Mediterranean

Zachary Sheldon

My research draws on semiotic anthropology, world-systems ethnography, and the epistemological principle of Islamic philosophy to ask how ordinary people develop critical insights into opaque socio-technical systems. Currently, I am revising a book manuscript that draws on fieldwork in Jordan’s clandestine workplaces to understand how Iraqi migrants produce and exchange knowledge about regional markets for refugee labor and investment. In my work with dispossessed Iraqis, I ask how everyday dialogues among illicitly employed refugees can illuminate the unspoken rules of sectarian sociality, the covert connections between war and commerce, and even the playful circuits of popular board games. More recently, my interest in the relationship between predictive intelligence and linguistic interaction, which I first explored in my paper “The Malicious Game” [https://journal.culanth.org/index.php/ca/article/view/5439], has led to a new research project studying the deep history of artificial intelligence in the Mediterranean world. This project combines computer programming, data science, and museum anthropology to trace the uncanny genealogy of computational algorithms and algebraic techniques that humans have used to simulate contact with inhuman minds for millennia. For a full list of my publication, award, presentations, and appointments, you can download my C.V.[here]

Degrees and Education

PhD, University of Chicago, 2020

Heath Cabot

 

Professor Heath Cabot will be on leave from September 1, 2022- April 30, 2023.  

Heath Cabot  (PhD, University of California, Santa Cruz 2010) is a political and legal anthropologist whose research examines citizenship, ethics, and rights in Europe, with a focus on Greece.

Research interests and areas of expertise: political and legal anthropology; anthropology of ethics and morality; migration, citizenship, and asylum; human and social rights; care and humanitarian governance; economies of redistribution; cultures of neoliberalism; ethnography of the state; Europe, Italy, Greece; epistemology and aesthetics. 

Graduate Recruitment

I am currently interested in receiving applications from prospective students with a recent track record of hard work and success in relevant fields (academic or professional), and who demonstrate intellectual humility and generosity. Prospective applicants should be familiar with my research and intellectual approach. Research interests do not need to be (indeed, should not be!) exactly in the “niche” of what I have done, but should overlap in productive ways with aspects of my own approach—topically, thematically, area-wise, or ethico-politically. Applicants should also articulate how the department as a whole, as well as other relevant resources on Pitt campus, could fit with their proposed intellectual trajectory.

 

Research Description

Asylum and Refugees in Greece

My first research project, which formed the basis for my book (On the Doorstep of Europe: Asylum and Citizenship in Greece, UPenn Press 2014), examined political asylum on the EU’s most porous external border. Between 2005 and 2013, I conducted twenty-two months of ethnographic fieldwork on asylum adjudication in Greece, social and legal support in the NGO sector, EU policy-making, and migrant and refugee political mobilizations. I show that while asylum law and humanitarian aid enact exclusion, they also speak to emergent configurations of Greek, European, and more global citizenship, often transforming knowledge, ethics, and judgment. 

Rights in Crisis: Humanitarian Governance on Europe’s Mediterranean Margins

I am currently working on a second book manuscript on the precaritization of human and social rights in austerity-ridden Greece through the prism of community-based healthcare. This project emerged directly from my earlier research, as I observed Greek citizens increasingly seeking services necessary for the sustenance of bodily health in extra-state venues, often alongside asylum seekers and refugees. This project is focused on “social pharmacies and clinics,” grassroots initiatives that provide care and medicines based on political-economic and social “solidarity.” Since 2011, these clinics have emerged throughout Greece, operating on horizontally-organized forms of voluntarism and redistribution. Pensioners, unemployed persons, and migrants and refugees work alongside each other to assist diverse groups of beneficiaries (some of whom are volunteers themselves) through the redistribution of medicines and care. I show how citizens and non-citizens alike in Greece are increasingly dependent on both formal and informal modes of humanitarian governance, which, I argue, throws into question the capacity of state and supranational governments to safeguard access to right on the margins of the global North.

Margaret Judd

Margaret Judd is a bioarchaeologist who received her PhD from the University of Alberta (2000), following an MSc from the University of Bradford (1994) and BA from Wilfrid Laurier University (1993). She was Special Collections Curator in the Department of Ancient Egypt & Sudan at The British Museum before coming to the University of Pittsburgh in 2004. She has worked extensively in Jordan and northern Sudan, in addition to Russia, Egypt, Italy and Canada.

Her research focuses on the shaping, maintenance and destruction of the human body, particularly the bodies of marginalized people, in response to sociocultural and resource stress. Her current project, Multi-resource subsistence among ancient Jordanian pastoralists and townsfolk: health, diet and paleoethnobiology, will use bioarchaeological evidence to support a multi-resource nomadism model for historical Jordanian pastoralists.

Dr. Judd will no longer be accepting graduate students.

