Instructors

Welcome to the course web site for ANT 2301, Human Sexuality and Culture, at the University of Florida. This course is one of the largest at the University, enrolling some 650 students each term. In addition to your professor, Dr. Gravlee, there are nine teaching assistants (TAs) who are responsible for weekly discussion sections. Learn a little more about us below.

Dr. Gravlee


Dr. Clarence (Lance) Gravlee is Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology. He also has affiliate appointments in the College of Public Health and Health Professions, the African American Studies Program, and the Center for Latin American Studies. Dr. Gravlee’s research focuses on culture, stress, and disease. His primary current research project examines the health effects of racism among African Americans in Tallahassee, FL. He has done fieldwork in Puerto Rico and Germany and is developing a new collaboration in the Bolivian Amazon as part of the Tsimane’ Amazonian Panel Study.

Office: Turlington B370
Office hours: By appointment only. View my calendar and propose meeting times.

Jeremy Pye, Head TA


Jeremy Pye is a third-year Ph.D. student focusing on historical archaeology, particularly in 19th century cemeteries, mortuary patterning, cemetery landscapes, historic preservation, as well as socioeconomics, ethnicity and capitalism reflected in mortuary treatment. He received the MA in anthropology from the University of Arkansas in 2007. His thesis research involved the socioeconomic and historical study of a small 19th century cemetery in Kansas that was excavated in 2004. He received his BA in anthropology from the University of Oklahoma in 2005. His undergraduate research focused on contact-period Native American archaeology, the archaeology of the North American Great Plains, and obsidian x-ray fluorescence analysis.

Sections: 0271, 0278
Office: Turlington B355
Office hours: Mon, 10:40 a.m. – 12:35 p.m.; Wed, 10:40 a.m. – 11:30 p.m.

Kristina Ballard


Kristina Ballard is working toward her MA in Anthropology, specifically biological anthropology with an emphasis on forensics. ?Her Master’s work has focused on the quantitative evaluation of facial approximation techniques. ?She received her BS in Biology/Anthropology at Western Washington University in 2006.

Sections: 0266, 0265, 5734
Office: Turlington B328
Office hours: Mon, 4:00 – 4:55 p.m., Fri, 10:40 – 11:30 a.m.

Rachel Black


Rachel Black is a second-year Ph.D. student studying bioarchaeology with Dr. James Davidson. Her dissertation research explores the biological and social responses to racism in the post Civil War South. She is also interested in historic cemetery preservation, mortuary practices and the study of social stratification based on class, gender, age and ethnicity/race through archaeological means. She earned her MA at the University of Arkansas focusing on the creation of digital strategies for management and standardized collection of bioarchaeological data from the North Central United States. She received a BA in anthropology from the University of Tennessee.

Sections: 0276, 0264, 0281
Office: Turlington B328
Office hours: Tues, 1:55 – 3:50 p.m.

Jessica Jean Casler


Jessica Jean Casler is a first-year MA student who hopes to dedicate her research to the advancement of developing nations by discovering more effective ways for their communities to utilize international assistance. She wants to study aid implementation through a variety of lenses including, political economy, activist research, and the current social situations in Latin American countries. Jessica Jean is also excited to analyze NGO’s roles and progress towards creating outlets for ethical consumption. She graduated from Texas Tech University with a degree in Political Science and Economics and has since worked for the Ministerio de Educación in Madrid.

Sections: 0270, 0290, 0285
Office: Turlington B328
Office hours: Mon, 3:00 -3 :55 p.m., Wed, 12:50 – 1:40 p.m., and by appointment.

Lauren Cheek


Lauren Cheek is a 3rd year Ph.D. student in Cultural Anthropology.
Her geographic focus is on the former Yugoslavia, in particular Bosnia and Herzegovina. She interested in the dialog between ethnic identity and political and religious powers. She plans to do her dissertation research around the war rape orphans in Tuzla, Bosnia and how they are being accepted or rejected into their society. She received her MA in Anthropology at Florida Atlantic University in 2007 where she researched the budding ethnic identity of Bosniaks in the diaspora communities in South and Central Florida.

Sections: 0283, 0289, 0272
Office: Turlington B328
Office hours: Wed, 10:40 – 11:30 a.m.; Thurs, 10:40 – 11:30 a.m. and by appointment.

Jason Hartz


Jason Hartz is a first-year MA student concentrating on a comparative study of African communities within the United States and Europe with a primary focus on food consumption patterns. His research interests include researching the development of health conditions among Senegalese immigrants who begin consuming highly processed Western foodstuffs typically not found in the traditional Senegalese diet. Other interests include globalization, mass movements, and the development of alternative food systems. He obtained his B.A. in Sociology at the University of Florida with an emphasis on Race Relations and Environmental Justice.

Sections: 0282, 0274, 0269
Office: Turlington B328
Office hours: Wed, 8:30 – 9:20 a.m.; Thurs, 9:35 – 10:25 a.m., and by appointment.

Jeff Hoelle


Jeff Hoelle is a Ph.D. candidate in Cultural Anthropology.  He studies the expansion of cattle ranching in the Brazilian Amazon.  He served in the Peace Corps in Panama and later received his M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in Latin American Studies.

Sections: 5736, 5741, 0287
Office: Turlington B328
Office hours: Mon, 8:30 – 9:25 a.m.; Wed, 10:40 – 11:30 a.m.; and by appointment.

Maria Morera


Maria Morera is a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology. She investigates the interface between rural livelihood strategies and natural resource conservation. She has worked with highland farmers in Kenya and Honduras, examining socioeconomic factors affecting their adoption of agroforestry and soil conservation practices. She has an MA in Anthropology from the University of Florida and a BS in Environmental Studies from Florida International University.

Sections: 0277, 0288, 0268
Office: Turlington B328
Office hours: Mon, 11:45 a.m. – 1:40 p.m. and by appointment.

Joost Morsink


Joost Morsink is a third-year Ph.D. student interested in pre-Columbian Caribbean archaeology. His research focuses on how people were locally organized, created their social identity, and how local resources were exploited within this socio-political framework. His dissertation research elaborates on his MPhil thesis, received from Leiden University, the Netherlands, in which the reconstructions of house structures and placement of burials were utilized to explain group identities on the island of Guadeloupe. He also received his BA from Leiden University, where his research involved both Caribbean and Dutch archaeology.

Sections: 0284, 0267, 0273
Office: Turlington B328
Office hours: Fri, 11:45 a.m. – 1:40 p.m.