Culture evolves

• 9.00am – 5.00pm on 28 June 2010 – 30 June 2010
• Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre

Organised by Professor Andrew Whiten FBA, Professor Robert Hinde FRS, Professor Christopher Stringer FRS and Professor Kevin Laland  

In partnership with The British Academy

The capacity for culture is a product of biological evolution - yet culture itself can also evolve, generating cultural phylogenies. This highly interdisciplinary joint meeting with the British Academy will address new discoveries and controversies illuminating these phenomena, from the roots of culture in the animal kingdom to human, cultural evolutionary trees and the cognitive adaptations shaping our special cultural nature.

The speakers and chairs include Professor Sir Patrick Bateson FRS, Dr Mark Collard, Professor Gergely Csibra, Professor Francesco d’Errico, Professor Uta Frith FBA FRS, Professor Luc-Alain Giraldeau, Professor Naama Goren-Inbar, Professor Russell Gray, Professor Paul Harris FBA, Dr Joe Henrich, Professor Barry Hewlett, Professor Robert Hinde CBE FBA FRS, Professor Kevin Laland, Dr Derek Lyons, Professor Ruth Mace FBA, Professor William McGrew, Professor Sir Paul Mellars FBA, Dr Marta Mirazon Lahr, Professor Mark Pagel, Professor Susan Perry, Dr Simon Reader, Dr Luke Rendell, Professor Sir Colin Renfrew FBA, Dr Hélène Roche, Garry Runciman FBA, Professor Stephen Shennan FBA, Professor Tore Slagsvold, Dr Dietrich Stout, Professor Chris Stringer FRS, Dr Alex Thornton, Professor Carel van Schaik and Professor Andrew  Whiten FBA.

This meeting is part of See Further: The Festival of Science + Arts, celebrating 350 years of the Royal Society. This unique ten-day festival filling every corner of London’s Southbank Centre, features the Royal Society’s annual Summer Science Exhibition and a host of cross-disciplinary collaborations, including music, dance, comedy, discussion, film, literature and art. See seefurtherfestival.org for more details.

This discussion meeting is intended for researchers in relevant fields and is free to attend, but pre-registration online is essential. 

The proceedings of this meeting have now been published in a dedicated issue of Philosophical Transactions B. 

Note that changes to the programme are possible on the day.