The Committee on Diversity (COD) was started in order to assess disciplinary demographics and address minority representation in biological anthropology.  A survey of U.S. programs of physical/biological anthropology indicated a diversity bottleneck at the transition from undergraduate to graduate programs.

To address this bottleneck, the COD sponsors a yearly Committee on Diversity Undergraduate Research Symposium.    

Any abstract with an undergraduate as the first author is welcome.  All undergraduates are eligible to participate.  This year, abstracts are due February 1, 2023.

In an effort to provide a presentation opportunity for first year graduate students who were unable to submit an abstract by the October 2022 deadline due to extenuating circumstances such as disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year only, the Undergraduate Research Symposium will also accept abstracts first authored by first year graduate students.

Please encourage your undergraduates to apply for this event!

Abstract Preparation and Submission: The COD Undergraduate Research Symposium has an online application process; the application will be available here following the e-mails of abstract acceptance for the main meetings.

Requirements: The submission of structured abstracts, following the format used in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. This format includes a few sentences each on Background, Methods, Results, and a Conclusion. Note that this format is different than the AABA abstract format used in the main meetings.

Qualifications: Any abstract submitted to the main meeting that has an undergraduate as first author can be considered provided that
1) the abstract is rewritten to comply with the structured format; and
2) it is submitted for the Undergraduate Research Symposium by the February 1, 2023 deadline.

Note that the COD Undergraduate Research Symposium abstract application is a separate process from the main submission.  If you have also submitted your abstract to the main meetings, you will be asked to notify the committee during the application process.

Mentoring Process: Each undergraduate will be paired with a graduate student who will provide mentoring advice on poster development and the poster ‘talk’. Graduate students are encouraged to volunteer to serve as reviewers/mentors (please see below).

Event: The virtual event will be held on Wednesday, April 5, 2023. The in-person event will be on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, in the early evening. Details will be sent to successful applicants regarding their particular cohort and their live session(s).

Graduate Student Volunteers: Graduate students interested in abstract review and undergraduate mentoring should please contact Dr. Cara Wall-Scheffler ([email protected]).

Registration: Undergraduates participating in the symposium will receive complementary AABA meeting registration. Successful applicants will be registered automatically. Please DO NOT register on your own for the meeting. (If you are a first year graduate student, you will need to separately register for the meeting here.)

Apply here!

Committee Chairs

Cara Wall-Scheffler

Marcie Myers