Graduate Programs: Course Descriptions
General Course Information:
The graduate research seminar (9010) is an audited course that is required to complete
your degree. Grades are used for other courses. The format of examination for
other graduate courses usually consists of the presentation of a seminar and a
research paper based on a review of current literature in the area of the
course. Some courses have a formal written examination.
Course numbers subscripted "a/b" are half courses and may be offered in either
term; "a" indicates a Fall-term half course, "b" a Winter-term half course. Full
(two-term) courses, or courses which continue until completed (e.g., thesis),
have no subscript. Courses marked with an asterisk ‘*’ will be considered
reading courses although they are expected to be taught as seminar courses
approximately every other year if enrollments permit. **Not all courses
are offered every year**
Students are also encouraged to take some
courses in other departments. Information about other programs of possible
interest can be found
HERE.
Some of the Anthro courses listed below will show if it is affiliated with other
programs such as:
- MER - Migration & Ethnic Relations
- E&S - Environment & Sustainability
- Interdisciplinary - with other graduate programs
Click HERE for Registration 2011-2012 course schedule and outlines.
Anthropology Course Descriptions:
9001 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT This seminar will focus on aspects of
professional academic life including grant writing, submitting papers to
journals, writing and presenting conference papers. This course is open to
students in all fields of anthropology.
9002 GIS IN ANTHROPOLOGY This course is an introduction to
Geographic Information Systems for anthropology students. A combination of
lectures and laboratory assignments will introduce the basic concepts of mapping
display and spatial analysis in both archaeological and ethnographic contexts.
Students will develop their own GIS research project using the skills, concepts,
and models examined during the term. This course is open to students in all
fields of anthropology.
9010 RESEARCH SEMINAR This seminar will be
organized by the Department. Graduate students are required to present their
research results at least once during their program. Normally MA students will
present in their second year and PhD students in their third or fourth year.
Attendance is mandatory for all MA and PhD students during two years of their
program (or part-time students for the equivalent of four terms).
9100 ARCHAEOLOGY - THEORY This core graduate seminar is built around
four central concepts in anthropology: culture; individual and society; space
and place; and time, memory and the politics of the past. It is designed as an
exercise in critical reading and critical thinking about how these concepts have
been, and can be, used in archaeological applications. It is taught in
collaboration with 9200 Sociocultural
Anthropology Theory.
9101 RESEARCH METHODS IN ARCHAEOLOGY/BIOARCHAEOLOGY
An examination
of methodological issues of interest to biological anthropologists and
archaeologists and how methodology is applied to address issues that flow from
theory. Among the issues considered are: the nature of anthropological research,
research questions and design, situating proposed research in relation to
existing literature, ethics, data collection and data analysis. It is taught in
collaboration with 9201 Research Methods in Sociocultural
Anthropology.
9102 REGIONAL TOPICS IN BIOARCHAEOLOGY
Detailed examination and
evaluation of current research of interest to both biological anthropologists
and archaeologists focusing on the evidence from a particular region. The region
examined can vary from year to year depending on the instructor availability and
the interests of incoming students but could focus on Egypt, Mesoamerica
including the Mayan region, Andean South America, the Arctic or the Great Lakes
area.
9103 REGIONAL TOPICS IN ARCHAEOLOGY Detailed examination and
evaluation of current research of interest to archaeologists focusing on the
evidence from a particular region. The region examined can vary from year to
year depending on the instructor availability and the interests of incoming
students but could focus on Egypt, Mesoamerica including the Mayan region,
Andean South America, the Arctic or the Great Lakes area.
9104 SPECIAL TOPICS IN BIOARCHAEOLOGY
Examination of current
research of interest to both biological anthropologists and archaeologists.
Topics will vary from year to year depending on the instructor availability and
the interests of incoming students but can include osteology, pathology,
forensics, paleodiet and nutrition, paleoepidemiology, faunal analysis, peopling
of the Americas and forager subsistence/ecology.
9105 SPECIAL TOPICS IN ARCHAEOLOGY Examination of current research
of interest to archaeologists. Topics will vary from year to year depending on
the instructor availability and the interests of incoming students but can
include field methods, settlement analyses including landscape approaches and
use of GIS, lithic analysis, ceramic analysis and environmental reconstruction.
