Alison Wylie

Professor | Canada Research Chair | Associate Faculty, UBC Anthropology
phone 604 822 6574
location_on Buchanan E 276
file_download Download CV
Education

Ph.D. Philosophy Binghamton University 1982
B.A. Philosophy & Sociology, Mount Allison University 1976


About

Office Hours – 2023W:

  • On leave 2023W

Teaching


Research

My areas of specialization are philosophy of the social and historical sciences; feminist philosophy of science; history and philosophy of archaeology; ethics issues in the social sciences.

Most fundamentally I’m curious about how inquiry succeeds under non-ideal conditions, and how we can best adjudicate the knowledge claims we rely on. My research is case-based, and focused on questions about the nature of evidence, ideals of objectivity, the role of values in science, and issues of accountability in science. I also publish on equity issues in philosophy and the sciences and, since moving to UBC in 2017, I’ve been exploring new lines of inquiry inspired by the UBC-based Indigenous/Science project.


Publications

Recent books

  • Evidential Reasoning in Archaeology, co-authored with Robert Chapman (Bloomsbury 2016). Website
  • Material Evidence: Learning from Archaeological Practice, co-edited with Robert Chapman (Routledge 2015).  Website

Recent articles

  • “Triangulation and Traceability: Radiocarbon Dating in Archaeology,” in Data Journeys in the Sciences, eds. Leonelli & Tempini, Springer, 2020, pp. 285-310. Springer open access
  • “Crossing a Threshold: Collaborative Archaeology in Global Dialogue,” Archaeologies 15.5 (2019): 570-587.  Springer | Preprint
  • Rock, Bone and Ruin: A Trace-centric Appreciation”: Theory and Practice in Biology 11 (2019).
  • 2017 Dewey Lecture: “From the Ground Up: Philosophy and Archaeology” APA Proceedings and Addresses 91 (2017): 118-136.
  • “Representational and Experimental Modeling in Archaeology”: Springer Handbook of Model-based Science, eds. Magnani &  Bertolotti, 2017, pp. 989-1002.
  • “What Knowers Know Well: Standpoint Theory and the Formation of Gender Archaeology,” Scientiae Studia 15.1 (2017): 13-38. Preprint
  • “Glastonbury: Today, Tomorrow, 2,250 Years Ago,” co-authored with R. Chapman: Extinct: The Philosophy of Paleontology Blog
  • “A Plurality of Pluralisms: Collaborative Practice in Archaeology”: in Objectivity in Science, eds. Padovani,  Richardson & Tsou, Springer (2015).
  • 2012 APA Presidential Address: “Feminist Philosophy of Science: Standpoint Matters” APA Proceedings and Addresses 86.2: 47-76.
  • “The Promise and Perils of an Ethic of Stewardship,” Embedding Ethics, eds. Meskell and  Pells (Berg 2005).

Awards

  • Canada Research Chair in Philosophy of the Social and Historical Sciences, Tier 1 (2018-2023)
  • Australian Academy of the Humanities, Corresponding Fellow (elected 2019)
  • 2013 Distinguished Woman Philosopher of the Year, Society for Women in Philosophy
  • 2008 Patty Jo Watson Distinguished Lecturer, Archaeology Division, American Anthropological Association
  • 1995 Presidential Award, Society for American Archaeology, for contributions to the Committee for Ethics in Archaeology

Recent presentations

  • 2020 AAAS Sarton Memorial Lecture in the History and Philosophy of Science (February 2020), “Collaborative Practice as Witnessing”: podcast
  • 2019 Saunders Lecture, Australasian Association of Philosophy (July 2019), “Witness & Translating: The Indigenous/Science Project”: ABC Radio podcast
  • Excellence and Gender Equality conference keynote (Australian National University, June 2019), “The Philosophy Exception: The Costs of Exclusion”
  • Australasian Association of Philosophy conference keynote (July 2019); Annual University of Ohio Philosophy of Science Lecture (February 2019), “Radiocarbon Dating and Robustness Reasoning in Archaeology”
  • 2018 Forum for History of the Human Sciences – Distinguished Lecture, History of Science Society (November 2018), “Histories of Science in and for Practice: Turning Points in Archaeology”
  • 2017 Dewey Lecture, APA Pacific Division, “From the Ground Up: Philosophy and Archaeology”: podcast & slides
  • 2017 Katz Distinguished Lecture (University of Washington, May 2016) and Royal Institute of Philosophy Lecture (University of Nottingham, October 2017), “What Knowers Know Well: Why Feminism Matters to Archaeology and Philosophy”: Video

Alison Wylie

Professor | Canada Research Chair | Associate Faculty, UBC Anthropology
phone 604 822 6574
location_on Buchanan E 276
file_download Download CV
Education

Ph.D. Philosophy Binghamton University 1982
B.A. Philosophy & Sociology, Mount Allison University 1976


About

Office Hours – 2023W:

  • On leave 2023W

Teaching


Research

My areas of specialization are philosophy of the social and historical sciences; feminist philosophy of science; history and philosophy of archaeology; ethics issues in the social sciences.

