Events and Colloquia
IPEM: IGERT Program in Evolutionary Modeling
Thursday, October 9, 2008 3:30-5:00pm in Murrow 53 / CL 116
Dr. Tim Kohler presents: Overview of Modeling Efforts in the Village Ecodynamics Project
The Village Ecodynamics Project (VEP) studies Pueblo societies in Southwest Colorado between A.D. 600 and their departure from the northern Southwest around A.D. 1280, with emphasis on describing and explaining the history of village formation (including village locations and durability), warfare and the 13th century depopulation. He begins with a descriptive model (of the Neolithic Demographic Transition) that locates these societies in the larger framework of the southwestern Neolithic. He then proceeds to an overview of the agent-based model, "Village," with which we have been trying to understand what drives site location and site size dynamics through these 700 years. This model makes it possible to approach some non-traditional questions on site locational choices, including a preliminary attempt to assess the degree to which settlement location appears to be optimal with respect to four key resources. Finally, time permitting, he will close by briefly presenting a systems-model, developed by ecologist Pete Turchin, that purports to explain the relationship between population size and warfare, and assessing its fit to VEP data from SW Colorado.
------FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3 - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19
Wrapped in Tradition: The Chihuly Collection of Native American Trade Blankets,
<http://www.wsu.edu/artmuse/exhibitionschedule.html> Museum of Art.
Wrapped in Tradition includes 80 vintage Native American trade blankets from the personal collection of the master of glass, Dale Chihuly. Also on view will be numerous pieces of original art from Chihuly's Blanket Cylinder series, which vividly invokes the blankets' unique texture, patterns, and colors. A third component of the exhibition showcases vintage examples of Native American baskets from WSU's Museum of Anthropology. The resulting display conveys a rich cross-cultural dialogue between an innovative contemporary artist, commercial craftsmanship, and Native American traditions.
Museum of Art Director, Chris Bruce said, "Aside from the obvious opportunity to view a famous artist's personal collection, this exhibition is an example of the value of cross-cultural experiences.
There is a proven maxim that innovations often occur when the practitioner is open to encounters with new and unexpected influences. Think of Van Gogh and Japanese prints, Picasso and African sculpture, or Lichtenstein and comics. Dale Chihuly has spent a lifetime surrounding himself with all kinds of materials outside his specific field: old toys and rare books, masks from all over the world, historical photographs and other artist's work and, in this case, Native American baskets and trade blankets. The result in his own art is not direct influences, but rather constant, changing sources of inspiration and reminders to think out of the box."
Artist Dale Chihuly, born in 1941, lives and works in Seattle. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington, a master's from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and a master of fine arts from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). In 1969 he established the glass program at RISD, where he taught full-time for more than a decade. He cofounded Pilchuck Glass School near Stanwood, Washington, in 1971.
Seminar and Club Info
- IPEM: IGERT Program in Evolutionary Modeling Seminar Series
- Evolutionary Anthropology Journal Club
- Anthropology Graduate Organization
- Undergraduate Anthropology Club