Faculty of Arts & Science 2016-2017 Calendar

Anthropology

• Anthropology Major (General) | Anthropology Minor (General)
• Anthropology Major (Evolutionary)
• Anthropology Specialist (Society, Culture, and Language) | Anthropology Major (Society, Culture, and Language)
• Environmental Anthropology Minor
• Anthropology Courses

Faculty

Anthropology examines the complexity and diversity of human experience, past and present, through evolutionary, archaeological, social, cultural, and linguistic perspectives. As such, Anthropology is a truly interdisciplinary venture that spans the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. This broad mandate has led to the division of the discipline into three broad areas of research: Archaeology; Evolutionary Anthropology; and the study of Society, Culture and Language.

Archaeologists study the material remains of the human past. Archaeological methods range widely, from the study of artifacts to the analysis of plant and animal remains, and Archaeological research covers a vast expanse of time from the earliest stone tools to the complex record let by modern industrial society. Archaeologists also grapple with a range of theoretical issues including material culture, culture change, identity, and ritual. Many archaeologists today also work in collaboration with local communities and engage with the questions of archaeological ethics.

Evolutionary Anthropology is the study of the biological diversity of humans, the history of this diversity, and the biological relationships between humans and non-human primates. Major foci in Evolutionary Anthropology include Human Biology, the study of modern humans; Osteology, the study of the human skeleton; Paleoanthropology, the study of human evolution; and Primatology, the study of non-human primates. Evolutionary anthropologists integrate biological and social variables in their explanations of the effects of evolution on humans and other primates.

At the core of the study of Society, Culture and Language is the question of how we humans organize our lives together, and why we do so in such vastly different ways. The orientation is global and contemporary. We explore social relations: relations between kin and neighbours, between genders and generations, between ethnic groups and nations, between rich and poor, between people and the natural environment that sustains them, and between people and their gods. We also explore the production and communication of meanings through rituals, images, memories, symbols and linguistic codes. Topics include environment, power, ideology, identity, subjectivity, media, sexuality, ethics, affect, activism, health, cities, work and international development. 

A training in anthropology prepares students to think clearly and critically; to engage with a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and world views; and to reach ethically sound decisions. Programs available within the Department of Anthropology provide excellent preparation for careers in business, or public service and the non-profit sector, especially in areas where international and human diversity issues are important. Courses in anthropology provide a unique grounding and can be fruitfully combined with courses in a wide variety of other disciplines in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Undergraduate Program Administrator/Student Counsellor: Anthropology Building, 19 Russell Street, Room 258 (416-978-6414).

Anthropology Programs

PLEASE NOTE THAT NOT ALL COURSES ARE OFFERED EVERY YEAR. CONSULT THE CURRENT TIMETABLE FOR COURSE OFFERINGS.

* Note: ANT courses are those offered with the following prefixes: ANT, ABS, ARH, HAJ, JAL, JAH and JGA.

This is a limited enrolment program.  All students who request the program and obtain at least the specified mark(s) in the required course(s) will be eligible to enrol.

Courses for admission: ANT100Y1 with a final mark of at least 67% or ANT200Y1 or ANT203Y1 or
ANT204H1 or ANT207H1 with a final mark of at least 70%.

Major program:

(6.5 full courses or their equivalent)

First and/or Second Year

1. ANT100Y1

2. ANT207H1

3. 1.0 FCE from ANT200Y1, ANT203Y1

4. 0.5 from ANT204H1, ANT208H1, ANT253H1

Upper years

5. 2.5 FCE at the 300+-level from either Group A or Group B or Group C, including at least 0.5 FCE at the 400-level.

6. 1.0 additional FCE from a Group other than that used to meet requirement #5

This is a limited enrolment program.  All students who request the program and obtain at least the specified mark(s) in the required course(s) will be eligible to enrol.

Courses for admission: ANT100Y1 with a final mark of at least 67% or ANT200Y1 or ANT203Y1 or ANT204H1 or ANT207H1 with a final mark of at least 70%.

Minor program:

(4 full courses or their equivalent including at least one 300-level course; excluding ANT497Y/ANT498H/ ANT499H)

First and/or Second Year
1. ANT100Y1
2. 2 FCEs from ANT200Y1, ANT203Y1, ANT204H1, ANT207H1, ANT208H1, ANT253H1

Upper years
3. One full course equivalent at the 300+ level from either Group A or Group B or Group C

This is a limited enrolment program.  All students who request the program and obtain at least the specified mark(s) in the required course(s) will be eligible to enrol.

Courses for admission: ANT100Y1 with a final mark of at least 67% or ANT203Y1 with a final mark of at least 70%.

