Latest news
Jazmine Clark at Yunomi Studio and Gallery
UVIC Anthropology PhD Student, Stephanie Calce wins "Vanier Scholarship"
Congratulations to Stephanie Calce, recipient of the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Vanier CGS) for her work on osteoarthritis and skeletal aging. The Vanier CGS aims to attract and retain world-class doctoral students by supporting students who demonstrate both leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in graduate studies in the social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, engineering, and health. This prestigious award is worth $50,000 per year for three years. Working under the supervision of Dr. Helen Kurki, Stephanie's PhD research on the effects of joint disease on skeletal age markers examines the relationship between aging and bone health from the perspective of bone biomechanics. Her research uses a bio-cultural approach to address inquiries of human adaptation in 20th century European populations from Italy, Greece, and Portugal to understand joint formation, structure, and function in the human skeleton more fully. Stephanie's data collection will begin this summer at the University of Bologna, Italy. She's very much looking forward to working with international scientific researchers that will contribute to strengthening the potential for collaboration between Canadian universities and research institutions abroad. Well done Stephanie!Truth and Reconcilliation Commission of Canada
The Truth and Reconcilliation Commission of Canada will be holding a two day event at the Fairmont (Empress Hotel) Conference Centre Friday April 13th and Saturday April 14th. This is the only time that the commission will be in Victoria, and all three Commisioners will be in attendance. Kristi Bowie, a UVIC Anthropology MA student will be in the Crystal Ballroom at the "The Missing Children Project". Dr. Andrea Walsh has been working with a collection of paintings created by students who attended Alberni Indian Residential School between 1958 and 1960 and is assisting with reconnecting people with these paintings. One such painting discovered in the University Art Collection was done by the late Phyllis Tate, who attended Robert Aller's weekly art classes at the residential school. Kristi Bowie comments, "Bearing witness to this process is worthwhile - it is our national history too." Read more on today's issue of the Times Colonist. For a time table of events, please look here.
Congratulations Dr. April Nowell for being the recipient of 2012's Excellence in Teaching Award
Dr. Catherine Mateer, Associate Vice-President Academic Planning presented Dr. April Nowell with her award Wednesday April 4th at the 2012 Social Sciences Excellence Awards Ceremony.
Dr. Mateer said of Dr. Nowell, "Dr. April Nowell is a paleolithic archaeologist – a scholar of early humankind. In April’s own words, “I love Neanderthals.” Her passion inspires her students to pursue their own life passions. She is a dedicated teacher whose love of learning is infectious to those around her. She excels as an undergraduate instructor – she is highly competent, energetic, and motivates her students to learn. April is a strong advocate of effective mentoring, intended to help students discover their excitement for research, to foster their individual creativity, and, in the case of graduate students, to foster their transition to professional careers.
One undergraduate student comments, “she was a fantastic professor, as well as a fantastic person to have on the [South Africa] field school because of her amazing, positive personality… [she is] extremely passionate about the work that she does, and this enthusiasm is evident to everyone….She is one of the most positive, enthusiastic and knowledgeable professors that I have encountered at University of Victoria.”
A graduate student says, “April is an inspiring teacher….she has found the perfect balance between providing direction while still leaving enough space for students to be more self-directed and pursue their areas of interest…she is a highly respected scholar in her field, and yet she is incredibly humble and endlessly supportive of her students.”
April is truly deserving of this award. She has enriched the lives of our students, the Anthropology department, our faculty and our university through the energy, passion, and cheerful good humour that she brings to bear on her teaching."
Information about Dr. April Nowell's research, here.
IdeaFest: Passport to the Social Sciences- March 5 to March 9 - Enter to WIN $500 grand prize
Pick up your passport at any department office or download and print the PDF. For more information, please contact sosccomm@uvic.ca. Unit head offices are as follows: ANTH (COR B228), ECON (BEC 360), ES (SSM B243), GEOG (SSM B203), POLI (SSM A316), PSYC (COR A236) and SOC (COR A333).
