Anthropology Silver Medal Event - Guest Lecture - March 19th

[Allyson Rowat]

Monday, March 19, 2012, 4:00 pm - 5:50 pm in EV3 - Room 4412

It is time again for the annual Anthropology Department Silver Medal & Graduation Celebration event at which this year's chosen student will be presented with the Silver Medal for Academic Achievement in Anthropology .  The event also includes a guest lecture and this year's lecture will be given by Dr. Robert I. MacDonald, PhD, RPA.  Dr. MacDonald has been with Archaeological Services Inc. (ASI) since 1982 and currently holds the positions of partner and senior archaeologist.  Since 2004, Dr. MacDonald has also been an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Waterloo and a research fellow of the Trent University Archaeological Research Centre. He is also an adjunct faculty member in the anthropology graduate program at Trent University.  He holds a professional class archaeological license in the Province of Ontario and is accredited by the Register of Professional Archaeologists (RPA).

His lecture is entitled, "HIGH HOPES FOR HERITAGE: A NEW TRANSDISCIPLINARY FRONTIER FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY"

"For humans, heritage is the nexus which connects the past with the future.  A key component in the construction of identity-both individual and cultural-heritage is constantly being created and interpreted from information about the past. This information comes from personal experience, oral and written histories, and from evidence encoded in material remains, including the archaeological record. Archaeological anthropologists have traditionally focused on what the archaeological record can tell us about the people who originally created it and how we can use this knowledge to contribute to our social science. We have paid much less attention to how this information may affect living descendants of those ancient cultures. Increasingly, however, particularly where indigenous peoples are involved, we find ourselves confronted by descendant communities which view the archaeological record as an important part of their cultural patrimony and not the exclusive domain of professional archaeologists. Some archaeologists worry that this will increasingly lead to a clash of scientific versus traditional values, as has occurred in a few high-profile cases. Many others welcome the increasing engagement with people who have a vested interest in our area of study and a wealth of complementary knowledge. I see heritage as a vast new frontier which will both expand the constituency for archaeological information and present many new opportunities for holistic, transdisciplinary endeavours throughout all sub-fields of anthropology and beyond. This seems like a logical progression for our discipline, and I have high hopes for those who embrace this new reality."

ALL WELCOME


Allyson Rowat
Department Admin (Undergraduate & Graduate)
Department of Anthropology (PAS 2012)
University of Waterloo 200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, ON, Canada  N2L 3G1
(519) 888-4567, ex. 32520

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