Aja Lans is a doctoral candidate in historical archaeology with a focus on bioarchaeology at Syracuse University. She holds a BS in anthropology from Binghamton University and a MA in anthropology from New York University. Her research interests include paleopathology, critical race theory, black feminist theory, and museum studies. Not only does she lecture at the college level, but she also has extensive experience working with K-12 students in museum education. She is currently writing her dissertation, ♀ Negro: Embodied Experiences of Inequality in Historic New York City, with the support of a 2020-2021 Ford Dissertation Fellowship. Her dissertation is a study of the archival and skeletal remains of black women who died in progressive era New York City. Utilizing life course and intersectional approaches, she aims to better understand how race, gender, class, and place came to be literally embodied by the women who ended up in this skeletal collection, and (re)insert their physical remains into the wider discussion of black women’s histories in the United States.