110th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, November 16-20 in Montreal
We are pleased to share that the Anthropology Department was well-represented at the 110th Annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association meetings held in Montreal from November 16-20. This was the largest AAA meeting ever (6500 registrants), and 5 of our graduate students and one of our undergraduate students presented at the meetings. Faculty were also well represented and presentations were given by : Lisa Mitchell, Peter Stephenson, Brian Thom and Andrea Walsh, and two of our adjuncts Michael Asch and Rob Hancock. Very positive feedback regarding both the professionalism of our students and the strength of content of their presentations was recieved. The student presentations were as follows:
Angelique Lalonde (PhD) Embodying Ethical Consumerism through Yoga: a "Sustainable Living Project" in Costa Rica
Jennafer Roberts (MA) The "Chick Shot": Negotiating Gender and Responsibility through Young Women's Decision about HPV Vaccination
Julie-Anne Weaver (MA) Grounding Cooperative Management: The Power of Land-Based Monitoring Projects, Reciprocal Relationships and Knowledge Mobility In National Parks
Sarah Moritz (MA) Navigating Culture: St’át’imc Cultural Identity and Self-Determination within and Through Strategic Collaborative Relationships and Processes
Jane Wellburn (MA) Re-Thinking 'redneck': Making Collaboration Visible In Small Town British Columbia
Devin Tepleski (Undergraduate) participated in both a reviewed UG poster session entitled First Rites: Innovative Undergraduate Student Research in Anthropology in which he presented a poster entitled Ethic Art: Reconciling Art and Anthropology. He also had the honour of screening his film Mango Driftwood in the reviewed film room at the meetings.
Cornett Grand Opening: September 22, 2011
Welcome to the Cornett Building, a show case of Contemporary Coast Salish Art Work and home to many of the Social Sciences Departments. Explore the new surroundings.... Coast Salish Art Guide
Graduate Students Orientation Sessions: Parts 1 & 2
The Department of Anthropology is holding two Orientation Events for their new Graduate Students. Each session will cover different aspects of the Graduate Program. Part 1 is on Friday September 9th from 9:30-11:30 in B250 and will be followed by a sandwich buffet with the Faculty. Part 2 will be on September 16 from 10:00-11:30 in B250. Dr. Lisa Gould the Grad Advisor and other guests will be attending both sessions. Each morning will start off with breakfast snacks and beverages.
TA Orientation Sessions: Parts 1 & 2
The Department of Anthropology is holding two TA Orientation Events for their new TAs. Each session will cover different aspects of TAing. Part 1 was on Tuesday September 13th. Part 2 will be on September 22 from 9:30-11:30 in Cornett A225. Dr. Erin McGuire will be the facilitator for both sessions and. Each morning will start off with muffins, fruit and beverages.
Anthropology Adjunct, Dr. Susan Crockford, National Geographic Daily News:
ANCIENT DOG SKULL SHOWS EARLY PET DOMESTICATION
Curious Wolves Went to the Dogs
"In general, dogs likely became domesticated when curious wolves began to hang around Stone Age people, who left butchered food remnants littering their camps, according to study co-author Susan Crockford, an anthropologist and zooarchaeologist at the University of Victoria in Canada. This phenomenon occurred in Europe, the Middle East, and China, according to the study, published July 28 in the journal PLoS ONE. (Also see "Oldest Domesticated Dog in Americas Found—Was Human Food.") Animals that were more comfortable around humans underwent changes in their growth rates—probably regulated by hormones—that eventually changed their reproductive patterns, sizes, and shapes, turning them into dogs, Crockford said by email. For example, dogs became smaller, developed wider skulls, and gave birth to bigger litters than wolves, she said. "The somewhat curious and less fearful 'first founders' became even more so as they interbred amongst themselves," Crockford said." more...
CAVE ART SCHOLAR NAMED TEDGLOBAL FELLOW 2011
University of Victoria PhD candidate Genevieve von Petzinger is the only Canadian on the distinguished list of 20 new international fellows at the TEDGlobal Conference 2011 next month in Edinburgh, Scotland. Von Petzinger earned international media attention last year with her discovery of ancient geometric signs from the Ice Age. As a master’s student in UVic’s Department of Anthropology, von Petzinger cracked a startling symbolic code carved on prehistoric cave walls. She has compiled a database of 5,000 geometric shapes, lines and squiggles from 146 Ice Age caves in France and garnered global attention.