Courses

Forensic Anthropology: An Introduction 

Forensic anthropology integrates several areas of anthropology, notably human skeletal analysis, taphonomy and archaeology within a medicolegal context. Students will acquire a basic knowledge of human osteology and analytical methods required to develop an osteobiographical profile of the deceased (e.g., age at death, biological sex, stature, ancestry). Student will be introduced to basic methods in discovery, excavation, recording and contextual interpretation of human remains in a forensic context. Finally, we will examine activity markers, trauma patterns and common pathological conditions visible on the skeleton that aid in identification.

Paleopathology

Paleopathology is the study of disease and its process among ancient peoples using primary evidence from human skeletal remains that considers skeletal expressions, origins and social conditions of disease epidemiology. Additional lines of inquiry draw on evidence from archaeological, ethnographical, clinical, and historical sources to aid in our interpretation. In this course you will learn how to recognize abnormal bone, differentiate between disease processes, describe abnormal bone changes, evaluate recording methods, and investigate the epidemiological history of various disease processes. The impact of disease upon the individual and ancient societies will be considered throughout the course and in student seminars. The combined lecture-lab format provides a comprehensive overview of common skeletal pathological processes as well as experience with the methods used in recording the pathology of skeletal remains.

 

Publications

Judd, M. A. (2023) Robebus Chapel crypt burials: Commingled, broken and processed. Near Eastern Archaeology 86.3: 218-229.

Judd, M. A. (In press) Chapter 10. Living the Iron Age Life. In A Fortress Town in Northern Moab Khirbat al-Mudayna on Wadi ath-Thamad. In P. M. M.  Daviau and M. L.  Steiner (eds). Leiden: Brill.

Judd, M. A. (2023) Living with lower limb traumas and below-knee amputation in a Jordanian Late Ottoman nomadic community. International Journal of Paleopathology 41: 110-116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.04.002

Judd, M. A. (2020). Commingled crypts: comparative health among Byzantine monastics in the Levant, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 172: 70-86. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23993.

Vagheesh, N., Patterson, N., Moorjani, P., Rohland, N., Bernardos, R., Mallick, S., . . . Reich, D. (2019). The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia. Science, 365(6457): eaat7487. doi: 10.1126/science.aat7487.

Vagheesh, N., Patterson, N., Moorjani, P., Rohland, N., Bernardos, R., Mallick, S., . . . Reich, D. (2019). The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia. Science, 365. doi:10.1126/science.aat7487.

Judd, M. A., Gregoricka, L. A., & Foran, D. (2019). The monastic mosaic at Mount Nebo, Jordan: Biogeochemical and epigraphical evidence for diverse origins. Antiquity, 93(368), 450-467.

Hanks, B. K., Ventresca Miller, A. R., Judd, M. A., Epimakhov, A. V., & Razhev, D. (2018). Bronze Age diet and economy: new stable isotope data from the Central Eurasian Steppes (2100-1700 BC). Journal of Archaeological Science, 97, 14-25.

Judd, M. A. (2017). Injury recidivism revisited: Clinical research and limitations. In C. Tegtmeyer & D. L. Martin (Eds.), Broken bones, broken bodies: Bioarchaeological and forensic approaches for accumulative trauma and violence (pp. 1-24). Landham, MD: Lexington Books.

Judd, M. A., Walker, J. L., Ventresca Miller, A. R., Razhev, D., Epimakhov, A. I., & Hanks, B. K. (2018). Life in the fast lane: Settled pastoralism in the Central Eurasian Steppe during the Middle Bronze Age. American Journal of Human Biology, 30(4), e23129. doi:doi:10.1002/ajhb.23129.

Kesterke, M. J., Judd, M. A., Mooney, M. P., Siegel, M. I., Elsalanty, M., Howie, R. N., . . . Cray, J. J. (2018). Maternal environment and craniofacial growth: geometric morphometric analysis of mandibular shape changes with in utero thyroxine overexposure in mice. Journal of Anatomy, 233, 46-54.

Judd, M. A. (2018). A truncated styloid process from the Jordanian Ottoman Period: developmental variant or fracture? International Journal of Paleopathology 20, 98-103.

Ventresca Miller, A. R., Hanks, B. K., Judd, M. A., Epimakhov, A. V., & Razhev, D. (2017). Weaning practices among pastoralists: new evidence of infant feeding patterns from Bronze Age Eurasia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 162, 409-422.

Redfern, R. C., Judd, M. A., & DeWitte, S. N. (2017). Multiple Injury and Health in Past Societies: An Analysis of Concepts and Approaches, and Insights from a Multi-Period Study. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 27(3), 418-429. doi:10.1002/oa.2565.

Gregoricka, L. A., & Judd, M. A. (2015). Isotopic evidence for diet among historic Bedouin of Khirbat al-Mudayna, Jordan. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 26, 705-715.

