Is what we think we know about ourselves and our species wrong?
Dr. Agustin Fuentes will share why be believes this to be true at his Chautauqua lecture on Thursday, April 28, at Eastern Kentucky University. A professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame, he will present “What If It’s Not All Sex and Violence?” at 7:30 p.m. in O’Donnell Hall of the Whitlock Building. His talk is free and open to the public.
Fuentes’ research explores the how and why of being human, examining human evolution from several perspectives, and his research sheds light on some of the most common misconceptions about human nature, specifically in the areas of race, sex and aggression.
His research interests include cooperation and bonding in human evolution, ethnoprimatology and multispecies anthropology, evolutionary theory and public perceptions of, and interdisciplinary approaches to, human nature.
Fuentes’ research culminated in his most recent book, “Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You: Busting Myths about Human Nature,” published in 2012. His work has also been published in other textbooks, monographs and collections. These include “Evolution of Human Behavior,” “Ancestral Landscapes in Human Evolution Culture” and the forthcoming “Conversations on Human Nature.”
Fuentes has also written numerous peer-reviewed articles, such as “Human Nature(s): Human Nature at the Crossroad of Conflicting Interests,” published in 2015, and “Human Evolution, Niche Complexity, and the Emergence of a Distinctively Human Imagination,” published in 2014.
He has received many awards and grants for his research from the John Templeton Foundation, National Geographic Society, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Science Foundation. He has also received awards for his teaching, including the Joyce Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and the Presidential Award from Notre Dame.
His lecture is sponsored by the Department of Anthropology, Sociology and Social Work; the Office of Graduate Education and Research; and EKU Honors.
For more information, visit www.chautauqua.eku.edu or contact Chautauqua Lecture Coordinator Dr. Erik Liddell at erik.liddell@eku.edu.