Most fundamentally I’m curious about how inquiry succeeds under non-ideal conditions, and how we can best adjudicate the knowledge claims we rely on. My research is case-based, and focused on questions about the nature of evidence, ideals of objectivity, the role of values in science, and issues of accountability in science. I also publish on equity issues in philosophy and the sciences and, since moving to UBC in 2017, I’ve been exploring new lines of inquiry inspired by the UBC-based Indigenous/Science project.


Publications

Recent books

  • Evidential Reasoning in Archaeology, co-authored with Robert Chapman (Bloomsbury 2016). Website
  • Material Evidence: Learning from Archaeological Practice, co-edited with Robert Chapman (Routledge 2015).  Website

Recent articles

  • “Triangulation and Traceability: Radiocarbon Dating in Archaeology,” in Data Journeys in the Sciences, eds. Leonelli & Tempini, Springer, 2020, pp. 285-310. Springer open access
  • “Crossing a Threshold: Collaborative Archaeology in Global Dialogue,” Archaeologies 15.5 (2019): 570-587.  Springer | Preprint
  • Rock, Bone and Ruin: A Trace-centric Appreciation”: Theory and Practice in Biology 11 (2019).
  • 2017 Dewey Lecture: “From the Ground Up: Philosophy and Archaeology” APA Proceedings and Addresses 91 (2017): 118-136.
  • “Representational and Experimental Modeling in Archaeology”: Springer Handbook of Model-based Science, eds. Magnani &  Bertolotti, 2017, pp. 989-1002.
  • “What Knowers Know Well: Standpoint Theory and the Formation of Gender Archaeology,” Scientiae Studia 15.1 (2017): 13-38. Preprint
  • “Glastonbury: Today, Tomorrow, 2,250 Years Ago,” co-authored with R. Chapman: Extinct: The Philosophy of Paleontology Blog
  • “A Plurality of Pluralisms: Collaborative Practice in Archaeology”: in Objectivity in Science, eds. Padovani,  Richardson & Tsou, Springer (2015).
  • 2012 APA Presidential Address: “Feminist Philosophy of Science: Standpoint Matters” APA Proceedings and Addresses 86.2: 47-76.
  • “The Promise and Perils of an Ethic of Stewardship,” Embedding Ethics, eds. Meskell and  Pells (Berg 2005).

Awards

  • Canada Research Chair in Philosophy of the Social and Historical Sciences, Tier 1 (2018-2023)
  • Australian Academy of the Humanities, Corresponding Fellow (elected 2019)
  • 2013 Distinguished Woman Philosopher of the Year, Society for Women in Philosophy
  • 2008 Patty Jo Watson Distinguished Lecturer, Archaeology Division, American Anthropological Association
  • 1995 Presidential Award, Society for American Archaeology, for contributions to the Committee for Ethics in Archaeology

Recent presentations

  • 2020 AAAS Sarton Memorial Lecture in the History and Philosophy of Science (February 2020), “Collaborative Practice as Witnessing”: podcast
  • 2019 Saunders Lecture, Australasian Association of Philosophy (July 2019), “Witness & Translating: The Indigenous/Science Project”: ABC Radio podcast
  • Excellence and Gender Equality conference keynote (Australian National University, June 2019), “The Philosophy Exception: The Costs of Exclusion”
  • Australasian Association of Philosophy conference keynote (July 2019); Annual University of Ohio Philosophy of Science Lecture (February 2019), “Radiocarbon Dating and Robustness Reasoning in Archaeology”
  • 2018 Forum for History of the Human Sciences – Distinguished Lecture, History of Science Society (November 2018), “Histories of Science in and for Practice: Turning Points in Archaeology”
  • 2017 Dewey Lecture, APA Pacific Division, “From the Ground Up: Philosophy and Archaeology”: podcast & slides
  • 2017 Katz Distinguished Lecture (University of Washington, May 2016) and Royal Institute of Philosophy Lecture (University of Nottingham, October 2017), “What Knowers Know Well: Why Feminism Matters to Archaeology and Philosophy”: Video

Alison Wylie

Professor | Canada Research Chair | Associate Faculty, UBC Anthropology
phone 604 822 6574
location_on Buchanan E 276
Education

Ph.D. Philosophy Binghamton University 1982
B.A. Philosophy & Sociology, Mount Allison University 1976

file_download Download CV
About keyboard_arrow_down

Office Hours – 2023W:

  • On leave 2023W
Teaching keyboard_arrow_down
Research keyboard_arrow_down

My areas of specialization are philosophy of the social and historical sciences; feminist philosophy of science; history and philosophy of archaeology; ethics issues in the social sciences.

