A series of free public talks focussing on human evolution will be hosted by the School of Anthropology and Conservation from Wednesday 4 June 2014. The summer series will welcome national and international speakers to present two talks on humans in evolution followed by two talks on chimpanzees and other primates.
The lectures are designed to explore a range of questions and recent discoveries in different sub-fields of biological anthropology.
The first talk will explore the concept of multiple co-fathers, known as partible paternity, whilst the second talk will discuss ancient humans in Britain focusing on the recently discovered Norfolk footprints.
The third talk will compare human and chimpanzee cultures, with the series finale presenting genetic research of two types of baboons in Kenya.
Justyna Miszkiewicz, Lecturer in Biological Anthropology, said: ‘Human evolution is such a fascinating subject of interest to researchers in this field as well as the general public. We are delighted to welcome experts from the USA and the UK to share their research with a diverse audience at Kent.’
Taking place at the University’s Canterbury campus, the lectures are free and open to the public.
The full schedule for the series is:
– Wednesday 4 June, 3 – 5 pm, Grimond Lecture Theatre 2
Speaker: Dr Robert Walker, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri Talk title: Multiple Fathers in Lowland South America
– Thursday 5 June, 6 – 8 pm, Grimond Lecture Theatre 2
Speaker: Dr Isabelle De Groote, Senior Lecturer, Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, Liverpool John Moores University Talk title: Tracking the first people in Britain
– Wednesday 11 June, 3 – 5 pm, Grimond Lecture Theatre 2
Speaker: Dr Claudio Tennie , Research Fellow, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham
Talk title: Chimpanzees may not imitate because their cultures are not opaque.
– Thursday 12 June, 3 – 5 pm, Grimond Lecture Theatre 2
Speaker: Professor Susan Alberts, Bass Fellow and Professor, Department of Biology, Duke University
Talk title: Life history and behaviour in a primate hybrid zone
Refreshments will be served before Dr De Groote’s evening talk, and after the remaining three afternoon talks. For more information, email: SACevents@kent.ac.uk.