Michael E. Whalen

michael whalen

Professor of AnthropologyDepartment Chair Harwell Hall  2nd Floor
(918)631-2370
michael-whalen@utulsa.edu

My research interests are in cultural evolution and the development of complex societies. I am experienced in approaching such problems through excavation of individual communities and through regional settlement pattern surveys in Northern Mexico, Mesoamerica and the U.S. Southwest. My technical specialty is ceramic analysis, and I am well grounded in quantitative methods.

Education and Degrees Earned

  • Ph.D. Anthropology August, 1976 The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • M.A. Anthropology May, 1971 The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • B.A. Anthropology June, 1970 The University of Rochester, N.Y.

Previous Teaching Experience

  • 1995-date Professor of Anthropology, University of Tulsa
  • 1984-1994 Associate Professor of Anthropology (tenured), University of Tulsa
  • 1978-1984 Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Tulsa
  • 1975-1978 Visiting appointment in Anthropology, University of Texas at El Paso

Professional Affiliations

  • Society for American Archaeology

Courses Taught at TU

  • Culture, People, and Nature: General Anthropology (ANTH 1063)
  • Human Development and Diversity: Physical Anthropology (ANTH 2033)
  • Human Origins (ANTH 3133)
  • Topics in Prehistory (ANTH 6503)
  • Ceramic Analysis (ANTH 7203)

Awards & Recognition

  • University of Tulsa Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award, 1995.

Publications

  • The Neighbors of Casas Grandes: Medio Period Communities of NW Chihuahua, Mexico
    Authorship: M. E. Whalen and P. E. Minnis. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. In press, 2009.
  • The Local and the Distant in the Origin of Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico
    American Antiquity 68:2:314-332. (Authorship: M. E. Whalen & P.E. Minnis). 2003.
  • The Casas Grandes Regional System: A Late Prehistoric Polity of Northwestern Mexico
    Journal of World Prehistory 15:3:313-362. (Authorship: M. E. Whalen & P.E. Minnis). 2001.
  • Casas Grandes and Its Hinterland: Prehistoric Regional Structure in Northwestern Mexico
    Authorship: M. E. Whalen and P. E. Minnis. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 2001.
  • Architecture and Authority in the Casas Grandes Region, Chihuahua, Mexico
    American Antiquity 66:4:651-669. (Authorship: M. E. Whalen & P.E. Minnis). 2001.
  • Leadership at Casas Grandes
    In Alternative Leadership Strategies in the Prehistoric Southwest, edited by B. Mills, pp. 168-179. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson. (Authorship: M.E. Whalen and P.E. Minnis). 2000.
  • Casas Grandes
    In Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America:Encyclopedia. Edited by S.T. Evans and D.L. Webster, p. 97. Garland Pub. Co., New York. (Authorship: M.E. Whalen and P.E. Minnis). 2000.