Alison Wylie

Professor

Canada Research Chair (Tier I)

Philosophy of the Social

and Historical Sciences

 

Department of Philosophy

University of British Columbia

Buch E370 – 1866 Main Mall

Vancouver BC V6T 1Z1 Canada

 

alison.wylie@ubc.ca

 

AW_Reading_Jan2010

What intrigues me, as a philosopher of the social and historical sciences, are questions about how inquiry succeeds when evidence is sparce and uncertain. My work is case-based; I focus on archaeological research, in particular, questions about evidential reasoning, ideals of objectivity, and how we make research accountable to the diverse communities it affects. I’m currently exploring new lines of inquiry inspired by standpoint theory as a framework for making sense of how our understanding of the world can be enhanced by a diversity of situated experience, knowledge, and interests. For more on my research interests, click here

 

Publication list (PDF) | Preprints via Dropbox | Short-form CV (PDF)

 

News and Current Projects

Community-Based Collaborative Research

“Bearing Witness: Archaeology in an Indian Residential School Context”
with Simons and Martindale
Routledge 2021

“Collaborative Practice as Witnessing”
2020 AAAS Sarton Lecture:
Podcast and slides

“Crossing a Threshold: Collaborative Archaeology in Global Dialogue”: Archaeologies 2019 | Preprint

Evidential Reasoning in Archaeology

Chapman and Wylie (Bloomsbury 2016)

How do archaeologists work with the material traces they identify as a record of the cultural past? 

For details, click here

Extinct! Blog: “Glastonbury: Today, Tomorrow, 2,250 Years Ago”

Material Evidence: Learning From Archaeological Practice

Chapman and Wylie (Routledge 2015)

How do archaeologists make effective use of physical traces and material culture as repositories of evidence?

For details, click here

“Triangulation and Traceability: Radiocarbon Dating in Archaeology”: in Data Journeys in the Sciences (2020). Preprint

2017 Dewey Lecture

Pacific Division APA

2016 Katz Distinguished Lecture

Simpson Center, University of Washington 

News & Interviews

Royal Society of Canada: Fellow (2021)

Australian Academy of the Humanities: International Fellow (2019)

Philosophy of Science Association: President (2019-2020) – 2019 Newsletter

Brown University, Feminist Theory Archive: Wylie collection catalogue

Sciences of the Origin (May 2021)

Philosopher’s Zone: Australian Radio (June 2019)        

RadioCIAMS: Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Sciences (March 2019)

The Transect – Part XII (January 2019)

Sci Phi Podcast: Interview (Episode 38, April 2018)