Research Areas
Anthropologists at Western apply these perspectives in many different ways, but here are four broad areas that characterize our Department's teaching and scholarship:
- Anthropological perspectives on the Environment
- We study the complex long and short-term interactions between the environment and society, how the environment shapes and is shaped by material culture, subsistence practices and impacts, social complexity, and language use
- Anthropological perspectives on Bodies and Health
- We explore the interconnections between culture and biology, considering both long-term and comparative perspectives on health, how it is experienced, described and embodied
- Anthropological perspectives on Human Relations, Inequality and Power
- We study the material and embodied expression of social structure and power relations, and how they are shaped by social complexity, language use, and the environment
- Anthropological perspectives on Individual, Social and Cultural Identities
- We study the many different ways in which identities are defined, constructed, embodied and experienced in ancient and modern times, in cultures around the world.
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
- North Africa and the Middle East
- Madagascar
- Europe
