Graduate Anthropology Faculty

Dr. Christopher W. Schmidt
Professor & Chair of Anthropology
Director of Bioarchaeology Laboratory
317-788-2103
cschmidt@uindy.edu
Areas of Expertise
biological anthropology and Eastern Woodlands archaeology
Background
Dr. Schmidt received his PhD from Purdue University in 1998. As director of the Bioarchaeology Laboratory, Dr. Schmidt is active in his field and works to get his students involved in fieldwork and research. He has published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology , the Journal of Forensic Science and Indiana Archeology. He is a former President of the Indiana Archaeology Council. In 2003, Dr. Schmidt led the excavation of a site that dates to around 10,000 years ago and includes the remains of a mastodon. He is particularly interested in seeing how diet affects the human body in terms of overall health and body size. He reconstructs diet by studying the diseases, overall wear and microscopic wear (i.e., microwear) on human teeth. Once a population's diet is reconstructed he then documents the condition of the rest of the skeleton to see how through time certain pathological conditions (like bone disorders and trauma) are associated with each dietary regime early people had.
Dr. Schmidt's current research focuses on reconstructing lifeways for the earliest inhabitants of Indiana. He has studied pre-contact populations from throughout the state and led excavations at sites dating from 1,000 to over 5,000 years old.
Research Interests
Dental anthropology; skeletal biology; dietary reconstruction; subsistence; and human-paleofauna interactions
Education
PhD, Purdue University

Dr. Krista E. Latham
Professor of Biology & Anthropology
Director, Human Identification Center
317-788-2060
lathamke@uindy.edu
Areas of Expertise
molecular and forensic anthropology
Background
Dr. Latham recently co-edited a book entitled Age Estimation of the Human Skeleton, which compiles different techniques used to estimate age at death of the skeleton. She is a Board Certified Forensic Anthropologist (D-ABFA) and currently serves as a Consulting Forensic Anthropologist for police, coroners and pathologists in the Midwestern United States and has delivered numerous lectures for state and local agencies around the country. Dr. Latham also serves as a DNA Expert in the U.S. Federal Court System.
Research Interests
investigation of different aspects of skeletal biology; population genetics; skeletal DNA
Education
- PhD, Anthropology, Temple University
- MA, Anthropology, Temple University
- MS, Human Biology, University of Indianapolis
- BS, Biology, University of North Texas
Fun fact
Favorite food is nachos
Favorite thing about UIndy
The people!

Dr. Christopher R. Moore
Professor of Anthropology
317-788-3534
moorecr@uindy.edu
Areas of Expertise
Midwestern and Southeastern pre-contact archaeology; hunter-gatherer archaeology; Spanish Mission period archaeology; Midwestern historic archaeology; lithics and ceramics analysis; bone tools analysis; geoarchaeology; archaeological theory
Background
Dr. Moore received his PhD in anthropology from the University of Kentucky in 2011, where he studied the organization of production of the stone and bone tool technologies of the Kentucky Green River Archaic. During this time he began investigations into the location of the Spanish mission on Sapelo Island, Georgia, with Dr. Richard Jefferies. Dr. Moore has published in several peer-reviewed journals, including World Archaeology, Journal of Social Archaeology , Southeastern Archaeology, North American Archaeologist, and the Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology. He is qualified as a Principal Investigator in the State of Indiana and works closely with archaeologists from the Indiana State Museum. He is also a Chairman of the Board of the Indiana Archaeology Council, Indiana's statewide organization of professional archaeologists.
Research Interests
Dr. Moore's research interests are many and varied. His continuing interest in hunter-gatherer archaeology led him to the work of Tim Ingold and explorations into how a dwelling perspective of Archaic cultures can inform us about hunter-gatherer lifeworlds, materiality and ritual practices. This research has led him to an interest in public archaeology and the public dissemination of archaeological knowledge. His work at the Baum's Landing Site is an outgrowth of this interest. Dr. Moore's commitment to archaeology in the Hoosier state has led him to an interest in landscape archaeology in Carroll County and the study of Fort Ancient cultures in Southeastern Indiana. Finally, he is co-director of a collaborative University of Kentucky and University of Indianapolis research project investigating the Spanish Mission period in Georgia, where he is researching the social roles of material culture in multiethnic communities. Access many of Dr. Moore's publications and learn more about him.
Education
- PhD, Anthropology, University of Kentucky
- MA, Anthropology, University of Kentucky
- BS, Archaeology/Anthropology, University of Indianapolis
Fun fact
Recently Dr. Moore has found ways to integrate two of his passions - archaeology and craft beer - and will be teaching a course on the Archaeology of Beer, Wine & Spirits in 2019.
Favorite thing about UIndy
The emphasis on student-faculty collaboration, and the number of strong undergraduate and graduate students who participate in these collaborations.

