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Kurnick, Sarah

Associate Professor

Positions

Research Areas research areas

Research

research overview

  • Sarah Kurnick is an anthropological archaeologist studying ancient Maya peoples. Her research focuses on the creation, perpetuation, and negation of institutionalized social inequality and political authority, and her primary interests include the role of the past in shaping the political present and how archaeology can foster positive social change. Since 2014, she has co-directed a community archaeology project at the site of Punta Laguna in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. She has received grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society among other organizations, and has held a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship from the University of Colorado Boulder and a Research Fellowship from the Gerda Henkel Foundation.

keywords

  • Anthropological Archaeology, The Maya, Community Archaeology, Political Authority, Inequality

Publications

selected publications

Teaching

courses taught

  • ANTH 1140 - Exploring a Non-Western Culture: The Maya
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2020 / Fall 2020 / Fall 2021 / Fall 2022 / Fall 2023
    Explores the culture of the Maya of Central America, emphasizing their material adaptations, social organizations, ideals and values, and artistic achievements in the past and the present.
  • ANTH 1155 - Exploring Global Cultural Diversity
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2024
    Examines the geography, kinship, politics and religious values of various cultures globally in historical and contemporary context through an anthropological perspective. Check with department for semester offerings. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours.
  • ANTH 4020 - Explorations in Anthropology
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2019
    Special topics in cultural and physical anthropology, as well as archaeology. Check with the department for semester offerings. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours. Same as ANTH 5020.
  • ANTH 4235 - Landscape Archaeology
    Primary Instructor - Fall 2021 / Fall 2023
    Explores how humans and the environment have influenced each other throughout history. Considers what landscapes are, how archaeologists study them, and why such study is important. Examines the most prominent theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of landscapes and explores a series of different types of landscapes, including sacred landscapes, political landscapes, and landscapes of movement. Previously offered as a special topics course. Recommended prerequisite: ANTH 2200.
  • ANTH 4465 - The Archaeology of Inequality
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2021 / Fall 2022
    Examines the theoretical and archaeological literature to understand how inequality develops, how it is maintained over time, and how it is negated. Presents an understanding of, and critically evaluates, the most prominent paradigms for understanding socially unequal relationships, and considers the vital role archaeology plays in understanding inequality.
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Background

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geographic focus

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