(7.5 full courses or their equivalent, including at least 2 FCE at the 300+ level, 0.5 FCE of which must be at the 400-level)

First Year and/or Second Year:
1. BIO120H1
2. ANT100Y1 or BIO220H1. If BIO220H1 is taken, students must take an additional 0.5 FCE in ANT
3. ANT203Y1

Upper Years:
4. 2.0 FCE from ANT208H1, ANT333Y1, ANT334H1, ANT335Y1, ANT336H1
5. 2.5 additional FCE from: Group B and/or ANT406H1, ANT415Y1, ARH312Y1
6. 0.5 FCE at the 400-level from Group B

This is a limited enrolment program.  All students who request the program and obtain at least the specified mark(s) in the required course(s) will be eligible to enrol.

Courses for admission: ANT207H1 with a final mark of at least 70%.

(10 full courses or their equivalent, including at least 2 FCE at the 400 level)

First and/or Second Year
1. ANT204H1 and ANT207H1

Upper years
2. ANT370H1 and ANT380H1
3. 6 FCE from Group C including at least 0.5 FCE course from Subgroup C(i)
4. ANT475H1 and an additional 1.5 FCE at the 400-level

Note: Students who enrolled in the Specialist in Anthropology (Social/Cultural) in 2009-10 or 2010-11 and who did not take ANT210H1 are strongly encouraged to take ANT380H1, but may instead take an additional half course from Group C

This is a limited enrolment program.  All students who request the program and obtain at least the specified mark(s) in the required course(s) will be eligible to enrol.

Courses for admission: ANT100Y1 with a final mark of at least 67% or ANT207H1 with a final mark of at least 70%.

(6.5 full courses or their equivalent including at least 2.0 FCE at the 300+ level and at least 1 FCE at the 400 level)

First and/or Second Year
1. ANT207H1
2. ANT204H1 or ANT253H1

Upper years
3. ANT370H1 or ANT425H1
4. Five additional FCE from Group C including at least 1 FCE at the 400 level. Students who want to focus more specifically on the role of language in culture and society should take ANT253H1, ANT425H1, and courses in the C (ii) Subgroup

A program focused on understanding the diverse nature of interactions between humans and their environments, both in the past and in modern global society. Consult the Undergraduate Office, Department of Anthropology (416-978-6414).

(4 full courses or their equivalent; must include at least one full-course equivalent at the 300+-level)

1. ANT100Y1/(ENV221H1,ENV222H1/GGR222H1)/ENV222Y1/GGR222Y1
2. ANT200Y1/ (ANT204H1 + ANT207H1/0.5 300 level Social Anthropology course)
3. Two FCE’s from: ABS250H1, ABS402H1; ANT315H1, ANT336H1, ANT346H1, ANT351H1, ANT364H1, ANT366H1, ANT368H1, ANT371H1, ANT374H1, ANT376H1, ANT409H1, ANT410H1, ANT415Y1, ANT420H1, ANT430H1, ANT450H1

Group A: (Archaeology)
ANT200Y1, ANT299Y1, ANT311Y1, ANT314H1, ANT315H1, ANT316H1, ANT317H1, ANT318H1, ANT319Y1, ANT320H1, ANT372H1, ANT390H1, ANT406H1, ANT407H1, ANT409H1, ANT410H1, ANT411H1, ANT412H1, ANT415Y1,  ANT416H1, ANT419H1, ANT420H1, ANT491Y1/ANT491H1, ANT497Y1/ANT498H1/ANT499H1; ARH305H1, ARH306Y1, ARH309H1, ARH312Y1, ARH360H1, ARH361H1/ARH361Y1, ARH482H1, ARH494H1, ARH495H1; VIC225Y1

Group B: (Evolutionary)
ANT203Y1, ANT208H1, ANT299Y1, ANT330Y1, ANT333Y1, ANT334H1, ANT335Y1, ANT336H1, ANT338H1, ANT371H1, ANT390H1, ANT430H1, ANT432H1, ANT434H1, ANT435H1, ANT436H1, ANT438H1, ANT481H1, ANT491Y1/ANT491H1, ANT497Y1/ANT498H1/ANT499H1; HAJ453H1

Group C: (Society, Culture, and Language)
ANT204H1, ANT207H1, ANT208H1, ANT299Y1, ANT322H1, ANT324H1, ANT343H1, ANT345H1, ANT346H1, ANT347Y1, ANT348H1, ANT349H1, ANT351H1, ANT356H1, ANT358H1, ANT364H1, ANT366H1, ANT368H1, ANT369H1, ANT370H1, ANT371H1, ANT372H1, ANT374H1, ANT376H1, ANT378H1, ANT380H1, ANT384H1, ANT390H1, ANT426H1, ANT435H1, ANT440H1, ANT441H1, ANT445H1, ANT447H1, ANT449H1, ANT450H1, ANT451H1, ANT452H1, ANT456H1, ANT457H1, ANT460H1, ANT462H1, ANT473H1, ANT474H1, ANT475H1, ANT476H1, ANT480H1, ANT484H1, ANT485H1, ANT486H1, ANT490Y1, ANT491Y1/ANT491H1, ANT497Y1/ANT498H1/ANT499H1; JAH391Y0/JAH391H1; JNH350H1; NEW250Y1; NMC356H1; VIC225Y1

