Amelia Hubbard, Ph.D
Amelia (Amy) received her BA in Anthropology from Beloit College, and MA and PhD in Anthropology from The Ohio State University. As a dental anthropologist and bioarchaeologist, her research focuses on dental (teeth) and genetic (DNA) variation to interpret patterns of population movement, interaction, and exchange in prehistoric Kenya (i.e., the time before written records). Other research has focused on using small structures contained within tooth enamel to examine how the body reacts to "stress," as well as determining methods for using different biological information to reconstruct ancient "health" and past population movements.
In the past few years, Amy has also begun examining how students understand human identity in relation to genetics. She has published two articles looking at students' understanding of race, and approaches to teaching about race as a socioculturally relevant identity that is not rooted in bodily or genetically unique differences. Amy also looks at gender and genetics, and genetic "disabilities" as human variation that has helped our species to survive and thrive.
Amy currently teaches courses looking at...
- Human skeletal and dental variation and what different features can tell us about a person's past occupation, health, etc.
- The evolution of our "hominin" (pre-human) ancestors and how evolutionary processes work
- How sociocultural identities such as race and gender are not biologically based, and the effects of discriminatory stress on health and well-being
... with the goal of helping her students to appreciate diversity (biological and cultural) and to become better equipped to read and understand popular science pieces while valuing the wonders (and limitations) of a scientific perspective.
Amy joined the Department of Sociology and Anthropology in Fall of 2012, and she enjoys both her students' enthusiasm for learning and the diversity of backgrounds and perspectives that they bring to her classroom.
Teaching
ATH 2100/2100L: Introduction to Biological Anthropology (with lab) (offered every Fall/Spring term, most summers)*- a NATURAL SCIENCE gen ed!
*ATH 2100/2100L is offered as a "SCALE UP" course, meaning students will meet in a technologically enhanced classroom where the focus in on active learning through group hands-on activities (more like "lab").
ATH 3110: Forensic Anthropology (Spring 2022, and every other Spring thereafter)
ATH 3310: Human Evolution (Fall 2021, and every other Fall thereafter)
ATH 3320: Modern Human Variation and Adaptation (Fall 2020, and every other Fall thereafter)
ATH 3720: Advanced Methods in Human Osteology (Spring 2022, and every other Spring thereafter)**
**ATH 3720 counts as a methods course for Anthropology majors and minors.
ATH 4300: Death and Dying (Spring 2021, and every other Spring thereafter)
ATH 4310: Bioarchaeology (Spring 2021, and every other Spring thereafter)***
***ATH 4310 counts as an Integrated Writing (IW course) for all majors.
Publications
Stover S, Heilmann SG, Hubbard AR. 2018. Learner-Centered Design: Is Sage on the Stage Obsolete? Journal of Effective Teaching 1(1):1-19.
Stojanowski C, Hubbard AR. 2017. Sensitivity of dental phenotypic data for the identification of biological relatives. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 27(5):813-27.
Hubbard AR (a). 2017. Testing common misconceptions about the nature of human racial variation. American Biology Teacher 79(7):538-543 (available online at: http://abt.ucpress.edu/content/79/7/538).
Hubbard AR (b). 2017. Teaching race (bioculturally) matters: a visual approach for college biology courses. American Biology Teacher 79(7):516-524 (available online at: http://abt.ucpress.edu/content/79/7/516).
Stover S, Heilmann SG, Hubbard AR. 2017. Student Perceptions Regarding Clickers: The Efficacy of Clicker Technologies. In: End-User Considerations in Educational Technology Design. Eds. Roscoe RD, Craig SD, Douglas I. IGI Global. 291-315.
Hubbard AR, Guatelli-Steinberg D, and Irish JD. 2015. Do nuclear DNA and dental nonmetric data produce similar reconstructions of regional population history? An example from modern coastal Kenya. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 157:295-304 (available online at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.22714/full).
Hubbard AR. 2012. An examination of population history, population structure, and biological distance among regional populations of the Kenyan Coast using genetic and dental data. Ph.D. Dissertation (available online at https://etd.ohiolink.edu/ap/10?0::NO:10:P10_ACCESSION_NUM:osu1337195794).
Hubbard AR, Guatelli-Steinberg D, and Sciulli PW. 2009. Under restrictive conditions, can the widths of linear enamel hypoplasias be used as relative indicators of stress episode duration? American Journal of Physical Anthropology 138: 177-189 (available online at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.20917/abstract;jsessionid=8CB6D21214C718C6EC64BDA2E2A1EDA2.f04t04).
