Jan. 26 Talk on Swartkrans by Dr. TravisPickering

Dr. Travis R. Pickering of The University of Wisconsin - Madison will present a talk entitled "Life and Death in the Stone Age: Continued Paleoanthropological Investigations at Swartkrans Cave (and beyond)" as part of the Department of Anthropology Seminar Series on Hominin Ecology.

The talk will be held on Wednesday, January 26 2011 at 11:00 AM at 2114 G St. NW, Room 308.

Dr. Pickering, after providing an overview of the paleoanthropological importance of the Swartkrans Cave (South Africa) early hominin site, will discuss the paleobiological focus on his current research program there. The major emphasis of that program is to establish a paleoecological context for the large assemblage of early hominin fossils from the site's Hanging Remnant geological unit. Dr. Pickering will also briefly summarize several other early hominin paleobiological projects in which he is involved, including other fieldwork in South Africa (Goldsmith's Cave), and actualistic work and paleoanthropological survey and excavation in Namibia (Namib-Naukluft) and Tanzania (Olduvai Gorge).

Upcoming Talk by Dr. Carson M. Murray

Dr. Carson M. Murray of The Lincoln Park Zoo, University of Chicago will give a talk entitled "The Nuances of Female Chimpanzee Social Status" as part of the Department of Anthropology Seminar Series on Hominin Ecology.

Dr. Murray will present evidence that low-ranking females suffer in terms of foraging and ranging patterns, and suggests behavioral adaptations during reproductive efforts that may help mitigate these negative rank effects. Dr. Murray will pair her behavioral studies with physiological data to yield a more holistic story of female behavior. These results are considered in light of other chimpanzee populations, other primates, and human evolution.

The talk will be held on Monday, January 24, 2011 at 11:00 A.M. in 2114 G. Street Room 308.

Dr. Michael D. Coe Lecture: "Collecting the Americas"

The Anthropology Department and the Museum Studies Program were pleased to host Dr. Michael D. Coe on October 14, 2010 as the first lecturer in the 2010-2011 George Washington University Seminar program Museums and Antiquities: A New World.

Dr. Coe, Professor of Anthropology and Curator Emeritus of the Anthropology Collection at Yale University and the Peabody Museum of Natural History, gave a lecture entitled “Collecting the Americas”. Dr. Coe explored the issue of whether scholars should study and publish research findings of objects that have ambiguous archaeological provenances.

The next lecture in the series “Looting and the Art Market in Antiquities” will be given on November 30, 2010 by Dr. Fabio Esteban Amador. Dr. Amador is an Associate Research Professor of Anthropology at The George Washington University and Program Officer at National Geographic Society.

The schedule for Spring 2011 lectures is as follows:

“Taking the Long View: Twenty Years of Repatriation at the National Museum of Natural History.”
William Billeck, Jan. 27


“A New Vision of a Past: Pueblo Origins and the Development and Depopulation of the Mesa Verde Region.”
Mark Varien, Feb. 17


“Branding the Maya: the Implication of Cultural Heritage Production in the Mayan Riviera.”
Traci Ardren, March 3


“Lower End Artifact Collections: is a practical accommodation possible among archaeologists, collectors, and museums?”
David K. Thulman, April 7

Derek Wildman of Wayne States speaks March 31 on evolutionary genomic perspectives on human evolution

Derek E. Wildman of the Wayne State University School of Medicine speaks on "Evolutionary Genomic Perspectives on Human Evolution" in an event sponsored by the Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology and the GW Anthropology Society. Dr. Wildman's laboratory has two main areas of research focus: the evolutionary history of birth and labor and the evolution of primates in general. Regarding humans, it investigates "the evolution of phenotypic features such as the emergence of the greatly expanded anthropoid primate neocortex, the evolution of labor and birth, and the evolution of aerobic energy metabolism."

Dr. Wildman has appointments in the Wayne State Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. For more on him and his research, click here.

Talk, March 24: Why there is no 'European Islam'

Prof. John R. Bowen speaks on "Why there is no 'European Islam': Contrasting contours of Islam in England and France." Bowen, who is the Dunbar-Van Cleve Professor of Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, discusses contrasting histories of migration, church-state relations, and political philosophy to account for the sharp divergences in Muslim experiences in England and France (with a passing nod to the United States). A focus of the talk will be the possibilities afforded in England for Muslims to construct 'shari'a councils, paralegal mediation or arbitration bodies dealing with family law and commercial disputes.

Location: 1957 E St., room 214
3 p.m.

Sponsored by the Department of Anthropology and the Institute for Middle East Studies.