Anthropology

Some scholars still believe that romantic love was invented by European troubadours in the Middle Ages, and that people outside of the western tradition don’t really experience it. Ted Fischer, professor of anthropology, decided to test that theory. The verdict? Everybody loves. Read More

When an Aztec child was born, soothsayers would consult the birth almanacs contained in codices to determine the most auspicious date to initiate the child into the Aztec community. Read More

Tiffiny Tung, associate professor of anthropology, is on familiar terms with the dead. She may not know their names, but she can tell you a surprising amount of information about how they lived—and even, on occasion, how they died. Read More

Economic prospects improved for small mountain farmers in Guatemala when consumers developed a taste for coffee brewed with beans grown at high altitude, according to a new study from the Vanderbilt Institute for Coffee Studies. Read More

Archaeological sites that currently take years to map will be completed in minutes if tests of the Semi-autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle system being developed at Vanderbilt University go well. Read More

Vanderbilt archaeologist Tiffiny Tung leads students to Peru where they assist in groundbreaking research into the Wari culture, a society that existed over 1500 years ago. Tung is the recipient of the 2011-12 Chancellor’s Cup.  The award is given annually for “the greatest contribution outside the classroom to undergraduate student-faculty… Read More

This Week on VUCast, Vanderbilt’s online newscast: How country music stars are “lifting lives“ Vanderbilt archaeologist leads students on skull sessions See what Vanderbilt is blowing up! [vucastblurb]… Read More

Watch video of Mareike Sattler, senior lecturer, Anthropology Department, and Avery Dickins de Girón, assistant director of the Center for Latin American Studies, speaking at the Osher Lifelong Learning class, “Apocalypse Now? Modern Maya and Ancient Prophecies”. This seminar introduces students to Maya culture from ancient to modern times. Maya people… Read More

Francis Fukuyama, Stanford professor and author of The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution, will be available to media immediately following his hour-long talk on Tuesday, Nov. 15, that begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Vanderbilt Law School’s Flynn Auditorium. Read More

Watch video of Edward Fischer, professor of anthropology and director of the Center for Latin American Studies, speaking at the Commencement 2011 Faculty Seminars. Professor Fischer has an impressive list of scholarly articles and has written or edited seven books, including Cultural Logics and Global Economies: Maya Identity in Thought and… Read More

Tom D. Dillehay, internationally recognized for ground-breaking and highly interdisciplinary scientific research, has been named the Rebecca Webb Wilson University Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Religion and Culture at Vanderbilt University. Read More