Meet the TA: Jake Deppen

Profile picture of Jake in a Spanish cafe

Enjoying a traditional Mallorcan breakfast of ensaïmada and café con leche.

Originally posted April, 2015; Updated January, 2017

I am a PhD student in the UW Archaeology program and the Teaching Assistant for this year’s Historical Archaeology class. I was previously the TA for this course during Spring 2015 and am looking forward to doing it again.

I received my BA in Anthropology from The Ohio State University and an MA in Anthropology from UW. My PhD research is a study of ceramics from the Late Iron Age in Mallorca, Spain, a time when indigenous Mallorcans were increasingly connected with outsiders like Phoenicians and Romans. I am particularly interested in the dynamics of these cultural interactions. My research is a small part of a larger collaboration between UW archaeologists and archaeologists in Spain which we have dubbed the Landscape, Encounters, and Identity Archaeology (LEIA) Project.

Before beginning my work in Spain, I worked on a number of projects and sites in southwest and central Ohio, mostly focused on what archaeologists call the Fort Ancient culture. If you ever find yourself in southwest Ohio, the museum and reconstructed village at SunWatch Indian Village and Archaeological Park make it worth a stop.

Outside of Denny Hall, I am the proud dad to Nikhil. Objectively speaking, he is the best baby in the world.

Jake and his son Nikhil