The anthropologically themed comic hanging on the door of Susan Pfeiffer’s office seems fitting as one’s first impression of the associate professor of anthropology. A sense of humour pervades her lectures, where she often brings Far Side comics to share with the class, and it seems to have penetrated even the physical space of her bright yellow office.
Despite the early hour and unpleasant weather, Prof. Pfeiffer is cheerful and lively. At my prompting, she smiles and tells me she is originally from the United States. She completed her Bachelor of Arts (in comparative religions) at the University of Iowa.
“I wanted to encourage tolerance,” she says of her initial direction of education. She only changed to anthropology after she moved to Toronto and realized she “was more science oriented.”
Before moving to Toronto, Prof. Pfeiffer lived in Berkeley, California and worked as a cleaning lady for a year.
“My first experience with professors was in cleaning their offices,” she jokes, adding proudly, “I was a good cleaning lady.”
It was only when her husband got a job in Toronto that they moved to Canada, at which point she applied to the University of Toronto to do her masters.
“I was rejected,” she confesses bluntly.
As a result of the rejection she spent a year as an “unclassified” U of T student, then applied again to the masters program. This time she was accepted and in 1976 received her Ph.D.
When asked why she chose to become a professor, she replies, “I always wanted to teach.” Growing up in an era when women were not expected to have a career, she did not really think a professorship was an option, so now that she is a professor she feels part of her job is “to let women know that that’s a possibility.”
Students in her classes easily recognize the love she has for her work.
“I think she’s a very enthusiastic individual and her love of the material was contagious,” claims Maggie Peebles, a student in her second year biological anthropology course.
“I thought she was great,” agrees Jennifer Martens, another student in the class. “She made everything so much more interesting.”
The phone rings and Prof. Pfeiffer gets up to see who it is.
“It’s someone I can call back,” she says, and continues the discussion without missing a beat. As a professor she is known for always making time for students.
Sharry Fukuzawa, a graduate student who has worked with Prof. Pfeiffer, describes her as “an advocate for graduate and undergraduate students.”
“She’s very supportive,” says Fukuzawa. “I think the students find her very approachable.”
On the subject of professor-student relations, Prof. Pfeiffer says, “I enjoy interacting with my students, but I’m there to be their mentor, not their pal. I am aware in that setting we can’t be equals.”
She is clear on where she stands here. “A professor sits in judgement over students. It is a power relationship.”
She also believes it is a relationship all teachers approach differently.
“Everyone has to find their own comfort level,” Pfeiffer says, adding that the relationship is different for female professors. She feels students approach female professors on a more maternal level.
“I think women professors have to think that through a little more carefully,” she cautions.
Reciting poems about anthropology in class, it is obvious she enjoys her work. Prof. Pfeiffer describes teaching and research as fulfilling in different ways. Teaching, she says, has “solid, long-term satisfaction,” while in research “there’s more to be done.”
Together they give the best of both worlds, “a job with consistent satisfaction.”
She started work in South Africa in 1992, working in museums in many different areas. She spent most of her time in Cape Town, where she was an associate with the university’s archaeology department, but she also spent time in Bloeumfonteim and Johannesburg.
Speaking about the University of Toronto, where she’s worked since 1999, Prof. Pfeiffer says, “It’s exciting to be part of a large, old, important institution.” She was previously at Guelph, in the Department of Human Biology and Nutritional Sciences. She was also Associate Dean and Acting Dean of the Graduate Faculty.
At U of T, Pfeiffer is part of an anthropology institution for the first time. She describes anthropology as “a vehicle for understanding human nature” and views it as “a privilege to be able to encourage learning in a topic I think is so important.”
When asked why she chose to stay in Canada, Prof. Pfeiffer answers sincerely, “Because I love it!” After teaching for the past 25 years in a variety of environments, she says her plans are to stay in Toronto.
“It’s hard moving,” she says with a laugh. “I look forward to working with my students [here at U of T].”
Prof. Pfeiffer has written extensively in her field, including as an associate editor for the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Next year she has a six-month sabbatical and plans “to do a lot of writing.”
Prof. Pfeiffer teaches ANT 203Y (Biological Anthropology), ANT 434H (Health, Diet and Disease in the Past), HMB202H (Introduction to Health and Disease) and ANT 3010 (Advanced Topics in Osteology).
