In the Light of Evolution: The Human Condition
Organized by John C. Avise and Francisco J. Ayala
December 10-12, 2009
Irvine, CA
Meeting Overview:
The year of Darwinian celebration will close with a Sackler Colloquium devoted expressly to human evolution. Darwin addressed the topic at length in The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871). Much has been learned since then, not least from the evidence of paleontology, comparative vertebrate biology, and comparative genomics. This Sackler Colloquium brought together leading biologists with special expertise about human evolution, both biological and cultural.
Video Available
Opening Addresses
John C. Avise, University of California, Irvine
The Four Great Books of Darwin
Edward O. Wilson, Harvard University
Session I: Human History and the Paleontological Record
Evolution of the Hominids
Bernard Wood, George Washington University
The Evolution of Human Life History
Kristen Hawkes, University of Utah
Neandertals, Archaic Homo sapiens, and the erectus grade in Europe and Asia
Juan Luis Arsuaga, Universidad Complutense, Madrid
Peopling the Planet: Out of Africa?
Douglas Wallace, University of California, Irvine
Human Population Diversity
Anna DiRienzo, University of Chicago
Session II: Structure and Function of the Human Genome
Chair, Kristen Hawkes, University of Utah
Paleo-demography from Extant Genetics
Sarah Tishkoff, University of Pennsylvania
Comparative Genomics: Humans, Chimps, and Other Primates
Mark A. Batzer, Louisiana State University
Genomic Footprints of Natural Selection
Carlos Bustamante, Cornell University
Phylogenomic evidence of adaptive evolution in the recent ancestry of Humans
Morris Goodman, Wayne State University
Banquet Lecture
Introduction, Francisco J. Ayala, University of California, Irvine
Non-intelligent Design: Inside the Human Genome
John C. Avise, University of California, Irvine
Session III: The Uniqueness of Being Human
Chair, Sarah Tishkoff, University of Pennsylvania
The Skin That Makes Us Human
Nina Jablonski, Pennsylvania State University
Uniquely Human Changes in Sialic Acid Biology
Ajit P. Varki, University of California, San Diego
How Cultures Evolve
Peter J. Richerson, University of California, Davis
The Difference of Being Human
Francisco J. Ayala, University of California, Irvine
Session IV: Cultural Evolution
Chair, Francisco J. Ayala, University of California, Irvine
Whence Intelligence?
Leda Cosmides, University of California, Santa Barbara
Whence Language?
Terrence Deacon, University of California, Berkeley
Evolution of the Mind
Steven Pinker, Harvard University
