Our Faculty and Staff

Dr. Philip J. Carr is an archaeologist specializing in the prehistory of the Southeast United States. Since joining the USA faculty in 1999, he has engaged in the study of the rich cultural heritage of southwest Alabama. His research particularly involves understanding prehistoric hunter-gatherer lifeways and stone tool technologies. His recent research has included simulating the formation of prehistoric lithic assemblages, expanding an organization of technology approach, and an examination of the stone tool assemblage from 22LI504.

Dr. Carr received his B.A. degree from the University of Louisville in 1988 and M.A. (1991) and Ph.D. (1995) from the University of Tennessee in Anthropology. He enjoys teaching and working with students. He is the faculty advisor for the Anthropology Club and is currently working with several students on research projects. He teaches a diversity of courses that include: AN101 - Introduction to Archaeology and Physical Anthropology; AN210 - Physical Anthropology; AN305 - Archaeological Method and Theory; AN340 - Native American Cultures; and AN442 - Cultural Resource Management.

Additionally, Dr. Carr is Associate Director of the Center for Archaeological Studies and his office is now in the basement of the new Delchamps Archaeology Building.

Adjunct Professor Chimene Gecewicz: More about Professor Gecewicz soon!

Dr. Mark Moberg: "My absorption with anthropology dates to the very first college class that I enrolled in (all too many years ago!). While many professors provided me with role models for how to conduct anthropology and how to communicate about it to students, what appeals to me about our field is its underlying assumption about culture. The anthropological imagination means never taking anything for granted, never assuming that social arrangements are immutable, universal or that there is somehow a "right" solution for all cultural contexts. I think the greatest compliment that students have paid me was not that I provided them with interesting new information about the world, but that I changed their way of viewing it.

My work has taken a number of different paths since I came to U.S.A. in 1989. Trained as a Latin Americanist and political economist, I have conducted extensive research on class and ethnic relations in Belize. While my early work focused on peasant responses to global economic change, my most recent research has examined the social and cultural effects of immigration into that country -- a process that has fundamentally redefined the country's ethnic identity and language within a twenty year period. Although my first love remains Central America and the Caribbean, I am also one of an increasing number of anthropologists who works in his own backyard. In Mobile, my work has taken me to shrimp boats and the living rooms of environmental activists, as I examine the ways that people here, too, respond to the global economic forces that impinge on their workplaces and environments."

Dr. Genevra Murray: More about Dr. Murray soon!

Adjunct Professor Tara Potts: Tara Potts is an archaeologist who focuses on prehistoric Native American populations, although she has completed research and projects from early American to prehistoric populations in the southeast. Lithic technology and gender research is her primary research focus. Tara has been working in, studying, or teaching archaeology in the southeast for the past ten years. She received her BA in Anthropology from the University of South Alabama in 2002 and her MA in Anthropology from East Carolina University in 2004. Before coming to USA in March of 2008, she was an instructor at East Carolina University’s Anthropology Department for 3 years. Currently, Tara also works at the Center for Archaeological Studies where she works in conjunction with other archaeologists to complete service and research projects in the region.

Dr. Greg Waselkov received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1982. Professor Waskelkov, because of his specialization in archaeology, is interested in uncovering the French Colonial Town that we now call "Old Mobile." Besides teaching courses in anthropology, archaeological methods and theories, and courses involving North American Indians, Professor Waselkov is also Director of the Center for Archaeological Studies at the University of South Alabama.