Michael Brewster-Wray, Ph.D.
Adjunct Assistant of Anthropology

Michael Brewster-Wray, Ph.D., is an Adjunct professor of Anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Brewster-Wray received his Ph.D. and M.A. in Anthropology from the State University of New York at Binghamton and a B.A. degree in Anthropology from Indiana University.

My current research is an investigation of the adaptations made by Native American communities to the European settlements in the 17^th and 18^th centuries and the development of the new Métis community in the Great Lake region.  I am interested in how traditional belief systems, such as that embodied in the Grand Medicine Society, allowed people from many different backgrounds (including European) to come together to begin to form a new community.

I am also interested in the cultural similarities and differences in all Native American cultures in both North and South America.

Research interests

• Social structure and Adaptation
• Native economic systems and labor Organization
• Native American ceremonialism and world view
• Development of complex societies (Andean and Mesoamerican)
• Traditional technologies
• Native American environmental utilization and sustainability

Courses taught

• SOC 175  Introduction to Anthropology
• SOC 275  Cultural Anthropology
• SOC 315  Native North American Culture History
• SOC 248  Introduction to Archaeology