Series Kickoff

Monday, Jan. 22, 2024 (3:30 PM – 3:45 PM)

Beverly Strassmann

University of Michigan

This seminar series will explore human behavior from the perspective of evolutionary theory.  It opens with a study of the minds of paper wasps and continues with an exploration of sexual conflict in animals and humans.  Then it delves into features that set humans apart from other species such as religion, cooperation through indirect reciprocity, and runaway social selection. It investigates the causes of obesity and the impact of discrimination and climate change on human behavior.  The approach will draw on behavioral ecology, which views adaptive behavior as responsive to ecological variation.  The speakers, from anthropology and other fields, are known for the depth of their long-term field studies in Kenya, Mali, Bangladesh, the United States, Dominica, Bolivia, the Pacific Islands, and other locales.

Beverly Strassmann, University of Michigan Professor of Anthropology and an affiliate of the Research Center for Group Dynamics at the Institute for Social Research, is the organizer of this Winter series.

This kick-off will be a short presentation to be followed by the RCGD Faculty Meeting. Please note, due to last-minute scheduling conflicts, the originally scheduled 2 pm kick-off reception will not take place.

The series is co-sponsored by the Research Center for Group Dynamics and the Evolution and Human Adaptation Program.