-
April 14, 2014
“The Invisible Aspects of
Human Evolution”
-
Cover Image: The Hunter Gatherer
Artist: Todd Schorr
This Templeton Colloquium at the NDIAS
is offered due to the generosity of
the John Templeton Foundation
and through a grant to the
Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study.
NOTES
-
4
Anthony Travel
Neil Arner
Harriet Baldwin
Christopher Ball
Robert J. Bernhard
Susan D. Blum
Eric Bugyis
Catering by Design
Conference Center Staff
DCL Copy Center
Melanie DeFord
Claude Devaney
Connie Dosmann
Timothy Flanagan
Agustín Fuentes
Sean Gaudio
Brad Gregory
Jen Hendricks
Iona Hughan
Peta Katz
Mary Kowalski
Ian Kuijt
Linda Lange
Mail Distribution Center
Nicholas Ochoa
Rahul Oka
Grant Osborn
OIT Multimedia
OIT Special Events
Lauri Roberts
Liz Rulli
Susan G. Sheridan
Carolyn Sherman
Donald L. Stelluto
Thank you to
Todd Schorr for permission to use The Hunter Gatherer.
—- —— —-
We extend a special thank you to
Jonathan Marks
who envisioned this colloquium, developed its program, and
whose
commitment and service as the colloquium’s organizer was
invaluable.
—- —— —-
We would like to extend a special thank you to
The John Templeton Foundation
for their generosity and support of this event and the
Institute’s grant
“Pursuing the Unity of Knowledge: Integrating Religion, Science,
and
the Academic Disciplines.”
—- —— —-
The Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study:
Eric Bugyis, Undergraduate Research Coordinator
Brad Gregory, Director
Nicholas Ochoa, Research Assistant
Grant Osborn, Operations Coordinator
Carolyn Sherman, Programs Administrator
Donald Stelluto, Associate Director
In Grateful Appreciation The Notre Dame Institute for Advanced
Study is grateful to the following
campus units and individuals for the generosity of their
creativity, expertise,
unique talents, and time.
Program
for
“The Invisible Aspects of
Human Evolution”
A Templeton Colloquium
by Jonathan Marks,
University of North Carolina, Charlotte
and
Templeton Fellow at the NDIAS, 2013-2014
April 14, 2014
Notre Dame Conference Center
McKenna Hall
-
2
“The Invisible Aspects of
Human Evolution”
People of 100,000 years ago were “anatomically modern,” meaning
that they
had heads, bodies, and brains like ours; indeed, far more like
ours than like
those of their European contemporaries, the Neandertals.
Nevertheless, those
people of 100,000 years ago—our ancestors—lived lives that were
far more like
Neandertal lives than like our own. While we have traditionally
focused on
physical and technological differences between Neandertals and
early modern
humans, their lives were far more similar than different, and
certainly far
removed from any recognizable human lifeways today; even art lay
several tens
of thousands of years in the future.
This colloquium brings together scholars from a range of fields
to discuss the
transformation of an anatomical human into a behavioral human.
This
transformation occurred 100,000 and 50,000 years ago, during a
timespan
whose eventual products would become art, kinship, morality,
religion, and the
myriad other features of what we call “humanity.” Contrary to
scholars who
have postulated that an invisible, unknown genetic mutation lay
at the root of
this transformation and that morality and religion may be
reducible to altruism
and cooperation, early modern humans were instead situated at
the origin of a
great learning process; the origin of the human condition more
likely emerged
from new relations among people, rather than from new intrinsic
properties of
the people themselves.
Our distinguished guest panelists, representing a range of
fields in
anthropology, including archaeology, biological anthropology,
and social and
cultural anthropology, are:
Jason Antrosio, Hartwick College
Rachel Caspari, Central Michigan University
Deborah Olszewski, University of Pennsylvania
Jill Preutz, Iowa State University
Anna C. Roosevelt, University of Illinois, Chicago
Russell H. Tuttle, University of Chicago
Margaret Wiener, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
◊ ◊ ◊
3
All sessions will be held in McKenna Hall, rooms 100-104
8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
9:00 a.m. “The Origin of Language”
Moderator: Susan D. Blum*
Rapporteur: Christopher Ball*
10:30 a.m. Break
10:45 a.m. “The Origin of Kinship”
Moderator: Ian Kuijt*
Rapporteur: Rahul Oka*
12:15 p.m. Lunch
Lower Level of McKenna Hall
2:00 p.m. “The Origin of Religion”
Moderator: Susan G. Sheridan*
Rapporteur: Neil Arner, Department of Theology
3:30 p.m. Break
3:45 p.m. Questions and Answers
Moderator: Agustín Fuentes*
* Indicates faculty from the Department of Anthropology at
the
University of Notre Dame
-
2
“The Invisible Aspects of
Human Evolution”
People of 100,000 years ago were “anatomically modern,” meaning
that they
had heads, bodies, and brains like ours; indeed, far more like
ours than like
those of their European contemporaries, the Neandertals.
