Jennifer Muller

Jennifer Muller is a Teaching Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh’s Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. She holds a PhD from the University at Buffalo (2006) and previously held appointments at Ithaca College, CUNY, and Howard University’s W. Montague Cobb Laboratory. Her research focuses on historical bioarchaeology, examining how marginalized groups like institutionalized poor and African diasporic populations faced systemic inequities in life and death through skeletal analysis and archival research.

Her work integrates archaeological, skeletal, and documentary evidence to challenge narratives about poverty and disability. Notable projects include analysis of Erie County Poorhouse children’s remains, revealing how disabled children were socially excluded, and studies of anatomical collections’ ethical legacies. She emphasizes community engagement in research, advocating for descendant partnerships in heritage preservation.

Jennifer Muller teaches courses on biological anthropology, human evolution, and bioarchaeology. Her publications explore themes of structural violence, disability studies, and applied bioarchaeological ethics. She contributes to interdisciplinary dialogues on how historical bodily injustices inform modern social welfare policies and museum practices.