9110 PRINCIPLES OF APPLIED ARCHAEOLOGY An examination of the
practice of applied archaeology in North America. The course aim is to introduce
the student to the legislative regime and fundamental principles that govern the
form of archaeology carried out by consultant or commercial archaeologists hired
by third parties to undertake archaeological investigations on property proposed
for land use development or resource extraction.
9120 APPROACHES TO LANDSCAPE IN ARCHAEOLOGY (E&S) (Interdisciplinary) Encompasses a myriad of different approaches to
understanding past relationships between people and the world around them.
These approaches are based in very different conceptions of what a landscape
is, from a scale of analysis to a social process of interaction between
people and their surroundings. This course will examine a range of
archaeological approaches to landscape, from settlement archaeology to
phenomenological attempts to understand the lived experience of past
landscapes. We will weigh their relative merits and examine the ways in
which different understandings of landscape impact archaeological methods,
interpretation and the presentation of results.
9200 Sociocultural
ANTHROPOLOGY - THEORY This core graduate seminar is built around four
central concepts in anthropology: culture; individual and society; space and
place; and time, memory and the politics of the past. It is designed as an
exercise in critical reading and critical thinking about how these concepts
have been, and can be, used in Sociocultural anthropology. It is taught in
collaboration with 9100 Archaeology Theory.
9201 RESEARCH METHODS IN SOCIOCULTURAL
ANTHROPOLOGY This course
focuses on methods of research used in conducting ethnographic fieldwork and
methods of analysis used in making sense of what is collected. Weekly seminars
and practical assignments will focus on issues including: fieldwork ethics,
interviewing methods, surveying, participant-observation, and the analysis of
quantitative and qualitative data. It is taught in collaboration with 9101
Research Methods in Archaeology/Bioarchaeology.
9202 THEORIZING ETHNOGRAPHY (Interdisciplinary) Seminar reading and discussion focuses
on the conduct and writing of ethnography as a theoretical enterprise and the
critical assessment of the place of ethnographic reasoning in anthropology in
relation to various national traditions, particularly the North American,
British and French, and to contemporary interdisciplinary theory in the social
sciences and humanities.
9203 ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELD METHODS IN SOCIOCULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Students will design and conduct their own ethnographic project, possibly but
not necessarily related to the thesis. Seminar discussions will include but
not be limited to general issues of qualitative methodology and ethics in data
collection and analysis.
9204 ETHNOGRAPHIC APPROACHES TO "THE CITY" This seminar explores
core issues in the ethnography of urban space and culture. Topics may include
migration, peri-urban developments, culture, power and the meaningful
construction of space, consumption and urban life, and identity, agency and
community in complex, poly-cultural urban settings, and the processes of
urbanization cross-culturally, among others.
9205 ETHNOHISTORICAL METHODS IN ANTHROPOLOGY Examination of
ethnohistoric methods and their application in anthropology. Topics will vary
from year to year depending on the instructor availability and the interests of
incoming students.
9206 REGIONAL TOPICS IN ETHNOGRAPHY This course reviews major
contributions in the ethnography of a region, contextualizing emerging debates
within the historical development of area studies. Current themes of critical
importance to anthropological theory include engagement with recent political
transformations as well as issues of historicity, embodied identities, and the
anthropology of the senses. The region will be determined by the instructor.
9207 SPECIAL TOPICS IN SOCIOCULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY - LATIN AMERICA
Examination of current research in the field of Latin American studies of
interest to Sociocultural
anthropologists and linguistic anthropologists. Topics
will vary from year to year depending on the instructor availability.
9208 THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE STATE This seminar explores how we
might think anthropologically about state formation, state projects, and state
effects. The kinds of questions examined include: How are citizens made? How can
the state itself – as a set of institutions and as an idea – be examined
ethnographically? What kinds of cultural understandings underlie a range of
state projects and interventions? How can we understand how local populations
and/or subordinate groups experience and respond to such projects?
9209 CULTURE AND POLITICAL ECONOMY This course examines a range of
theoretical approaches that see culture as a material social process. Theorists
discussed include Antonio Gramsci, Raymond Williams, Eric Wolf, Sidney Mintz,
and Bill Roseberry, as well as case studies drawn from a wide variety of social
and geographical contexts.
9210 ASSESSING DEVELOPMENT This course will focus on the
connection between development and patterns of migration, both internal,
especially rural-urban migration, and international. Specific issues that will
be covered are: livelihoods and mobility; remittances; the trend toward
urbanization; inner city poverty and shanty towns; migration and the informal
sector; development induced migration.
