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(26 Apr 2013)
Durham Anthropologist Writes Editorial for the British Medical Journal
Durham anthropologist, Professor Helen L. Ball, writes important editorial for the British Medical Journal (BMJ) concerning newborn sleeping patterns and how clinicians might better support concerned parents.
For more information see the British Medical Journal website.
(16 Apr 2013)
Anthropology Department PhD students Vicki McGowan and Erika McClure will give talks at the FUSE event in Sunderland
The FUSE Quarterly Research Meeting entitled: 'Can I have some more please Sir?' School meals: the potential to impact on inequalities and obesity' will be held in in Sunderland on Tuesday 9th April 2013; from 9:30am to 3:30pm
(8 Mar 2013)
We have places for 2013 available through UCAS Extra
UCAS Extra is a system allowing you to apply for an additional course if you are in UCAS but holding no offers. We have places for 2013 available through UCAS Extra on the following courses:
- BSc (Hons) Anthropology L601
- BA (Hons) Anthropology L602
- MAnth Master of Anthropology L622
- BSc (Hons) Health and Human Sciences (formerly Medical Anthropology) B991
- BA (Hons) Anthropology & Archaeology LF64
- BA (Hons) Anthropology & Sociology LL36
- MAnth(H&W) Master of Anthropology (Health and Well-Being) L693
To apply, please go to the UCAS website
(5 Mar 2013)
PhD Studentship Available
PhD studentship available at Durham on “Stress, life history and dental development in primates”, in collaboration with Newcastle Dental School. For more information download the Post Advert
(11 Feb 2013)
Durham Anthropologists Dr Jo Setchell and Dr Wendy Dirks of the School of Dental Sciences awarded a grant from the Leverhulme Trust
Read the full article "Anthropology meets Oral Biology in Collaboration Funded by the Leverhulme Trust" at the School of Dental Sciences website
(24 Jan 2013)
Durham Energy Institute and Durham University Anthropology Department are launching a new Masters called 'Energy and Society'
Unique among Masters programmes, the new MSc in Energy and Society emphasizes the insights that the social sciences can offer to energy and development, and vice versa.
Why?
Energy is the key driver of both ecological change and international politics. Whether it is competition for oil or the search for new energy-sources, there is now no doubt that the future development of humanity will be driven by energy resource questions. As energy becomes a political issue, it is increasingly clear that we can only understand our energy practices from a broad interdisciplinary basis that incorporates both technology and society. It is here that the greatest challenges and opportunities lie, and Durham is in prime position to train appropriately qualified graduates with its leading research in Smart Grids and Energy for Development. Promoting energy efficiency, sustainability and innovation in social and technological terms, graduates of the Masters will be in demand from industry, community organizations and governments around the world.
How?
New core modules will be delivered as intensive 4-day workshops, with preparation and assessments supported by University tutors. Core modules will be complemented by a range of optional modules, offering three main pathways through the programme: renewables, energy and development, energy research. We plan in future years to make modules available as free standing activities, that can also be built up towards a Diploma or Masters qualification.
Where and when?
The programme will be delivered by and at Durham University. It will be led by the Anthropology Department, in association with the Durham Energy Institute and its partner departments (including Engineering, Social Sciences and Humanities). It will start in Autumn 2013, with one core module in the autumn and one in the spring. Additional optional modules will be available for registered full-time Masters students. Off-site and/or distance learning options may be available later.
(17 Jan 2013)
Conference Announcement: 'Rebuilding national imaginaries, reasserting torn social fabrics: Reactions to violence and disappearance in Latin America'
We are pleased to announce that the conference “Rebuilding national imaginaries, reasserting torn social fabrics: Reactions to violence and disappearance in Latin America, an interdisciplinary approach” will be held in the anthropology department of Durham University over the 3rd and 4th July 2013. The conference seeks to take an interdisciplinary approach to the topic and combine multiple perspectives from various academic and activist experiences.
To find out more about the conference, key dates, and abstract submission please visit conference website or contact Jamie-Leigh Ruse. The call for papers will close on the 28th February 2013.
(15 Jan 2013)
Durham Anthropologist Speaks to Melvyn Bragg About 'The Value of Culture'
Dr. Jamie Tehrani, a Lecturer at the Department of Anthropology at Durham, discusses the contribution that anthropologists have made to developing and popularising the notion of "culture" over the last 150 years with Melvyn Bragg and other anthropologists in the BBC Radio 4 series 'The Value of Culture' (episode 2). The program was originally broadcast on New Year’s Day and can be downloaded on BBC iPlayer or BBC Radio 4 website.
