The World As It Was

April 30-May 2, 2008

CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street Room S250, Cambridge, MA (Map)

A small discussion meeting to focus on comparing societies without state governments or before the rise of state governments to societies with state governments. Will also discuss whether historical societies with states were like modern societies with states.
Agenda
Wednesday, April 3
Session 1: 9am-12pm
The Human Life Cycle: Childhood and Old Age
Barry Hewlett (University of Washington) and Kristen Hawkes (University of Utah
Session 2: 1pm-4pm
Inventiveness, Creativity, Morality, and Cognition
Jean Ensminger(California Institute of Technology) and Richard Nisbett (University of Michigan
Session 3: 6-9pm
Sources of Societal Variation
Tim Earle (Northwestern University)
Thursday, May 1
Session 4: 9am-12pm
Adaptation to Change
Joseph Kalt (Harvard University
Session 5: 1pm-4pm
Risk-taking
Bruce Winterhalder (University of California, Davis
Session 6: 6pm-9pm
The Present as a Model for the Past
Melvin Konner (Emory University)
Friday, May
Session 7: 9am-12pm
Religion and Multi-lingualism
Robert McKinley (Michigan State University) and David Laitin (Stanford University
Session 8: 1pm-3pm
What can we learn from Traditional Societies?
Jared Diamond (University of California, Los Angeles)

April 30, 9am-5pm; May 1, 9am-3pm; May 2, 9am-3pm. This is an invitation-only conference.