Most fundamentally I’m curious about how inquiry succeeds under non-ideal conditions, and how we can best adjudicate the knowledge claims we rely on. My research is case-based, and focused on questions about the nature of evidence, ideals of objectivity, the role of values in science, and issues of accountability in science. I also publish on equity issues in philosophy and the sciences and, since moving to UBC in 2017, I’ve been exploring new lines of inquiry inspired by the UBC-based Indigenous/Science project.

Publications keyboard_arrow_down

Recent books

  • Evidential Reasoning in Archaeology, co-authored with Robert Chapman (Bloomsbury 2016). Website
  • Material Evidence: Learning from Archaeological Practice, co-edited with Robert Chapman (Routledge 2015).  Website

Recent articles

  • “Triangulation and Traceability: Radiocarbon Dating in Archaeology,” in Data Journeys in the Sciences, eds. Leonelli & Tempini, Springer, 2020, pp. 285-310. Springer open access
  • “Crossing a Threshold: Collaborative Archaeology in Global Dialogue,” Archaeologies 15.5 (2019): 570-587.  Springer | Preprint
  • Rock, Bone and Ruin: A Trace-centric Appreciation”: Theory and Practice in Biology 11 (2019).
  • 2017 Dewey Lecture: “From the Ground Up: Philosophy and Archaeology” APA Proceedings and Addresses 91 (2017): 118-136.
  • “Representational and Experimental Modeling in Archaeology”: Springer Handbook of Model-based Science, eds. Magnani &  Bertolotti, 2017, pp. 989-1002.
  • “What Knowers Know Well: Standpoint Theory and the Formation of Gender Archaeology,” Scientiae Studia 15.1 (2017): 13-38. Preprint
  • “Glastonbury: Today, Tomorrow, 2,250 Years Ago,” co-authored with R. Chapman: Extinct: The Philosophy of Paleontology Blog
  • “A Plurality of Pluralisms: Collaborative Practice in Archaeology”: in Objectivity in Science, eds. Padovani,  Richardson & Tsou, Springer (2015).
  • 2012 APA Presidential Address: “Feminist Philosophy of Science: Standpoint Matters” APA Proceedings and Addresses 86.2: 47-76.
  • “The Promise and Perils of an Ethic of Stewardship,” Embedding Ethics, eds. Meskell and  Pells (Berg 2005).
Awards keyboard_arrow_down
  • Canada Research Chair in Philosophy of the Social and Historical Sciences, Tier 1 (2018-2023)
  • Australian Academy of the Humanities, Corresponding Fellow (elected 2019)
  • 2013 Distinguished Woman Philosopher of the Year, Society for Women in Philosophy
  • 2008 Patty Jo Watson Distinguished Lecturer, Archaeology Division, American Anthropological Association
  • 1995 Presidential Award, Society for American Archaeology, for contributions to the Committee for Ethics in Archaeology
Recent presentations keyboard_arrow_down
  • 2020 AAAS Sarton Memorial Lecture in the History and Philosophy of Science (February 2020), “Collaborative Practice as Witnessing”: podcast
  • 2019 Saunders Lecture, Australasian Association of Philosophy (July 2019), “Witness & Translating: The Indigenous/Science Project”: ABC Radio podcast
  • Excellence and Gender Equality conference keynote (Australian National University, June 2019), “The Philosophy Exception: The Costs of Exclusion”
  • Australasian Association of Philosophy conference keynote (July 2019); Annual University of Ohio Philosophy of Science Lecture (February 2019), “Radiocarbon Dating and Robustness Reasoning in Archaeology”
  • 2018 Forum for History of the Human Sciences – Distinguished Lecture, History of Science Society (November 2018), “Histories of Science in and for Practice: Turning Points in Archaeology”
  • 2017 Dewey Lecture, APA Pacific Division, “From the Ground Up: Philosophy and Archaeology”: podcast & slides
  • 2017 Katz Distinguished Lecture (University of Washington, May 2016) and Royal Institute of Philosophy Lecture (University of Nottingham, October 2017), “What Knowers Know Well: Why Feminism Matters to Archaeology and Philosophy”: Video