(1 Jan 2013)
Durham social anthropologist gives plenary talk to 400 biomedical researchers and policy makers at conference in Sri Lanka
Durham social anthropologist, Professor Bob Simpson, recently gave plenary talk "What's culture got to do with biomedical research?" to 400 doctors, researchers and policy makers in Colombo, Sri Lanka at the 12th conference of the Forum for Ethical Review Committees in Asia and the Western Pacific (FERCAP). The theme of the conference was "Development, Ethnicity, Culture and Ethical Health Research". The conference initiated wide ranging debate on the ways in which the ethical review of biomedical research might incorporate different traditions of ethics, medicine and healing.
Read transcript of Bob Simpson's address at Global Health Reviewers website.
(14 Dec 2012)
Postgraduate Anthropology Open Day: 28 November 2012
28 November 2012 from 12.30pm
The Postgraduate Open Day is open to all students interested in either a taught postgraduate degree or a research degree in Anthropology at Durham University. You will have the opportunity to meet staff and students currently in the department, discuss course options and research topics.
If you would like to find out more or you are planning to attend the open day please contact our admissions secretary Paula Furness who will be able to put you in touch with an appropriate member of staff.
(20 Nov 2012)
Anthropology Sleep Exhibit a hit at Celebrate Science Festival
The Anthropology Dept’s Sleep Lab exhibit was a hit with children and their parents/grandparents visiting the Durham Celebrate Science Festival on Palace Green over 3 days of the October half term, attended by over 5,500 visitors.
Equipped with a big bed with lots of story books, Sleep Lab volunteers read bed-time stories, engaged children in producing a big chart of the age and bed-times of children visiting the exhibit, and used this to engage older children in discussion of the importance of sleep, and how to avoid sleep disruptors. Younger children took part in a competition to draw their bedrooms and played games about how long different animals sleep.
We hope to take this exhibit to the British Festival of Science in Newcastle in September 2013.
(13 Nov 2012)
Dr Sarah Elton's new book, Evolving Human Nutrition: implications for public health has just been published by Cambridge University Press.
Stanley Ulijaszek, Neil Mann and Sarah Elton, Evolving Human Nutrition: implications for public health. Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
While most of us live our lives according to the working week, we did not evolve to be bound by industrial schedules, nor did the food we eat. Despite this, we eat the products of industrialization and often suffer as a consequence.
This book considers aspects of changing human nutrition from evolutionary and social perspectives. It considers what a 'natural' human diet might be, how it has been shaped across evolutionary time and how we have adapted to changing food availability. The transition from hunter-gatherer and the rise of agriculture through to the industrialisation and globalisation of diet are explored.
Far from being adapted to a 'Stone Age' diet, humans can consume a vast range of foodstuffs. However, being able to eat anything does not mean that we should eat everything, and therefore engagement with the evolutionary underpinnings of diet and factors influencing it are key to better public health practice.
(9 Nov 2012)
Dr Iain Edgar's research featured in 'Morgenbladet'
Dr Iain Edgar's research on dreams and Jihad has been featured in the Norvegian main weekly newspaper for politics and culture, the Morgenbladet
(5 Nov 2012)
Undergraduate Fieldcourse: South Africa 2012
Durham Anthropology Field Course 2012
During September the department launched an overseas field course - the only one of its kind in the UK. Fourteen students, accompanied by Russell Hill and Matt Candea, spent 10 days in South Africa based at the Lajuma Research Centre high up within the beautiful Soutpansberg Mountains. Lajuma is the site of ongoing long-term research by the department and the field course offered a unique opportunity to reflect on fieldwork at the intersection of biological and social anthropology.
The biological aspect of the field course thus provided first-hand experience in collecting and analysing field data relating to primate behaviour and ecology, with the social anthropological elements prompting an ethnographic, reflexive view of the biological field site within its local South African context. The course opened up opportunities for new friendships and new experiences, including the practicalities of driving a minibus up a mountain pass, and we look forward to repeating the module next year!
(14 Oct 2012)
Anthropology Open Days September 2012
Come and see what Durham University is all about - we look forward to meeting you!
If you are thinking about applying to Durham University, a great way to explore the wealth of opportunities on offer is to come and visit us. We host a number of campus-wide open days and visit options throughout the year.
To find out more visit Open Days page
(27 Jul 2012)
Congratulations to Prof Robert Layton
Congratulations to Prof Robert Layton on being elected one of 38 Fellows of the British Academy for 2012, the highest UK academic honour in Humanities and Social Sciences.
