Humans, to paraphrase Clifford Geertz, are suspended in webs of meaning that they themselves have spun. This course introduces students to the tools anthropologists and others have developed in order to analyze and understand these "webs of meaning." Readings in philosophy, cultural theory and ethnography will be used to engage with questions regarding the construction of meaning in relation to ethnic identity, social structure, gender, political economy, personhood, and religion. Drawing on classic texts and the tools of semiotics, students will learn to apply the lens of symbolic analysis to interpret a range of contemporary social phenomena.

Chimpanzees are our closest living relatives. In this course we will examine chimpanzee behavior, ecology, morphology, physiology, language, intelligence, and genetics. Through lectures, labs, films and writing assignments we will get an intimate look at every aspect of chimpanzee biology and behavior. Among questions asked will be: Why do animals use or not use tools? Why are animals aggressive? How does physiology influence what chimpanzees can eat and what's healthy to eat? Can chimpanzees use language? Do chimpanzees use medicine? Just how different are chimpanzee bones, muscles, and brains from our own? Throughout the class we will turn to use chimpanzees as a model to better understand ourselves and our place in nature.

A study of the responses of selected world religious traditions to the emergence of global ecological concerns. Key concepts and tenets of the traditions and their relevance for examination of the environment crisis. In some years, students may additionally have the option of participating in an international learning experience during Reading Week that will have an additional cost and application process.

Religious violence and nonviolence as they emerge in the tension between strict adherence to tradition and individual actions of charismatic figures. The place of violence and nonviolence in selected faith traditions.

Our present environmental challenge constitutes of the most pressing areas of contemporary social, cultural, ethical and ecological concern. Acid rain, poisoned air, forest clear-cutting, ozone depletion, global climate change, toxic waste sites--the list goes on--all weigh heavily on our personal and intellectual lives. This course attempts to introduce students to both the scope and seriousness of present ecological concerns, as well as some core principles and concepts in the field of the intersection of environment and culture, through the lens of feature films. Themes such as the precautionary principle, urban/rural dualisms, ecofeminism, deep ecology, and the overwhelming burden placed on poor populations by environmental destruction are but a few of the areas which will be examined through the use of feature films, both classic and contemporary. We will do this in part by touching on some of the major writers and classic essays in the field, Class lectures will be supplemented by audiovisuals, guest lectures and class discussions.

Special course on selected topics in biological anthropology and/or archaeology; focus of topic changes each year. The contact hours for this course may vary in terms of contact type (L,S,T,P) from year to year, but will be between 24-36 contact hours in total. See the UTM Timetable.

Special course on selected topics in sociocultural and/or linguistic anthropology; focus of topic changes each year. The contact hours for this course may vary in terms of contact type (L,S,T,P) from year to year, but will be between 24-36 contact hours in total. See the UTM Timetable.

This independent study course is designed to offer students advanced supervised reading and initial research planning on an anthropological topic not covered in other courses, or covered only briefly. Students who wish to pursue this option with a specific faculty member should approach the faculty member early - before the start of the academic term - to negotiate the reading and study program.

This independent study course is designed to offer students advanced supervised reading and initial research planning on an anthropological topic not covered in other courses, or covered only briefly. Students who wish to pursue this option with a specific faculty member should approach the faculty member early - before the start of the academic term - to negotiate the reading and study program.

This independent reading course is designed to offer students advanced supervised reading on an anthropological topic not covered in other courses, or covered only briefly. Students who wish to pursue this option with a specific faculty member should approach the faculty member early - before the start of the academic term - to negotiate the reading program.

This independent reading course is designed to offer students advanced supervised reading on an anthropological topic not covered in other courses, or covered only briefly. Students who wish to pursue this option with a specific faculty member should approach the faculty member early - before the start of the academic term - to negotiate the reading program.

This course provides senior undergraduate students who have developed some knowledge of a discipline and its research methods an opportunity to work in the research project of a professor in return for course credit. Students enrolled have an opportunity to become involved in original research, develop their research skills and share in the excitement and discovery of acquiring new knowledge. Based on the nature of the project, projects may satisfy the Sciences or Social Sciences distribution requirement. Participating faculty members post their project descriptions for the following summer and fall/winter sessions in early March. See Experiential and International Opportunities for more details.

This course provides senior undergraduate students who have developed some knowledge of a discipline and its research methods an opportunity to work in the research project of a professor in return for course credit. Students enrolled have an opportunity to become involved in original research, develop their research skills and share in the excitement and discovery of acquiring new knowledge. Based on the nature of the project, projects may satisfy the Sciences or Social Sciences distribution requirement. Participating faculty members post their project descriptions for the following summer and fall/winter sessions in early March. See Experiential and International Opportunities for more details.

Sleep is essential to cognitive function and health in humans, yet the ultimate reasons for sleep - that is, 'why' we sleep - remains mysterious. This course integrates research findings from human sleep studies, the ethnographic record, and the ecology and evolution of mammalian and primate sleep to better understand sleep along the human lineage and in the modern world. Students will learn how to use 'wearable' technology, such as actigraphy, for scientific research. The goal of the course is to empower students with the theoretical and technological tools to be able to not only critically assess their own sleep-wake behaviour and performance but also popular generalizations about how to maximize long-term health outcomes.

