Public Lectures

Brown ash trees sustain the ancestral basket-making traditions of the Wabanaki people of Maine and play a key role in their creation myths. These trees are now threatened by the emerald ash borer, a beetle that has already killed millions of ash trees in...

Cell phones are among people’s most prized possessions. They play an important role in daily life, facilitating everything from communications with others to the recording of social experiences and emotions. Despite the importance and ubiquity of cell...

Warfare is a nearly universal trait of human societies. It has influenced the evolution of human societies at least since the dawn of history, and may have influenced the evolution of human psychology. By some definitions, warfare is uniquely human; no...

The ability of human groups to socially interconnect and learn from one another has allowed us to create ingenious technologies, sophisticated languages, and complex institutions that have enabled successful expansion into myriad environments. Drawing...

On July 12, 1969, Ruth Davis, a young American volunteer at Dr. Jane Goodall’s research site in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania, left camp to follow a chimpanzee into the forest. Six days later, her body was found floating at the base of a high...

What impact are information and communication technologies such as the Internet and social media having on our health, politics, and culture? While there is considerable controversy about this topic, informed analysis and empirical evidence to address it...