Anthropology, Global Religions and Cultures

Office: Harrington 303B
Phone: (920) 424-1365
Email: friea@uwosh.edu

Education:
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
M.A., University of Chicago
B.A., University of California San Diego

Adrienne Frie is an anthropological archaeologist whose research specialties include prehistoric Europe, human-animal relations, and prehistoric art. Dr. Frie’s ongoing research is focused on Iron Age Slovenia, where she investigates how animal depictions and faunal remains provide insight into prehistoric interactions with and ideas about animals. This research is multidisciplinary, and in addition to archaeological evidence takes into account animal behavior, local environments, and the socioeconomic structures surrounding animal husbandry and other human-animal interactions.

Office: Swart 312
Email: garstkik@uwosh.edu

Education:
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
M.A., University of Chicago
B.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Kevin Garstki is an anthropological archaeologist whose research focuses on the impact of digital technology on modern archaeology, as well as the effect of emerging technology on prehistoric societies. He is a prehistoric European archaeologist who has worked in Cyprus, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and North America. His doctoral research centered on the organization of early iron production in Iron Age Ireland. Dr. Garstki’s current research focuses on the critical use and reuse of digital archaeological data, specifically using 3D visualization technologies to enhance the documentation, research, and archiving of material heritage and its use in public outreach. He has worked for the last eight years as director of digital imaging for the Athienou Archaeological Project in Cyprus and is the co-director of the Wolves and the Caesars (WAC) archaeological field school in Knežak.

For more information on Kevin’s research: http://kevin-garstki.com/archaeology/

Office: Swart 21
Email: karstenj@uwosh.edu

Education:
Ph.D., and M.A., State University of New York, Albany 

Dr. Karsten is a biological anthropologist with a focus on human osteology. His research interests include areas of bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology, and he is actively involved in excavations focused on Neolithic Ukraine. Dr. Karsten teaches classes on human skeletal anatomy, forensic anthropology, paleoanthropology, genetics, and archaeology.

Office: Swart 308
Email: katsanivskao@uwosh.edu

Education:
M.A. in Philology/ Linguistics, Chernivtsi National University, Ukraine

Oksana Katsanivska is a certified linguist, specializing in English-Ukrainian translation. She has worked as a translator of non-fiction literature (including Living Forward by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy, Onward by Howard Schultz, The IKEA Story by Bertil Torekull, Born to Run by Christopher McDougal, and Unlimited Memory by Kevin Horsley) and as an interpreter for Dr. Jordan Karsten during his archeological excavations in Ukraine. She has also conducted private lessons of English language for adults and teenagers.

Oksana Katsanivska teaches classes on comparative linguistics, food anthropology, contemporary Ukrainian literature and Russo-Ukrainian conflict.

Office: Swart 320
Phone: (920) 424-7495
Email: may@uwosh.edu

Education:
Ph.D., University of Texas Austin

Stephanie May de Montigny is a cultural anthropologist.  Her courses and research interests include Native American studies, kinship, gender and sexuality, ethnohistory, vernacular architecture, and visual art and dance.  She also teaches classes on ethnographic methods, American ethnography, and expressive culture.

Office: Swart 317A
Email: nichollsh@uwosh.edu

Education:
Ph.D., University at Albany, SUNY
M.A., Cleveland State University

Dr. Heidi J. Nicholls is a cultural anthropologist with a specialization on economics and power dynamics. More specifically Dr. Nicholls looks at the social construction of race, intercultural dynamics, student success, tourism and equity, diversity, and inclusion. She has had the opportunity to work on the Dine Reservation, in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Anguilla, New York and here on the UWO campus (Inclusivity at a PWI). Dr. Nicholls teaches classes on Diversity, Tourism, Indigenization, Political Resistance and more, counting for programs such as Anthropology (of course), Indigenous Studies, Environmental Studies and Economics. Ask her today how to earn these majors, minors, and certificates!

Office: Sage 4479 (ON SABBATICAL Fall 2025-Spring 2026)
Email: spehars@uwosh.edu

Education:
Ph.D., New York University
M.A., New York University
B.A., California State University Los Angeles 

Stephanie Spehar is a broadly trained biological anthropologist who specializes in primate behavioral ecology and conservation. Her research interests include primate social systems and communication, adaptations to resource scarcity, and strategies to promote primate-human coexistence in the Anthropocene. She has worked extensively with spider monkeys in South and Central America, but most recently studied orangutans living in resource-scarce and human-altered landscapes in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo.

A second major research interest lies in developing interdisciplinary and participatory approaches to conservation, human-wildlife coexistence, and sustainability. She is currently involved in two large-scale projects along these lines: Emplacing Algal Blooms to Advance Sustainability Theory and Praxis, an NSF-funded project working to develop a holistic understanding of harmful algal blooms in the Winnebago Lakes social-ecological system in Northeast Wisconsin, and Forward Agriculture, a large-scale collaborative project focused in advancing sustainable agriculture in Wisconsin through aligned partnerships and social and technological innovation.

In addition to being a Professor of Anthropology, she is the Director of the Sustainability Institute for Regional Transformations at UW Oshkosh.

For publications, please see her Google scholar profile.

Office: Swart 323/Sage 3444
Email: xiongc@uwosh.edu

Education:
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
M.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison

Dr. Choua P. Xiong is an Assistant Professor of Hmong Studies who offers a range of courses in Hmong studies, education, and anthropology that examine issues of displacement, race, gender, and community building. Choua’s research approach is informed by her activism as an educator in Southeast Asian community-based educational spaces, schools, and higher education. She leads various community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) projects that center the perspectives of minoritized people in education including the National Science Foundation (NSF) STEM Undergraduate Education for Minoritized Students Project, MN Lub Zej Zog Education Coalition, and the Los Tsev: Cia Siab, WI Traveling Exhibit.

Email: behm@uwosh.edu

Education:
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dissertation title: Identification and Analysis of Stylistic Variation in Hardin Barbed Points
M.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison
B.A., University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh

Military Service:  USMC, 1968-1979 (Active Duty), 1970-1974 (Inactive Reserve)

Research Interests:
Prehistoric and Historic Native American Midwestern Archaeology, Preindustrial and Primitive Technology, Experimental and Replicative Archaeology, Lithic Analysis, Lithic Technology, Ethnohistory, Museology and Museum Exhibits, Archeochemistry

Archeological Field Experience:
US: Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wyoming, Belize

Hired at UWO: September, 1985
Retired from UWO: June 2019

Office: Swart 309
Email: baltutim@uwosh.edu

Education:
Ph.D., University of Iowa 2008, Religious Studies
B.A., University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Philosophy

Dr. Michael Baltutis is a Professor of Global Religions at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. He teaches Religious Ritual, Hinduism and Religion in South Asia.