NIU Today

What evidence did runaway slaves leave behind at an Underground Railroad station? What tools help an archaeologist uncover and identify that evidence? Is slavery itself an historic artifact? These are just a few of the questions posed to visitors in “Trowels and Fair Trade: Revealing the Underground Railroad and Contemporary Slavery.” This new exhibition at the...

An international team of paleontologists that includes Northern Illinois University anthropologist Dan Gebo is announcing the discovery of a nearly complete, articulated skeleton of a new tiny, tree-dwelling primate dating back 55 million years. The Eocene Epoch fossil was recovered from Hubei Province in central China. “This is the oldest primate skeleton of this quality...

After years of deterioration and a dubious two-decade reign atop NIU’s capital budget request list, the Stevens Building is drawing nearer to its long-awaited transformation. Construction will begin after Jan. 1, 2014, following an environmental survey planned for early in the fall and the letting of bids in October. First, though, the two departments that...

A literacy expert who has developed strong partnerships with area schools and an anthropologist whose work in Southeast Asia has earned her the trust of both villagers and government officials are this year’s NIU Presidential Engagement Professors. Laurie Elish-Piper of the Department of Literacy Education and Andrea Molnar of the Department of Anthropology were chosen...

Experience the music and dance traditions of Peru during a free performance scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday, April 27, at Conexión Comunidad, 637 N. 11th St. in DeKalb. The Peruvian Folk Dance Center of Chicago will perform traditional dances in concert with Peruvian music played by Guitarra, Cajon y Zampona. This free community event is...

Sarah Bexell is one of very few American conservationist researchers who have had the opportunity to work on panda conservation in China at the Chengdu Panda Base. This honor is by invitation only from the Chinese government and is reserved for exceptional candidates who stand out in their fields. Bexell is just that: an exceptional...

NIU will host the 41st annual Midwest Conference on Andean and Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory this weekend. The meeting will take place Saturday, Feb. 23, and Sunday, Feb. 24, in Cole Hall, recently remodeled to include the NIU Anthropology Museum. In conjunction with the meeting, there will be an exhibit on Andean traditions; weekend hours...

Leila Porter, an NIU professor of anthropology, is up to some serious monkey business. She spent last summer in a Bolivian rain forest, tracking and catching some very peculiar primates known as saddle-back tamarins, before releasing them back into the wild. The squirrel-sized monkeys, from the family Callitrichidae, are closely related to the more well-known...

As a part of the NIU Art Museum’s upcoming Southeast Asian Exhibition Suite, “Music for the Divine” showcases Burmese traditions and musical instruments ranging from those used in Buddhist rituals, traditional royal court ceremonies and contemporary multi-ethnic expressions. This exhibition will run in the South Galleries, and will feature the Burma Art Collection at NIU...

Nearly 300 people from across the state and across the country attended Sunday’s open house at Northern Illinois University’s Fay-Cooper Cole Hall in DeKalb, highlighted by the grand opening of NIU’s new anthropology museum, which officially opened its doors to the public. The Anthropology Museum features two new exhibits in its brand new space: –Touch...

NIU will host a two-day international workshop early next month examining the cultural models of nature and the environment held by primary food producers worldwide. Department of Anthropology professor Giovanni Bennardo, organizer of the event, said results of the workshop will be of interest to area scholars, policymakers and individuals who are engaged in the...

Students who want to study abroad this summer have opportunities in Sicily and Thailand that will result in Department of Anthropology credit.