William Meyer
Program Coordinator, Assistant Professor; Coordinator, Interdisciplinary Minor in Gender Studies
Dr. Meyer is a generalist anthropologist who advocates for a transdisciplinary and collaborative “use what works” approach to pursuing the questions that interest us. Trained as a four-field anthropologist and historical ecologist, Dr. Meyer has conducted archaeological, ethnographic, and ecological research in the United States and Europe. He is especially interested in how societies “remember” and “forget” relationships and knowledge from the past, focusing on both landscapes/ecological relationships and on systems of sex, gender, and sexuality. In his work, Dr. Meyer explores ways that anthropological information can be produced in collaboration and most effectively shared with members of the broader public to accomplish goals that are important beyond the walls of the university.
Since leading his first undergraduate recitation in 2001, Dr. Meyer has worked extensively with students and young professionals in the classroom, in the field, and in an array of professional settings. Dr. Meyer’s philosophies of teaching, mentoring, and advisement emphasize hands-on learning, the development of inquiring “habits of mind,” and fostering the growth of independent and critical thinkers. Recognizing that we all benefit from encountering multiple voices and perspectives, Dr. Meyer lends his own voice and support to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice initiatives at Ƶapp University; in higher education, more generally; and (especially) within the field of anthropology.
About Dr. Meyer
- Ph.D., Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2012
- B.S., Anthropology, Ƶapp College, 1998
- ANTH 107: Language & Culture
- ANTH 112: World Cultures
- ANTH 125: Introduction to Gender Studies
- ANTH 216: Plants & People
- ANTH 218: Public Anthropology
- ANTH 227: Ethnographic Field Methods
- ANTH 228: Ethnographic Field Methods II
- ANTH 243: Anthropology of the Family
- ANTH 249: Food & Culture
- ANTH 255: Dwelling
- ANTH 347: Anthropological Ethics
- ANTH 352: Ethnological Perspectives
- ANTH 365: Professional Development in Anthropology
- ANTH 480: Research Experience
- ANTH 491: Anthropology Capstone
- Cultural memory & forgetting
- Historical & political ecologies
- Relationships with-and-in a “more-than-human” world
- Sex, gender, & sexuality
- Feminist & queer anthropologies
- Anthropological ethics
- Anthropology curriculum & pedagogy
- Public engagement
- Ethnographic explorations of urban-nature relationships in and around Erie, Pennsylvania.
- Investigation of species emergence and behavioral modification in response to human activities in the Anthropocene.
- Investigation of the prison system, women’s incarceration, and community (re)integration
- Experimental archaeology (e.g., cremation).
- Interior design and engineering directed towards social problems (e.g., Indigenous community renewal, human trafficking, PTSD).
- Experiments in creative writing across multiple genres.
- Ethnographic exploration of the “urban honey” movement and community apiculture in New York City.
- In Revision -----. Our fore-aunties and uncles seen through a glass darkly: Representation, the closet, and the dilemma of archaeology’s queer history. In preparation for M. Meyers and S. Janesko (eds.), The History of Exclusivity in American Archaeology. Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press. Publication planned for 2024.
- In Press -----. Trans* and queer advocacy: Realizing the SAA’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and justice [working title]. For The SAA Archaeological Record. Publication planned for November 2023.
- 2023: Terroir and memory as inputs and outcomes in multi-scalar, iterative, socio-ecological systems. Christina DiFonzo Seminar Series in Biology, Ƶapp University. 14 April.
- 2022: Consultant and Interview Subject. Erielhonan: Those who came before, part 1. Chronicles, Season 1, Episode 6. Erie: WQLN PBS. Available to view at .
- 2022: Co-organizer with D. Rutecki. Forum – Diversifying Curriculum: Training for Inclusive Archaeologies (Roundtable), 87th Annual Meeting of the SAA, Chicago, IL. 2 April.
- 2021: What is queer archaeology? New Faculty Research Showcase, Ƶapp University. 3 November.
- 2021: The Franciscan intellectual tradition. Honors Convocation address, Villa Maria College. 15 April.
