Anthropology Professor Earns Dissertation Prize, Book Deal
Prior to joining the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Department of Anthropology this fall, Professor Susan Kooiman, PhD, earned her doctorate from Michigan State University. Kooiman’s dissertation, “A multiproxy analysis of culinary, technological, and environmental interactions in the northern Great Lakes region,” has earned the Midwest Archaeological Conference (MAC), Inc.'s prestigious 2019 MAC, Inc. Dissertation Prize.
The Dissertation Prize is sponsored by MAC, Inc. and The University of Notre Dame (UND) Press and includes a $500 award and a contract with UND Press to turn her dissertation into a book manuscript for scholarly publication.
"I feel honored that I was selected for the MAC, Inc. Dissertation Prize,” said Kooiman. “There is so much high-quality research in Midwest archaeology; it’s very special that my work was singled out and recognized. I'm also glad that the award brings attention to both Michigan State University, where I got my degree, and SIUE, which are both great anthropology programs.”
Kooiman’s dissertation documents the 1,500-year culinary history of the indigenous residents of the Cloudman site located on Drummond Island, Michigan, in Lake Huron. Analysis of pottery function, used in conjunction with various microscopic and chemical food residue analyses, revealed both the diets and cooking styles of the Cloudman site occupants throughout the Woodland period (AD 1 - AD 1600). The results show both the strength of certain culinary traditions alongside other subsistence innovations in the face of potential environmental and social change.
Kooiman used her research on the Cloudman site to write an article with Heather Walder that was published in American Antiquity, the flagship peer-reviewed journal of North American archaeology. The article focused on accelerator mass spectrometry dating of carbonized food residue collected from pottery and elemental analysis of glass trade beads in order to more accurately date the various occupations of the Cloudman site. Read the abstract here.
Photo: SIUE Anthropology Professor Susan Kooiman, PhD, receives the MAC, Inc. Dissertation Prize.
