Bernadette Boden-Albala, who earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology at Queens College, is the director and founding dean of the University of California, Irvine’s planned School of Population Health. She is a renowned researcher and administrator whose efforts to reduce health disparities for America’s disadvantaged became a blueprint for community-based stroke and heart disease prevention.

Joseph M. Birkmann (Class of 2012)

“I graduated from CUNY Queens College in 2012 with degrees in Anthropology and Philosophy. My time at CUNY Queens provided a solid anthropological foundation for my graduate work at the University of New Mexico, where I study environmental archaeology in the Southwest and Pacific Islands. My dissertation work focuses on geohydrology and agricultural production on the windward side of the island of Hawai`i, in the district of Kohala. Here in the southwest, I am actively engated in UNM projects relating to Paleoamerican – Archaic occupation and land use in northern New Mexico and southern Arizona as well as ongoing UNM research at Chaco Canyon, NM.”

Maria Grbic (Class of 2019) is a registered nurse at Flushing Hospital Medical Center, where she provides culturally sensitive care to the pediatric population and their families. A triple CUNY graduate, Maria had her start studying anthropology at Queens College, with an interest in medical/psychiatric anthropology.

Lia Kalinkos (Class of 2024) is currently a PhD student in Archaeology at Yale University.

“I often call the Department of Anthropology at Queens College my academic birthplace. When I began my studies at QC during COVID I was very disillusioned, unsure of my major and considering dropping out. It was an introductory course in Cultural Anthropology that piqued my interest, as it was the first class I had ever taken that disrupted my ideas about what it means to be a human being, what it is that makes each culture special and beautiful, and that in fact there are many ways to live a good life; not just the one we are habitually brought up with. There are many ways to organize kinship, to celebrate, to form your identity, and many valuable perspectives you can embrace during your time here on Earth. What I love about anthropology is that, as is said, it makes the strange seem familiar and the familiar seem strange. Through my classes in this department, from those about human variation, time, Maya archaeology, language and politics, I saw that there is a lot to be learned from the intricacies of our species, past and present from every corner of the world that other disciplines and the majority of people in our social sphere here in the US do not consider worthy of discussion.

My numerous courses in anthropology led me to a deeper interest in past people, whose voices are often muffled by the passage of time, and through studying with Dr. Tim Pugh, and travelling to Guatemala for archaeological research, I became very interested in the worldviews and practices of the Ancient Maya. People have been cultivating wisdom, and their ways of being and knowing in the world since we first started roaming the Earth hundreds of thousands of years ago. When we don’t recover and record these ways of knowing, they get lost and forgotten in the rapid pace of change that our modern world experiences. Through my studies at Queens College, I was inspired to pursue doctoral studies in Maya archaeology, none of which would have been possible in a personal nor logistical sense without the department of Anthropology. I was offered an opportunity to work in the department, given a space to carry out my research and study in solitude, and later to prepare my graduate school applications. In developing my CV, application letters, and letters of recommendation, I received support from countless faculty members. During difficult and overwhelming days, people in the department were always there to remind me that I was capable and worth the pursuit. All throughout my studies they celebrated my achievements and assured me that they were there for anything I needed. The value of this department lies just as much in the hearts of the people who run it as it does in the quality of the material they teach. It’s remarkable to have a large collection of professors who study a diverse range of things and are also authentic and approachable people with whom you can talk about anything, from anthropology to general life advice. They are just as weird and wonderful as the articles they assign and the lessons they teach, and for that I am eternally grateful.”

Gueorgui Milkov (Class of 1997)

“I arrived as an international student at Queens College from Southeastern Europe, but over the years since graduating, I became a naturalized citizen. I chose to major in anthropology because I was fascinated by different cultures and customs, and living in New York City provided me with firsthand experience of the amazing human diversity there. I also loved attending lectures during which we discussed topics ranging from archaeology to human sexuality, while getting exposed to the ideas of Franz Boas and Margaret Mead. Meanwhile, in my sophomore year, I decided to minor in journalism as I had always been a news junkie, following political, cultural, entertainment and sporting events. It turned out that this choice would lead me to develop and pursue my passion for journalism, although the knowledge I obtained as an anthropology major has helped and served me as well.

Lisa Modenos is currently a Lecturer Advisor for the University Without Walls Program, UMass Amherst.

Markos Papadatos (Class of 2007) is an acclaimed journalist and senior editor of the Hellenic News of America. Markos is the most recent recipient of prestigious “Journalist of the Year” award, presented by the Hellenic News of America, and has been inducted into the Hellenic News Hall of Fame.

In early 2021, Markos won four “Best of Long Island” categories including Best Author, Best Poet, Best Blogger, and Best Long Island Personality. He attributes much of his success to his Queens College education.

Sebastian Ramirez (Class of 2017) is currently a postdoctoral research associate in Princeton University’s Global Health Program. His research focuses on “internally displaced persons in his native Colombia and the role of healthcare services in an effort to remake ideas of home and citizenship in the aftermath of violence”. For more about Sebastian and his research, follow this link.

Victoria Tan (Class of 2016) graduated from Duke Law in May 2019 and is currently working at a law firm specializing in real estate. Victoria says “I definitely fell that my anthropology degree served me well. Much of law school involved heavy reading, writing, and critical analysis. Attention to detail is also central to the law practice, and I felt that I honed that skill through my anthropology courses”.

Victoria graduated with a BALA/Anthropology degree and completed a senior thesis entitled “Beauty and the East Asian Woman”.