NEW BEGINNINGS
Often people celebrate spring as a moment for new beginnings, but in our University it is fall when the cycle begins anew. Here at UCSB Anthropology it gives us great pleasure to reconvene and see each other again, to share experiences of research conducted over the summer, and to welcome new students and colleagues to our community. Hundreds of undergraduate students from all disciplines are getting a glimpse of something new by taking our Introductory courses in our three subfield specializations: sociocultural anthropology; biocultural anthropology and archaeology. We are thrilled to share our unique perspective with them, one that blends a deep respect for difference and diversity with a theoretically-informed and data-driven effort to identify wider biological, social, cultural and historical patterns. Some of these undergraduate students will join us as majors in our department, along with many transfer students. We welcome you all! Ten graduate students from around California, the United States and the world are entering the first year of our MA/PhD program, and they bring their knowledge and experience to enrich our discussions. Finally, we have the good fortune and honor that a new colleague has chosen to join our Department – Assistant Professor Nicole Thompson-González. Dr. Thompson-González's cutting-edge research and teaching in primate biology, behavior and health builds on our shared expertise in the Department and contributes across the subfields of our discipline. It is an exciting time of renewal in our Department, and we invite you to participate.