Interest groups developed and organized by faculty and students play a particularly active role in the life of the Centre. These groups maintain their own listserve and organize regular discussions and seminars. This is a great way to meet and discuss issues of common interest and perhaps even find new collaborations. If you would like to propose a new interest group please contact the Director.
The Faunal Interest Group has convened biweekly (Fridays from 11am to 1pm in the Archaeology Centre Board Room, AP140) since September 2007. We discuss new and old issues of zooarchaeological method and theory. We also host guest lecturers and provide a casual arena for our group members to present and receive input on their own research. Anyone who is interested in participating or attending these meetings can contact Alicia Hawkins at alicia.hawkins@utoronto.ca for further information.
The Ceramics Interest Group is aimed at anyone working with, or interested in learning more about, ceramic artefacts, such as pottery, clay figurines or even architectural artefacts. Ceramics often form the most abundant traces of human activity in the archaeological record, as well as providing useful studies for ethnoarchaeological research, and experimental approaches, within current anthropology and archaeology. This interest group attracts a wide range of researchers, willing to share and explore the multidisciplinary techniques required to understand these complex facets of material culture. If you are interested in participating, please contact Stanley Klassen ( stanley.klassen@utoronto.ca) for more details.
The Cultural Heritage Interest Group of the University of Toronto’s Archaeology Centre is dedicated to connecting and expanding scholarly and public discussions on the many issues surrounding the world’s cultural heritage. Issues such as the trade, collection and repatriation of artifacts, the political appropriation or destruction of cultural heritage, and the heritage concerns of indigenous peoples, descendant groups and others are central to archaeology and link the discipline to diverse publics, including policymakers, museum professionals, community members, developers, law enforcement officers, resource managers, academics, and other stakeholders.
Contact: Justin Jennings ( justinj@rom.on.ca) and Lena Mortensen ( mortensen@utsc.utoronto.ca)
The Lithics Interest Group is open to anyone who would like to learn about and make stone tools. We have journal discussions and research talks with the occasional guest speaker, and we practice flintknapping. The Group has a global focus open to a wide range of technological method and theory topics. Anyone with an interest in stone tool technology and learning to flintknap is encouraged to attend! For more information contact Ken Holyoke (ken.holyoke@mail.utoronto.ca).
The Food and Subsistence Interest Group is an interdisciplinary effort to bring together researchers interested in topics like subsistence strategies, food production, diet reconstruction, and sociocultural studies of food. Food is a central component of human survival, cultural organization, and social identity. Although everyone must eat, the ways in which societies meet this need are as varied as the anthropological methods to study food practices. We meet to discuss journal articles, review theory and methods, and present research from a variety of geographical and temporal contexts. This group welcomes anthropologists from all sub-fields who have an interest in food and can bring cross-cultural insights from their own work and experience. Contact: Lindi Masur (lindi.masur@mail.utoronto.ca) for more information.
The Archaeology Theory Interest Group was founded as a forum for discussion of the most recent theoretical approaches, including a wide variety of topics from innovative theoretical perspectives within our field, to new theoretical developments across the humanities and social sciences, forays into human-computer interaction, artificial life, space exploration and much more. Our mission is to make theory accessible and fun for everybody, regardless of their academic background, to encourage students to take creative theoretical approaches in their research, regardless of the subfield and time period they are working in and to foster interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary discussion. Members meet biweekly to discuss an article or other type of media, share ideas and listen to occasional guest speakers. Please contact Paulina Scheck (Paulina.scheck@mail.utoronto.ca) for further information.
The Archaeological Information Interest Group serves as a forum for discussing the various ways in which archaeologists engage with information and construct knowledge. On a biweekly basis, members get together to discuss an article or hear a guest lecture that reflects upon the epistemological, ontological, communicative, technological or social aspects of archaeological research practice. As these themes verge on ‘meta-disciplinary’ aspects of research, we welcome scholars from various sub-disciplines or specialties to contribute their unique perspectives. Please contact Zack Batist (z.batist@mail.utoronto.ca) for further information.
The Northeast Archaeology Interest Group was founded by a group of scholars at the University of Toronto who wanted to maintain connections and discuss archaeology as a result of COVID-19 in the spring of 2020. An inclusive space through ZOOM was offered to critically engage materials related to northeast archaeology. Each session is based on discussing themes presented through a selection of papers. Topics have ranged from a variety of important archaeological topics, including, community-based archaeology, craft production, foodways, faunal archaeology, childhood and social learning, and chronological sequencing. Over the summer, this group has expanded to include faculty, scholars, and professional archaeologists from Universities in the broader northeast region of Canada and the United states. Members meet biweekly to discuss an article or other type of media, share ideas and listen to occasional guest speakers. Please contact Steven Dorland (steven.dorland@utoronto.ca) for further information.
