Please join us in welcoming Dr. Sam Walker, our latest faculty member. Dr. Walker was kind enough to answer a few questions about her current research and what her students can look forward to learning in her classes. Welcome Dr. Walker!
Q: Please share a bit about your current research.
A: My active projects explore the social production of Tuniit (Paleo-Inuit) and ancestral Inuit settlement landscapes. I study how the spatial structures of everyday life, such as the organization of dwellings within a camp or the visibility of burial sites along travel routes, shaped how people interacted with one another and participated in broader social worlds.
I employ traditional archaeological and remote-sensing field methods, geospatial analyses, and community-based participatory research (CBPR) to identify and examine these structures. Through this research, I interpret traces of household and settlement-level social differences, and consider how broader senses of place and community (homelands) may have been cultivated through dynamic land use histories.
“I currently direct a community-engaged archaeological project in Amittuq, Nunavut, as well as a broader integrative research study that documents and compares interior archaeological landscapes across the eastern Canadian Arctic”
My work also challenges and expands how archaeological knowledge of past societies is acquired in such contexts: the lines of historic evidence archaeologists choose to include in their analyses (e.g. material remains, oral history), as well as who and what we recognize as having the agency to shape knowledge (such as places, themselves). I currently direct a community-engaged archaeological project in Amittuq, Nunavut, as well as a broader integrative research study that documents and compares interior archaeological landscapes across the eastern Canadian Arctic. In addition to this work, I run educational youth programs that employ archaeological exercises as applied learning tools to support the core curriculums of elementary schools in remote communities.
Q: What drew you to working in this area?
A: I was first introduced to archaeology in high school by my history teacher, Catherine Macdonald, who involved me in archaeological excavations in southern Ontario through a local CRM firm. I followed my growing passion for archaeology during my BA at the University of Toronto.
I initially focused my studies on Near Eastern civilizations, and became particularly interested in how the spatial infrastructures of early cities were constructed and altered as part of political strategies. However, I questioned why archaeological research on the politics of space and place was often limited to agrarian societies.
Since then, my work has focused on the politics and sociality of placemaking in the context of small-scale, non-sedentary societies.
“Spending time in the north has deepened my appreciation for how people cultivate shared knowledge and identities through connections with land.”
The Canadian Arctic has been a wonderful place to focus my research, in part because of the deep affective ties between people and places since time immemorial, and because even low density and ephemeral occupational activities often leave highly visible traces due to thin soils and permafrost. Spending time in the north has deepened my appreciation for how people cultivate shared knowledge and identities through connections with land. Nunavut has been a special place to explore my research interests and to learn alongside Nunavummiut — the stewards of the places I study.
Q: What should students know about you & your new courses?
A: My research interests greatly influence my teaching and course designs. I view learning as a place-based, experiential, and communal process. As an educator, I view myself as a lifelong learner engaged in mutual knowledge exchange with my students. My new courses emphasize this through inquiry-driven and teambuilding learning applications. I also enjoy building connections between course materials and real-world issues. From critiquing Netflix’s Ancient Apocalypse in ANTH 202F (Archaeology in Popular Culture), to exploring how archaeology contributes to Arctic climate crisis research in ANTH 303I (Archaeology of the Eastern Arctic), I aim to show students how archaeology matters within and outside of the academy, and to help them recognize their responsibilities as emerging scholars.
“I view learning as a place-based, experiential, and communal process... I aim to show students how archaeology matters within and outside of the academy...”
Q: Tell us a bit about you outside of teaching – how are you enjoying Vancouver?
A: I moved to Vancouver this summer with my two dogs (Oscy and Odie), who I think love the beaches even more than I do! I also have two turtles, although they won’t be visiting the beach any time soon. I’m looking forward to getting to know the UBC community and exploring the regional parks and city more in my free time.