Subgroup C (i): (Society, Culture and Language-Area)
ANT327H1, ANT340H1, ANT341H1, ANT458H1, ANT468H1, ANT472H1, ANT477H1; NEW316H1; NMC241H1

Subgroup C(ii): (Society, Culture and Language – Linguistic)
ANT253H1, ANT329H1, ANT425H1, ANT427H1, ANT483H1, ANT497Y1/ANT498H1/ANT499H1; JAL328H1, JAL353H1, JAL355H1, JAL401H1; SLA380H1

***ANT390H1 This course may be placed in either Group A or B or C depending on the topic which will vary from year to year.  

Aboriginal Studies - See Aboriginal Studies

Archaeology - See Archaeology

Anthropology Courses

The 199Y1 and 199H1 seminars are designed to provide the opportunity to work closely with an instructor in a class of no more than twenty-four students. These interactive seminars are intended to stimulate the students’ curiosity and provide an opportunity to get to know a member of the professorial staff in a seminar environment during the first year of study. Details can be found at www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/course/fyh-1/.

Society and culture from various anthropological perspectives: socio-cultural, evolutionary, archaeological, and linguistic. 

How did art and technology develop in the course of human evolution?  What led to the development of agriculture and settled village life?  How did social inequality and urbanism emerge?  This course takes a global perspective to explore the archaeological evidence that sheds light on these questions and other aspects of prehistory and early history.  Students will engage with the challenges posed by new discoveries and also with recent developments in archaeological method and theory.  The goal of the course is to involve students with the current state of archaeological research and some of the major issues archaeologists work to address.

A course focused on recent anthropological scholarship that seeks to understand and explain the transformation of contemporary societies and cultures. Topics may include some of the following: new patterns of global inequality, war and neo-colonialism, health and globalization, social justice and indigeneity, religious fundamentalism, gender inequalities, biotechnologies and society etc.

Society, culture, kinship, exchange, community, identity, politics, belief: these and other core concepts are explored in this course, which lays the foundation for advanced courses in social and cultural anthropology.

Introduction to applied evolutionary medical anthropology. It explores evidence for the evolution of human vulnerability to disease across the life cycle (conception to death) and implications for health of contemporary populations in gendered cross-cultural perspective.

This course introduces linguistic analysis with a view towards its application to the study of the relation between culture and social structure. The interplay of pronunciation, grammar, semantics, and discourse with rituals, ideologies, and constructions of social meaning and worldview are discussed in tandem with the traditional branches of linguistic analysisphonology, morphology, grammar, syntax, and semantics. The objective of the course is to provide a broad framework for understanding the role of language in society.

Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. Details at http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/course/rop. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Transforming archaeological results into statements about people and their life ways. Covers basic archaeological theory, including research design, sampling, stratigraphy, seriation, formation and testing or evaluation of hypotheses, regional analyses. Introduces some of the major schools of archaeological theory, including New Archaeology and Post-Processual Archaeology.

Intensive instruction in archaeological field methods and acquisition of field skills, including archaeological search and survey, site mapping, laying out excavation grids, use of theodolites, total station, and GPS, stratigraphic excavation, stratigraphy, field recording, screening sediment, Ontario license and reporting requirements. Normally this course would take place on campus in the summer. This course has a mandatory Lab Materials Fee of $25 to cover non-reusable materials.  The fee will be included on the student’s ACORN invoice.

An analysis of ethics in contemporary archaeology that covers reburial and repatriation, interpretation of the archaeological record in the context of historically oppressed groups, ethnic minorities, and non-western societies, the ethics of collecting and managing cultural property, relationships with the media, the debates surrounding looting, and other issues.

Practical field training through six weeks of excavation on an archaeological site. Basic principles of artifact handling and classification. (Offered only in Summer Session) Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Techniques for making archaeological data meaningful after excavation or survey. Archaeological measurements, compilation of data, database design, archaeological systematics, and sampling theory in the context of lithics, pottery, floral, faunal and other archaeological remains. 

An archaeological survey of the human prehistory of northwestern North America from the late Pleistocene to the time of early European contact. Geographical coverage will include the Northwest Coast, California, and the Intermontane Plateau.

Archaeology and ethnohistory of Arctic cultures. Emphasis is on variation in social organization, settlement pattern, economy, ideology, and interaction with the expanding European world-system.

