Research areas

Here are the titles of Public Issues Anthropology theses and major research papers, the student-authors, and their supervisors. You can also read about our current MA students and their research interests.

2022

Caitlin Brast

Glazing Over Differences: Picuris Pueblo and Rio Grande Glaze Ware [Supervisor: Christopher Watts]

Grace Chan

Are Metric Methods Really User-Friendly? A Methodological Study of Sex Estimation Techniques for the Talus and Calcaneus [Supervisor: Maria Liston]

Jennifer Cullison

A History Cast in Stone: Geochemical Chert Sourcing Using Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (PXRF) in Southern Ontario [Supervisor: Christopher Watts]

Laurel McInnis

Transition Analysis as a Solution for Fragmentary Remains: Estimating Age-at-Death for a Skeletal Collection from Gurat, France [Supervisor: Maria Liston]

Ivelina Petrova

Migration Narratives from Third Wave Bulgarian Immigrants in London, Canada: Internalization of Balkanism and its Effects on Citizenship [Supervisor: Adrienne Lo]

Kagan Pittman

Pagan Community Online: Social Media Affordances and Limitations in Religio-Political Sociality [Supervisor: Seçil Daǧtaș]

Kaithleen Tan

A Trace Element Analysis of Lead in Human Tooth Enamel from Wadi Faynan 100, Jordan [Supervisor: Alexis Dolphin]

Sarah Tomkins

Responsible Representation and Collaboration in Supporting Indigenous Maternal Health in Canada  [Supervisor: Jennifer Liu]


2021

Serena Dibiase

An Osteological Study of the Individuals Buried in Grave 3 at Wadi Faynan 100, Jordan [Supervisor: Alexis Dolphin]

Tamara Graham

Sex Without the Head or the Hips: The Inferences Made on Bone and the Use of the Lower Body to Estimate Sex [Supervisor: Maria Liston]

Emily Hilts

Caribou Hunting at Mingo Lake: A Comparative Study of Pre-Dorset and Late Dorset Hunting Methods [Supervisor: Robert Park]

Jane Kang 

Multiculturalism: The Un/making of an In/visible Un/problematic Citizen [Supervisor: Adrienne Lo]

Elizabeth Lukashal

Differential Diagnosis of Complex Conditions in Paleopathology: A Mutational Spectrum Approach [Supervisor: Maria Liston]

Kennerley McKellar-Harries

Class Divides: An Ethnographic Study of Social Service Workers in Canada [Supervisor: Adrienne Lo]

Clara Mitchell

Negative Spaces: Bringing Indigenous women to the forefront of archaeological research in the lower Great Lakes region [Supervisor: Robert Park]

Marissa Panton

Making Sense of Video Instruction: An Ethnomethodological Analysis of Following a YouTube Croissant Making Tutorial [Supervisor: Goetz Hoeppe]

Sharmita Paul

Stakeholder Perspectives on Water Conservation Practices and Asymmetrical Power Relations in Southwestern Ontario [Supervisor: Jennifer Liu]

Emily Richards

An Anthropological Perspective on the Experiences of Osteoarthritis in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada, and South Yorkshire, England [Supervisor: Jennifer Liu]

Julia Tucciarone

A Comprehensive analysis of Dental Remains from the Early Bronze Age I site of Wadi Faynan 100, Jordan [Supervisor: Alexis Dolphin]


2020

Jeffrey Coffin

Kate Elliott

Benjamin Scher

Martha Tildesley

Panchala Weerasinghe

Chiara Williamson


2019

Jennifer Dauphinais

Holly Krause

Dorset Use of Caribou Bones at Mingo Lake (LdFa- 1): A Faunal Analysis and Application of 3D Technology for the Recovery of Bone Tool Blanks  [Supervisor: Robert Park]

Andrew Lawson

Connaissance and Savoir-Faire: A Chaîne Opératoire Perspective on the Lithic Industries at the Iler Earthworks (AaHr-22), Essex County, Ontario  [Supervisor: Christopher Watts]

Mallory Moscovitch

Bird Monitoring and New Media: An Anthropological Exploration [Supervisor: Goetz Hoeppe]

