Category: Blog
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‘Women’s biggest husband is the Moon’: gender relations among BaYaka hunter-gatherers
On Tues Jan 30, 6:30pm (London time), we have Jerome Lewis LIVE @UCLAnthropology, Daryll Forde Room, 2nd Floor, Anthro building. We are also on ZOOM (ID 384 186 2174 passcode Wawilak) Jerome explores BaYaka Mbendjele gender relations, ritual and economy through the concept of ‘ekila’, a potency that belongs to women, men and animals Reading…
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The Australian Aboriginal Rainbow Snake
Chris Knight continues his Introduction to a science of mythology with a core motif from Australia: the Rainbow Snake. He is speaking LIVE in the Daryll Forde Seminar Room, 2nd Floor, UCL Anthropology Dept. You can also join us on ZOOM (ID 384 186 2174 Passcode Wawilak) Chris writes: The image of a water-dwelling, fire-breathing,…
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The story of the Bird-nester: an introduction to the science of mythology
On Tues Jan 16, 6;30pm London time, Chris Knight will introduce Claude Levi-Strauss’s great contribution to the Science of Mythology. He’s speaking LIVE in the Daryll Forde Seminar Room, 2nd Floor, UCL Anthropology Dept. You can join us on ZOOM (ID 384 186 2174 Passcode Wawilak) Chris writes: According to Claude Lévi-Strauss, all the world’s…
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Egalitarianism made us human: why Graeber and Wengrow get it wrong
This talk will be given by Camilla Power (Research Fellow in Anthropology at UCL), LIVE on Tue Jan 9, 6:30pm in the Daryll Forde Seminar Room, 2nd Floor, Dept of Anthropology, UCL, 14 Taviton St WC1H 0BW. You can also join on ZOOM with ID 384 186 2174 passcode Wawilak. Camilla writes: “‘The world of…
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A Winter Solstice Fairytale: the shoes that were danced to pieces
Our last class this year is a trip to the Underworld! Join us LIVE @UCLAnthropology, Tues Dec 12, 6:30pm (London time) with Chris Knight to read and discuss the Grimms’ story of the ‘Shoes that were Danced to Pieces’ Chris writes: “This delightful fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm has become a RAG tradition, told…
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When Eve Laughed: The Origins of Language
On Tuesday Dec 5, 18:30 GMT (London time) Jerome Lewis and Chris Knight will talk about their forthcoming book on language origins: ‘When Eve Laughed’. Why is it that out of 220 primate species, we are the only one which talks? Collective laughter, too, is unique to our species. Although quite different from language, collective…
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Oppenheimer and Chomsky – How war research shaped modern science
On Tuesday Nov 28 (18:30 GMT London time) we have a talk from Chris Knight (author of Decoding Chomsky, Yale UP) on the anthropology and history of science in the post war era, through the lens of two major scientists who contributed to military research: Robert Oppenheimer and Noam Chomsky: Chris writes: ‘This talk will…
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Human evolution: some recent discoveries and their implications
On Tuesday Nov 21, we have a talk from Prof Chris Stringer (Natural History Museum) who is widely known as one of the foremost experts of hominin fossils in the world, and famous as author of the Recent African Origin model. He will be updating us on recent developments in human evolution, looking at fossils…
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‘This land is our land’: Exploring New Travellers’ alternative worldmaking and activism
On Nov 14, 18:30 GMT London time, we welcome Freya Hope, a Ph.D candidate anthropology at the University of Oxford, whose work explores human possibilities through the ‘alternative worldmaking’ of New Travellers. She engages with topics such as the anthropologies of anarchy, freedom, endurance and nomadism. New Travellers formed their group as an alternative to…
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Egalitarianism is Hierarchy, Autonomy is Mutuality
Natalia Buitron (Cambridge) and Hans Steinmuller (LSE) will be talking both LIVE @UCLAnthropology Dept and on ZOOM on Tues Nov 7 about their research in political anthropology. They write: Egalitarianism and hierarchy usually hang together, as both are based on commensuration and scale. As such, they contrast with autonomy and mutuality, which require a level…