Anthropology | Penn Today

Conservatism Took Hold Here 1,000 Years Ago. Until the People Fled.

Joseph “Woody” Aguilar of the School of Arts and Sciences discussed historical changes in the role of kivas, round ceremonial spaces, in Puebloan architecture.

A virtual world for an ancient society

Anthropologist Clark Erickson has made a career of studying humans’ effect on their physical landscapes—past and present.

Zora Neale Hurston’s ‘Barracoon’ Tells the Story of the Slave Trade’s Last Survivor

Deborah Thomas of the School of Arts and Sciences discussed novelist Zora Neale Hurston’s lesser-known work “debunking scientific racism” in the field of anthropology.

Revealing Penn Museum’s Middle East treasures

Objects that trace the path of human history—from the era of hunting and gathering to the creation of cities—are on display in the Museum’s new Middle East Galleries.

When ancient technology and high-tech robots intersect

In one Penn lab, a stone-sculpting machine is helping archaeologists solve long-held mysteries of very old tools.

There’s No Scientific Basis for Race—It's a Made-Up Label

Paul Wolff Mitchell of the School of Arts and Sciences, PIK Professor Sarah Tishkoff and Yana Kamberov of the Perelman School of Medicine discussed race and genetics. Skulls from Samuel Morton collection in the Penn Museum are also featured.

Opening the Teach-in by breaking down barriers

The first full day of the Penn Teach-in engaged participants with expert panels on vaccine denial and firearm violence, an "evolutionary walk through time," and a dialogue on the production and dissemination of knowledge.

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