About

I am a historical archaeologist who studies consumer culture in the last half-millennium.  This includes research on the intersection of material consumption and the color line; race and urban renewal; the emergence of consumer society in northern Europe; Victorian decorative material culture; and the relationship between popular culture and materiality in the contemporary world.  I am Chair of the Department of Anthropology at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI); President of the Society for Historical Archaeology (2012-2013); Docent in Historical Archaeology at the University of Oulu (Finland); and a Fulbright Scholar in Fall 2012 at the University of Oulu.  I’m the author of Race and Affluence: An Archaeology of African America and Consumer Culture (Kluwer/Plenum, 1999); Glazed America: A History of the Doughnut (Florida, 2008); and The Archaeology of Consumer Culture (Florida, 2011).  I’m also a professional cycling geek; a Doctor Who nerd; and I wear a lot of paisley.