Anthropogeny, the study of human origins, is an extremely dynamic research field. The last decade has provided many new discoveries, ranging from new fossil finds, ancient DNA data, including from extinct hominins, comparative psychology in captivity and in the wild, molecular and cell biology, neuroscience, and linguistics. New methods in most of these fields and multi-disciplinary collaborations between them are providing exciting new insights into the complicated evolutionary journey that gave rise to our species. Despite this, we remain far from understanding some of the most striking human-specific characteristics: the reasons for our bipedality, the factors selecting for our dexterity at creating and using tools, the true age of fire use in our distant ancestors, the mechanisms, both social and biological, leading to our symbolic capacities, personal names, language, and shared imaginations. This symposium will feature CARTA advisory committee members and provide them the opportunity to share their visions for the future of anthropogeny. They will each highlight where they hope future efforts should be focused and what type of novel collaborations are most promising for improving our understanding of the human phenomenon. This FREE, public symposium will be live streaming and includes a LIVE Discussion and Q&A commencing ~ 3:30 p.m. (Pacific). This is an online-only event. Talks and discussions will be recorded and edited by UCSD-TV, including closed captioning, before being posted on the CARTA website in the weeks following the event. Stay Social! Facebook & Twitter
