Dr. John Bunce & Dr. Caissa Revilla Minaya, Culture, Environment and Health Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology https://www.eva.mpg.de/ecology/projects-and-research-groups/culture-environment-and-health-research-group/ Title: Cultural dynamics in an Indigenous Amazonian population: An exploration of intra- and inter-ethnic causal mechanisms  Abstract: For several decades, evolutionary social science theorists have devoted considerable attention to exploring various mechanisms that influence […]

Renee Hagen, Ph.D. Candidate, Dept. of Anthropology, UCLA https://reneehagen.com/ Title: Common behaviors and moral codes: Applying cultural evolution and sexual conflict theory to model the dynamics of social norms Abstract: How do new social norms spread in social groups, and how are norms maintained or change over time?  I will present two studies that investigate these questions […]

Dr. Nicole Thompson-Gonzalez, Assistant Professor, Dept of Integrative Anthropological Sciences, University of California-Santa Barbara http://www.nicolethompsongonzalez.com/ This talk will be presented live as well as via Zoom. Title: Social paths to health and fitness in primates Abstract: Friendly social ties are important means to monopolize resources, buffer risks, and in turn increase health and fitness across […]

Dr. Caroline Schuppli, Max Planck Research Group leader, MPI for Animal Behavior https://www.ab.mpg.de/person/110356/2736 This talk will be presented via Zoom. Title: Skill acquisition and life history: towards a better understanding of cognitive evolution Abstract: Cognitive capacity gets selected for via skills and abilities which provide individuals with fitness benefits. However, strikingly, the larger brained a species is, the more […]