Dr. Donald Butler

Assistant Professor

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Biography

Don H. Butler is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto. He specializes in geoarchaeology and is keenly interested in the diverse factors that shape socio-ecological resilience and vulnerability. His research utilizes micro-sedimentary archives to comprehend community-centered histories and societal changes, particularly focusing on the relationships between resource production, management, land-use mobility, and habitat reconfiguration, which inform ecosystem engineering. His ongoing work in Eastern Beringia is significant for tracking human-wildlife responses during the changing terminal Pleistocene parklands, with a focus on ecological zones that are intertwined with the proliferation of cultural keystone herbivores among early northern societies. Don's projects encompass a broad range of peoples and settings including Inuit mariners in the Torngats, Athabaskan caribou hunters in the Barrenlands, Mesolithic fishers in Lapland, and Byzantine farmers at the Negev borderlands. His collaborative research spans local environmental impacts related to the transnational exchange along the Incense Road in the Negev Desert, paleoenvironmental changes in the southern Kalahari, and the ecological legacies of agricultural niche construction in southern Ontario.

Research Interests

Courses

Introduction to Archaeology: Theories, Methods, Practices Geoarchaeological Perspectives Human-Environment Dialogues Archaeology of North America Archaeological Science Heritage Resources Management

Requirements for University of Toronto

Master Program
Requirements
GPA Requirement
Required:3.3
IELTS
Listening
Required:6.5
Reading
Required:6.5
Writing
Required:6.5
Speaking
Required:6.5
Overall
Required:7
TOEFL
Listening
Required:22
Reading
Required:22
Writing
Required:22
Speaking
Required:22
Total
Required:93
Prerequisites
Appropriate four-year bachelor's degree Background in sociological theory and statistics preferred
Application Checklist
  • Transcripts
  • Two letters of reference
  • Statement of intent
  • Writing sample
  • Curriculum Vitae
Specialization Notes

Department of Sociology