Social learning is fundamental to human experience, through which individuals, societies, and generations share information and practices, and form cultural patterns and norms. Learning how to do something is also learning how to be a member of a society. Understanding social learning enables us to make the connections between the population-level, intergenerational cultural phenomena and the measurable individual-level process. This course uses case studies from anthropology, psychology, and biology to discuss the social, psychological, and biological foundations of social learning and the roles of social learning in enabling the accumulation of knowledge in human societies and shaping cultural patterns.

This course will introduce students to cutting-edge developments in the palaeoanthropological field. The weekly seminars will be strongly research-based, incorporating the latest discoveries, publications and debates. This course will also involve an in-class practical component during which the extensive cast collection in the department will be utilized, together with new 3D methods for fossil visualization. The goal of this course is to: 1) reinforce key theoretical concepts traditionally applied in the field, and 2) provide students with knowledge of the more recent debates and methodological approaches currently pushing the boundaries of palaeoanthropology.

This course explores confinement, institutions, and incarceration from a broad anthropological perspective. Bioarchaeological, archaeological, and ethnographic research on institutions (e.g., asylums, poorhouses, prisons) will be critically examined. The goal of the course is to provide students with a complex understanding of institutionalization through time and how health vulnerabilities are created and recreated.

This course will provide students with the basic analytic background necessary to evaluate quantitative data in biological anthropology and archaeology. Students will be introduced to foundational statistical concepts and research methods suitable for anthropological exploration. The focus will be on analysing univariate and bivariate data using both nonparametric and parametric statistical techniques, hypothesis testing, and methods of data collection. The goal of this course is for students to learn how to manipulate simple datasets, ask and answer theoretically relevant questions, and choose the appropriate statistical test for a given research problem. Students will receive hands-on training during lab components and will learn how to analyse data using relevant statistical software. Students will have access to a number of biological anthropology and archaeology datasets for class assignments. No prior knowledge of statistics and mathematics is required.

The relationship between plants and people through time offers important insights into our past, particularly human-environmental interaction, plant domestication, and agricultural origins and development. Students will learn archaeological plant remains identification and interpretation skills through a combination of laboratory and seminar sessions. In some years, students may additionally have the option of participating in an international learning experience during Reading Week that will have an additional cost and application process. Skills learned in this course are also useful in forensic investigations. Students will develop a project based on archaeological material from Japan and/or Ontario in consultation with the instructor.

Examination and interpretation of faunal material from archaeological sites, to obtain cultural information regarding the site occupants.

This course will involve students in applied laboratory methods in archaeology. Each student will engage in an individual research project on an archaeological data set. Techniques will include basic description, measurement, quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis. The primary focus will be ceramic and lithic analysis.

Practical experience for students who completed ANT318H5 and are ready for more advanced field experiences. During practical component (last two weeks of August, Monday-Friday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm) students have responsibility for recording/documenting an archaeological site in the field, including survey and detailed mapping. Students also act as mentors to ANT318 students during pedestrian and subsurface survey, and excavation. During weekly laboratory sessions September – December students process, identify, and catalogue artifacts, and learn to write an archaeological report and site record form. Limited Enrolment and Application Process: see Anthropology department website for more details.

Special seminar on selected topics in biological anthropology and/or archaeology; focus of seminar changes each year.

Special seminar on selected topics in sociocultural and/or linguistic anthropology; focus of seminar changes each year.

Special seminar on selected topics in any scientific aspect of anthropology, including one or more sub-fields; focus of seminar changes each year. The contact hours for this course may vary in terms of contact type (L,S,T,P) from year to year, but will be between 24-36 contact hours in total. See the UTM Timetable.

Special seminar on selected topics in any social science aspect of anthropology, including one or more sub-fields; focus of seminar changes each year. The contact hours for this course may vary in terms of contact type (L,S,T,P) from year to year, but will be between 24-36 contact hours in total. See the UTM Timetable.

The study of diseases and maladies of ancient populations. The course will survey the range of pathology on human skeletons, (trauma, infection, syphilis, tuberculosis, leprosy, anemia, metabolic disturbances, arthritis and tumors).

Survey of theory and methods in molecular anthropology, a subdiscipline of anthropology that attempts to understand human evolution and the variation observed in our species using molecular information.

This course is the culmination of the undergraduate Anthropology of Health focus and aims to prepare students for workplace application and graduate study in a wide range of clinical and research domains. The course brings together diverse branches of biological investigation (human biology, nutrition, growth and development, chronic and communicable disease) and undertakes a critical examination of theory and methods used in the study of human health. It traces the historical development of the powerful biomedical paradigm that dominates health research today and uses a critical lens to examine the systems used to measure and classify health and disease. It explores evolutionary and biological approaches to understanding human health by examining the concepts of adaptation and plasticity, genetic and epigenetic approaches, developmental origins and life history theories, social determinants of health, and critical medical anthropology. The course explores the profoundly influential role of social inequality on the production and reproduction of health in historical and contemporary populations.

This course will present a world-wide perspective of biological anthropological research and how it developed in different countries. To be discussed will be variation in approaches, subjects studied, philosophical attitudes, and the emergence of common themes in the study of physical anthropology.