Emily Schaljo

Bioarchaeology in Greece: Breathing Life into the Early Helladic and Archaic Skeletal Assemblages from Klenia [Supervisor: Maria Liston]

Gillian Seymour

Reconstructing the Life Histories of the Individuals Buried in the Rock-cut Cave Church of St. Georges, in Gurat, France   [Supervisor: Maria Liston]


2018

Stuart Anderson

iNaturalist: Understanding Biodiversity Through a Digital Medium [Supervisor: Goetz Hoeppe]

Yuet Chan

Living as a Self-sufficient Second-class Citizen: Chinese International Undergraduate Students’ Journey to Permanent Residency in Canada  [Supervisor: Adrienne Lo]

Leah Govia

Beneath the Hype: Engaging the Sociality of Artificial Intelligence  [Supervisor: Jennifer Liu]

Jacqueline Meijer

Exploring the Origins and Mobility of the Medieval Monastic Inhabitants of a Cave Church in Gurat, France using Strontium Isotope Analysis [Supervisor: Alexis Dolphin]

​Amelia Pilon

Crossing the Cuesta: A GIS Analysis of Intra-Site Settlement Patterns at the Mt. Albion West Paleoindian Site (AhGw-131) [Supervisor: Christopher Watts]

Alecsandra Romanisin

Imagining Greece: Sensing Antiquity in Two Athenian Museums [Supervisor: Maria Liston / Seçil Daǧtaș]

Dana Thacher

Salvaging on the Coast of Erebus Bay: An Analysis of Inuit Interaction with Material from the Franklin Expedition [Supervisor: Robert Park]


2017

Stefan Jovanovic

​Ruptures in Canada's Nationalist Narrative: Situating Toronto's Former-Yugoslav Immigrants in the Indigenous-Settler Context [Supervisor: Seçil Daǧtaș]

Stuart Karrow

Ontario's Archaeological Curation Crisis - Twenty Years Later [Supervisor: Robert Park]

Amy King

The Effects of Collagen Rehydration on Postmortem Fracture Morphology: Implications for the Perimortem Interval [Supervisor: Maria Liston]

Matthew Seguin

Digging Online: Crowdfunding for Archaeology [Supervisor: Robert Park]

Amanda Suko

Practice Molds Place: Communities of Pottery Production and Situated Identities at Location 3 (AgHk-54)  [Supervisor: Christopher Watts]

Erin Van Der Meulen

View from a Body: Situating the Lived Experience of Painful Obsessions and Compulsions [Supervisor: Jennifer Liu]


2016

Alisha Adams

Developmental Defects in Ancient Context – Causations of Cleft Palate in the Athenian Agora [Supervisor: Maria Liston]

Ava Giachino

Distinguishing Burials in Thebes, Greece: Using MNI and MLNI as a Differentiation Technique [Supervisor: Maria Liston]

Samantha Lawrence-Nametka

​North End Narratives: Grid-Group Analysis for Environmental Justice in Hamilton, Ontario [Supervisor: Goetz Hoeppe]

​Danielle Nadeau

​4150 Cousins: What 7 DNA Ancestry Tests Can Tell You About Your Kin [Supervisor: Robert Park]

Jennifer Rickert

Printing the Past: 3D Printing and Archaeology [Supervisor: Robert Park]


2015

Marya D'Alessio

​Together in Death: A Study of Late Bronze Age Double Burials in Mycenaean Chamber Tombs [Supervisor: Maria Liston]

Ashley Piskor

Working Towards Collaborative Archaeology : Exploring Indigenous Perspectives on Archaeological Topics and Research Questions in Nain, Labrador [Supervisor: Robert Park]

Jarred Rundle

Masked by Fire: A Pilot Study Analyzing Perimortem Ballistic Trauma in Burnt Remains [Supervisor: Maria Liston]

Brian Schram

Techno-Utopia/ Techno-Dystopia: Writing the Future of Cyber-Technology [Supervisor: Jennifer Liu]


2014

David Gadzala

The Preservation and Stewardship of Archaeological Sites in the Boreal Forest: A Public Issues Approach [Supervisor: Robert Park]

