Seminar courses are subject to selected topics. See departmental website for annual offering details.

Seminar courses are subject to selected topics. See departmental website for annual offering details.

Seminar courses are subject to selected topics. See departmental website for annual offering details.

Seminar courses are subject to selected topics. See departmental website for annual offering details.

Seminar courses are subject to selected topics. See departmental website for annual offering details.

Seminar courses are subject to selected topics. See departmental website for annual offering details.

Seminar courses are subject to selected topics. See departmental website for annual offering details.

Masters of Arts Research Paper. See departmental website for details.

Masters of Science Research Paper. See departmental website for details.

Seminar courses are subject to selected topics. See departmental website for annual offering details.

This course is directed towards people who already have some knowledge of human osteology and will provide a comprehensive overview of how researchers analyze human skeletal remains. The methods and tools used to study human skeletal remains will be critically examined and the ethical implications of osteological research across the history of the discipline will be discussed in depth. This course will explore diverse theoretical challenges in the field, as well as the limitations and advantages of newly emerging lines of research.

Seminar courses are subject to selected topics. See departmental website for annual offering details.

Seminar courses are subject to selected topics. See departmental website for annual offering details.

Seminar courses are subject to selected topics. See departmental website for annual offering details.

Seminar courses are subject to selected topics. See departmental website for annual offering details.

How are human skeletal and dental remains used to address questions about the identity of individuals, life in antiquity and the evolution of the human species? What limitations and possibilities exist with this type of research? In what new directions is the field moving? The intended goal of this course is to provide you with advanced training in methodological and theoretical approaches in human osteology.

Topical focus to be determined by instructor. See departmental website for annual offering details.

Topical focus to be determined by instructor. See departmental website for annual offering details.

Paleoecology is the study of the relationship between animals and their environment in the past. This course will consider the problem of reconstructing ecological variables relevant to extinct primates, including humans. The first half of the course will examine different methodologies for reconstructing ecological variables in the Cenozoic (last 65 million years). Topics will include stable isotope analysis, sampling issues, and reconstructing autecological variables such as diet and locomotion. The second half of the course will focus on particular localities that have been studied using a variety of methods as case studies. The format of the course will include seminar style discussions, student presentations, and some lecturing.

This course is an intensive exploration of the ideas that form the foundation of evolutionary anthropology. We will read historically important theoretical texts and critically examine leading concepts in the field. Through guest lectures by scholars in our department we will discuss topics such as molecular clocks, species concepts, signatures of selection, niche construction, genetic drift, sexual selection, human behavioural ecology, epigenetics, and population genetics. We will actively engage with historical and current issues of diversity and decolonization in the discipline of Evolutionary Anthropology throughout each weekly discussion.

This course will take a historical perspective and examine major changes and advancements in theory in primatology. Students will critically review some seminal theoretical works and the research of important scholars in the field. We will focus on how the social movements and gender biases of the time shaped the disciplines of primatology and biological anthropology. Students will then move on to cover current issues and important theories in primatology. Given the breadth of the field, topics may include ecology, population biology, social behavior, cognition, genetics, and conservation. Students will present and discuss articles at weekly meetings, with a strong focus on class participation, and a final paper will be required

Seminar courses are subject to selected topics. See departmental website for annual offering details.

In this course we will survey the state-of-the-art in paleoanthropology, concentrating on recent changes to how we see species. In the last years, the old question of how to define species surfaced again, in part due to the recognition that gene flow is frequent between different recent, but also fossil primate species.

Seminar courses are subject to selected topics. See departmental website for annual offering details.

This course will introduce graduate students to theoretical and experimental methods in Molecular Anthropology. This field of Anthropology uses genetic information for addressing questions about the origin and evolution of our species. We will review important aspects of genome organization and describe the different types of genetic markers used in anthropological studies. A variety of experimental techniques to analyze genome variation will be reviewed in detail. We will also discuss the application of statistical methods in human evolutionary studies. Diverse topics regarding the extent, pattern and meaning of genetic variation within and between human populations will be discussed. The course will familiarize students with how genetic data can be a powerful tool to explore longstanding questions in the field of anthropology, such as the origin of anatomically modern humans, how humans have adapted to a wide range of climatic and ecological conditions, and the relationship of human variation and disease, among others.

This course will explore the role of archaeology in modern society. Its primary goal is to get students to think about how their research affects, and is affected by, the world around them. For both ethical and practical reasons, it is critical that archaeology graduate students (and faculty!) understand the relationship between their research and the broader society with which it articulates. Seminars will draw papers from diverse regions of the globe based around weekly themes, and will attempt to keep discussions at a "practical" level — how does archaeology actually work "on the ground" in relation to a range of contemporary issues and interest groups? This course will offer a broad-ranging overview of relevant topics, intended to be useful as students frame their research questions, apply for funding, pursue fieldwork, interpret data, contribute to policy discussions, and interact with the public. During the second meeting, students will be polled regarding specific topics to be covered this year.

This course provides an in-depth examination of the major social and historical theories which have informed archaeological approaches to the study of the past. The course is anchored around four major themes: social identity, landscapes, power, and economics. These themes anchor our discussion of core theoretical texts, including the works of Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Michel Foucault, Max Weber, Pierre Bourdieu, Frederick Barth, and Adam Smith. Within each three-week thematic module, we will take a genealogical approach which explores the intellectual origins of contemporary frameworks like post-colonialism, ethnogenesis, resistance, cultural landscapes, behavioral ecology, world systems theory, and object biographies. Ultimately, through a combination of archaeological case studies and theoretical readings, this seminar will provide students with a rich understanding of the broad range of frameworks that underpin contemporary archaeological research and the unique problems inherent in archaeological efforts to represent and interpret the material record.

The Eastern Woodlands area of North America was the setting for distinctive cultural developments during the time period from c. 12,000 years ago until European contact 400 to 500 years ago. This course will examine these developments through application of the principles of scientific archaeology, using the Great Lakes region and southern Ontario as specific examples. Topics covered will include earliest inhabitants, hunter-gatherer-fisher lifeways, the origins of food production, development of village-dwelling tribal communities, and first contact with Europeans.

This seminar will focus on understanding the archaeological and, to a lesser extent, ethnographic records of Inuit and related peoples, with an emphasis on the Eastern Arctic (Inuit Nunangat, a.k.a. northern Canada, and Greenland) during the past 5,000 years. Readings and discussion are intended to be useful to a range of students interested in archaeological analysis and interpretation, and not only for those planning to specialize in the Arctic. A broad array of topics will be covered relating to economic and social organization, climate change archaeology, ethnographic analogy, migration, cultural landscapes, and Indigenous-settler interactions. In addition, we will pay close attention to the modern political and social context of archaeology in the North.

The goal of this course is to take a broad perspective on artifacts, objects that are at once material and cultural. The perspective is essentially anthropological and archaeological, but we will read broadly from disciplines including architecture, sociology, and philosophy. The focus is on the way objects become integrated into the self, and to look at aspects relating to the body, the mind, and the invisible. While this is a discussion-based seminar, students will also be developing an applied project where the focus is a particular type or class of artifacts. There is a great deal of flexibility in the topics chosen for these projects, and the way that the final project is formatted, but students will be encouraged to draw on objects related to their research interest. Students from all disciplines working with material culture are welcome to participate in this course.