About

Chelsi Slotten recieved her PhD in anthropology from American University. She received her BA from Tulane University in New Orleans where she studied human osteology, forensics, and the classics. She then went on to complete her MSc in paleopathology at Durham University in England. Her research there focused on recognizing victims of domestic abuse in the archaeological record and identifying social, religious, political, and economic factors contributing to different prevalence rates between urban and rural populations. Her current research interests include how gender influences bioarchaeology, nutritional access, health frailty, and trauma during the Viking Era. Her dissertation analyzed how gender shaped individuals lived experiences during the Danish Viking Age. She also has a passion for understanding with how the public engages with the past, particularly at museums, online, and through podcasts.

Publications & Presentations

• Slotten, C. (2021). To Slay or Not to Slay: Gender, Liminality, and Choice in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In R. Gibson and J.M. VanderVeen(eds), Gender, Supernatural Beings, and the Liminality of Death (67-84). Lexington.

• Slotten, C. (2020). Daughters of Freya, Sons of Odin: Gendered Lives during the Viking Age (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). American University, Washington DC. https://search.proquest.com/openview/5348d101d03438aa35916572deffaf64

• Slotten, C. (2019, April). Care in the Viking Age. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Albuquerque, NM.

• Hollinger, E. and Slotten, C. (2018, May). A Sweet Saga: Building a Chocolate Viking Ship. Arctic Studies Center Newsletter, 25, 60-61.

• Slotten, C. (2018, February). The Unintended Afterlife of Female Vikings. Paper presented at the 2018 Wolf Humanities Center Graduate Student Conference at the University of Pennsylvania.

• Wesp, J., F. Gaitan, J.L. Guerrero and C. Slotten. (2018, January). Through the Priest’s Ear: Examining the History and Archaeology of San Ignacio’s Jesuit Church (1610-2017) –Bogotá, Colombia. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Historic Archaeology, New Orleans, LA.

• Slotten, C. (2018, January 2). 2017- A Year in Review [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://womeninarchaeology.com/2018/01/02/2017-a-year-in-review/

• Slotten, C. (2018, January 2). 2017- A Year in Review [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://nmnh.typepad.com/arctic_studies/2018/01/2017-a-year-in-review.html

• Slotten, C. (2017, December 28). An Archaeological Discovery in Cake and Chocolate [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://nmnh.typepad.com/arctic_studies/2017/12/an-archaeological-discovery-in-cake-and-chocolate-.html

• Slotten, C. (2017, December). Excavating Modern Bias and the Archaeology of Disability. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, DC.

• Slotten, C (2017, November). Influencing the Conversation: Podcasts as a Medium for Archaeological Communication. Paper presented at the annual Public Anthropology Conference, Washington, DC.

• Slotten, C (2017, November). Photogrammetry Workshop. Workshop presented at the annual Public Anthropology Conference, Washington, DC.

• Slotten, C. (2017, October). Perspectives on the Women in Archaeology Podcast. Paper presented at the annual Mid-Atlantic Bioanthropology Interest Group meeting, Richmond, VA.

• Slotten, C. and Parlato, N. (2017, June 29). ICASS IX- Umea, Sweden June 8-12, 2017 [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://nmnh.typepad.com/arctic_studies/2017/06/icass-ix-umea-sweden-june-8-12-2017.html

• Parlato, N., I. Krupnik, and C. Slotten. (2017, June). Building and International Guide to Online Arctic Ethnographic Collections. Paper presented at the ICASS IX meeting, Umea, Sweden.

• Slotten, C. (2017, May). A Year at the ASC. Arctic Studies Center Newsletter, 24, 56-57.

• Lopez, K. and C. Slotten. (2017, May). From Tomb Raider to Time Team: How perceptions of female archaeologists affect the field. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Theoretical Archaeology Interest Group, Toronto, Canada.

• Slotten, C., Cain, E. and Bryant, H. (2017, April 20). Welcome to the Circumpolar Ethnology Imaging Project [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://nmnh.typepad.com/arctic_studies/2017/04/welcome-to-the-circumpolar-ethnology-imaging-project.html

• Slotten, C. (2017, April). Engendering the Bioarchaeology of the Viking Age. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, Canada.

• Slotten, C. (2017, March 28). Arctic Studies Center at the SAA’s [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://nmnh.typepad.com/arctic_studies/2017/03/arctic-studies-center-at-the-saas.html

• Slotten, C. (2017, January 5). 2016- A Year in Review [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://nmnh.typepad.com/arctic_studies/2017/01/2016-a-year-in-review.html

• Litten, S. and Slotten, C. (2016, November 2). Fulbright Arctic Week: Our Open House [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://nmnh.typepad.com/arctic_studies/2016/11/fulbright-arctic-week-our-open-house.html

• Slotten, C. (2016, November). Corsets: Male Desire or Female Agency? Catalyst Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.american.edu/cas/news/science-of-corsets-slotten.cfm

• Slotten, C. (2016, June). Engaging with the Public: Different Platforms for Diverse Audiences. Arctic Studies Center Newsletter, 23, 59.

• Slotten, C. and Fienup-Riordan. (2015, December 3). Yuungnaqpiallerput(the way we genuinely live): masterworks of Yup’ik Science and Survival- A Retrospective [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://nmnh.typepad.com/arctic_studies/2015/12/yuungnaqpiallerput-the-way-we-genuinely-live-masterworks-of-yupik-science-and-survival-a-retrospecti.html

• Slotten, C. and Fitzhugh, W. (2015, November 19). Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga- A Retrospective [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://nmnh.typepad.com/arctic_studies/2015/11/vikings-the-north-atlantic-saga-a-retrospective.html

• Slotten, C. and Fitzhugh, W. (2015, November 5). Ainu: Spirit of a Northern People- A Retrospective [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://nmnh.typepad.com/arctic_studies/2015/11/ainu-spirit-of-a-northern-people-a-retrospective.html

• Slotten, C. (2012, April). Battle of the Sexes: Identifying victims of domestic abuse in the archaeological record. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Portland, OR.