Alanna Warner-Smith

Alanna Warner-Smith is a Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at American University, specializing in Historical Bioarchaeology. Her research integrates osteological and archival methodologies to explore the embodied impacts of macroscale phenomena like immigration, urbanization, and economic inequality, particularly through the Huntington Anatomical Collection (1893–1921).

• PhD, Anthropology, Syracuse University
• MA, Anthropology, Syracuse University
• BA, Anthropology, University of Chicago

Research Interests:

• Historical Bioarchaeology
• Capitalism and labor inequality
• Race, gender, and identity
• Movement and diaspora studies
• Archival anthropology
• Postmortem ethics

Recent Publications (2020–2024) analyze skeletal remains to critique race science, eugenics, and colonial practices in biological anthropology. Her monograph Working Hands, Indebted Bodies (University of Alabama Press) examines Irish immigrant labor histories through anatomical collections.

Scientific Awards:

• Peter Buck Fellow, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History

Current Projects include co-editing Tissues and Traces (Berghahn Books) and Excavating Bodies in the Archives, focusing on bioarchaeological ethics and disciplinary reformation.