Samantha Fladd

Samantha Fladd is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Washington State University (WSU) and Director of the Museum of Anthropology. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona. Her research focuses on anthropological archaeology in the U.S. Southwest, particularly the Ancestral Pueblo communities of the Four Corners region. Key interests include spatial analysis of architecture, depositional practices, and room decommissioning. She has conducted fieldwork in Chaco Canyon, northeastern Arizona, and southwestern Colorado, emphasizing archival and museum collection studies.

As Museum Director, she advocates decolonial approaches, prioritizing community-led exhibitions and cultural care in collections management. Her work explores the history of archaeology, digital archives, and intersectional identities of women in Southwestern archaeology.

Selected Awards: Julian D. Hayden Student Paper Competition (2018) for her work on ritual fauna at Pueblo Bonito.

Research Projects: Co-directs a collaborative project on women’s intersectional identities in the northern Southwest. Leads studies on spatial syntax, environmental archaeology, and material culture analysis in Chaco Canyon and Homol’ovi settlements.