has helped private companies, Tribal Nations, and government agency clients comply with laws and regulations related to archaeological sites and historic buildings. Students in the Cultural Heritage and Resources Management M.S. program, as well as Anthropology majors, regularly participate in internships and practica at the ASC.
Research at the Sonoma Developmental Center Cemetery
Since 2022, an interdisciplinary research team led by Anthropology and Human Development faculty has conducted community-based research at the "Home Cemetery" of the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC). For over 125 years, the SDC served residents who today would be described as intellectually or developmentally disabled. More than 1,900 of them were buried in the cemetery between 1892 and 1960; shortly thereafter, the gravemarkers were removed, largely erasing it from the visible landscape. More than two dozen SSU undergraduate and graduate students have helped collect, analyze, and interpret evidence from the cemetery using non-invasive archaeological methods, historical methods, and digital technologies.
Read more about the Sonoma Developmental Center Cemetery project
Santa Rosa Neighborhood Heritage Mapping Project
Professor Emerita Margie Purser runs the Santa Rosa Neighborhood Heritage Mapping Project. The project is a broad-based community engagement program that works with the city’s existing neighborhoods to create an interactive digital map of sites, places and stories important to the people who live there. After the 2017 Tubbs Fire, the Project began capturing the stories of residents whose lives and communities were forever transformed by the fires. This research was featured in Santa Rosa’s sesquicentennial celebrations in September 2018, and in exhibits at the History Museum of Sonoma County and the Santa Rosa Arts Center.