Professor Dr Agustin Fuentes - Why We Believe: evolution, making meaning, and the development of human natures

Agustin Fuentes is the Edmund P. Joyce C.S.C. Professor of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame

Event Details

Dates: 26, 27 February and 5, 6, 7 and 8 March 2018, 5.30 - 6.30pm.  

The lectures may be followed by questions. Latest finishing time is 7pm.

Venue: Playfair Library, Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH8 9YL

Series summary

Humans can see the world around them, imagine how it might be different, and translate those imaginings into reality…or at least try to. Humans believe. Meaning, imagination, and hope are as central to the human story as are bones, genes, and ecologies. Neither selfish aggression nor peaceful altruism dominates human behavior as a whole. We are a species distinguished by our extraordinary capacity for creative cooperation, our ability to imagine possibilities and to make them material, and our powerful aptitudes for belief, hope, and cruelty. In the 21^st century significant shifts in our understanding of evolutionary biology and theory, radical expansions in the archeological and fossil records, and increasing collaboration across multiple fields of inquiry alter our capacities to investigate the human niche, how humans shape and are shaped by the world. Via exploring our evolution, the emergence of our capacity to create, innovate, and collaborate we develop better understandings of human natures and the answers as to why we believe. And, hopefully, to better contemplate the possibilities of human futures.  

Series Videos

The lectures will be recorded and links will be posted in the respective pages of each lecture.

Biography

Agustín Fuentes completed a B.A. in Zoology and Anthropology, and an M.A.& Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, and is a Professor  and Chair of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame. His research delves into the how and why of being human. Ranging from chasing monkeys in jungles and cities, to exploring the lives of our evolutionary ancestors, to examining what people actually do across the globe, Professor Fuentes is interested in both the big questions and the small details of what makes humans and our closest relatives tick. His current research foci include creativity, community, and meaning-making in human evolution, ethnoprimatology and multispecies anthropology, evolutionary theory, and public perceptions of, and interdisciplinary approaches to, human nature(s).  Fuentes’ recent books include “Evolution of Human Behavior” (Oxford), “Race, Monogamy, and other lies they told you: busting myths about human nature” (U of California), “Conversations on Human Nature(s)” (with Aku Visala, Routledge) and “The Creative Spark: how imagination made humans exceptional” (Dutton). 

Related Links

Find out more about Professor Dr Agustin Fuentes on his academic profile