- 2019: Co-presenter with K. Barnett. Does the archaeology curriculum condemn us to repeat the sins of the past? Sins of Our Ancestors (and of Ourselves): Confronting Archaeological Legacies, Electronic Symposium (sponsored by the Archaeological Division of the American Anthropological Society), 84th Annual Meeting of the SAA, Albuquerque, NM. 11 April.
- 2019: Life stories: Mounds, memory, and multiscapes on two continents. Invited lecture in the Ƶapp University Lectures in Anthropology/Archaeology series. MU. 21 March.
- 2018: Session organizer. Pondering Gendered Landscapes, 83rd Annual Meeting of the SAA, Washington, DC. 13 April.
- 2018: Montón-Subías, S., & -----. Engendered archaeologies. Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology: 2372–2381. Revised edition. New York: Springer. Originally published 2014.
- 2017: -----. Might community be the key to unlocking the social potential of bioarchaeology? In S. Juengst and S. Becker (eds.), The Bioarchaeology of Community, Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association 28: 112-123.
- 2015: On teaching the “digital native”: Revisiting 20th-century social anthropology in the age of social media. Digital Domains & Humanistic Thresholds: Literary Study, Composition, & Communications, Annual Meeting of the New York College English Association, Hamburg, NY. 10 October.
- 2014: Dietler, M., M. Doppelt, -----, & A. Rivalan. Recherches sur l'habitat récent de Lattes: Fouille d'une maison à cour de la fin du IVe s. av. n. è. (Zone 52/55). In E. Gailledrat (ed.), Lattara : Lattes (Hérault), Rapport Triennal, 2010-2013: 17–144. Lattes: Unité de Fouilles et de Recherches Archéologique de Lattes (UFRAL).
- 2014: -----, D. Lebeaupin, & P. Séjalon. Les niveaux d’occupation et d’incendie à l’extérieur du bâtiment, and Les niveaux d’effondrement et de remblai dans les espaces extérieurs (phase 27I1). In D. Lebeaupin (ed.), Les Origines de Lattara et la Présence Étrusque: Les Données de la Zone 27, Lattara 22: 47-54, 61-64. Lattes: Association pour le Développement de l’Archéologie en Languedoc-Rousillon, Centre de Documentation Archéologique Régional / CNRS UMR 5140.
- 2013: Conference organizer. Engendering Landscape & Landscaping Gender, 6th IEMA Visiting Scholar Conference, University at Buffalo. 13-15 April.
- 2012: Delta blues in the key of D: Drainage structures at Lattara (Lattes, Hérault, France). Negotiating the Unstable: Waterscape Archaeologies, Annual Meeting of the North American Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG), Buffalo, NY. 18 May. (Session organized by Meyer.)
- 2012: On changing places: “Which is the justice, which is the thief?” Historical Ecology, Landscape Capital & “Senses of Place”, 77th Annual Meeting of the SAA, Memphis, TN. 19 April.
- 2011: Dietler, M., & -----. Recherches sur l'habitat récent de Lattes: Fouille d'une maison à cour centrale du IIIe s. av. n. è., Zone 52, ensemble 52101. In E. Gailledrat (ed.), Fouilles dans la ville portuaire antique de Lattara (Lattes, Hérault): rapport intermédiaire 2011. Lattes: Unité de Fouilles et de Recherches Archéologique de Lattes (UFRAL).
- 2011: Hiding and seeking in Tbilisi: Global sexuality discourse and Georgian men who have sex with men (MSM). Gender and Human Rights Panel, New Eurasia (Conference): Policy Challenges 20 Years Later, UNC. 26 March.
- 2011: IHOPE Europe: Collaboration and data integration across scales of space and time. The Integrated History & Future of People on Earth Project (IHOPE): Europe, 17th Annual EAA Meeting, Oslo, Norway. 16 September. (Session co-organized by Meyer & C.L. Crumley.)
- 2011: -----, & C.L. Crumley. Historical ecology: Using what works to cross the divide. In T. Moore & X.-L. Armada (eds.), Atlantic Europe in the First Millennium BC: Crossing the Divide: 109-134. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- 2010: Lebeaupin, D., A.-M. Curé, P. Séjalon, & -----. Recherches sur l’habitat ancien de Lattes: Occupations du Ve s. av. n. è. dans l’îlot 27. In T. Janin (ed.), Lattara : Lattes (Hérault), Rapport Triennal, 2007-2009: 11–66. Lattes: UFRAL.
