Research Spotlight
GPS Tracking Show Why Primates Need to Build Fences
We humans are highly aware of boundaries. We demarcate our homes with fences, our cities and states, with signs, and our countries, with passport control stations. If people without permission still trespass and get caught, they may get a gentle warning, a notice to appear in court, or even a war. It turns out that we are not alone: many other animals are also very sensitive to their own boundaries and don’t like it when others intrude.
Graduate Student Spotlight: Caroline McKusick
Caroline McKusick is a Ph.D. candidate in the Sociocultural Anthropology program.
Mating Market Trumps Biology in Relationships
By Jeffrey Day - The popularly held sexual stereotype concludes that men want as many partners as possible, and women want stability and commitment. But what men and women want from relationships also depends heavily on the supply of potential partners, according to a University of California, Davis, study.
Looking for Utopia: Smriti Srinivas
By Tory Brykalski - Anthropologist Smriti Srinivas is searching for alternative futures—in the present. With today's urban spaces facing problems of waste, pollution, and uncontrolled growth, how, she asks, can we lay the foundations for humane and livable cities of tomorrow?
Migration and Morality: Jeffrey S. Kahn
By Tanzeen R. Doha – Jeffrey S. Kahn is an assistant professor of anthropology at UC Davis and a legal scholar interested in migration, mobility, and border policing. His research focuses on Haiti, the Guantánamo Naval Base, the United States, and the Republic of Bénin. Here, Kahn, who earned his PhD at the University of Chicago and his JD at Yale Law School, and who served as an Academy Scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, talks to ISS about how he is shaping these interests into two forthcoming books.
Meet Grad Slam Finalist Mayowa Adegboyega
Graduate student Mayowa Adegboyega loves talking about anthropology with kids because she wants them to "see scientists as cool, chill people who are just like them." Come see for yourself just how chill when she and nine other cool finalists compete April 5 to represent UC Davis in the UC Grad Slam.
Getting to Grips with Groups: Cristina Moya
By Ashley Serpa – Why do humans form social groups? What do group boundaries mean? Assistant Professor of Anthropology Cristina Moya examines the symbolic and linguistic markers humans use to determine group boundaries, and investigates why they encourage certain behaviors.
Teresa Steele: Rewriting the History of Our Species
Paleoanthropologist helps excavate oldest-known human fossils — and their dinner.
Jelmer Eerkens: Mystery Solved!
Anthropology and students help identify the remains of 19th century baby Jane Doe found in San Francisco backyard.
Smriti Srinivas: Crossing Boundaries
Smriti Srinivas’ research interests are wide ranging and include cities, utopias, religion, cultural memory, cultures of performance, the body, and South Asian and Indian Ocean worlds.
