Graduating seniors were honored at the 2024 Anthropology Gala, which featured special recognition for outstanding accomplishments and students who earned departmental honors.

The Chardin Award was presented to Grace Bates and Sophea Brandley in recognition of superior achievement in the study of Anthropology across its four fields.  The award is named for Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ, an early Jesuit anthropologist.

The Buechel Award was presented to Amelia Gardner for dedication to both scholarship and service to others.  The award is named for Fr. Eugene Buechel SJ, who lived with the Oglala and Sicangu Lakota of the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations for over 50 years.   

The Breidenbach Award for Outstanding Student in Cultural Anthropology was presented to Erin Tien.  The award is named for Dr. Paul S. Breidenbach (1939-2014), who was a Professor of Anthropology at Loyola from 1972 to 2009.

The award for Outstanding Student in Archaeology was presented to Luc Bieri and Joanna Ruiz.

The award for Outstanding Student in Biological Anthropology was presented to Aman Kothadia.

The following graduates earned departmental honors for exceptional academic work, including the successful completion of independent research presented in an honors thesis:

• Luc Bieri, “The Distribution of Large Felids in Northern Africa during the Pleistocene in the Archaeological Record”
• Sophea Brandley, “Labor Organizing in Chicago Today”
• Katie Flores, “Just a Little Pressure: Social Media as a Tool of Women’s Reproductive Education”
• Aman Kothadia, “Infrastructural Violence and Women’s Health in Northern Peru”
• Joanna Ruiz, “Decolonial Approaches to Legacy Collection Management”