This course provides an introduction to the cultures of Mesoamerica, from the first arrival of indigenous peoples to the appearance of the Spaniards in the sixteenth century. Students will become acquainted with cultures including Olmec, Zapotec, Teotihuacan, Maya, and Aztec, while also considering issues of method and evidence.

This course examines the precontact and early contact period culture history of eastern North America, including Ontario, through archaeological evidence. Topics covered include the earliest peopling of the region at the end of the Ice Age, diversity of hunter-gatherer societies, introduction of agriculture, and the development of the dynamic First Nations societies who eventually met and interacted with Europeans.

This course offers a comparative examination of the rise and organization of ancient cities through a detailed investigation of urban social theory. We will explore competing anthropological interpretations of urban process while probing the political, ideological, and economic structures of the worlds earliest cities. Students will have the opportunity to consider a broad range of subjects, including mechanisms of city genesis; urban-rural relations; the intersections of city and state; and historical variation in urban landscapes, ideologies, and political economies.

This course examines human prehistory in North America, North of Mexico, from the time of earliest occupation to European contact. Special topics include Paleoindian and Archaic adaptations, the rise of complex hunter-gatherers, origins of farming and the evolution of complex chiefdoms.

This class offers intensive study of the archaeology and culture history of the Andean region prior to the Spanish conquest.  The complexity and distinctiveness of Andean social organization, political institutions, religious ideologies, and economic practices have long fascinated anthropologists.  Ultimately, the course will explore Andean cultures over a 10,000 year period, highlighting key debates, current research projects, and innovative theoretical approaches shaping contemporary archeological scholarship in South America and beyond.      

This course will present various perspectives on the nature and dynamics of youth culture. It will discuss the research accumulated over the past quarter century on youth lifestyles, from fashion and music to the formation and spread of slang. It will also look at the various critical and controversial aspects of adolescence in contemporary culture.

The course uses tourism as a lens to examine global connections. Particular focus will be on the politics of cultural encounters. Drawing examples from diverse ethnographic materials, the course explores how different visions of the world come into contact, negotiated and transformed, and how tourist encounters shape peoples everyday lives.

How do societies understand and manage their own diversity?  This course unites critical studies of multiculturalism and settler colonialism to study Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S., also examining strategies in other sites for managing diversity which are framed differently (e.g. superdiversity (Europe), co-existence (Japan), multiracialism (Hawai’i), mestizoness (Mexico)).

Introduction to writing systems; their historical development, their relationship to language, and their role in culture and society. (Given by the Departments of Anthropology and Linguistics) (Not offered every year)

The role of language and symbolism in the representation and manipulation of ideology and power structure. Case materials drawn from the study of verbal arts, gender, law, advertising, and politics with a focus on North America.

Provides a framework for understanding current anthropological issues in the different geo-political regions of Latin America. Special attention will be paid to historical/conceptual development of the discipline in the region, and the course will introduce a debate about the dealth and resurgence of area studies.

This course offers a general introduction to transformations in modern and contemporary China from an anthropological perspective.  This course covers major aspects of Chinese culture, history, and society in a global context.

Social anthropological perspectives on variations in gender roles and systems. Examines, through comparison of ethnography, the relationship of gender to social organization, economic and political processes, belief systems and social change.

This course examines medical anthropologys contributions to, and critiques of, global health policies and programs. Topics covered include: colonialism and health, the political ecology of disease, indigenous constructions of illness and healing, medical pluralism, the politics of primary health care, population policies, reproductive health, and AIDS.

Social anthropological perspective on the nature and meaning of food production, culinary cultures, industrial food, food as metaphor, and famine and hunger.

The role of culture, cultural diversity, space and performance in urban institutions and settings. The cultural context and consequence of urbanization.

This course provides an advanced introduction to medical anthropology as a sub-field of social-cultural anthropology.  Students will learn about a range of approaches and concepts useful for analysing health and illness as social, cultural, political and historical phenomena: illness narratives and experience, subjectivities, medical pluralism, bio-power, and structural violence. Topics will include inequities in health, the relationship between medical anthropology and global health, medical humanitarianism, and the role of medical anthropologists in activism and advocacy.

This course explores the relationship between technology and culture through a focus on new media and technological infrastructures. Anticipating a future of driverless cars and big data, we examine how social theorists, cultural critics and ethnographers have sought to understand the socio-cultural dimensions of earlier waves of rapid technological change. 

This course utilizes a social movements perspective to examine the various kinds of conflicts emerging over environment, including disputes over food, animal rights, parks, wilderness, energy, and water. Building on the anthropological literature on landscape and political ecology, this course explores the various ways in which social movement constituencies are responding to and engaging with the uncertain and uneven nature of environmental change.

