News

Adjunct Professor Anabel Ford in the News

Indiana Jones has nothing on Anabel Ford...

Congrats to Tooby, Cosmides, Pisor, and Robertson

On July 2nd, 2016 John Tooby and Leda Cosmides were awarded the Lifetime Achievement award at the annual meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Vancouver, BC, honoring their many contributions to the field. As if that weren't enough, Anne Pisor was awarded the New Investigator Award, and CEP graduate Tess Robertson also won the Postdoctoral Award. Quite a showing for UCSB!

Art for Anthropology on exhibit in HSSB 2nd floor

The results of a cooperative project between the Departments of Anthropology and Art now grace the halls of the 2nd floor of HSSB. Art students Trevor Coopersmith, Pilar Herrera, Taylor Moon, Tom Pazderka, Nina Spring, and Sing Hang Tam produced unique interpretations of anthropology for our displays. Come see their beautiful contributions!

Art for Anthropology Exhibit Complete

Summer Session A, June 20 - July 30

Office of Summer Sessions http://summer.ucsb.edu/publicViewHome.do?method=load

Summer Session A, June 20 - July 30

Office of Summer Sessions http://summer.ucsb.edu/publicViewHome.do?method=load

Commencement Tea

The Perfect Stranger: Resource Access and the Evolution of Out-Group Relationships

Anne Pisor's public dissertation defense

Unlike non-human primates, humans are highly tolerant of out-group strangers, as evidenced by the ethnographic and archaeological records; however, very little research has addressed when and why people build relationships with out-group individuals. What selection pressures might have favored inter-group relationship building in humans? As smoothing resource access has been crucial in the human foraging ecology, I suggest that relationships with out-group members may provide access to non-local resources and buffer resource shortfalls striking entire communities. The relevance of out-group relationships is not limited to small-scale or prehistoric contexts either, as out-group members can also provide access to difficult-to-access resources like market items. My research program is focused on the above question; in my dissertation, I address three components of it: Which social and ecological factors favor out-group relationships? What do people look for when picking partners from out-groups? When people value out-group members, will they avoid costly behavior to avoid harming out-group members? I will present data from three populations of Bolivian horticulturalists and the World Values Survey that provide some preliminary answers.