Jade Luiz

Jade Luiz, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Her areas of expertise include 19th-century sex work, historical archaeology, urban studies, gender studies, and the archaeology of the senses. 

Luiz has more than 15 years of experience in the historical archaeology of 19th-century sex work in New England and Colorado. Her research focuses on the history of prostitution during that era. Her dissertation examined an archaeological collection from a brothel on Endicott Street in Boston’s North End. She has contributed to several publications on the collection, including Archaeology of a Nineteenth-century Brothel in Boston, MA: Erotic Facades, published by Routledge. 

In June 2023, Luiz launched an archaeological field school at MSU Denver, leading investigations into the historic red-light district of Central City, Colorado. 

Before joining MSU Denver, she served as a Curator of Collections at Plimoth Patuxet Museums. 

Luiz holds a doctorate and a master’s degree in archaeology from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Portland State University.