Colloquium series

The colloquium (ANTH 612) is a lecture series which presents current research in anthropology. Hear from local and international researchers as well as our current PhD candidates.
Attendance is mandatory for anthropology PhD students. All students, faculty and the public are welcome to attend. Please email to be added to the colloquia mailing list.
Spring 2025
All lectures are in COR B235 on Mondays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. (unless otherwise noted).
February 17, 2025 - UVic closed - Family day
February 24, 2025
Debts to the Creator? Missionary versus Traditionalist K’iche’an Maya Discourses in Colonial Guatemala
Dr. Timothy Knowlton: Associate Fellow, Centre for Studies in Religion & Society, UVic
March 3, 2025
Topic TBA
Speaker TBA
March 10, 2025
Topic TBA
Dylan Hillis: PhD student, Department of Anthropology, UVic
March 17, 2025
Topic TBA
Dr. Rachel Brown: Assistant teaching professor, Anthropology & Faculty of Humanities, UVic
March 24, 2025
Topic TBA
Dr. Paul Bramadat: Professor and Director, History and Centre for Studies in Religion and Society, UVic
March 31, 2025
Title TBA
Dr. Dzifa Dordunoo: Associate Professor, School of Nursing, UVic
Past colloquia
February 10, 2025
Cultural Restitution, Repair, and Regrowth: How DRIPA is Changing The RBCM’s Indigenous Collections and Repatriation Department
Dr. Elizabeth Peterson: Director, Indigenous Collections & Repatriation, RBCM
February 3, 2025
Picking Up the Pieces – The Making of the Witness Blanket and ongoing Creative Research. A conversation between Hayalthkin’geme Carey Newman & ḥapinyuuk Tommy Happynook & Andrea Walsh
Hayalthkin’geme Carey Newman (Impact Chair, Visual Arts)
ḥapinyuuk Tommy Happynook (Anthropology)
Andrea Walsh (Smyth Chair Arts & Engagement, Anthropology)
January 20, 2025
Public History and the Great Land Grab on Vancouver Island
Dr. Kelly Black: President, Vancouver Island Local History Society
January 13, 2025 - online via zoom
From ESKIMO ESSAYS to TENGAUTULI ATKUK: The Changing Face of Doing Anthropology in Alaska
Dr. Ann Fienup-Riordan: Calista Education and Culture, Anchorage, AK
December 2, 2024
Movie screening - this film is 90 minutes in length
Picking up the Pieces - The Making of the Witness Blanket
November 25, 2024
Researching the living past: Discovering past occurrences through conversational inquiry
Dr. Francois Bastien, Assistant Professor; Academic Director, MBA Advancing Reconciliation, Gustavson School of Business, UVic
November 18, 2024
A history of Coast Salish woolly dogs as revealed by ancient DNA
Dr. Audrey Lin, Gerstner Postdoctoral Scholar, American Museum of Natural History
Different Location - Ceremonial hall - First Peoples House
November 4, 2024
Smoked Salmon as Pedagogy: Indigenous Science through Subsistence Practices
Dr. Haliehana Stepetin, Assistant Professor of Arctic Security Studies (Indigenous Peoples and Socioeconomics): School of Arctic and Climate Security Studies, Ted Stevens Center
October 21, 2024
Archaeologies of the Self: “Mystery” an Epic Narrative of Epic Westernism
Dr. Juan Castillo Cocom, Maya Intercultural University of Quintana Roo, Mexico
- Additional Lansdowne Lecture - "I am Maya (Sometimes): Fetishizing Mayaland": Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024, 2:30 pm, First Peoples House, Ceremonial Room
October 7, 2024 (online)
SSHRC workshop for grad students
Dr. Daromir Rudnyckyj, Professor & graduate advisor, Department of Anthropology, UVic
September 23, 2024
Human behavior at the Acheulian site of GesherBenot Ya‘aqov, Israel
Dr. Naama Goren-Inbar, Professor, The Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
September 16, 2024
Dr. Marie Wilson in Conversation with Dr. Andrea Walsh about her new book “North of Nowhere
Dr. Marie Wilson, (CM, ONWT, MSC), former commissioner for Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission & Dr. Andrea Walsh, Associate professor, Smyth chair in arts & engagement, Department of Anthropology, UVic
September 9, 2024
Welcome to Campus - Art Tour
Dr. Andrea Walsh, Associate professor, Smyth chair in arts & engagement, Department of Anthropology, UVic
April 9, 2024
At ȾEL¸IȽĆE with our PhD student Mavis Underwood
Mavis Underwood, PhD student, Department of Anthropology, UVic
March 18, 2024
Building Earthen Architecture as a Heritage-making Process
Zonke Guddah, PhD student, Department of Anthropology, UVic
March 11, 2024
The lək̓ʷəŋən Ethnoecology and Archaeology Project
Joan Morris/Sellemah, Songhees Nation knowledge holder and Dr. Darcy Mathews, associate professor, Environmental Studies, UVic
March 4, 2024
Story of Elvel: Return of the Creation Story and Itelmen Language through Multimedia Storytelling
Dr. Tatiana Degai, assistant professor, Department of Anthropology, UVic
February 26, 2024
Revisiting Osofo Dadzie: Egalitarian Archival Practices, Memories and Access to a Nation’s Most Cherished Television Content in Ghana
Dr. Rebecca Ohene-Asah, honorary research fellow, University of Exeter
February 12, 2024 - via Zoom only
We’re All Anthropologists Now: The Genealogical Turn in Archaeogenetics
Dr. Thomas Booth, post-doctoral research associate, Natural History Museum, London
February 5, 2024
Christianity and Yoga: A Bit of a Stretch? Early observations from the field
Leah Mernaugh Bergman, PhD student, Department of Anthropology, UVic
January 29, 2024 - CANCELLED (will be rescheduled)
Title: Story of Elvel: Return of the creation story and Itelmen language through multimedia storytelling
Dr. Tatiana Degai, assistant professor, Department of Anthropology, UVic
January 22, 2024 - via Zoom only
Weighing the Future: Race, Science, and Pregnancy Trials in the Postgenomic Era
Dr. Natali Valdez, assistant professor, Department of Anthropology, Purdue University and affiliated faculty, Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies
January 15, 2024
Indigenous Peoples’ Perception on Climate Change: Stories from Siberia
Polina Shulbaeva: Center for support of Indigenous peoples of the North (CSIPN), International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB) and Indigenous Women Biodiversity Network (IWBN)
January 8, 2024 - CANCELLED (will be rescheduled)
Building Earthen Architecture as a Heritage-making Process
Zonke Guddah, PhD student, Department of Anthropology, UVic