Explore the meaning of culture, and how the discipline of anthropology understands the concept. Anthropologists immerse themselves in social settings, participating in everyday life to gain a deeper understanding of local beliefs and practices. In learning about this approach to understanding culture, known as ethnographic fieldwork, our aim is to gain a background in sociocultural anthropology, its broad relevance today, and to discover new perspectives on our own unique ways of living and being.

Learn aboutthe human species, past, present and future by exploring topics in biological anthropology including genetic, human evolution, our family tree, promates, human osteology, forensics, and human diversity, and by doing a variety of laboratory and hands-on exercises. Students who receive credit for ANTH 1303/ARCH 1303 cannot receive credit for ANTH 1002.

Introduces the central dynamic tensions in Archaeology and their impact on archaeological practice, including their implications for methods and for how archaeologists construct knowledge about the past. Students who receive credit for ARCH 2303 cannot receive credit for ANTH 2303.

Learn how biological anthropologists attempt to reconstruct the lives of people using human remains from both forensic and archaeological contexts. Introduces the application of biological anthropology to past human populations through analysis of their biological remains (bones, teeth and preserved soft tissues). Topics include: determining and understanding population demographics (age, sex, ancestry, and stature), health and disease, chemical and genetic analysis, and quantitative methods and population studies.

This course allows students to receive university credit for experience in social science research gained under the supervision of a university-seated researcher or from a non-university organization.

Registration: Students may only register after making arrangements for supervision and grading with the department.

How do human gender roles vary from culture to culture and over time? How has anthropology attempted to explain these variations? What are the implications for the nature/nurture debate? Examples are drawn from archaeology, biological anthropology, and socio cultural studies.

Explore the cultural history of North America through an in-depth examination of the origins and development of the Indigenous cultures of North America, from the earliest traces to European contact. 

Learn about the theoretical foundations of anthropological archaeology, including key ethical frameworks and how archaeology is applied in North America.

Allows students to receive university credit for experience gained in museum studies, collections management and/or material culture analysis gained outside the university setting. 

The lab school offers an introduction to archaeological analytical techniques through participation in a lab-based research project. This section emphasizes systematic approaches to research, recognition and cataloguing of archaeological materials, and basic data recovery. 

The lab school offers an introduction to archaeological analytical techniques through participation in a lab-based research project. This section emphasizes quantitative methods, data manipulation and presentation, and technical analysis.

Explore the production, use and circulation of technologies throughout human history and across cultural contexts. Learn comparative anthropological perspectives on the tools, technologies, and the materials used for their production from the earliest archaeological evidence through to the present.

Allows students to receive university credit for experience gained in archaeological field research outside the university setting.

The field school offers an introduction to archaeological field techniques through participation in a field research project. This section emphasizes safety in the field, systematic approaches to research, site survey, recording, testing and excavation techniques.

The field school offers an introduction to archaeological field techniques through participation in a field research project. This section emphasizes recognition and recovery of archaeological materials, recording of basic field procedures and recovery of materials for technical analyses.

Drawing on medical anthropology for public health programs, provides opportunities for improved understanding of, and response to, health problems at community and population levels. The Covid-19 pandemic has shown the pivotal role that medical anthropology plays in public and global health research. Evaluate four specific approaches to public health research and practice in medical anthropology: 1) analysis of public health problems; 2) design of public health interventions; 3) evaluation of public health interventions; and 4) reflexive analysis of public health. Focuseson how understanding the sociocultural environment facilitates the adaptation of public health interventions to local settings, increases local uptake, and is likely to increase effectiveness.

In this course students are introduced to the major primate taxa (i.e. prosimians, New World monkeys, Old World Monkeys, and apes) to illustrate the great variety in the anatomy, physiology, behaviour, and ecology within the Primate Order. The biological and social adaptations of primates are explored as well as basic evolutionary concepts, current trends and theories in primatology. The following topics are addressed: evolutionary history, taxonomic classification, diet, predation, communication, social systems, kin selection, reproductive strategies, cognition, and conservation.

Learn about the field of forensic anthropology, which involves the application of biological anthropology methods to a medico-legal context. To identify human remains, forensic anthropologists assist law enforcement by determining age, sex, stature, and unique features from skeletal remains. Using decomposition rates, they can provide an estimate of the postmortem interval. Course topics may include establishing a forensic context, methods of scene recovery, estimating the postmortem interval, reconstruction of demographic information, and identification of bone pathology and trauma.

Investigate ancient human diseases and their origins through examination of their remains in the archaeological record. Only a few diseases leave their marks on bone and tooth enamel, the most common remnants of ancient populations. Learn how to identify these abnormalities and assess their potential implications for the health of a living person/population, and to interpret the bioarchaeological evidence to gain insight into the health of past populations.

Human skeletal anatomy and biology are fundamental to the study of forensics and biological anthropology. This course emphasizes a hands-on learning process for the identification of individual bones, and their morphological features, siding, and anatomical orientation. Relevant techniques for the reconstruction of past populations and the assessment of human biological variation are introduced (age at death, sex, growth and development).

This field program, with ANTH 3553, offers an introduction to mortuary archaeology and bioarchaeological field methods through skeletal excavation. This section of the course emphasizes ethics when handling human remains, safety in the field, bioarchaeological recording, and data collection methods and skeletal excavation techniques.

