Medeia Csoba DeHass
Medeia Csoba DeHass
Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Alaska Fairbanks
M.A., History, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
M.A., Cultural Anthropology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
Indigenous Data Governance, heritage informatics, digital representation of Indigenous peoples and cultures, digital 3D modeling in Alaska Native heritage preservation, ethical collaboration with Indigenous communities.
Medeia Csoba DeHass is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Missouri and a doctoral faculty member at the MU Institute for Data Science and Informatics. She teaches courses on decolonizing research methodologies, digital heritage preservation, research design, and collaborating with Indigenous communities.
She earned M.A. degrees in History and Cultural Anthropology from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Prior to joining the University of Missouri, Dr. Csoba DeHass held positions as a National Science Foundation (NSF) Postdoctoral Fellow in the Native American Studies Program and the Institute of Arctic Studies at Dartmouth College; Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Alaska Native Studies at the University of Alaska Anchorage; Associate Professor at Des Moines Area Community College; and Visiting Scientist at the Arctic Remote and Cold Territories Interdisciplinary Center (ARCTICenter) at the University of Northern Iowa.
Dr. Csoba DeHass has been working with Alaska Native communities on a variety of ethnohistorical and ethnographic projects for the past two decades. She is the recipient of an NSF CAREER award supporting her research on Indigenous perspectives and applications of digital 3D technologies in preserving and perpetuating Alaska Native heritage in the Bering Strait region in collaboration with Kawerak Inc.'s Social Science Program.
She is currently internal PI for a project that is supplemental funding to MU’s NSF ART:TECH award (PI Dr. Sheila Grant). This translational project uses a convergent science framework by integrating geospatial and Indigenous perspectives in addressing ethical research praxis involving Alaska Native geocoded data.
In addition, Dr. Csoba DeHass is PI on a National Park Service-funded award to 3D document fossilized redwood stumps and outcrops at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument in Colorado using 3D photogrammetry and LiDAR to monitor site erosion.
She was also lead PI on a collaborative NSF award that brought together a team of 14 researchers, Indigenous community members, and 3D heritage preservation professionals to identify best practices for the ethical application of 3D technologies in the preservation and stewardship of Indigenous ancestral heritage.
Dr. Csoba DeHass’ 3D Heritage Informatics Lab at the Department of Geography provides undergraduate and graduate students with opportunities to gain hands-on training in 3D documentation methods, photogrammetry and structured light scanning, for heritage preservation.
GEOG 7580/4580 NAIS 4580 Decolonizing Methodologies
GEOG 8750 Research Design
GEOG 3496 Digital Indigenous Studies - Alaska Native Heritage from the Bering Strait Region
2025 Csoba DeHass, M., Collins, L., Taitt, A., Raymond-Yakoubian, J., Doering, L., Ellanna, L. N., John Jr, E., Gonzalez, J., Hollinger, E., Magnani, M., Martinez, D., Porsanger, L., Tapqaq, M.S. Ethical Considerations in the Use of 3D Technologies to Preserve Indigenous Heritage. American Antiquity 90(2): 282-306. https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2024.82
2025 McEwen, L. and Csoba DeHass, M. 3D Heritage Preservation and Indigenous Place-Based Learning in the Arctic. Polar Geography 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/1088937X.2025.2471764
2021 Denison, V., Willett, A., Taitt, A., and Csoba DeHass, M. Teaching Archival Research Methods Through Projects in Ethnohistory. Journal of Western Archives 12(2): 1-27.
2018 Csoba DeHass, M. and Hollinger, E. 3D Heritage Preservation and Indigenous Communities in the Circumpolar North. Arctic Year Book 2018.
2018 Gish Hill, C. and Csoba DeHass, M. Introduction to Digital Representation of Indigenous Peoples through Sharing, Collaboration, and Negotiation. Museum Anthropology Review 12(2): 40-54.
2018 Csoba DeHass, M. and Taitt, A. 3D Technology in Collaborative Heritage Preservation. Museum Anthropology Review 12(2): 120-152.
2012 What is in a Name? The Predicament of Ethnonyms in the Sugpiaq-Alutiiq Region of Alaska. Arctic Anthropology 49(1): 3-17.
2011 Csoba DeHass, M. and Droulias, A. Aleut Baseball: Cultural Creation and Innovation through a Sporting Event. Études/Inuit/Studies 34(2): 21-37.
2007 Daily Negotiation of Traditions in a Russian Orthodox Sugpiaq Village in Alaska. Ethnology 46(3): 205-216.