An introduction to the detailed observation of ordinary conversational interaction, and to some of the main ways in which such interaction is organized. The focus is on developing the capacity to discern orderliness in the details of everyday interaction, and beginning independent research in this area. (Given by the Departments of Anthropology and Linguistics)

An introduction to some of the principal questions of feminist theory, as viewed from sociolinguistics. Topics include: socialization into gendered discourse patterns, cultural and ethnic differences in gendered interactions; the role of language and gender in legal, medical and labour settings; multilingualism, migration, imperialism and nationalism; sexuality, desire and queer linguistics, language, gender and globalization.

This course introduces anthropological definitions of religion; debates on rituals and rites of passage; rationality, religion and modernity; belief and body; religion and the media. It also engages with studies in the anthropology of popular and transnational religion, and the politics of religious movements.

It is widely acknowledged that sharp disparities in disease burden and access to medical care characterize global patterns in health. These disparities affect the life chances of much of the worlds population, based on class position, gender, and geographical region.

From earliest times through the rise of complex hunter-gatherers, and the food producing revolution to politically complex societies in Southwest Asia.

Opportunity for students participating in non-degree credit archaeological digs to submit reports, field notes and term papers for degree credit. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course will examine the relationships between humans and the environment in the context of contemporary efforts to develop within or in opposition to the political economy of neoliberal globalization. We will critically examine the discourses of progress and environment within a broader theoretical inquiry of structure/agency and power.

Explores how anthropologists have traditionally studied social movements and how new social movements have challenged anthropologists to rethink some of their ethnographic methods and approaches. Some specific movements covered include those related to indigenous rights, environmentalism, refugees, gay and lesbian issues, biotechnology, new religions, and globalization.

What is “nature” and how does it relate to the way in which “culture” is conceptualized? How do race, class, gender, sexuality and ability structure our experiences of both nature and ourselves as human beings? This course explores these questions through engagements with a variety of texts.

This course highlights the diverse ways that social/cultural anthropologists engage with the world beyond the university. Students learn about the many practical applications of anthropological methods and theory. As well, the ethical and political complexities of applied anthropology and activism in anthropology are considered.

An in-depth critical review of foundational ideas in the development of the practice of Anthropology. Topics may include questioning fieldwork, origins and legacies of functionalism, cultural materialism, politics of culture, power and political economy, globalization and post modernism, gender and post-structuralism.

A detailed review of human dietary adaptations, subsistence strategies and the suite of cognitive, cultural and life history traits that make humans so adaptable. Focus is on the relevance of the past to understanding the modern world food system and finding solutions to contemporary problems in population, food, and health.

This course explores the relationship between cultural property and everyday life through the themes of movement, ownership and value. Case studies, current events and debates help students understand how heritage is informed by the multiple values of cultural property.  This course addresses issues of cultural property and heritage in the contemporary world that are relevant to all subfields of anthropology.

Development, or deliberate intervention to improve the lives of people deemed to be lacking, or left behind, has shaped the modern world for at least a century. Drawing on historical and ethnographic studies, this course examines the trajectory of development as a concept and practice, and traces its effects.

The relationship between humans and other animals is one of the most hotly debated topics of our times. Through key classic and contemporary writings, this course introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of animal studies, and explores how anthropologists and other theorists have critically engaged in debates about animal and human distinctions.

This course introduces dialogue between anthropological literature and other disciplinary studies in regards to the economy and culture of gift and money transaction as a key aspect of human society. Studying the history of gift and money economy from agricultural societies and diverse developments of finance market culture in recent era through various perspectives (e.g., ethnographic, sociological, politico-economic, and historical views), this course aims to train students developing a critical understanding of capitalism.

This course introduces students to the skills they need to conduct ethnographic research, in particular, participant observation, in-depth interview, as well as writing fieldnotes and research proposals. The emphasis is on interactive, workshop-style small group learning.

This lecture-format course focuses on a relatively broad topic in socio-cultural and/or linguistic anthropology. Topics change from year to year. For the 2015-16 academic year, the title of this course is "Nature, Culture, Human".

This lecture-format course focuses on a relatively broad topic anthropology. Topics change from year to year. See Anthropology website for more details.

Anthropological and Historical perspectives on topics that vary from year to year.

Anthropological and Historical perspectives on topics that vary from year to year.

Studies in anthropology taken abroad. Areas of concentration vary depending on the instructor and year offered.

Studies in anthropology taken abroad. Areas of concentration vary depending on the instructor and year offered.

An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. Details at http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/course/399. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. Details at http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/course/399. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Practice in language analysis based on elicited data from a native speaker of a foreign language, emphasizing procedures and techniques. (Given by the Departments of Anthropology and Linguistics)

Core reduction strategies, replication, experimental archaeology, use-wear, design approaches, ground stone, inferring behaviour from lithic artifacts.

