Zev Cossin Professorial Lecturer Department of Anthropology

Degrees: Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Anthropology

M.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Anthropology

B.A., University of Maryland, College Park, Anthropology and Spanish
Bio: Zev Cossin is an historical archaeologist and environmental anthropologist, specializing in the Ecuadorian Andes. His research integrates archaeological, archival, oral historical and ethnographic research to interrogate the production of colonial land tenure systems and their enduring environmental and social consequences today. His current research examines the ecological transformations wrought by Spanish colonialism in the Ecuadorian highlands through the introduction of species like sheep, cattle, barley and wheat, and how Indigenous families have responded over several centuries. This research highlights the historical conditions that shape contemporary global challenges of food insecurity, economic precarity, climate change, gender inequities, and the complexities of global development practices. He is particularly interested in the global interconnections of social movements for environmental justice and agroecology, and enjoys infusing these contemporary issues into his teaching.

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Teaching

Historical Archaeology; Environmental Anthropology; Political Ecology; Anthropocene; Environmental Justice; Land Tenure; Colonization; Ecuador; Andes