Explore the histories and contemporary lives of Indigenous peoples of North America (Turtle Island), focusing on Indigenous territories within the state boundaries of Canada. Learn how Indigenous societies have both sustained and transformed their material cultures, sociopolitical lives, and cultural beliefs. Consider these transformations across a range of environments, and against colonial orders that have sought to control Indigenous lives and expropriate lands and resources. Learn about the legacy of anthropology as a discipline that emerged as part of colonial orders. Understand the significance of Canadian Indigenous rights movements for Indigenous peoples globally.

Cultivate an understanding of cultures and places across Latin America and the Caribbean, drawing on case studies by anthropologists and others. Develop a synthetic understanding of both regions and their sub-regions, cultures, peoples, and places. Analyze common themes, important social and cultural issues, and shared histories. Topics may include colonialism; imperialism and underdevelopment; society and culture before the Europeans; gender and sexuality; political economy and development; climate change; conflict and violence; race and ethnicity; religion and spirituality; rural change and urbanization; environmental and ecological movements; and Indigenous and Afro-descendent movements.

Explore a geographical and cultural area with over 5000 years of traditions that still define everyday modern lives today. The South Asian culture area covers India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma and Sri Lanka. Centered on the Indian subcontinent, it is predominantly a Hindu and Muslim region, but also includes Christian and Buddhist populations and many other coexisting religious groups. Examine the position of India in relation to its neighbours, and study historical and contemporary issues including poverty and economic progress, the role of women, and the impact of globalization. Participants learn how religions provide charters for a hierarchically organized society, and regulates the attitudes, beliefs, and practices in contemporary lives throughout this globally signifcant culture area.

Examines how culture mediates the relationship between humans and their environment, including traditional ecological knowledge and/or local knowledge systems. 

Explore how societies organise power, negotiate social order, and address conflict via formal legal institutions, and less formal processes in everyday life. Often working with colonial governments, many early anthropologists were concerned with subjects of authority, leadership, property ownership, and landholding that were fundamental to the colonial rule. Today, political anthropology is a cross-cultural study of the institutions and relationships that distribute power in societies. Whereas legal anthropology traditionally focused on law in non-western contexts, it has become a diverse study of law and legal pluralism, the state, transnational institutions, and law-like activities of corporations. The political and legal concerns of anthropologists have both expanded and converged, providing a unique perspective on contemporary sociolegal theory and practice.

In this seminar, students examine the 11,000 years of prehistory in the Atlantic region, emphasizing changes in material culture, ecological adaptations, and social interaction.

Explore the applied field of Cultural Resource Management (CRM), and its goals of identifying, documenting, and managing impacts on cultural resources, including archaeological materials and other forms of tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Learn about national, provincial, and international legal and ethical frameworks that regulate the work of CRM professionals. Develop the practical skills needed in professional roles and forms of reporting.

Examine the theoretical and methodological perspectives in global health and how these shape research practices in public health policies including designing effective intervention strategies in international settings. Study Indigenous health issues from a global perspective and the impact of development on population health. Emphasis is placed on examining the ethical and practical issues in conducting research in non-Western societies and how an anthropological approach can contribute to a better understanding of health and illness and develop interdisciplinary perspectives in global health research.

Examines the genetic basis of human evolution. With the advent of modern genetic technologies, it has been possible to compare and contrast evolutionary relationships at the genetic level. One current debate in biological anthropology surrounds the origin of anatomically modern Homo sapiens based on DNA evidence. Fossil evidence along with the genetic picture are considered in detail.

In this course students are introduced to advanced topics in the discipline of bioarchaeology, the application of biological anthropological techniques to reconstruct the lives of past populations from an archaeological context using their skeletal remains. Specific topics include patterns of subsistence, diet, disease, demography, and physical activity.

This course introduces the basic concepts of human genetics and examines its application in anthropological research. Topics covered include: human genetic variability and its role in disease prevention and susceptibility; the use of DNA in reconstructing the biological profile of human remains from forensic contexts; and using ancient DNA to trace population migrations and resolve issues of human origins. Ethical questions and implications pertaining to the human genome project and human genetic research are also addressed.

Examine the gender dimension of health and disease and address the articulation of gender roles and ideologies with health status, the organization of health care, and health policies in a cross-cultural perspective. Utilize the Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) approach for examining how diverse groups of women, men, and non-binary people experience health policies, programs and initiatives. The “plus” in GBA+ shows that GBA goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences, including how racism and other social injustices and their intersections with gender and sexuality compound the challenges faced by many marginalized groups.

Students explore the research process through conducting an individual research project in anthropology, developed in conjunction with the instructor. In addition, students engage in professional development and experiential opportunities.

Introduces theories and methods of the growing field of food studies. Few things are more important to human beings than food. Food is profoundly cultural, which makes it a topic of interest to social scientists concerned with the comparative study of culture and society across time and space. On the one hand, what is considered edible, what is seen as good to eat, and how it all embeds in changing ways of life all varies depending on cultural, social, economic, and political contexts. On the other hand, thinking about nutrition, energy, diet and what is left behind opens a valuable window on societies past and present. The course goal is a practical guide to the study of food, its core ideas, and its methodologies with the goal of bringing order and insight to diverse relationships between people and what they eat. NOTE: Credit can only be obtained for one of ANTH 2801 and  SOCI 2801.