Date:
9/29/2008
Contact: Wendel Sloan at 575.562.2253
PORTALES—The Department of Anthropology and Applied Archaeology and Mu Alpha Nu, the anthropology club at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, will present the Tenth Annual Cynthia Irwin-Williams Lecture at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2, in Room 112 of the Jack Williamson Liberal Arts Building.
The speaker is Stanley Rhine, emeritus professor of anthropology at the University of New Mexico, Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, and retired forensic anthropologist for the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator.
He will speak on “The Real CSI: Forensic Anthropology and the Investigation of Death.”
The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact David Batten at 575.562.2750.
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The lecture series honors the late Dr. Cynthia Irwin-Williams, prominent archaeologist and former ENMU professor.
Dr. Irwin-Williams was born and grew up in Denver, Colo. As early as the age of 12 she developed a passion for archaeology when she got a job with her brother working part-time in the archaeology department in the Denver Museum of Natural History.
When Dr. Irwin-Williams decided to attend college, it was during a time when it was not seen as necessary or appropriate for women to attend school; society felt they were more suited to take care of the home. She did not agree with these views, and attended Radcliff College where she received bachelor's and master's degrees in archaeology. She then went to Harvard and received a Ph.D.
In 1964, after a variety of academic jobs, Dr. Irwin-Williams came to teach at Eastern New Mexico University where she was awarded the Llano Estacada Center for Advanced Professional Studies and Distinguished Research Professorship.
In 1977 Dr. Irwin-Williams became the second woman president for the Society for American Archaeology. She then became executive director of the Social Science Center in Reno, Nev., and then Research Professor for the Quaternary Science Center.
Dr. Irwin-Williams paved the way for many women, especially those in archaeology. That is why ENMU decided to name their annual lectureship after her.