Welcome to Michigan Discussions in Anthropology Michigan Discussions in Anthropology is a topical journal published under the auspices of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan . It exists as a service to the department, offering opportunities for students and faculty both to become editor of a compiled volume in their specialty and to publish their own work, thus furthering their professional advancement. All papers are subjected to external anonymous peer review before publication. MDIA is a regular topically oriented publication exemplifying Michigan's four-field approach to anthropological study by uniting papers from all four subfields which reflect the subject of each volume. MDIA focuses on encouraging contributions from within the department but also actively solicits external papers. Contributors have traditionally included Michigan faculty, field researchers, and graduate students.