Rachel Most
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Academic Programs and Professor
Department of Anthropology434-924-8873
rm5f@virginia.edu
266 Monroe Hall
Degrees
B.A., Temple University
M.A., Arizona State University
Ph.D., Arizona State University
I currently serve as the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Academic Programs in the College and as the Academic Dean for students in the sports of football, men and women's basketball, and men and women's squash. In addition, I teach archaeology classes in the Department of Anthropology and have completed two forums for the College (Human Impact on the Environment and Humans, Nature and Evolution).
My primary research interests are concerned with the study of change over time in prehistoric economic and settlement systems. I am particularly interested in the impact of the adoption of agricultural strategies by foraging societies, the role of hunting in emergent complex societies, lithic analysis and the so-called "collapse" of prehistoric societies. My field research has been primarily in the American Southwest (where I worked in the Mogollon Rim area (Pinedale/Snowflake) and southern desert areas of Arizona); I have also done fieldwork in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and South Carolina.
In whatever spare time I have I enjoy spending time with my children and friends, swimming (I swam competitively for Temple University), walking/hiking, working out, and travelling—especially back to the American Southwest.