Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology

Letter from the Director

Dear Friends of the Haffenreffer Museum,

We, at the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, hope that you and your families are staying safe and healthy during these difficult and challenging times. We miss engaging with all of you — our students, faculty, staff, friends, visitors — and indeed the entire Providence community. 

We are particularly disappointed that our newly opened exhibition, Transient Matter: Assemblages of Migration in the Mediterranean, is now temporarily closed until further notice. The exhibit was curated by Professor Yannis Hamilakis as well as three graduate students, Darcy Hackley, Sherena Razek, and Ayşe Şanli and is a poignant introduction to the realities, perils, and the humanity of migrations and border-crossings with a special focus on the refugee communities on the island of Lesvos. (You can check out the curators' talk on our YouTube Playlist.)

We hope to provide you with some updates in the near future. Meanwhile, you can follow us on TwitterFacebook, and Instagram to keep track of what we, and our colleagues across the world, are doing. Please take care of yourselves and each other. We look forward to a future time when we can again experience the museum together.

Take care, 

Robert W. Preucel, Director
Jeffrey C. Schreck, President of the Friends Board
Kevin P. Smith, Deputy Director

And the Haffenreffer Museum staff: 
Lauren Banquer, Mellon Collections Assistant
Leah Burgin, Manager of Museum Education and Programs
Patricia Duany, Mellon Collections Assistant
Rip Gerry, Exhibition Coordinator / Photo Archivist
Thierry Gentis, Curator / NAGPRA Coordinator
Annalisa Heppner, Project Director, Circumpolar Laboratory Inventory
Leah Hopkins, Mellon Community Engagement Specialist
Emily Jackson, Museum Operations and Communications Coordinator 
Dawn K. Kimbrel, Registrar
Janice Nosal, Mellon Collections Assistant
Michèle Hayeur Smith, Museum Research Associate