This course provides a comparative study of the emergence, organization, and transformation of the two historically-documented states of the native Americas: the Inka and the Aztec. Students will have the opportunity to analyze ethnohistorical and archaeological data in order to critically evaluate models of the pre-industrial state while gauging the anthropological significance of either convergence or particularity in the historical development of centralized political formations.

Archaeological survey, spatial analysis of archaeological evidence over landscapes and territories, and ways archaeologists attempt to interpret landscapes, regional settlement systems, agricultural land use, regional exchange and communication, and past people's perceptions of or ideas about landscape.

Examines the diversity of recent hunter-gatherer societies, as a source of analogues for understanding the archaeological record of past foraging peoples.

Seminar in the critical examination of major schools of archaeological thought.

Introduces the problems, methods and some of the material culture of colonial and industrial archaeology with emphasis on Canada and colonial America. Covers the use of documentary evidence, maps, architecture, and a variety of artifact classes.

Examination and interpretation of faunal material from archaeological sites as evidence for culture.

This course offers a comparative survey of archaeological approaches to ritual practice as it relates to identity politics, personhood, and the negotiation of power relations in past societies.  An important goal of the seminar is to introduce students to social theories on the inherent materiality of ritual performance, whether orchestrated in everyday practice or in elaborate religious and political spectacles.  

Current research in Palaeolithic Archaeology reflecting emerging issues.

How social complexity is manifested in the archaeological record. Origins and evolution of prehistoric complex societies, from small-scale chiefdoms to large-scale states.

How ideas about language fit into the overall views of humankind as expressed by selected anthropologists, linguists, sociologists, and philosophers.

The history and present of western concepts and images about the ‘Other’, in anthropological and other scholarship and in popular culture. The focus is on representations of Muslims and Jews.

Theoretical and empirical studies on the role of language in the reproduction and transformation of ideology, hegemony and political economy. Topics may include language & colonialism, imperialism, globalization, nationalism, racism, sexism, bureaucratic interactions, environmentalism, migration, gentrification. Compares and contrasts critical discourse analytic and linguistic anthropological approaches to method and politics.

A detailed review of the classic and recently emerging literature on the anthropology of children, childhood, and childcare. Focus is on theories for evolution of human parenting adaptations, challenges in research methodology and implications for contemporary research, practice and policy in the area of care and nutrition of infants and children.

Modernity, globalization, and neoliberalism have emerged as three  distinct, yet connected, concepts in anthropological studies of social, cultural, political and economic changes around the world. This course critically examines the various meanings of these three concepts, and tests their usefulness as analytical tools to think productively about societies in transition in specific historical and ethnographic contexts. Topical focus varies by year, and may include the changing character of work and welfare, property and markets,country and city, media and mobilization, and others. Check the course outline for details.

Beginning with anthropologys early work on kinship, and ending with recent analyses of sex work and the globalization of ideologies of romantic love and companionate marriage, this course will investigate how emotional and sexual relationships are produced, used, conceptualized, and experienced both within particular societies and transnationally.

This course examines science and technology from an anthropological perspective. Throughout the course, in addition to introducing major concepts of science studies, we will examine multiple concrete things, like computers as cultural artifacts, connected to wider social, political, economic, ideological, and cultural contexts.

Drawing on a wide range of urban ethnography, we investigate how theories of contemporary urban transformation can be used to develop insights into the myriad social and cultural changes now underway in the city of Toronto. Students will design and conduct a field research project in a Toronto neighbourhood.

From sewer systems to social media,  infrastructures help to structure social relations and cultural experience.  This course examines ethnographic approaches to the study of infrastructures.  Course topics range from year to year, and could include how the landscape of new media infrastructures is changing our lives, the way water is channelled in Toronto, or debates about how to accommodate public transportation, cars, cyclists and pedestrians on city streets around the world.  Students will design and conduct a field research project.

As of 2007, for the first time in human history, more than half the world’s peoples lived in cities. It is estimated that by 2030 over 60% will be urban-dwellers. This demographic shift suggests that for many (if not most) people, their primary encounter with “nature” will be urban based. This course explores the idea of “urban-nature” by 1) focusing on the ways in which various theorists have challenged traditional ways of viewing both “the city” and “nature” and 2) encouraging students to develop their own critical perspectives through ethnographic engagements with the city of Toronto.

This course concentrates on original late 19th Century to mid-20th Century works by Lewis Henry Morgan, Emile Durkheim, Arnold van Gennep, Marcel Mauss, Claude Levi-Stauss and others who tried to established universal principles of social and cultural life as classificatory kinship, sacred and profane, rites of passage, reciprocity, and structuralism.

The concept of human rights in its universal claims rises fundamental questions for anthropology as it challenges a central value of the discipline: cultural relativism. Students are asked to consider epistemological and theoretical questions and case studies (e.g. claims of rights by ethnic collectivities).

