Jen Shannon

Jen Shannon is an Associate Professor and Curator of Cultural Anthropology at the University of Colorado Boulder and the CU Museum of Natural History. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociocultural Anthropology from Cornell University (2008). Her work centers on collaborative anthropology with Indigenous communities, focusing on museum practices, repatriation, digital heritage, and community-engaged storytelling. Shannon is a Public Engagement Fellow (Whiting Foundation) and contributed to projects like NAGPRA Comics and the Kumeyaay Visual Storytelling initiative. She co-hosts the SAPIENS podcast, advocating for public anthropology. Her research spans North America, Taiwan, and Australia, emphasizing shared authority and decolonizing methodologies. Shannon’s roles include managing the National Museum of the American Indian’s Outreach & Engagement Planning Office, teaching in the Museum and Field Studies program, and advising students. She has collaborated with Native Nations such as the Campo Kumeyaay, Mandan Hidatsa Arikara, and Inuit communities, integrating oral histories, film, and comics into her work.

• Education: Ph.D. in Sociocultural Anthropology, Cornell University, 2008
• Affiliations: CU Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies, Center for Research Data and Digital Scholarship
• Key Projects: MHA Nation Collaborative Film Project, Bougainville Island Heritage Initiative, and Mesa Verde National Park Collaboration