Dr. Mary S. Willis
Ph.D. Washington University St. Louis, 1995
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Office: 928 Oldfather Hall
Email: mwillis2@unl.edu
Phone: (402) 472-9677
Fax: (402) 472-9642
Subfields:
Dental Anthropology
Medical Anthropology
Applied Anthropology
Major Research Interests:
Refugee resettlement, refugees from Sudan, cross-cultural health
Research Achievements:
2004 Leslie Hewes Award, Great Plains Research, for the best social science article published in GPR in 2004, May 2005.
RUNZA Spirit of Service Award, The University of Nebraska Lincoln, Student Involvement, and Runza Restaurant, April 5, 2005, for "Outstanding Contributions to the Community as a Faculty Member, 2005."
Research appeared as feature story in 'Research' section of The Chronicle of Higher Education, for story on refugee dental project, Interview (Katie Mangan) and Photo shoot, February and March 2005, Volume LI, Number 30, April 1, 2005.
"Letter to the Editor" with Robert K. Hitchcock, Christian Science Monitor, August 8, 2003, "Accepting Africa's refugees in the US?"
Grants:
Langeloth Foundation, New York, New York, for Anterior Dental Extraction and Restoration Among Nuer and Dinka Refugees from Sudan: A Unique Perspective on the Biology and Culture of Healing ($227,459), 2005-2007.
Publications in Refereed (Peer-Reviewed) Journals/Books
Fox, S.H. and Willis, M.S. (2009) Dental Restorations for Dinka and Nuer refugees: A confluence of healing and culture. Accepted December 2008, Transcultural Psychiatry, In press.
Edmondson, J.A., Silva, D.J. and Willis, M.S. (2009) The impact of dental extraction and restoration on the articulation of affricates by Dinka refugees in Nebraska. Anthropological Linguistics, In press.
Fox, S.H. and Willis, M.S. (2009) Initiatory mental health assessments for Dinka and Nuer Refugees from Sudan. Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, 7(2):159-179.
Willis, M.S., Esqueda, C.W., and Schacht, R.N. (2008) College student perceptions of those missing upper front teeth. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 106:423-435.
Willis, M.S., Harris, L.E., and Hergenrader, P.J. (2008) On traditional dental extraction: case reports from Dinka and Nuer en route to restoration. British Dental Journal 204(3):121-124.
Willis, M.S. and Buck, J.S. (2007) Dinka and Nuer Dietary Dilemmas: The Transition from Sudan to Nebraska. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 39(5):273-280.
Willis, M.S. and Badakhsh, R.A. (2006) "A Historical Perspective on the University of Nebraska Medical Center's College of Dentistry Class of 1961". Journal of Dental Education, 70(6):667-675.
Willis, M.S. and Nkwocha, O. (2006) Health and Related Factors for Sudanese Refugees in Nebraska. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 8(1):19-33.
Willis, M.S., Schacht, R.N. and Toothaker, R. (2005) Anterior dental extractions among Dinka and Nuer refugees in the United States: a case series. Special Care Dentistry 25(4): 193-198.
Willis, M.S., Swindler, D.R. and Toothaker, R.W. (2005) A Description of Nuer and Dinka Anterior Tooth Extractions, Practices and a Preliminary Odontometric Analysis of the Remaining Permanent Dentition. In E. ZadZinska (ed) Current Trends in Dental Morphology Research, Lodz, Poland: University of Lodz Press, 177-189.
Willis, M.S., Fernald, C. (2004) A View of Sudanese Refugee Resettlement Through Nebraska's Print Media. Great Plains Research14(2).
Conference Presentations
Willis, M.S. and DiBernard, B.J. (2009) Who's zooming who?: Cross-cultural mentoring between high school and college students. Society for Applied Anthropology, Sante Fe, New Mexico.
Osborne, D.L., Willis, M.S. and Beyene, S.G. (2009) Evaluating the race concept in the classroom and community: insight from student research. Poster, American Association of Physical Anthropology, Chicago, Illinois.
Willis, M.S., Bragg, J.M. and Johnson, J.T. (2008) Anterior dental extraction in Sub-Saharan Africa: On geography, language, and historical roots. Oral Presentation, 14th International Symposium on Dental Morphology, Greifswald, Germany.
Willis, M.S. and Swindler, D.R (2008) The Incisors of Asian Colobines with Special Reference to the Proboscis Monkey, Nasalis larvatus. Oral Presentation, Congress of the International Primatological Society, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Willis, M.S. and Pratt, M. (2008) Legal Wrestling Required: Dinka Refugees and Nebraska Law. Oral Presentation, Society for Applied Anthropology, Memphis, Tennessee.
Willis, M.S. and Smith, E.R. (2008) Dental morphometrics in Sudanese Dinka and Nuer refugees to the U.S. Poster Presentation, American Association of Physical Anthropology, Columbus, Ohio.
Travers-Gustafson, D. and Willis, M.S. (2007) Social Constructionism, Life Course Theory and the Norm Disease of Aging: Osteoporosis. Oral Presentation, The Gerontological Society of America, Dallas, Texas.
Willis, M.S. and Toothaker, R.W. (2006) Dinka and Nuer Dental Impressions: On Sudanese Extraction and U.S. Restoration. Oral Presentation, Society for Applied Anthropology, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Willis, M.S., Swindler, D.R. and Toothaker, R.C. (2005) A Description of Nuer and Dinka Anterior Tooth Extractions, Practices and a Preliminary Odontometric Analysis of the Remaining Permanent Dentition. Oral Presentation, 13th International Symposium on Dental Morphology, Lodz, Poland.
Willis, M.S., Pratt, M. and Einspahr, L. (2005) The Lost Boys and the Print Media: An Examination of Refugee Resettlement Policy, Programs, and Culture. Oral Presentation, Society for Applied Anthropology, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Courses Taught:
Introduction to Anthropology, ANTH 110
Introduction to Physical Anthropology, ANTH 242/242L
Cross-Cultural Mentoring I & II, ANTH 408/808 and ANTH 409/809
Advanced Physical Anthropology, ANTH 442/842
Medical Anthropology, ANTH 422/822
Human Variation, ANTH 442/842
