Research Opportunities and Awards

Undergraduate Grant and Fellowship Awards

The Lloyd A. Fallers Fund for Undergraduate Anthropological Research

Made possible by a generous donation from alumnus Dale F. Eickelman

Formerly The Foundation for Advancement of Anthropology and History Summer Research Grants

2023:

  • Halpern, Seraphina
  • Lyu, Echo
  • Mazidabadifarahani, Navid

2020:

  • Balderas, Emilio: Space-Time, Race-Time: System Impacted Theories of Time (Faculty Sponsor: Brotherton)
  • Burton, Miles: Occupying a Nation in Defeat: General Whitney's Airway & A Jeep Over Bumpy Roads (Faculty Sponsor:  Gal & Kelly)
  • Cooper, Jordan: Contemporary Indigenous Activists in Bolivia. The State & Colonialism (Faculty Sponsor: Jobson)
  • Gonzales, Adriana: Black Geographies in Borikén (Puerto Rico) and the Caribbean (Faculty Sponsor: Jobson)
  • Morgan, Hunter: Rails of Change: The Eco-Aesthetics of Economic Transformation in Chicago's Millennium Park (Faculty Sponsor: Gal)
  • Solorio, Camrick: MOGRA's Transnational Music Communities in Tokyo, Japan (Faculty Sponsor: Fisch)
  • Standa, Jacob: A Genealogical Critique of Geertzian Approaches to the Study of 'Javanese Religion' (Faculty Sponsor: Palmié)
  • Tan, Samuel: Professionalizing the Hustle Among Entrepreneurial Singaporean Youth (Faculty Sponsor: Nakassis)

Bienecke Scholarship

  • Amanda Chacón, UC ‘24 
  • Adriana G. Gonzales, UC ‘21  

Fullbright Grantee

  • Sarah Fineman, Taiwan, English Teaching Assistant Award, UC ‘20

IIE Fulbright US Student Program

  • Andres Cruz Leland, UC ‘20

Pozen Center for Human Rights Dr. Aizik Wolf Post-Baccalaureate Fellowship

  • Michelle Mu Yang, UC ‘20

Pozen Center Human Rights BA Fellow

  • Emilio Eduardo Balderas, UC '21
Undergraduate Prizes

The Department annually awards two prizes for the best undergraduate honor's thesis papers in sociocultural/linguistic and archaeological/physical anthropology.

Lichtstern BA Essay Prize

(Social Cultural/Linguistic Anthropology)

  • 2023 Sydney Knight: "In Pursuit of 'Clean Water': An analysis of counterculture, diet, and escapism on a commune in Hawai'i"; Faculty Sponsors: Winchell and Palmiè
  • 2023 Nicole Zhong: "Connections on the Line: Community Care Within Suicide Hotlines in Hong Kong"; Faculty Sponsors: Takabvirwa and Ma
  • 2020 Sophia Fisher: "Caring for the Hyperobject: Climate Change and Confusion Among University of Chicago Undergraduates" 
  • 2019 Elena Peterman: “Managing the Biocultural: Nature, Knowledge, and Governance in the Oaxacan Forestry Sector”
  • 2019 Kathryn Yin: “Becoming Tree: Toward a Transductive Politics of Virtual Reality”

Dahlberg BA Essay Prize 

(Archaeology/Physical Anthropology)

  • 2023 Jacky Xiyuan: "Tillya Tepe: Constructing Identities on Cultural Crossroads"
    Faculty Sponsors: Newman and Stein
  • 2020 Iris Jacobs: "Taking the Skeletons Out of the Closet: Contested Authority and Human Remains Displays in the Anthroplogy Museum"  
  • 2019 Henry Bacha: “Resistance through Re-Articulation: The Extirpation of Idolatries Campaigns and the Rise of the Cult of the Saints in Cusco, Peru”
Anthropology Undergraduate Research Symposium

At the end of each academic year the department hosts a symposium where graduating seniors with a major in Anthropology (double majors and BA/MAPSS students included) can present their research in a professional setting and gain conference experience. The event is open to the entire university community and is followed by a department celebration attended by faculty, majors, and graduate students.