The 40th anniversary celebration for York’s Department of Anthropology
York University’s Department of Anthropology has turned 40 years old. To celebrate, current and former faculty, staff and students were invited to a 40th anniversary bash last week at the Arts & Letters Club of Toronto.
From left, Professor Albert Schrauwers, chair of the Department of Anthropology, with Professor David Murray and Professor Emeritus David Lumsden, the first chair, at the 40th anniversary celebration
The Department of Anthropology began as a section of the Department of Sociology in 1963, but became an independent department in 1975 with Professor David Lumsden as the first chair. Albert Schrauwers, an economic anthropologist, is the department’s current chair.
Over its 40-year lifespan, it has developed a reputation as one of Canada’s largest and foremost anthropology departments specializing in social and cultural anthropology. From its early days with a mere four faculty members, it has grown into an active teaching and research community with 16 full-time faculty, offering numerous undergraduate degree options, as well as MA and PhD degrees.
The department’s faculty members have national and international reputations for scholarship, engaged advocacy and excellence in teaching at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. They help students explore how people are subjected to, participate in and contest the processes of living in a world that is interconnected by powerful economic, cultural and technological forces.
York’s Department of Anthropology celebrates its 40th anniversary
The department has grown to offer four broad areas of study: gender, health and the body; power, politics and development; studies in culture and performance; and nature, science and religion. Its newest offering is a minor in medical anthropology.
For more information, check out the Department of Anthropology website.