Dr. Sherry Fukuzawa Joins UTM Anthropology

Dr. S. Fukuzawa
UTM is very pleased to welcome Dr. Sherry Fukuzawa in her new position as Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, focusing on pedagogical research in biological anthropology.

Dr. Fukuzawa has been teaching in the Anthropology Department at UTM for many years as a sessional instructor. In this role, she taught a large range of courses from large introductory courses in the Introduction to Biological Anthropology and Archaeology, to upper year laboratory courses in human osteology and evolutionary anthropology. Sherry has designed and implemented active learning components in several of her courses to increase student engagement in the course material. She is involved in curriculum development and is responsible for the creation and maintenance of the curriculum map for the UTM Department of Anthropology.  Her experience in adult education is wide ranging. She was a supply teacher for the Toronto District School Board in the Adult Literacy and Basic Learning Skills Program, and the Director of the Teaching Assistant Training Program at the University of Toronto during her years at graduate school. Sherry is currently the North American Regional Editor of the Teaching Anthropology Journal with the Royal Anthropological Institute in the UK, where she also curates the monthly Teaching Anthropology Blog.

Sherry’s current research interests involve mechanisms to engage students in large undergraduate classrooms, and the relationship between active learning outcomes and the development of critical thinking skills in the anthropology curriculum. Sherry is currently involved in research investigating ways to utilize technology to implement problem-based learning experiences in biological anthropology.  Her online hybridized problem-based learning project called the virtual mystery was funded by the Learning, Education and Assessment Fund (LEAF) at the University of Toronto. Her recent publications and presentations at conferences involve implementing problem-based learning in introductory and advanced courses in biological anthropology, and using technology to give students in large courses an active learning experience. Sherry has recently published on the role of the contingent instructor in the scholarship of teaching and learning, and she has presented at conferences with Cat Criger (UTM Aboriginal Indigenous Elder) on the importance of integrating the Canadian Indigenous perspective in the Anthropology curriculum.