This course explores, first, how and where forms of desire and sexual practice have become sites of anthropological inquiry and exemplars of particular cultural logics. Tracing, then, the transnational turn in the anthropology of sexuality, the course engages important debates about culture, locality, and globalization. By focusing on the transnational movement of desires, practices, and pleasures through activisms, mass media, and tourism, the course asks how sex is global and how globalization is thoroughly sexed. Course material will stress, but not be limited to, forms of same-sex or otherwise queer sexualities.

The course addresses the cultural and social significance of material culture in specific cultural settings, and the role that artifacts have played in the history of anthropological thought from early typological displays to the most recent developments of material culture studies.

This course draws on anthropological and historical literatures to explore the relationship between the health of Indigenous people and Canadian settler-colonialism. In conceptualising this relationship, we focus on critical analysis of the role of biomedical health-care systems in settler-colonial governmentality, and how history is understood in discourses on Indigenous health.

This fourth-year seminar examines how female gender shapes health and illness. Using case studies of sexual health, fertility and its management, substance use/abuse, mental health, and occupational/labor health risks, the course investigates the material, political, and socio-cultural factors that can put women at risk for a range of illness conditions.

This course examines how anthropologists have studied the way that people hope, imagine, love, and despise. Ethnography of the intimate realms of affect raises important questions about knowledge production and methodology as well as offering insight into how people come to act upon the world and what the human consequences of such action are. The course will also examine how the intimate is socially produced and harnessed in the service of politics and culture. Topics will include grief and its lack; dreams and activism; love and social change; memory and imperialism; sexuality and care; and violence and hope.

Since “first contact” in the mid-20th Century, Highlands ethnographies have played a central role in debates about kinship, systems of exchange and relations between the sexes in small scale societies.  The course examines traditional warfare, sorcery, rites of passage, myths and ideologies of conception and “the person.”

This course examines how what we know as Japan and its culture has been constructed through global interactions. Topics include gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, social and family life, work and leisure, and Japanese identity amid changing global power relations.

Students carry out original ethnographic research projects on some aspect of life in the University of Toronto: its students, staff and faculty; its hierarchies and habits; and the everyday practices in classrooms, labs, dining halls, offices, clubs, and residence corridors. Class time is used for collective brainstorming, feedback and analysis.

This course examines HIV/AIDS globally and ethnographically focusing on how gendered political economies create HIV vulnerability; the experiences of sexual minorities; how religious institutions shape practices of social care and exclusion; and anthropological critiques of HIV awareness campaigns and counseling as sites of governmentality.

Students read several full-length ethnographies, both classical and contemporary, and debate what makes for sound ethnographic research and writing, as well as what ethnography is and "should" be as a genre of writing and representation.

This seminar class examines 'the body' as a historically and culturally contingent category, the material site and means of practice, and a foundation point for identity and self-fashioning. We consider the relevance of cultural meanings to biomedical practices, the centrality of the body to consumer techno-society, and the body’s role as a locus of experience, political inscription, and struggle.

This course addresses reading ethnography as a tool to understand compressed and complex modernity such as Korean societies, both in and outside of the Korean peninsula. In particular, this course aims to develop students’ critical thinking on class, ethnicity, gender, family, and migration in Korea and diasporic societies of Koreans in Canada, China, Japan, and US.

Unique opportunity to explore a particular anthropological topic in-depth. Topics vary from year to year.

Unique opportunity to explore a particular archaeological topic in-depth. Topics vary from year to year.

This course will focus on an advanced topic in Linguistic Anthropology. Topic will vary from year- to-year.

Unique opportunity to explore a particular Social Cultural Anthropology topic in-depth. Topics vary from year to year.

Taught by an advanced PhD student or postdoctoral fellow, and based on his or her doctoral research and area of expertise, this course presents a unique opportunity to explore intensively a particular Socio-cultural or Linguistic Anthropology topic in-depth. Topics vary from year to year.

Unique opportunity to explore a particular Social Cultural Anthropology topic in-depth. Topics vary from year to year.

An instructor-supervised experiential study project in social and cultural anthropology. Course takes place in an off-campus setting. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course is an opportunity to apply acquired knowledge in anthropology or archeology in a work placement environment. Opportunities may include local community organizations, international development organizations, museum or heritage projects, or media production projects. Only internships that require knowledge and skills in anthropology and/or archeology will be considered. Student must fulfill responsibilities of the internship as well as complete a final research paper. If qualified, the student’s internship supervisor will mark the final paper for the course; if not, an appropriate academic supervisor will be assigned from within the Dept. of Anthropology. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course is an opportunity to apply acquired knowledge in anthropology or archeology in a work placement environment. Opportunities may include local community organizations, international development organizations, museum or heritage projects, or media production projects. Only internships that require knowledge and skills in anthropology and/or archeology will be considered. Student must fulfill responsibilities of the internship as well as complete a final research paper. If qualified, the student’s internship supervisor will mark the final paper for the course; if not, an appropriate academic supervisor will be assigned from within the Dept. of Anthropology. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Taught by an advanced PhD student or postdoctoral fellow, and based on his or her doctoral research and area of expertise, this course presents a unique opportunity to explore intensively a particular Archaeology topic in-depth. Topics vary from year to year.