(27 Jul 2012)
Lectureship Opportunities in Medical Anthropology
(9 Jun 2012) » More about Lectureship Opportunities in Medical Anthropology
We have 2012 places available through UCAS Extra
(14 May 2012) » More about Not holding any offers? We have 2012 places available through UCAS Extra
'Challenging embodied perceptions: Anthropology in practice' Workshop - 30th April &1st May 2012
(18 Apr 2012) » More about 'Challenging embodied perceptions: Anthropology in practice' Workshop - 30th April &1st May 2012
New Lectureship at Durham Anthropology
(3 Nov 2011) » More about New Lectureship at Durham Anthropology
EHBEA Conference in Durham, 25th-28th March 2012
(1 Nov 2011) » More about EHBEA Conference in Durham, 25th-28th March 2012
Durham Anthropology launches new MSc in Evolutionary Medicine programme
(3 May 2011) » More about Durham Anthropology launches new MSc in Evolutionary Medicine programme
Anthropology research profiled in 'Science'
(14 Mar 2011) » More about Anthropology research profiled in 'Science'
Jeremy Kendal, Jamie Tehrani and John Odling-Smee edit special issue of Royal Society Journal on Human Niche construction
(16 Feb 2011) » More about Jeremy Kendal, Jamie Tehrani and John Odling-Smee edit special issue of Royal Society Journal on Human Niche construction
South Asia Documentary Film Festival
(11 Nov 2010) » More about South Asia Documentary Film Festival
Modern Muslims use dreams to make major life decisions
(17 Sep 2010) » More about Modern Muslims use dreams to make major life decisions
Society for Endocrinology grant success
(30 Jul 2010) » More about Society for Endocrinology grant success
Durham Anthropology 7th in national league table
(20 May 2010) » More about Durham Anthropology 7th in national league table
Durham Doctoral Studentship Scheme Announced
(12 Dec 2009) » More about Durham Doctoral Studentship Scheme Announced
Monkeys Choose Mating Partners with Different Genes
(25 Nov 2009) » More about Monkeys Choose Mating Partners with Different Genes
Fear of Discrimination saw Paddys and Biddys Decline
(21 Oct 2009) » More about Fear of Discrimination saw Paddys and Biddys Decline
Frances Larson's New Book Published to Wide Acclaim
(21 Sep 2009) » More about 'An Infinity of Things: How Sir Henry Wellcome Collected the World', OUP 2009, By Frances Larson
Young Afghans suffer violence and stress, not just related to war
(21 Aug 2009) » More about Young Afghans suffer violence and stress, not just related to war
New Centre for the Coevolution of Biology and Culture
(12 Aug 2009) » More about New Centre for the Coevolution of Biology and Culture
Four Interdisciplinary PhD Studentships Announced
(12 Jul 2009) » More about Four Interdisciplinary PhD Studentships Announced
Common Fish Species Has 'Human-Like' Ability to Learn
(12 Jun 2009) » More about Common Fish Species Has 'Human-Like' Ability to Learn
Anthropology Research Profiled in Science
(12 May 2009) » More about Anthropology Research Profiled in Science
Business Anthropology Article Receives Management Award
(12 May 2009) » More about Business Anthropology Article Receives Management Award
Durham's Interdisciplinary Research Ambitions Highlighted in Times Higher
(12 Jan 2009) » More about Durham's Interdisciplinary Research Ambitions Highlighted in Times Higher
Durham University - Anthropology Hits the Road
Read full article on Times Higher Education website.
(12 Sep 2008)
Use Buzzwords to be Cited, Study Suggests
Read full article on Times Higher Education website
(12 Aug 2008)
Night Dreams Inspire al-Qaeda and Taliban Towards Jehad
Read full article on Malaysia Sun website
(12 Jun 2008)
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Red is the Colour of Success
Want to know the hidden impact colour has on your life? Dr Russell Hill appeared on the BBC2 programme Horizion to explain the amazing effects of the colour red.
Mandrill makes 'pedicure' tool
Watch Dr Jan De Ruiter dicuss how monkeys may be more intelligent than previously thought on ITV Tyne Tees.
Modern Muslims Use Dream to Make Major Life Decisions
Dr Iain Edgar's research showed "Dream interpretation in Islam is a spiritual way of divining the future and submitting oneself to the personal unconscious and the will of Allah".
Mothers’ Hard Work Pays Off with Big Brains for Their Babies
Brain growth in babies is linked to the amount of time and energy mothers 'invest', according to new research by the Anthropology department.
Monkeys Choose Mating Partners with Different Genes
This research led by Dr Jo Setchell supports the disputed theory that humans are attracted to those with a dissimilar genetic make up to maintain genetic diversity.
How Does Anthropology Apply to the Real World?
Want to know more about how Anthropology applies to the real world? Watch this short video.