Nevertheless, those
people of 100,000 years ago—our ancestors—lived lives that were
far more like
Neandertal lives than like our own. While we have traditionally
focused on
physical and technological differences between Neandertals and
early modern
humans, their lives were far more similar than different, and
certainly far
removed from any recognizable human lifeways today; even art lay
several tens
of thousands of years in the future.
This colloquium brings together scholars from a range of fields
to discuss the
transformation of an anatomical human into a behavioral human.
This
transformation occurred 100,000 and 50,000 years ago, during a
timespan
whose eventual products would become art, kinship, morality,
religion, and the
myriad other features of what we call “humanity.” Contrary to
scholars who
have postulated that an invisible, unknown genetic mutation lay
at the root of
this transformation and that morality and religion may be
reducible to altruism
and cooperation, early modern humans were instead situated at
the origin of a
great learning process; the origin of the human condition more
likely emerged
from new relations among people, rather than from new intrinsic
properties of
the people themselves.
Our distinguished guest panelists, representing a range of
fields in
anthropology, including archaeology, biological anthropology,
and social and
cultural anthropology, are:
Jason Antrosio, Hartwick College
Rachel Caspari, Central Michigan University
Deborah Olszewski, University of Pennsylvania
Jill Preutz, Iowa State University
Anna C. Roosevelt, University of Illinois, Chicago
Russell H. Tuttle, University of Chicago
Margaret Wiener, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
◊ ◊ ◊
3
All sessions will be held in McKenna Hall, rooms 100-104
8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
9:00 a.m. “The Origin of Language”
Moderator: Susan D. Blum*
Rapporteur: Christopher Ball*
10:30 a.m. Break
10:45 a.m. “The Origin of Kinship”
Moderator: Ian Kuijt*
Rapporteur: Rahul Oka*
12:15 p.m. Lunch
Lower Level of McKenna Hall
2:00 p.m. “The Origin of Religion”
Moderator: Susan G. Sheridan*
Rapporteur: Neil Arner, Department of Theology
3:30 p.m. Break
3:45 p.m. Questions and Answers
Moderator: Agustín Fuentes*
* Indicates faculty from the Department of Anthropology at
the
University of Notre Dame
-
4
Anthony Travel
Neil Arner
Harriet Baldwin
Christopher Ball
Robert J. Bernhard
Susan D. Blum
Eric Bugyis
Catering by Design
Conference Center Staff
DCL Copy Center
Melanie DeFord
Claude Devaney
Connie Dosmann
Timothy Flanagan
Agustín Fuentes
Sean Gaudio
Brad Gregory
Jen Hendricks
Iona Hughan
Peta Katz
Mary Kowalski
Ian Kuijt
Linda Lange
Mail Distribution Center
Nicholas Ochoa
Rahul Oka
Grant Osborn
OIT Multimedia
OIT Special Events
Lauri Roberts
Liz Rulli
Susan G. Sheridan
Carolyn Sherman
Donald L. Stelluto
Thank you to
Todd Schorr for permission to use The Hunter Gatherer.
—- —— —-
We extend a special thank you to
Jonathan Marks
who envisioned this colloquium, developed its program, and
whose
commitment and service as the colloquium’s organizer was
invaluable.
—- —— —-
We would like to extend a special thank you to
The John Templeton Foundation
for their generosity and support of this event and the
Institute’s grant
“Pursuing the Unity of Knowledge: Integrating Religion, Science,
and
the Academic Disciplines.”
—- —— —-
The Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study:
Eric Bugyis, Undergraduate Research Coordinator
Brad Gregory, Director
Nicholas Ochoa, Research Assistant
Grant Osborn, Operations Coordinator
Carolyn Sherman, Programs Administrator
Donald Stelluto, Associate Director
In Grateful Appreciation The Notre Dame Institute for Advanced
Study is grateful to the following
campus units and individuals for the generosity of their
creativity, expertise,
unique talents, and time.
Program
for
“The Invisible Aspects of
Human Evolution”
A Templeton Colloquium
by Jonathan Marks,
University of North Carolina, Charlotte
and
Templeton Fellow at the NDIAS, 2013-2014
April 14, 2014
Notre Dame Conference Center
McKenna Hall
-
Cover Image: The Hunter Gatherer
Artist: Todd Schorr
This Templeton Colloquium at the NDIAS
is offered due to the generosity of
the John Templeton Foundation
and through a grant to the
Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study.
NOTES
-
April 14, 2014
“The Invisible Aspects of
Human Evolution”
