Social theory, power relations, structure and agency, identity, landscapes
Industrial archaeology and company towns
Indigenous historical archaeology and heritages, broadly defined
Cultural heritage and cultural resource management (CRM)
Decolonizing methods and collaborative archaeology
Ongoing research
Collaborative archaeology and heritage preservation projects in service to Great Basin Tribes.
Developing recommendations for improved tribal-federal relations regarding heritage consultation
Landscape archaeology and historic preservation in the Reno/Tahoe area
Developing recommendations for decolonizing methods
Teaching
ANTH 202: Archaeology
ANTH 442A/642B: Historical Archaeology
ANTH 442B/642B: Industrial Archaeology
ANTH 448/646: Archaeology Field School
ANTH 705: Graduate Seminar in Archaeology
ANTH 706: Seminar in Anthropological Problems: Archaeology of Power
ANTH 706: Seminar in Anthropological Problems: Historical Archaeology
Selected external grants and awards
2022-2023 Kavli Fellow, National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Japanese-American-German Frontiers of Science Symposium in Dresden, Germany. American Chair for the symposium (co-chaired with Japan and Germany).
2020-2022 Kavli Fellow, National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Japanese-American-German Frontiers of Science Symposium in Irvine, California, USA.
2019 Mark E. Mack Community Engagement Award (first place). Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA). Awarded to the Collaborative Stewart Indian School Project.
2018-2019 Kavli Fellow, National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Japanese-American-German Frontiers of Science Symposium in Kyoto, Japan.
2016 Kavli Fellow, National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Japanese-American Frontiers of Science Symposium in Irvine, California, USA.
2016 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from the White House, Executive Office of the President.
2016 Inductee, Academy of Sciences and Arts, Michigan Technological University.
2013 Society for Historical Archaeology's John L. Cotter Award (early career award).
Peer-reviewed publications
Books:
Machado, Lisa, and Sarah E Cowie. Beer Garden, Catholic Hospital, and Indigenous Presence: Complicated Site Components in an American Mining Boomtown. Vol. 3221. Oxford: BAR Publishing, 2025.
Cowie, Sarah E., Diane L. Teeman, and Christopher C. LeBlanc, eds. Collaborative Archaeology at Steward Indian School. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2019.
Cowie, Sarah E. The Plurality of Power: An Archaeology of Industrial Capitalism. New York: Springer, 2011.
Special Journal Issue:
Pacheco, Susana, Kelly Britt, Tânia Casimiro, and Sarah E. Cowie, eds. "Archaeology, Activism and Protest." Special Issue of International Journal of Historical Archaeology 29(4), 2025.
Recent, Selected Articles and Book Chapters:
Cowie, Sarah E, and Kelly M Britt. "Origins and Futures of Activist Archaeologies." International Journal of Historical Archaeology 29(4) 2025.
Cowie, Sarah E, Patrick De蓙ilélegi蓙 Burtt, Michon Eben, and Diane L Teeman. "By Whose Authority? A Settler Archaeologist's Approach to Relinquishing Control in Indigenous and Collaborative Archaeologies." International Journal of Historical Archaeology, (29(4) 2025.
Cowie, Sarah E, and Diane L Teeman. Navigating Entanglements and Mitigating Intergenerational Trauma in Two Collaborative Projects: Steward Indian School and "Our Ancestors' Walk of Sorrow" Forced Removal Trail. In Tsim Schneider and Lee Panich, Eds.. Archaeologies of Indigenous Presence. pp: 265-286. Gainesville: The University Press of Florida, 2022.
Co-authored six chapters in Sarah E. Cowie, Diane L. Teeman, and Christopher C. LeBlanc (Eds.) Collaborative Archaeology at Stewart Indian School. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2019.
Professional Memberships
American Anthropological Association (AAA)
Society for American Archaeology (SAA)
Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA)
Society for Industrial Archeology (SIA)
Nevada State Board of Museums and History (2013-2023)
Editorial Board Member for the International Journal of Historical Archaeology
Education
Hunt Postdoctoral Fellow, Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, 2008-2009
Ph.D., Anthropology (archaeology and sociocultural anthropology), University of Arizona, 2008