As a TEDGlobal Fellow, von Petzinger will share her recent research with an international audience at the TEDGlobal Conference, July 11 to 15. “I am delighted TEDGlobal chose me,” says von Petzinger. “It is a great honour.”
TED is a non-profit organization and the annual TED Conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes and these TED Talks are then available at TED: http://www.ted.com/.
On June 9th, 2011 the Times Colonist printed this article about Genevieve von Petzinger's work. More...
Claudine Gravel Miguel, Anthropology MSc Student will talk about her work with L'Alliance Francaise de Victoria
Claudine Gravel Miguel will be presenting her work in french to a local organiziation for french speaking Victorians. Her talk is on the "Objets d'art portatifs et ornements decouverts dans les grottes prehistoriques. Quel pouvait etre role? Quelle etait leur provenance?" It will be held at 2:30 in the Oak Bay Library, which is located at 1442 Monterey, Oak Bay.
Darcy Mathews Anthropology PhD student talks about Upland Park Burial Sites
Darcy Mathews a University of Victoria, Anthropology PhD student has been mapping rock cairns in the park with Camousun Students. Mathews obtained permission from the Songhees band, whose people are descendants of residents of the Chekonein villiage that was located at Willows Beach until the mid-1800s, to map the 1,500 year old rock cairns. The talk and discussion is hosted by Friends of Uplands Park. It will be held at the Windsor Park Pavilion on 2451 Windsor Road and begins at 7 p.m.
UBC Anthropology Graduate Student Conference - March 18-19, 2011
The conference will follow the theme: Explorations in Practice". Informaton at: http://anthgradconf.alyanne.net/index.html. Call for papers: Deadline Monday February 28,2011 to anthconfubc@gmail.com.
The Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Award 2011
Click here for more information
UVic Anthropology PhD Student, Genevieve von Petzinger is interviewed for CBC's radio program SPARKS
January 25, 2011
Genevieve's interview on the impulse of early cave man to "tweet" may be heard on January 26th, 2011 at 2:00 or accessed online at the CBC website http://www.cbc.ca/spark/ via the podcast link.
Anthropology Sessional Faculty Member Dr. Ranald Donaldson has been selected to recieve the 2010 Gilian Sherwin Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching
December 22, 2010
Dr. Ranald Donaldson will be presented this award at the Teaching Awards Celebration, Thursday, February 10, 2010 at the University Club.
Anthropology Faculty Member Dr. Michael Asch receives Honorary Degree from Memorial University
October 21, 2010
Dr. Michael I. Asch was presented with the degree of doctor of letters, honoris causa, from Memorial University in St. John's during their Fall 2010 Convocation.
Anthropology Co-op applications now available
August 23, 2010
Social Sciences (Anthropology) Co-op is accepting applications for admission. The application deadline is Wed. September 15th. Application forms are available in the Social Sciences Co-op office SSM A204.
Anthropology Undergraduate Student Devin Tepleski featured on CBC's "On the Island" with Gregor Craigie
July 29, 2010
Devin Tepleski was fetured on the July 29th edition of "On the Island" with Gregor Craigie. Click here for more information.
Anthropology Field School Featured in Times Colonist
July 29, 2010
Anthropology’s Summer Field School was recently features in the Victoria Times Colonist. Click here for more information.
Sena? A Photographic Exhibition by Devin Tepleski at the Lúz Gallery
July 17, 2010
In 2011, waters will begin to rise behind the 400 megawatt Bui Hydroelectric dam in Ghana, inundating an estimated 440 km2. The dam will deprive Banda fishermen of their livelihoods and displace villagers from homes and farmlands occupied for centuries. In 2009, Anthropology undergraduate Devin Tepleski, with support from SSHRC funds provided through a UVic Internal Research Grant, interviewed villagers, filmed daily life in several villages and took portraits of Bui villagers as part of a project to generate awareness around the human impacts of the Bui Hydroelectric Dam. He has produced a short film entitled Mango Driftwood which is a poignant portrayal of Bui villagers’ attachment to place as they contemplate relocation to an as yet undetermined new site. The mango trees under which villagers rest and socialize provide links to the deceased relatives who planted them, prompting elders to exhort the importance of ‘looking back’. Equally as poignant is the question “Sena?” (Where?). Having been ordered by government officials to stop planting new crops in anticipation of relocation, “Sena? was a question much on villagers’ minds in summer 2009. Devin’s haunting portraits of villagers standing in the river that is both sacred to them and that will engulf their village simultaneously attests the villagers’ strength and the limits of their ability to respond to progress’s latest challenge.
