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

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
- “From the Ground Up: Philosophy of Archaeology” – May 2017
- Lecture (as a podcast) and Powerpoint slides available here
- APA Proceedings and Address 91 (Nov 2017): 118-136.
2016 Katz Distinguished Lecture
Simpson Center, University of Washington
- “What Knowers Know Well: Why Feminism Matters to Archaeology” – May 2016, 7:00pm, Kane Hall 120
- Lecture available on Youtube
- Published in Scientiae Studia 15.1 (2017): 13-38. Preprint
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)