Dr. Alyson J. O'Daniel
Associate Dean of Shaheen College of Arts and Sciences
Associate Professor of Anthropology
317-788-8020
odaniela@uindy.edu
Areas of Expertise
ethnography of North America; medical anthropology; social and political contexts of health; intersections among race, class and gender
Background
Dr. O'Daniel's current research focuses on the survival experiences of low-income African American women living with HIV disease in urban North Carolina. This work has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the University of Indianapolis, and the results have been published in such journals as Transforming Anthropology and Human Organization.
Research Interests
health care policy; economic globalization; HIV/AIDS; health disparities and health care inequality; lived experiences of inequality
Education
- PhD, Anthropology, University of Kentucky
- MA, Anthropology, University of Denver
- BA, Anthropology, Indiana University
Fun facts
Dr. O'Daniel is passionate about nutrition as a form of health care, and her favorite author is Margaret Atwood.
Favorite thing about UIndy
The students, of course!
Emeritus Faculty

Dr. Gregory A. Reinhardt
Professor & Chair of Anthropology
reinhardt@uindy.edu
Areas of Expertise
native cultures of the American Arctic, Inuit dwellings, visual stereotyping of American Indians, photography
Background
Dr. Reinhardt has published research in all four areas of Anthropology: cultural anthropology, biological anthropology, anthropological linguistics and archaeology. Fieldwork includes archaeology in California and Alaska and linguistics in California. He was funded for a three-year, $400,000 Alaskan archaeology project through Bryn Mawr College and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Reinhardt co-wrote Eskimo Architecture: Dwelling and Structure in Early Historic Period (2003), which in 2004 was named one of the American Library Association's "Best of the Best from the University Presses." He also co-edited the book, Many Faces of Gender: Roles and Relationships Through Time in Indigenous Northern Communities (2002), and is currently writing two books: Depicting Indians: Visual Fantasies about America's Favorite Peoples and Technical Photography: Taking Superb Color Photos for Presentation and Publication.
Research Interests
General anthropology; archaeology; lab & field methods; North American forager cultures; misrepresentations of American Indians; vernacular architecture; gender
Education
- PhD, Anthropology, UCLA
- MA, Anthropology, UCLA
- BA, Anthropology, UCLA
Fun facts
Collects images of American Indians from eBay
Favorite thing about UIndy
Personal contact with the students he teaches
Affiliated Faculty

Dr. John H. Langdon
Professor of Biology & Anthropology
317-788-3447
langdon@uindy.edu
Areas of Expertise
human evolution; human anatomy; human biology
Background
Dr. Langdon has written three books, The Human Strategy: An Evolutionary Perspective on Human Anatomy (Oxford University Press), Human Dissection for the Allied Health Sciences (Little, Brown), and Functional Morphology of the Miocene Hominoid Foot (S. Karger), and co-edited a fourth, The Natural History of Paradigms (University of Indianapolis Press). He is currently working on a project to reconstruct the human biological history of Franklin County, IN.
Research Interests
historical demography; human biology; human evolution; functional and evolutionary morphology; history and development of paleoanthropology; evolution of human behavior; history and process of the natural sciences
Education
- PhD, Anthropology, Yale University
- MPhil, Anthropology, Yale University
- BA, Anthropology, Harvard University
Fun fact
Appears to be the go-to skeptic on the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis for journalists around the world
Favorite thing about UIndy
The opportunity to mentor a graduate student through a thesis and into a doctoral program

Dr. Stephen P. Nawrocki
Professor of Biology
Honorary Professor of Anatomy, University of Pretoria, South Africa
317-788-3486
snawrocki@uindy.edu
Areas of Expertise
skeletal biology; forensic anthropology; human taphonomy; osteoarchaeology; skeletal age estimation; biostatistics; historic cemeteries
Background
Dr. Nawrocki has taught full-time at the University of Indianapolis since 1991, where he is currently a tenured professor of Biology and Anthropology. One of only a few dozen board-certified forensic anthropologists in North America, Dr. Nawrocki has served as a consultant on hundreds of human remains cases in Indiana and Illinois and has delivered numerous lectures at educational seminars around the country. In 1999, Dr. Nawrocki was named "Teacher of the Year" at the University of Indianapolis, where he also received the Brooker Teaching Award for the Sciences in 1993. Dr. Nawrocki has authored several books and has published in journals including the Journal of Forensic Sciences and Florida Anthropologist.
Research Interests
Dr. Nawrocki's research interests include the analysis and identification of human skeletons, environmental processes affecting buried and scattered bones (taphonomy), and evidence recovery from outdoor crime scenes (forensic archaeology)
Education
- PhD, Anthropology, State University of New York at Binghamton
- MA, Anthropology, State University of New York at Binghamton
- BA, Anthropology & Psychology, University of Maine at Orono
Fun fact
In his spare time, Dr. Nawrocki plays guitar in his church band and enjoys birding and hiking with his family