9211 SEEING LIKE AN NGO This course will look critically at how
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) define themselves and how they interact
with governments, donors, and local peoples. It will also include readings on
topics that are related to NGO formation and activity, such as civil society,
nation states, globalization, human rights, and humanitarian aid.
9212 THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF RESOURCE FRONTIERS An examination of the
position of indigenous peoples on the world’s resource frontiers and the
national and global relations they must negotiate. Topics covered will include
the political economy of environmental crisis; local people and the state; the
roles of global capital, western environmentalism, and nongovernmental
organizations.
9213 DISPLACEMENT AND DIASPORAS This course looks at different cases
of displacement and its diverse impact on communities, including refugees, the
internally displaced and diasporic people - categories and definitions that are
critically examined. The course also looks at the relationship between
humanitarian aid organizations and refugees; life in camps as spaces delineated
for those displaced; and, the process of becoming refugees.
9214 MEMORY/HISTORY AND RECONSTRUCTIONS OF IDENTITIES
(MER) (Interdisciplinary) The course is
critical of assumptions that marginalize popular memory and looks at various
expressions that invoke the past in the present. The course will focus on the
political dimension of memory and the struggle for and against power.
9215 DISCOURSE AND SOCIETY The analysis of discourse as it relates
to social structure. Topics may include both discourse as process and as product
with an introduction to multiple models of analysis. Readings will focus on
discourses related to nature and human interactions with the environment.
Seminar. Half course; one term.
9216 ADVANCED RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE & SOCIETY An advanced seminar in
linguistic anthropology. Topics will vary from year to year depending on the
instructor availability and the interests of incoming students.
This year the purpose of this course
is to examine linkages between linguistic practices and relations of power,
drawing primarily on techniques of linguistic anthropology and discourse
analysis.
9217 TOPICS IN ANTHROPOLOGY & EMBODIMENT Building on developments in
the anthropological study of the body as the ground on which, through which, and
because of which, culture and sociality is possible. This seminar will examine
embodied practice from any of a variety of orientations or objectives.
9218 SYMBOLIC ANTHROPOLOGY (AS RELIGION) The analysis of cultural
symbol systems (e.g., religion, myth, ideology, language, ritual) in their
relationship to one another and to other aspects of social life. This course
emphasizes the articulation of symbolic theory with interpreting practice.
9219 FIRST NATIONS LANGUAGE & CULTURE Emphasis will be on the
semantic and grammatical structures of various First Nations languages. The
inseparability of language and culture will be explored in terms of particular
languages and their diverse typologies. Student interests will guide the
selection of cases. Iroquoian and Algonquian languages spoken in southwestern
Ontario are likely to be most frequently studied.
9220 ENVIRONMENTAL ANTHROPOLOGY In this seminar, students explore
theoretical and practical issues involved in studying relationships between
humans and the environments in which they live. With a foundation in concepts
and debates from environmental and ecological anthropology, students will be
encouraged to investigate current questions of interest. Some topics will
include: human adaptation in various ecosystems, the role of language and
culture in understanding and interacting with nature, the influence of the
physical environment on cultural practices, and the division between indigenous
and scientific environmental knowledge. Depending on available resources, there
may be an option to gain practical experience by conducting research on an
environmental issue within a nearby community. Students with a background in
other disciplines are encouraged to enroll.
9221 POLITICAL ECOLOGY (Interdisciplinary) Political ecology has over the last decades emerged as an interdisciplinary field of inquiry that has effectively applied both materialist and symbolic perspectives to the analysis of environmental struggles, broadly defined. Drawing on recent ethnographic works, as well as theoretical writings by anthropologists, geographers, sociologists, political scientists, biologists and historians of science, this seminar reviews the evolution of political ecology since the 1970s and considers how recent post-humanist perspectives that focus on human-nonhuman entanglements might be re-configuring the field.
9222 SEMINAR
IN ADVANCED THEORY NEW
This course assumes that students are already familiar with basic
anthropological theories (functionalism, structuralism, etc.) and concepts
(culture, relativism, political economy, etc). Discussion will range widely
over the social sciences and humanities, reading theories and theorists
without regard to disciplinary origin but for their applicability to
problems of ethnographic method, practice and sensibility. The course will
have a particular theme in a given year and will pursue that theme in
response to student interests and backgrounds.
9300/9800 DIRECTED READINGS A reading course on a special topic
supervised by a member of the Department.