Guatelli-Steinberg D, Ferrell R, Spence J, Talabere T, Hubbard AR, and Schmidt S. 2009. Sex differences in anthropoid mandibular canine lateral enamel formation. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 140: 216-233.
Selected presentations:
Hubbard AR. 2019. Challenging biocultural misconceptions about race in the college classroom. Invited AAAS presentation in session “Human Genetic Variation and Education: Not a Socially Neutral Endeavor.”
Estabrook VH. 2017. Teaching Anthropology in a Red State. Panelist (Hubbard AR) in roundtable, at the 116th annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association.
Truesdell N and Hubbard AR. 2017. Making anthropology matter- Teaching Race as an Act of Resistance. Co-chair of roundtable at the 116th annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association.
Hubbard AR. 2017. Does the number of nuclear microsatellite loci affect genetic distances? Implications for bioarchaeological studies. Poster presented at the eighty-fifth annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.
Hubbard AR and Raaum RL. 2015. A test of the agreement between mitochondrial DNA and nuclear microsatellite based reconstructions of biological distance among regional populations. Poster presented at the eighty-third annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.
Hubbard AR and Stojanowski CM. 2014. A biological approach to identifying kin: a case study from modern-day coastal Kenya. Poster presented at the seventy-ninth annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
Hubbard AR. 2013. Is dental metric variation more sensitive to differences among regional populations than dental morphology?: a case study from coastal Kenya. Poster presented at the eighty-first annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.
Hubbard AR, Guatelli-Steinberg D, and Sciulli PW. 2012. An examination of the agreement between genetic and dental reconstructions of biological distance among regional populations. Paper presented (by A. Hubbard) at the eightieth annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.
Hubbard AR, Fuerst PA, and Raaum RL. 2012. Modeling population history within the Kenyan coast using genetic and dental data. Paper presented (by A. Hubbard) in the invited symposium, Decoding the cultural and biological diversity of the peoples of Kenya, at the 11th biennial meeting of the Society for Africanist Archaeologists.
Dr. Hubbard "in the news":
2020 "Skeleton crew: Wright State faculty member Amelia Hubbard transforms her forensic field exercise into a virtual experience" https://webapp2.wright.edu/web1/newsroom/2020/04/20/skeleton-crew/
2019 "'Race is not biological, it's a social construct': scientists say [biological] race does not determine health risks- and doctors who say so are just fueling 'racial prejudice'": https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6710147/Scientists-say-race-does-not-determine-health-doctors-say-fueling-racial-prejudice.html
2018 "Should 'Race' be taught in High School Biology?": https://undark.org/article/biology-textbooks-race-high-school/
2018 "Crash course: mock disaster gives Wright State students lesson in forensic anthropology": http://webapp2.wright.edu/web1/newsroom/2018/04/24/crash-course/
2016 "Wright State professor studies dead people's teeth": https://webapp2.wright.edu/web1/newsroom/2016/08/24/wright-state-professor-studies-dead-peoples-teeth/
2015 "Mentoring program for women in STEMMS expands": https://webapp2.wright.edu/web1/newsroom/2015/02/20/mentoring-program-for-women-faculty-in-stemms-expands/
2013 "Ancient Chinese Coin Found on Kenyan Island by Field Museum Expedition": https://www.fieldmuseum.org/about/press/ancient-chinese-coin-found-kenyan-island-field-museum-expedition
Professional Affiliations/Memberships
American Association for the Advancement of Science (https://www.aaas.org/)
American Association of Physical Anthropologists (http://physanth.org)
Dental Anthropology Association (http://www.dentalanthropology.org/)
Society for American Archaeology (http://www.saa.org)
American Anthropological Association (http://www.aaanet.org)
Awards/Recognition
2021 CoLA Outstanding Teaching Award and Robert J. Kegerreis Distinguished Professor of Teaching
2016 Wright State University College of Liberal Arts Early Career Award
2013-2015, 2018 Director of STEMMS Mentoring Circles
Selected grants:
2012/2013/2014 LEADER Consortium (via NSF ADVANCE) individual and group grants
2012 Wenner-Gren Engaged Anthropology grant
2009 Fulbright-Hayes Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Grant
2009 Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant
