Talk

A CARTA Public Symposium entitled "The Upright Ape:  Bipedalism and Human Origins"  will be held Friday, December 16, 2011, from 1:00-5:00 p.m. in the Robinson Auditorium, IR/PS Campus of UC San Diego.  Below is the list of speakers and their talk titles.  Please share the information and the attached poster with your students and colleagues.

For more information, or If you wish to register for this free symposium, please visit http://carta.anthropogeny.org/events/bipedalism-and-human-origins.

Symposium Chairs:
Steven Churchill, Duke University
Chris Ruff, Johns Hopkins University

Speakers:
Steven Churchill, Duke University, “Pelvic architecture of Australopithecus sediba and genus Homo”
Jeremy DeSilva, Boston University, “Foot and ankle diversity in Australopithecus”
Matt Tocheri, Smithsonian University, “Insights into hominin bipedalism from gorilla anatomy”
Brian Richmond, George Washington University, “Pleistocene footprints and the evolution of human bipedalism”
Carol Ward, University of Missouri, “Early hominin body form”
Chris Ruff, Johns Hopkins University, “Limb strength proportions and locomotion in early hominins”
Dan Lieberman, Harvard University, “The evolution and relevance of human running”
Leslie Aiello, Wenner-Gren Foundation, “Bipedalism and the evolution of the genus Homo
Matt Cartmill, Boston Univeristy, “Body fat and bipedality”

Sponsored by the G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Charitable Foundation and Annette C. Merle-Smith
The UCSD-Salk Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny ("CARTA")
Ajit Varki, UCSD, Co-Director
Fred Gage, Salk Institute, Co-Director
Margaret Schoeninger, UCSD, Co-Director
Pascal Gagneux, UCSD, Associate Director

Seth Mallios, Ph.D. Professor and Chair, SDSU Department of Anthropology, Historical Archaeologist

Matt Lauer, Ph.D. Associate Professor, SDSU Department of Anthropology, Cultural Anthropologist

Erin Riley, Ph.D. Associate Professor, SDSU Department of Anthropology, Biological Anthropologist

Drawing on insight from active research projects locally and around the world, Drs. Mallios, Lauer, and Riley will discuss how photography and fieldwork aid, transform, and legitimize the study of the human condition. These professors represent different sub-disciplines of anthropology—archaeology, cultural anthropology, and biological anthropology—but they each are deeply dependent on the fieldwork process and employ similar methods of collecting and documenting insight from the field, whether it be about local history, Solomon Islands indigenous fishing strategies, or Indonesian macaques. Real-time documentation of primary anthropological discovery emphasizes the authenticity of the find and indirectly upholds the importance of the endeavor, ultimately solidifying the particular anthropological narrative.

To find out more about these scholars, please visit: http://anthropology.sdsu.edu/faculty.html

Cost is museum admission, which is always free to SDMoM members.

Florida Governor Rick Scott's recent dismissal of anthropology on a radio talk show, ("We don't need a lot more anthropologists in the state..." article) struck a nerve deep within the anthropological community.    

While the American Anthropological Association has responded and the blogosphere is still hopping, many of us have engaged in some serious soul-searching in the wake of Governor Scott's public critique.     

Come join us as Dr. Micah Parzen, SDMoM's CEO, and Dr. Seth Mallios, Chair of SDSU's Anthropology Department, host an open panel forum to discuss whether anthropology, let alone any social science / liberal arts degree, matters in contemporary society and, if so, why.  

The panel will take place this Friday, November 4, beginning at 3:30 p.m. in the Gill Auditorium. 

The forum is free and open to the public, with a $5 suggested donation.    

RSVP By Friday, November 4, at rsvp@museumofman.org with "Anthro Panel Discussion" in the subject line. 

We are pleased to announce the Museum of Man’s upcoming Rose Tyson 19th Seminar in the Forensic Sciences! The seminar promises to be exciting and educational as it features guest lecturers who specialize in various fields of forensics, including forensic anthropology, odontology, and entomology. The Rose Tyson 19th Seminar in the Forensic Sciences will be held on Saturday, September 24, 2011, at the San Diego Zoo Otto Center. The Museum of Man is hosting this day-long seminar for the medico-legal community, students, and anyone interested in the forensic sciences.

Click here for program

Click here to register

Lectures are scheduled to be held inside the Irving J. Gill Auditorium at the SDMoM’s administrative building (located just west of the main museum building) at 11:00 a.m.

Lecture cost: Price of museum admission; free to SDMoM members.

Madeleine Hinkes, PhD Professor of Anthropology, San Diego Mesa College; Forensic Anthropology Consultant to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office and the Imperial County Coroner's Office

A discussion of taphonomy (the study of decaying organisms over time) in Southern California, using forensic cases to assess postmortem (after death) interval. Dr. Hinkes will address specifically how natural mummification differs from artificial mummification and what role climate plays in the mummification process.

Lectures are scheduled to be held inside the Irving J. Gill Auditorium at the SDMoM’s administrative building (located just west of the main museum building) at 11:00 a.m.

Lecture cost: Price of museum admission; free to SDMoM members.

Stuart Tyson Smith, PhD Professor & Chair of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara; Co-Convener, Archaeology Research Focus Group, Interdisciplinary Humanities Center

This lecture will focus on the ancient Egyptian mummy genre in film, which recently burst into theaters with Universal Studios’ special effects driven remake and sequel, The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001). Dr. Smith will outline the basic Egypt-inspired themes in film with a focus on the mummy genre. Then he will compare Hollywood's mummies to the insights that archaeology and Egyptology have given us into the reality of death and burial in ancient Egypt, where mummies took a central, if a generally less mobile role. Dr. Smith will conclude his talk by considering the origins of Hollywood's mummy myths, along with some insights into the process of being a consultant on Stargate, The Mummy, and The Mummy Returns.

Lectures are scheduled to be held inside the Irving J. Gill Auditorium at the SDMoM’s administrative building (located just west of the main museum building) at 11:00 a.m.

Lecture cost: Price of museum admission; free to SDMoM members.

Seth Mallios, PhD Professor & Chair of Anthropology Department, San Diego State University

Gradual changes in the American way of death from Victorian to Modern times underwent punctuated shifts in mortuary attitudes, commemoration practices, and funerary materials following moments of extreme social and economic duress.  Transformations in gravestone form, style, and iconography paralleled literary shifts in the expressions of grief and loss, which corresponded with alterations in the ritual process of commemoration.  Using ongoing research from the San Diego Gravestone Project, this lecture endeavors to show how cultural symbols inherent to the ritual process of death, dying, and mourning were historically, socio-politically, and economically contingent.

Lectures are scheduled to be held inside the Irving J. Gill Auditorium at the SDMoM’s administrative building (located just west of the main museum building) at 11:00 a.m.

Lecture cost: Price of museum admission; free to SDMoM members.

Philip Hoang, MD Diagnostic Radiologist, La Jolla Radiology

David Vu, MD La Jolla Radiology, President of San Diego Radiology Society

This presentation by two local radiologists will offer audience members insights into routine medical Computer Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans, and how these technologies are applied to study mummies. Dr. Vu will speak specifically about Mumab, the modern-day mummy, and Dr. Hoang will address SDMoM's Peruvian child mummies. The objective of the presentation is to inform audience members about imaging modality in general, and to explain what information it may provide in evaluating 500-year-old mummies.

Lectures are scheduled to be held inside the Irving J. Gill Auditorium at the SDMoM’s administrative building (located just west of the main museum building) at 11:00 a.m. 

Lecture cost: Price of museum admission; free to SDMoM members.

Ron Beckett, PhD FAARC, Bioanthropology Research Institute 

Gerald Conlogue Professor Diagnostic Imaging, Quinnipiac University, Diagnostic Imaging Program 

Ronn Wade State Anatomy Board, Department of Health & Mental Hygiene Director, Anatomical Services Division, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore 

This panel presentation will address the many faces of mummy science ranging from direct observation and photography to sophisticated imaging and laboratory methodologies. Further, the panel will describe the process of experimental mummification with respect to the current exhibition: Modern Day Mummy: The Art & Science of Mummification. The panel will also consider the future directions of Mummy Science Studies. The panel will be interactive and allow ample time for questions from the audience.

SDMoM’s Culture, Coffee & Conversation Lecture Series resumes in June 2011 with a presentation by Jorge Castaneda, author, professor of political science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, visiting professor at Princeton University and UC Berkeley, and senior associate of the Carnegie Institute for International Peace in Washington, D.C.