Departmental Honors

Departmental honors are awarded to our top students; the criteria include maintenance of a cumulative GPA of at least 3.55 and an anthropology-specific GPA of 3.75. Students graduating with honors wear our distinctive maroon and silver cords along with the usual UVM colors during the commencement ceremony.

George Henry Perkins Award for the Outstanding Senior

This award is named for George Henry Perkins, a UVM faculty member in geology and later, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Perkins is credited with teaching one of the first formal courses in anthropology at an American university. The Perkins Award is presented to the graduating senior who has demonstrated superior intellectual commitment to anthropology during the completion of their degree.

W. A. Haviland Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Anthropology

A Mayanist archaeologist by training, William “Bill” Haviland served UVM for more than 30 years as a professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology. Bill’s career was characterized by his desire to apply anthropological perspectives to modern social problems. The Haviland Award is presented to the graduating senior who best exemplifies Bill’s commitment to finding solutions for real-world crises through the use of anthropological perspectives.

James B. Petersen Archaeology Award

The James B. Petersen Award is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Jim Petersen (1954-2005). Jim received a B.A.  degree in both anthropology and environmental studies from UVM in 1979, and later a Ph.D. in anthropology from University of Pittsburgh in 1983. After several years as director of the Archaeological Research Facility at the University of Maine at Farmington, Jim returned to the UVM in 1997 where he was an associate professor and chair of the anthropology department. He was promoted to professor posthumously. Jim’s areas of interest were vast, and his research centered on the archaeology of Eastern North America, the Caribbean, and the Brazilian Amazon. This research generated numerous publications on such topics as cultural interaction, style and ethnicity, hunter-gatherer/horticultural adaptations, the origins of socio-political complexity, and ceramic and fiber perishable technologies. More than anything, Jim will be remembered for his generosity and absolute love of archaeology; he lived and breathed it. In this spirit, this award goes to graduating seniors who share in this respect and passion for the field of archaeology.