- 2010: -----. Agricultural changes, ancient mounds, and archaeological course-corrections: Some field (and forest) notes from southern Burgundy. In E. Byrnes, V. Holyoak & S. Trow (eds.), Heritage Management of Farmed and Forested Landscapes in Europe, Europae Archaeologiae Consilium (EAC) Occasional Paper 4: 59-68. Budapest: Archaeolingua Press.
- 2010: -----. Review of J. Maříková-Kubková, N. Schlanger, & S. Lévin (eds.), 2008, Sites of Memory: Between Scientific Research and Collective Representations. Proceedings of the AREA Seminar at Prague Castle, February 2006. Castrum Pragense 8. Prague: Archeologický Ústav AV CR. European Journal of Archaeology 13(2):270.
- 2010: What is a "material girl"? Non/human things, gender archaeology and tricky relationships. ICREA Workshop on Europe’s Gendered Present, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain. 4 June. (Reprised 3 September at the 16th Annual EAA Meeting, The Hague, Netherlands.)
- 2010: -----, E.C. Costenbader, W.A. Zule, D. Otiashvili, & I. Kirtadze. ‘We are ordinary men’: MSM identity categories in Tbilisi, Georgia. Culture, Health & Sexuality 12(8):955-971.
- 2010: Co-organizer with M. Díaz-Andreu and E. Engelstad. Feminist, Masculinist & Queer Visions of the Past (EAA Working Party on Archaeology & Gender in Europe), 16th Annual EAA Meeting, The Hague, Netherlands. 2 September.
- 2009–2010: Fulbright IIE Advanced Studentship for research and study in France.
- 2009–2010: Georges Lurcy Educational Trust grant for research and study in France.
- 2009: Costenbader, E.C., D. Otiashvili, -----, W.A. Zule, A. Orr, & I. Kirtadze. Secrecy and risk among MSM in Tbilisi, Georgia. AIDS Care 21(5):591-597.
- 2009: Sacred ecology. Historical Ecology, 5th Young Scholars’ Network (YSN) workshop, AIMES project. Uxeau, Saône-et-Loire, France. 29 June.
- 2007: Zule, W.A., E. Costenbader, C.M. Coomes, -----, K. Riehman, J. Poehlman, & W.M. Wechsberg. Stimulant use and sexual risk behaviors for HIV in rural North Carolina. Journal of Rural Health 23 (S1):73–78.
- 2007: Zule, W.A., E.C. Costenbader, -----, & W.M. Wechsberg. Methamphetamine use and risky sexual behaviors during heterosexual encounters. Sexually Transmitted Diseases 34(9):689–694.
- 2001: Perazio, P.A., & -----. The Conodoguinet watershed. In P.E. Miller (ed.), Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in Upland Settings: An Analysis of Site Data in a Sample of Exempted Watersheds: 127–186. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Archaeological Council. Full text of article available at:
- 2001: Rinehart, N.R., E.J. Boesch, -----, K.L. Confer, & P.A. Perazio. Phase I archaeological investigation of the proposed Militia Hill Sanitary Sewer Project, Fort Washington State Park, Whitemarsh Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (ER 97-0691-091). Report prepared for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Stroudsburg, PA: Kittatinny Archaeological Research, Inc.
- 2000: Blomster, J.P., -----, & P.A. Perazio. Phase I and II archaeological investigations of the Monroe County Park Project, Hamilton Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania (ER 97-1222-089). Report prepared for the Monroe County Commissioners. Stroudsburg, PA: Kittatinny Archaeological Research, Inc.
- 2000: Blomster, J.P., P.A. Perazio, & -----. A Phase I archaeological investigation of the Little Hefren Run Acid Mine Drainage Remediation Project, Cook Forest State Park, Farmington Township, Clarion County, Pennsylvania (ER 99-2403-031). Report prepared for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Stroudsburg, PA: Kittatinny Archaeological Research, Inc.