Kimberly K. Cavanagh, PhD
Chair, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
Associate Professor of Anthropology

I am an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the »Æ¹ÏÊÓÆµ Beaufort. I hold a PhD in Cultural Anthropology (2013), as well as an MA in Cultural Anthropology (2006), and a Graduate Certificate in Visual Anthropology (2007) from the University of South Carolina. I also earned two undergraduate degrees from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada: Anthropology (2003) and Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus in Classical Archaeology (1999). I am the recipient of a Fulbright Scholar Award (2019-2020) and a Fulbright Student Award (2008-2010). In 2012, I was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award in Social Sciences by »Æ¹ÏÊÓÆµ Education Foundation.
I have been conducting ethnographic research since 2005. My research on identity, tourism development and the Middle East guides my work in the classroom where I encourage students to not only be aware of global cultures but also to appreciate differences. More recently, I have begun a research agenda closer to home. In 2019 I began a new collaborative project with Dr. Audrey Dawson, exploring the archaeology of the Barnwell Site on Hilton Head Island. Currently I am using digital ethnographic methodologies paired with archival and media-based research, to explore the fragility of two tourism-dependent economies (Hilton Head Island, SC and Aqaba, Jordan), highlighting challenges encountered by two communities, as they attempt to survive this moment.
I am an active campus citizen and sit on several committees promoting student scholarship and research, including the Student Research and Scholarship Day Committee (co-chair), the International Programs Committee and it’s Fulbright and International Opportunities sub-committee, and the Student Scholarships and Fellowships Committee.
- Education
- Teaching
- Research
PhD in Cultural Anthropology. The »Æ¹ÏÊÓÆµ 2013
MA in Cultural Anthropology. The »Æ¹ÏÊÓÆµ 2006
BA in Anthropology. Carleton University 2003
BA in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus in Classical Archaeology. Carleton University 1999
- ANTH B101 - Primates, People and Prehistory
- ANTH B102 - Understanding Other Cultures
- ANTH B312 - Contemporary Cross-Cultural Analysis
- ANTH B344 - Anthropology of Tourism
- ANTH B351 - The Family in Cross-Cultural Perspective
- ANTH B385 - Gender and Language Use
- ANTH B399 - Independent Study
- ANTH B452 - Medical Anthropology
- Middle Eastern Studies
- Tourism
- Development and Globalization
- Issues surrounding identity creation, negotiation and representation
- Anthropology of childhood and the cross-cultural examination of children's museums and the power of play in early childhood
- Gender and Pedagogy
- Culture of nursing care in the Lowcountry
- Using archaeology to reframe the early history of Hilton Head Island