Director
Laura Shackelford
Laura studies human evolution and recent human diversity, with a focus on Southeast Asia. She co-directs archaeological field research in northern Laos. Her work also explores how virtual reality and educational games can make human prehistory and archaeological fieldwork accessible to more learners.
Appointments & affiliations
- Professor, Department of Anthropology
- Faculty Affiliate, Illinois Informatics, School of Information Sciences
- Faculty Affiliate, Game Studies & Design program
- Faculty Affiliate, Center for East Asian & Pacific Studies
- Faculty Fellow, Center for Social and Behavioral Sciences
- IMMERSE Education Theme co-Lead
- Professor, Department of Biomedical & Translational Sciences, Carle Illinois College of Medicine
- Health Innovation Professor, Carle Illinois College of Medicine
Projects
Active projects
VRchaeology
An immersive virtual field school for learning archaeological field methods through excavation, mapping, documentation, and analysis.
Publications
Journal articles
Bridging anatomy curricular gaps: Leveraging student-created video resources in elective courses
A study of a student-developed anatomy module combining a dissection guide with a virtual reality video to support learning about facial muscles.
Journal articles
Reconstructing the environmental conditions experienced by early modern humans at Tam Pà Ling (northeast Laos) using higher plant wax biomarkers
Research using plant-wax biomarkers to reconstruct environmental conditions associated with early modern humans at Tam Pà Ling in northeast Laos.
Conference papers
Relationships between cognitive loads and motivational support in a virtual reality game-based learning system for teaching introductory archaeology
A study of cognitive load and motivational support in a VR archaeology learning environment, drawing on survey responses from 106 participants.
Presentations
Conference talk
Experiential vs Simulated Learning
Scheduled for 1:00–2:00 pm. Laura Shackelford, Sepehr Vaez Afshar, and Sarvin Eshaghi join Lena Currie and Melissa Roth of SGH to explore teaching preservation diagnostics and skills through hands-on experiences and realistic simulations. Following introductions from industry and academic presenters, attendees are invited to try non-destructive testing and virtual reality equipment.
Conference talk
From Carving to Digital Heritage: Capturing Material and Craft Knowledge with XR and Photogrammetry
Upcoming presentation, scheduled for October 2026.
Conference talk
Immersive Technology for Heritage: Exploring XR Adoption in U.S. Cultural Museums
Invited talks
VRchaeology talk (Laura Shackelford) to the VR Club
Conference talk
Motivational processing in a game-based VR learning system for teaching introductory archaeology
Conference talk
Virtual archaeology: the efficacy of virtual reality for social science education
Conference talk
Digitally-empowered learning: teaching archaeology through VR and game-based learning
Awards & funding
Awards
Golden Apple Award — preclinical teaching
Student-selected recognition for preclinical teaching.
Awards
Golden Apple Award — preclinical teaching
Student-selected recognition for preclinical teaching.
Grants
Increasing accessibility to field-based sciences for college students using wheelchairs (NSF 2021460)
Supported from 2020 to 2022.
Grants
EXP: Social science education through virtual reality simulation of an archaeological research site (NSF 1736235)
Supported from 2017 to 2020.