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Anthropology at Western
Our History
Anthropology at Western began in 1970 as an undergraduate program within the Department of Geography. The Department of Anthropology was established in 1972 and began to offer a three-year general BA and a four-year Honours Degree in Anthropology. From the beginning, the Department included Sociocultural Anthropology, Bioarchaeology, and Linguistics. A Specialization in Linguistics was added in 1975, at both the general and Honours levels. In 1977, the Centre for Research and Teaching of Canadian Native Languages was established within the department. Please visit Our History page to see the Department’s institutional timeline.
Teaching Resources
Our Department prides itself on the breadth and diversity of its teaching resources, which enrich student learning across all four subfields of Anthropology. These include extensive teaching collections, dedicated teaching laboratories, and a wide range of digital media equipment and specialist software.
Distinguished Faculty
The Department of Anthropology's award-winning faculty members are drawn from across the four subfields of the discipline: Archaeology (4), Biological Anthropology (3), Linguistic Anthropology (2) and Sociocultural Anthropology (8). We’re home to a vibrant research community, with faculty and graduate student research projects across North and South America, and around the world. Our undergraduate courses, taught by faculty members who really care about their students, have a strong emphasis on experiential learning.
Community Engagement and Regional Expertise
A key feature of Anthropology at Western is our emphasis on Community Engagement in both learning and research contexts. Anthropologists recognize the need to engage with communities and the human record directly when exploring the breadth of humanity in the past and present. Here at Western that means working with, and for, communities and collaborating with people to answer shared questions about their past and present experiences, and desired futures.
We have regional expertise in:
- North America
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- Subsaharan Africa and Madagascar
- Europe
Interested in one of our programs?
Or have questions?