Skip to main content

Meet our Department!


Holly Brause

Assistant Professor

Office: Breland 303
E-mail: hbrause@nmsu.edu 
Education: Ph.D. Anthropology, University of New Mexico, 2021
Interests: Environmental anthropology, transboundary water resources, climate change and natural resource management, globalization of food and agriculture, politics and practices of future-making


Allison Cantor

Adjunct Professor

E-mail: arcantor@nmsu.edu
Education: Ph.D. Applied Anthropology, University of South Florida, 2016
Interests: Biocutural medical anthropology


Nathan Craig

Interim Director, University Museum 

Office: Kent Hall 207
Phone: 575-646-4536
E-mail: nmc@nmsu.edu  
Education: Ph.D. Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2005
Interests: Andean archaeology, spatial analysis, museums, social activism


Norma Chairez-Hartell

Curator, University Museum

Office: Kent Hall 203
Phone: 575-646-4056
E-mail: normah@nmsu.edu 
Education: M.A. Anthropology, New Mexico State University, 2016
Interests: Art, historic preservation, muralism, US/Mexico borderland history, art, culture, and community


Kelly Jenks

Associate Professor; Graduate Advisor

Office: Breland Hall 305 / Historical Archaeology Lab: Breland Hall 307
E-mail: kljenks@nmsu.edu
Education: Ph.D. Anthropology, University of Arizona, 2011
Interests: Historical archaeology, cultural resource management, Spanish colonialism, group identities, oral history, ethnohistory


Alejandra Marks

Assistant Professor

Office: Breland Hall 306
E-mail: amarks@nmsu.edu 
Education: Ph.D. Anthropology, Tulane University, 2023
Interests: Medical anthropology, reproductive healthcare and social movements in Latin America


Lisa Muñoz

Administrative Assistant

Main Office: Breland 331
Phone: 575-646-2725
E-mail: lmmunoz@nmsu.edu 


Kathryn Olszowy

Associate Professor

Office: Breland Hall 304 / Biological Anthropology Lab: Breland Hall 94
Phone: 575-646-3276 (Lab)
E-mail: kolszowy@nmsu.edu
Education: Ph.D. Anthropology, Binghamton University, 2014
Interests: Economic development and chronic disease risk, sex/gender-based disparities in obesity risk, mental and physical health outcomes associated with natural disasters, child growth and development, and the biology of poverty


Katie Richards

Visiting Assistant Professor

Office: Breland Hall 312
E-mail: krichard@nmsu.edu 
Education: Ph.D. Anthropology, Washington State University, 2022
Interests: Southwestern archaeology, Fremont and Four Corners regions, pottery analysis, INAA, social identity, frontiers, archaeological field methods


Lois Stanford

Department Head; Professor 

Office: Breland Hall 316
Phone: 575-646-6092
E-mail: lstanfor@nmsu.edu
Education: Ph.D. Anthropology, University of Florida, 1989
Interests: Applied anthropology, Food Studies, Latin American studies, agricultural economics


William Walker

Professor

Office: Breland Hall 314
E-mail: wiwalker@nmsu.edu
Education: Ph.D. Anthropology, University of Arizona, 1995
Interests: Southwestern archaeology, religion and witchcraft, ritual in prehistory


Affiliated Faculty/Scholars 

Emeriti Faculty