Molly K. Zuckerman, PhD
MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY
Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures
Cobb Institute of Archaeology
Associate Professor
education
The Pennsylvania State University – BA, Anthropology and Women’s Studies, summa cum laude (2001 – 2004)
Emory University – Graduate Certificate, Women’s Studies (2005 – 2010)
Emory University – MA, Anthropology (2005 – 2009)
Emory University – PhD Anthropology (2005 – 2010)
BACKGROUND
Dr. Molly Zuckerman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies at Mississippi State University. During her time at Emory, she wrote her dissertation on a multi-perspective approach to examining different influences – such as social identity and human behavior – on the history of syphilis in early modern England (c. 1495 – 1864). Her research interests in infectious diseases began with her thesis on syphilis, a communicable ailment that she continues to study today.
Dr. Zuckerman continues her work in bioarchaeology by identifying and diagnosing infectious diseases in past populations as well as providing an understanding of how these diseases appeared, how they affected different populations, and how they were spread to other areas of the world. Currently, Dr. Zuckerman and her team are studying the remains exhumed from Mississippi State Asylum (1855-1935) in Jackson, MS in order to gain insight into how health changed throughout time and how it was influenced by certain social determinants – such as racial discrimination and socioeconomic inequality – within this specific population.
“Sex, Society & Syphilis: An Evolutionary, Social, and Ecological History of Syphilis in Early Modern England (c. 1494-1864).” 2010. PhD Committee: George J. Armelagos (chair), (late of) Emory University; John D. Kingston, University of Michigan; Anne L. Grauer, Loyola University of Chicago; Sharon T. Strocchia, Emory University.
research interests
Dr. Zuckerman’s research interests center on the biological and social determinants of health inequalities among past populations with an emphasis on social identity and gender, and the evolution of infectious disease – primarily syphilis and treponematoses. She has a special focus on how diseases that impact civilizations change over time and how further examination can be indicative of wealth, social inequality, poverty and stigma as well as how these markers affect health outcomes overall.
- Bioarchaeology
- Paleopathology
- Skeletal Biology
- Evolution of Infectious Diseases
- Epidemiological Transitions
- Gender Studies
Publications
Books:
Barrett, R., Dudgeon, M., Zuckerman, MK., and GJ. Armelagos. 2022. An Unnatural History of Emerging Infections, 2nd Ed. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Under revision for second edition.
Articles:
Zuckerman, MK., Austin, RA., and Hofman, CA. 2021. Historical Anatomical Collections of Huan Remains: Exploring Their Reinterpretation as Representations of Racial Violence. The ANNALS of the Academy of Political and Social Science — Legacies of Racial Violence: Clarifying and Addressing the Presence of the Past. March (694): 39-47.
Zuckerman, MK., Kamnikar, KR, Osterholtz, AJ., NP Hermann, JD Franklin. 2019. Applying the Index of Care to the Mississippian period: A case study of treponematosis, physical impairment, and probable health-related caregiving form the Holliston Mills site, TN. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 29 (5): 843-853.
Zuckerman, MK., and JJ Crandall. 2019. Reconsidering sex and gender in relation to health and disease in bioarchaeology. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 54: 161–171.
Zuckerman, MK. 2017. The “Poxed” and the “Pure”: A Bioarchaeological Investigation of Community and Marginalization Relative to Infection with Acquired Syphilis in Post-Medieval London. Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association 28 (1): 91-103.
Awards and Distinctions
College of Arts and Sciences Research in the Social and Behavioral Science Award, MSU (2021)
Collects of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Professor Award, College of Arts & Sciences, MSU (2020)
Early Career Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award, Mississippi State Alumni Association, MSU (2017)
College of Arts & Sciences Teaching in the Social & Behavioral Sciences Award, MSU (2014)
teaching
Course Instructor
- Introduction to Anthropology, MSU
- Introduction to Biological Anthropology, MSU
- Nutritional Anthropology, MSU
- Plagues and Peoples, MSU
- Biology and Culture, MSU
- Human Origins and Variation, MSU
- Paleopathology, MSU
- Human Osteology, USC (2011)
- Human Behavior and Disease, Emory (2010)
- Concepts and Methods in Biological Anthropology, Emory (2009)
- Skeletal Biology, Emory (2008)
Graduate Teaching Assistant
- Concepts and Methods in Biological Anthropology, Emory (2007)
- Skeletal Biology, Emory (2006)
- Freshman Seminar: Reading Ancient Bones, Emory (2005-07)
(Photos by: Megan Bean)
(Photos by: Rogelio V. Solis)