Judd, M. A., Seltzer, D., & Binkoski, C. (2015). Chapter 7: Community health at Tell er-Rumeith. In T. J. Barako & N. L. Lapp (Eds.), Tell er-Rumeith. The Excavations of Paul W. Lapp, 1962 and 1967 (Vol. Archaeological Reports 22, pp. 233-258). Boston: American Schools of Oriental Research.

Judd, M. A. (2014). Growing up in Gabati. In J.A. Anderson & D. A. Welsby (Eds.), The Fourth Cataract and Beyond. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference for Nubian Studies, London (pp. 1115-1124). London: Peeters.

Judd, M. A. (2012). Gabati: A Meroitic, post-Meroitic and medieval cemetery in Central Sudan Volume 2: The physical anthropology. Oxford: BAR International Series S2442.

WeaninbrJudd, M. A., & Redfern, R. (2012). Trauma. In A. L. Grauer (Ed.), A Companion to Paleopathology (pp. 359-379). Chichester: Blackwell Publishing.

Baker, B. J., & Judd, M. A. (2012). Development of paleopathology in the Nile Valley. In J. Buikstra, C. A. Roberts, & S. M. Schreiner (Eds.), History Of Paleopathology: Pioneers and Prospects (pp. 209-234). New York: Oxford University Press.

Judd, M. A. (2010). Pubic symphyseal face eburnation: an Egyptian sport story? International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 20, 280-290.

Judd, M. A. (2010). The 2010 excavation season at the Chapel of Robebus. Liber Annuus 60: 425-428.

Judd, M. A. (2010). Chapter 7: The multiple burial in the Building 600 at Tall Jawa. In P. M. M. Daviau (Ed.), Tall Jawa Excavations Volume IV: The Early Islamic House (pp. 112-133). Leiden: Brille.

Judd, M. A., & Irish, J. D. (2009). Dying to serve: the mass burials at Kerma. Antiquity, 83, 709-722.

Judd, M. A. (2009). The 2008 excavation season at the Chapel of Robebus. Liber Annuus 58: 524-528.

Judd, M. A. (2009). Bioarchaeology east of Jordan. In P. Bientrowski (Ed.), Studies on Iron Age Moab and neighbouring areas in honour of Michèle Daviau (pp. 245-273). Leuven: Peeters.

Judd, M. A. (2009). Cemetery excavation and bioarchaeology, 2006 (p. 359-360). In PMM Daviau, A Dolan, J Ferguson, CM Foley, L Foley, CJ Gohm, MA Judd and M Weigl. Preliminary report of excavations and survey at Khirbat al-Mudayna and its surroundings (2004, 2006 and 2007) Annual of theDepartment of Antiquities of Jordan 52: 343-374

Judd, M. A. (2008). The human skeletal analysis. In S. Salvatori & D. Usai (Eds.), A Northern Dongola Reach Neolithic Cemetery. The R12. London: Sudan Archaeological Research Society Press Publication Number 16, pp. 83-104.

Judd, M. A. (2008). The crypts at the Chapel of Robebus, Mount Nebo. Liber Annuus 57: 656-660.

Buzon, M. R., & Judd, M. A. (2008). Investigating health at Kerma: sacrificial versus nonsacrificial individuals. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 136, 93-99.

Judd, M. A. (2008). The parry problem. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35, 1658-1666.

Judd, M. A. (2006). Continuity of interpersonal violence between Nubian communities. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 131, 324-333.

Judd, M. A. (2004). Trauma in the city of Kerma: ancient versus modern injury patterns. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 14, 34-51.

Judd, M. A. (2002). One accident too many? British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan. http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/bmsaes/issue3/judd.html

Daviau, P. M. M., Judd, M., & Beckmann, M. (2002). Artefact classification and typology. In P. M. M. Daviau (Ed.), Excavations at Tall Jawa, Jordan: Volume 2 The Iron Age Artefacts.  Leiden: Brill, pp. 19-211.

Judd, M. A. (2002). Ancient injury recidivism: an example from the Kerma Period of ancient Nubia. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 12, 89-106.

Judd, M. A. (2002). Comparison of long bone trauma recording methods. Journal of Archaeological Science, 29, 1255-1265.

Judd, M. A. (2001). The human remains. In D. W. Welsby (Ed.), Life on the Desert Edge. Seven thousand years of settlement in the Northern Dongola Reach, Sudan (Vol. S980, pp. 458-543): BAR.

Judd, M. A., & Roberts, C. A. (1999). Fracture trauma in a medieval British farming village. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 109, 229-243.

Judd, M. A., & Roberts, C. A. (1998). Fracture patterns at the medieval leper hospital in Chichester. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 105, 43-55.