Joseph A.P. Wilson is a historical anthropologist and religion scholar whose work is primarily focused upon the Native Peoples of North America and East Central Asia.  He is a Lecturer in the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences.  He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa cum Laude in Anthropology (BS, Kent State University).  He holds advanced degrees in Oriental and African Religions (MA, University of London SOAS), Industrial Archaeology (MS, Michigan Technological University), and Cultural Anthropology (PhD, University of Florida).  Before coming to the University of New Haven in 2012, he taught a wide range of subjects at several universities including High Point University, Elon University, the University of Florida, and Lander University, and he worked as a molecular DNA technologist at the Greenwood Genetic Center.

His most recent work examines Native North American weapons technologies (primarily bow-and-arrow) in U.S. ethnographic collections and compares them to similar weapons and materials from historical East Asia.  This work is the basis for a current book project.  His other publications cover topics including history of religions, archaeology, molecular genetics, and history of technology.  He is an Assistant Editor at the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature