Lecturer in Social Anthropology
Department of Archaeology
University of Reading
Alanna Cant PhD
Bio
I am a social anthropologist specialising in heritage and material culture in Mexico and the United Kingdom.
My conceptual interests include art and aesthetics, economies of culture, materiality and historicity, material religion, and the economics and politics of heritage.
Education
I completed my PhD in the Department of Anthropology at the London School of Economics in 2012.
Prior to that, I studied for the MSc in Social Anthropology at the LSE, an MA in Globalisation & Development Studies at the University of Warwick, and a BA in Social and Cultural Anthropology with a Minor in Latin American Studies at the University of Calgary.
Employment
I am a Lecturer in Social Anthropology in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Reading, where I am also Programme Director for the BA in Archaeology & Anthropology.
Prior to this post, I held a Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellowship at the University of Kent, a Research Fellowship at the University of Oslo, and teaching and support roles at the University of Cambridge and Martin Luther University at Halle-Wittenberg.
Teaching
I am the programme director for the BA in Archaeology & Anthropology at the University of Reading.
I convene undergraduate and Masters level modules on social anthropology and the anthropology of heritage and cultural property. I also contribute teaching on topics such as the anthropology of death and legacies of colonialism.
In previous roles, I have also taught on topics like aesthetics and politics; anthropology of art and material culture; art and indigeneity in Mexico; religion in Mexico; and kinship, sex, and gender.