Elizabeth Brite
- Professor // Anthropology
Office and Contact
Room: STON 323
Email: britee@purdue.edu
Courses
ANTH-10000: Being Human: Introduction to Anthropology
HONR 19901: Supermodern
HONR-31400: The Anthropocene
HONR-39900: The Holocene
HONR-39900: Beyond Afghanistan
Biography
Liz Brite is a clinical professor in the Department of Anthropology and an academic administrator for the John Martinson Honors College. Her work applies archaeological theory and methods to better understand contemporary problems. As clinical faculty at Purdue since 2014, she has guided students in the application of anthropological archaeology to address some of humanity’s greatest challenges, including global conflict, migration, climate change, and technological innovation. Her work to bring anthropology and archaeology into the classroom as high-impact learning practices for STEM students has been recognized with Purdue’s top teaching awards, including the Exceptional Early Career Teaching Award and the Charles B. Murphy Award for Excellence in Teaching.
As a researcher, Dr. Brite collaborates with the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan and partners in the U.S. and abroad to study the Aral Sea Basin, one of the most significant ecological crisis zones in modern times. Her work examines critical problems of water scarcity, land salinization, and industrial development from a long-term, evolutionary perspective utilizing methods of interdisciplinary team science. Her work has been funded by the National Geographic Society, the American Philosophical Society, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research and has appeared in journals including Quaternary Science Advances and The Holocene.
Positions at Purdue University
2026 to present Clinical Professor of Anthropology
2020 to 2026 Clinical Associate Professor, Honors College
2015 to 2020 Clinical Assistant Professor, Honors College
2014 to 2015 Continuing Lecturer, Honors College
Awards
2025 Charles B. Murphy Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award
2020 Exceptional Early Career Award, Purdue University
Two Most Recent Publications
Brite, Elizabeth Baker, Ankita Prasad, Mikk Sanborn and Jordan Reynolds. In press. Refashioning Origins in the Anthropocene III: Archaeological Didactics for Postdigital Bildung. Anthropocenes: Human, Inhuman, Posthuman. https://doi.org/10.16997/ahip.2039
Brite, Elizabeth Baker, Azizkhan Toreniyazov, Sydney Hunter, Steven Ammerman, Abutalib Bekbauliev, Islambek Khozhalipesov, and John M. Marston. 2026. Climate Change and World History: Evidence from the Site of Sym-Ota 1 in the Aral Sea Basin. Quaternary Science Advances. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qsa.2025.100313
Field Projects
2023 to present Co-Director, Uzbek-Emirates Expedition to the Qyzyl Qum
2018 to present Co-Director, Karakalpak American Archaeological Project