Devin’s portraits are the focus of a July 29-August 28 exhibit at the Lúz Gallery, 1844 Oak Bay Ave., Victoria. Funds raised through the exhibition will be used to assist villagers affected by the hydroelectric dam. Luz is selling prints and accepting donations to provide much needed capital for microfinance projects and local educative initiatives.
A bitter pill to swallow
July 17, 2010
Dr. Peter Stephenson was featured in the Times Colonist for his research on Adverse Drug Reactions in seniors. Click here for more information.
Undergraduate Research Scholars Fair features two Anthropology students
April 13, 2010
Two Undergraduate Anthropology students, Chelsea Wilson and Jacob Earnshaw will be participating in the Undergraduate Research Scholars Fair. Both scholars will have a presentation of their research on display all day Wednesday April 14 in the Harry Hickman Building, and will be present themselves to explain their projects between 10-12 (Jacob) and 12-2 (Chelsea). Click here for more information.
New analysis of "cave signs" suggests an early symbolic system
Feb 22, 2010
A recent study by UVic graduate student Genevieve von Petzinger reveals that dots, lines and other geometric signs found in prehistoric European caves may be the precursor to an ancient system of written communication dating back nearly 30,000 years. Von Petzinger, under the supervision of UVic anthropology professor April Nowell, compiled the markings from 146 different sites in Ice Age France, making it possible to compare the signs on a larger scale than had ever previously been attempted.
“What makes my research ‘new’ is that I was able to use all the wonderful modern technology at my disposal to compare inventories and digital images from nearly 150 locations— this gave me the ability to observe some startling similarities among the different sites,” says von Petzinger.
Building on previous work by other scholars who tended to focus on the local or regional level, von Petzinger and Nowell were surprised by the clear patterning of the symbols across space and time—some of which remained continually in use for over 20,000 years. The 26 specific signs may provide the first glimmers of proof that a graphic code was being used by these ancient humans shortly after their arrival in Europe from Africa, or they may have even brought this practice with them. If correct, these findings will contribute to the growing body of evidence that the “creative explosion” occurred tens of thousands of years earlier than scholars once thought.
Von Petzinger and Nowell’s findings have been reported in New Scientist and their research continues to explore the meaning of the symbols. Click here to watch the interview on the Discovery Channel.
Anthropology 392 class gets their hands dirty
Feb 22, 2010
Andy Roddick’s Anthropology 392 class recently visited Yunomi Studio and Gallery with Ann Coleman. The class is studying ceramic production from both an archaeological and ethnographic perspective in order to ask detailed social questions of the past. In this visit they had the chance to "get our hands dirty" and actually think about the people behind the pot sherds that are so often found in archaeological sites around the world. Click here for more information.
Libby Seabold featured in UVic's Annual Review
Feb 2, 2010
Congratulations to Libby Seabold, who is featured in the 2009 University of Victoria Annual Review for her research with the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Click here for more information.
Keeping the Music Alive
Jan 4, 2010
Published in Monday’s Globe and Mail, Tom Hawthorn celebrates Michael Asch, grandson of the late Shalom Asch, and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Anthropology. Click here for the full story.
How I Spent my Summer Vacation
Jan 4, 2010
This summer, Dr. April Nowell lead workshops with Science Venture, a non-profit organization that offers hands-on, minds-on science, engineering and technology learning opportunities for youth entering grades 1 through 12. Click here for more information.
Bunny Boming: A Social Practice Art Project
Dec 1, 2009
Andrea Walsh’s Anthropology 305 class bombed students with origami rabbits on Dec 1 to ask the question: are you happy? The story with highlighted in The Martlet. Click here for more information.
