Dr. Peter Johansen

Biography

Peter Johansen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at McGill University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2008. His research interests are primarily focused on archaeological approaches to investigating politics and everyday life. Johansen studies how entrenched and emergent modalities of power operate on smaller, largely non-institutional scales, producing historically contingent, sociologically meaningful, multi-scalar landscapes. His interests have led him to research the politics of Neolithic and Iron Age ritual practices, settlement patterns, and metallurgical practices in southern India. His current research investigates the long-term techno-politics of ferrous metallurgy in the state of Karnataka, where he examines the assemblages of materials and knowledge practices that contributed to the dynamic social history of metallurgical production and consumption. He is also directing the Maski Archaeological Research Project, which explores the relationship between agro-pastoralism, settlement, and metallurgy development across varying socio-political contexts. Additionally, he works with Nlaka'pamux communities in British Columbia on archaeological research and heritage management projects.

Research Interests