From prehistoric humanity all the way to contemporary cultural diversity, anthropologists engage with a wide range of issues and phenomena that affect individual and public life.
Waterloo's Anthropology research and teaching expertise covers three major sub-fields of the discipline: sociocultural anthropology, archaeological anthropology, and biological (physical) anthropology.
News
Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research: A Talk by Dr. Robin Higashi
The Department of Anthropology is pleased to welcome Dr. Robin Higashi for a talk entitled "Qualitative and mixed methods research: Contributions of a medical anthropologist in the clinical research environment”. The talk will be held from 12:00-1:30pm in EV3, Room 1408. A brief description appears below.
The burgeoning interest in qualitative and mixed methods research among clinical investigators has created an enormous opportunity for anthropologists and other qualitative methodologists to contribute their expertise. In this presentation, I will provide exemplars of how my work as a medical anthropologist working in a large, integrated Medical Center advances our understanding of why certain populations experience disparate health outcomes, and how clinical processes may be enhanced to address barriers to care. I draw from published research on cancer prevention, HIV, and hepatitis C.
Dr. Robin T. Higashi is Assistant Professor in the O’Donnell School of Public Health at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Since earning her PhD from the joint program in Medical Anthropology at UC Berkeley-UC San Francisco (USA), Dr. Higashi’s research has focused on using qualitative methods to evaluate patient- and system-level healthcare barriers and to develop strategies to improve the health of underserved populations. She is consistently funded on multiple federal and private grants as Principal or Co-Investigator. Fluent in Spanish, Dr. Higashi is regularly invited to give lectures about her work with Spanish-speaking, underserved, and stigmatized populations.
Grad Forum 2023
Please join us for the seventh annual Grad Forum where our Public Issues Anthropology MA students will present their research. This event will include a Meet & Greet Lunch with grad students and professors. Click here for more information.
Public Issues Anthropology MA Students Win Prestigious External Awards
The Department of Anthropology is pleased to announce that Public Issues Anthropology MA students Evie Strickland and Robyn Wood have each received Canada Graduate Scholarships - Master's from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), while Aparajita Bhattacharya has received an Ontario Graduate Scholarship for this academic year.
Evie joined the Public Issues Anthropology program after completing her HBSc in 2022 from the University of Toronto in Forensic Anthropology. Her research interests include paleopathology, trauma analysis, and subadult bioarchaeology.
Robyn finished her BA in Honours Anthropology at Western University in 2018. She then completed the MSc Human Osteology and Funerary Archaeology program at Sheffield University in 2020, where she focused on Viking funerary practices. Her interest in the MA Public Issues in Anthropology program lies within bioarchaeology, dental archaeology and stable isotope analysis.
Aparajita entered the Public Issues Anthropology program in Fall 2022 after graduating with her BA in Honours Anthropology from Waterloo. Her Master's research in biological anthropology will focus on aDNA studies and bioarchaeology, and she is also interested in the application of biocultural approaches to studying human experience in the past.