Christopher Schmitt

I grew up a white kid in a relatively poor, mostly Black neighborhood in Milwaukee, WI, attending public schools. My family is Black, Latinx, and white. I was raised by a single mom, and there were times when we did not have a stable home. My mom did not attend college, and my dad graduated around the time I graduated high school. I’m also queer, and have been out since I was in high school. I try to incorporate all of these experiences and identities into my academic work, my pedagogical and mentoring work with my students, and my activism as Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Biology here at BU. The majority of my activism has focused on queer issues in field research and STEM, while also advocating for BIPOC in those contexts and in larger committees on diversity. At BU, I am the Faculty Sponsor of the graduate and undergraduate oSTEM (Out in STEM) groups, and I am on the steering committee for the LGBTQQIAA Interest Group of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, and a founder and former Chair of the Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion of the International Primatological Society.