MA Thesis/PhD Dissertation.
In this document, when we use the term Thesis it refers to MA, and Dissertation
refers to PhD. This terminological distinction is not used by the
School of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies.
MA Thesis: Demonstrates the student's ability to conduct research and
provide an interpretation of the material. The thesis is directed by a
supervisor appointed by the Department in consultation with the student. The
thesis should be no more than 125 pages in length and will be followed by an
oral examination. A copy of the procedures governing the thesis and the
student's progress through the program is available upon request.
PhD Dissertation: Demonstrates the student’s ability to incorporate
original research and interpretation in Anthropology. PhD dissertations, which
should not exceed 350 pages without prior permission of the student’s advisory
committee, must conform to high standards of scholarly research and originality.
The dissertation will be examined at a defense conducted by the
School of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies.
Courses Commonly Taken In Other Departments
Below, interested students will find a list of graduate courses in other departments which may be of interest to them as they develop their ideas and prepare to conduct research. This list was compiled by members of the Anthropology department, and does not represent a complete list. A complete list of graduate programs at Western can be found HERE. Students should review course offerings in these programs for course options they may wish to pursue. Please note that the course numbers below are in the new numbering system. Starting this year 2008, the university has moved to a four digit course numbering system. Many courses have also been restructured. Some courses listed below are comparable to those taken in the past. If you wish to take the courses listed below, please contact their department.
Statistical and Actuarial Sciences
- 2037A/B - Statistics for Health
Descriptive statistics, graphical and verbal fallacies, decision trees, confidence intervals, and multiple regression. Intended primarily for non-science students, and cannot be taken for credit by students in Statistical and Actuarial Sciences or Mathematics programs. Half course offered in Fall or Winter terms. - 1024A/B - Introduction to Statistics
Statistical inference, experimental design, sampling design, confidence intervals and hypothesis tests for means and proportions, regression and correlation.
Geology
- 9506a/b. Isotope Geochemistry in Earth and Environmental Science. Principles, Stable isotopes (O, H, C, S, N): atmosphere, hydrosphere, sedimentary and diagenetic systems, hydrothermal systems, fluid migration, ore-forming fluids, igneous and metamorphic rocks. Environmental applications: groundwater, oceans, wetlands, acid rain; acid mine drainage, climate fluctuation; global cycle modification. Radiogenic isotopes: dating techniques; crust and mantle evolution, environmental tracing. Class/lab schedules will be similar to that of Earth Sciences 4431a.
Geography
- 9110 Introduction to GIS
Introduction to fundamental concepts, techniques and applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This is an entry level course for students who wish to apply GIS to their own research. Students gain hands-on experience using the ArcGIS software and develop problem solving skills. - 9115 Urban Social Cultural Geography
An examination of classical and contemporary literature on the social and cultural processes and practices underlying the forms, designs and social practices of urban built environments. - 9300 Advanced Studies in Environment Development and Health
A generic course to cover specialized topics not covered in the other EDH specialty courses and offered as needed. - 9318 Advanced Seminar in Human Geography
This course examines current theoretical debate and research practice in human geography. Through preparatory reading and class discussion, students are exposed to the work of key geographical thinkers in order to deepen their understanding of core geographical concepts and theories. These are then applied to analysis of particular themes and locations. Depending on the fields in which students are conducting their research, the specific thematic focus will vary from year to year. - 9400 Advanced Studies in GISc
A generic course to cover specialized topics not covered in the other GISci specialty courses and offered as needed. - 9518 Advanced Cultural Geography
This course examines the production and interpretation of cultures, the major cultural markers of identity, and the politics of space, place and landscape. Final lists of seminar topics and readings for discussion will be developed in consultation with students.
Languages
- French 9005 Intensive French Reading Course
The main objective of French 9005 is to help students attain a reading knowledge of French. The course provides basic tools to understand French texts and to translate them. It is not meant to help you speak French, nor does it focus on French Writing.
COLLABORATIVE GRADUATE PROGRAMS
Please visit the following website for detailed information and applications:
Migration and Ethnic Relations: Click HERE
Environment & Sustainability: Click HERE
For further information, write to:
Graduate Program Office
Department of Anthropology
Faculty of Social Science
The University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C2
Phone: 519-661-3430
Fax: 519-661-2157
email: anthro-grad-office@uwo.ca
Also from this web page:
Have a question?
-
You can direct enquiries about the Graduate Program by clicking the link above.
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