Laboratory or practical research on an archaeological project that emphasizes methods and research design in archaeology. Students must obtain the consent of a Supervisor before enrolling. Students are required to give an oral presentation of research results to an open meeting of the Archaeology Centre at the conclusion of the course. Application must be made to the Anthropology Department. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Supervised independent research on a topic agreed on by the student and supervisor before enrolment in the course. Open in exceptional circumstances to advanced students with a strong background in Anthropology. Course Supervisor must be a member of the Anthropology faculty. Application for enrolment should be made to the Department in the preceding term. A maximum of one year of Independent Research courses is allowed per program. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Supervised independent research on a topic agreed on by the student and supervisor before enrolment in the course. Open in exceptional circumstances to advanced students with a strong background in Anthropology. Course Supervisor must be a member of the Anthropology faculty. Application for enrolment should be made to the Department in the preceding term. A maximum of one year of Independent Research courses is allowed per program. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Supervised independent research on a topic agreed on by the student and supervisor before enrolment in the course. Open in exceptional circumstances to advanced students with a strong background in Anthropology. Course Supervisor must be a member of the Anthropology faculty. Application for enrolment should be made to the Department in the preceding term. A maximum of one year of Independent Research courses is allowed per program. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course examines where humans fit in the fabric of the natural world. It explores the history of ideas about humans in nature, humans as primates, the story of human evolution and modern human physical and genetic diversity.

See description in Social Science courses above.

This course provides background in the practical and theoretical aspects of fieldwork in Paleoanthropology. Students are trained in the treatment and analysis of fossil vertebrates, plant macro- and micro-fossils and sediments. Excursions to paleoanthropological localities of Homo erectus and Homo sapiens, and excavation at a hominoid site. (Joint undergraduate-graduate) Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

A survey of living primates, this lab-oriented course describes and compares the diverse behavioural and anatomical adaptations that are characteristic to this order of mammals. The understanding of the biological diversity and evolutionary history of primates is important for further understanding of human adaptation and evolution.

Exploration of the development and maintenance of the human skeleton and dentition, with emphasis on application to archaeological, forensic and biomedical sciences.

This course takes the student on a survey of human evolution from our ape ancestors to modern humans.  Students will learn to identify skulls, teeth and limb bones, explore hundreds of casts, and learn how researchers understand human origins and trends in the development of human anatomy and behavior.

This course will explore the foundational and leading concepts in evolutionary anthropology. Historically important readings and current concepts will be presented and discussed in the context of research, especially in areas of human population biology, ecology and the evolution of Homo sapiens. Topics will include behavioral ecology and life history theory, as well as a critique of the adaptationist program.

Molecular anthropology is an interdisciplinary field combining biology, genetics, evolution and anthropology. In this class, we will explore the use of DNA for the study of past migrations and admixture patterns, the evolution of pathogens, plant and animal domestication and especially the relationships between recent and archaic humans.

See above (in social science section) for course description.

See above in Social Science section.

The focus of this course is on the science of primate conservation biology in an anthropological context. Topics will include primate biodiversity and biogeography, human impacts, and conservation strategies/policies. The effects of cultural and political considerations on primate conservation will also be discussed.

The comparative and functional anatomy of the human skull from an evolutionary perspective. Foci include cranial anatomy, the face, mastication, diet, brains and cognition. Includes an extensive lab component using a large collection of primate skeletons and fossil human casts.

Advanced exploration of the life histories of past populations, through the application of palaeodietary analyses, palaeopathology and other appropriate research methods.

See above (in social science section) for course description.

Seminars explore the global AIDS crisis, adopting the medical-anthropological perspective of Paul Farmer's Infections and Inequalities. Varying epidemiological profiles of AIDS are placed in broader social, cultural, and political-economic frameworks. The impact of globalization and structural inequality on local cultures and lifestyles provides an essential backdrop to the discussions.

This course will provide an overview of the ecology and social behavior of extant nonhuman primates. Topics will include socioecology, conservation biology, biogeography, aggression and affiliation, community ecology, communication, and socio-sexual behavior. There will also be extensive discussions of methods used in collecting data on primates in the field.

Taught by an advanced PhD student or postdoctoral fellow, and based on his or her doctoral research and area of expertise, this course presents a unique opportunity to explore intensively a particular Biological Anthropology topic in-depth. Topics vary from year to year.

Unique opportunity to explore in-depth a particular topic in Biological Anthropology. Topics vary from year to year.