Katharine Reinhart

Program Entrance

2024

Advisor

Alexia Smith

Research Interests

Archaeobotany/Paleoethnobotany, Macrobotanical Analysis, Anthracology, Colonial English identity in 17th- and 18th-century New England, English-Indigenous Interaction Spheres, Frontier Dynamics, Colonial Diet and Cuisine, Alchemical Medicine, Colonial Botanical Medicine, Ethnohistory and Primary Document Research, Roles of Women as Keepers and Distributors of Plant Knowledge in Colonial Contexts.

About

What sparked your interest in anthropology?

My interest in anthropology began with my parents who emphasized the importance of travel, history, and an empathetic curiosity about other cultures early on in my life. I had no idea there was a career field that would allow me to pursue my interest in the study of humanity until taking Introduction to Anthropology as an undergraduate at Rhodes College in Memphis. The professor teaching that course inspired me to take the environmental archaeology field school offered by Rhodes and awarded me a fellowship that provided the opportunity to learn how to analyze macrobotanical assemblages curated at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center…and the rest is history!