Kaleigh Eichel

Identification of Hybridization in the Nasal Cavity of Baboon Hybrids, Papio Anibus X P.Cynocephalus, as and Analogue for Neanderthal and Anatomically Modern Homo Sapiens Hybrids [Supervisor: Maria Liston]

Elizabeth Penney

In the Eye of the Beholder: Perceptions of Ecotourism in Algonquin Provincial Park [Supervisor: Nancy Barrickman]

Mithila Ruthralingam

Scripting the Right to be Canadian: Immigrant Experiences, Policies, and Practices in Southern Ontario [Supervisor: Jennifer Liu]

Thomas Siek

A Study in Paleo-Oncology: On the Identification of Neoplastic Disease in Archaeological Bone [Supervisor: Maria Liston]


2013

Stephanie Scott

Perceptions of Repatriation: an Anthropological Examination of the Meaning Behind Repatriating Human Remains in Canada [Supervisor: Maria Liston]

Kira Turner

Living on the Edge: Old Colony Mennonites and Digital Technology [Supervisor: Jennifer Liu]


2012

Emily Graff

Mycenaean Occupants of Ancient Kallithea: understanding a population's health, culture and lifestyle through bioarchaeological analysis[Supervisor:  Maria Liston]


2011

William Gizas

The Role of Anthropology: the need for a public contribution of current archaeological theory in the issues surrounding the human-environment relationship [Supervisor:  Robert Park]

Rowland Robinson

Between the Academy and the Grassroots: Discourses on Decolonization and Indigenous Revolution in Modern North America[Supervisor: Jasmin Habib]

Trieneke Gastmeier

Raising the Hemline: Towards a Feminist Anthropology of Beauty Practices[Supervisor: Jasmin Habib]

Annette Klein

Migration, Religion, Identity, and Integration of Greek-Canadians [Supervisor: Harriet Lyons]

Julie Sumerta

Interpreting Balinese Culture: Representation and Identity [Supervisor: Thomas Abler]

Katreena Baker

Cultural Knowledge Systems: Synthesizing our knowledge of knowledge using grounded theory[Supervisor: Thomas Abler]

Adam Vuylsteke

Renewing Public Anthropology: Exploring the Current State of Anthropology in a Digital World [Supervisor: Gray Graffam]

Rachel Cripps

What Happened on 9/11?  Anthropological Insights about the Rise of Alternative Theories[Supervisor: Jasmin Habib]


2010

Pauline Goetz

Preserving Arctic Archaeology in the 21st Century: Threats of Climate Change [Supervisor: Robert Park]

Kimberley Ann Campbell

Boundaries, Identity, and Conflict: Experiencing Mobility, Autonomy and the Creation of a Sense of Self [Supervisor: Thomas Abler]

Juliet O'Farrell

The Volunteering Self: Ethnographic Reflections on 'The Field' [Supervisor: Jasmin Habib]

Tasin Zaman

Food, Identity and Symbolic Metaphors in the Bengali South Asian-Canadian Community [Supervisor: Harriet Lyons]

Ligia Grandys

Pink Ribbon Culture: Anthropological Reflections [Supervisor: Harriet Lyons]


2009

Katie Blaszkiewicz

Child Nutrition in Malawi: An Anthropological Approach to Socio-Cultural Factors in Epidemiology [Supervisor: Harriet Lyons]

Kevin Nixon

Are Drag Queens Sexist?  Female Impersonation and the Cultural Construction of Normative Femininity [Supervisor: Harriet Lyons]

Consuelo Griggio

Women and Tourism in White Harbour, Newfoundland: Filling the Gap Between Tradition, Innovation and Globalization [Supervisor: Harriet Lyons]

Scott Moore

The Gift of Policing: Understanding Image and Reciprocity [Supervisor: Thomas Abler]

Matthew Theoret

The Sidney Effect: Competitive Youth Hockey and Fantasy Relationships [Supervisor: Harriet Lyons]

Jill Johnson

Dogs, Cats and Their People: The Place of the Family Pet and Attitudes About Pet Keeping [Co-Supervisors: Maria Liston and Anne Zeller]


2008

Kayleigh Platz

Popping My Collar: Applying Anthropology to the Field of Design and Marketing [Supervisor: Gray Graffam]