Tuesday, September 14th 2010
This is the fourth and final installment chronicling my visit to the Mogielica Human Ecology Study Site this summer. Here are parts one, two and three.
After our lumber adventure, we get cleaned up and start the multi-stage process of getting back to Krakow. I had planned on staying another night, until we discovered that the following day was a holiday and the buses wouldn’t be running. Heidi got a room in a hostel for her, Laura and I and we had a nice, relaxing afternoon drinking smoothies and talking (a good chunk of which involved me telling my birth story with Joan). Then Andrzej joined us and we did a little shopping at the new mall – I can’t go anywhere without looking for something for Joan – and then to a lingering, extravagant dinner at a very nice restaurant. We had kompot, which is water steeped in fruit and sugar, often plums and cherries. I had Lithuanian beet soup – it was exactly the way my grandmother used to make it. Then I got a salad with duck, orange and these lovely, dark pistachios. Laura found a friendly green caterpillar in her salad so it was on the house. Then Laura and I ordered dessert, which we all shared, and Andrzej and Heidi got some prosecco to celebrate his birthday. We lingered over Laura’s chocolate ice cream with liquer and cherries, and my mascarpone mousse and strawberries.
Laura and I headed back to the hostel soon after, for Heidi and Andrzej are made of tougher stuff. The hostel was a decent one, and even though I was horribly sticky from the hot, humid, motionless air, I slept well.
* * *
The next day all the shops were closed for a holiday, but we had a nice time wandering around, checking into my hotel, sitting in tea shops and reading. We met Ilona at Chlopskie Jadlo and I had wonderful golombki, or stuffed cabbage – they were able to make me a gluten free mushroom sauce that was amazing, and I don’t even like mushrooms. Ilona’s little son Karol was adorable and smiley and silly, a four and a half month old bundle of love. He made my heart ache for my Joan.
After that, Laura and Heidi had to go back to the field site, and Ilona had to take Karol home. I went back to my room and worked all night and into the morning.
* * *
The next day I worked all morning, showered, went out to lunch, shopped for my family, worked some more, then had one last tea with Ilona at Bunkier. Bunkier is a great café that is outdoors but protected by an awning – we were grateful for this as there were terrible thunderstorms – and faces the planty, the green space that surrounds the stare miasto, or old town. Bunkier is also quite kid friendly, with sandboxes and toys along the edge of the café.
Ilona and I had a wonderful time talking about work, children, our future plans. Ilona is so smart and funny, and though we hadn’t seen each other in five years we picked up where we left off, an easy, comfortable friendship.
I had wanted to do just a little more shopping, but everything was closed by the time we finished. My laptop was calling, and the rain was cold, so I gladly went back to my room to work.
The next morning I caught the five am train to the airport (which was not without incident, as I dropped my wallet on the walk over and didn’t realize until I got on the train. I had to retrace my steps at a full run with all my luggage, and made it back to the train just in time). I otherwise had a very boring trip home, thinking of the family waiting for me almost every waking hour.
Even though it was a short trip, my time in the field was invaluable. I learned a lot about how things have changed, how they haven’t; I renewed friendships; I explored the practicalities of my future project plans. I did all the things I couldn’t have done by phone or email, and this year’s grants and next year’s projects will be the better for it.
But it’s good, really good, to be home.
Monday, September 13th 2010
The “Around the Web” series highlights informative websites, and also targeted blog posts and news articles, relevant to the courses I teach. This semester I teach Anth 143: Biology of Human Behavior, an introductory-level course that covers the basics of evolution, behavioral biology, and the interaction of biology and culture. My hope is that these posts are useful not only for my current students, but other people hoping to gain background or insight into these topics.
There are a few good resources out there, and numerous news article and blog posts, on sexual selection.
First, of course, there is the PBS Evolution series, where you can view parts of the Why Sex? film and even play some games to teach you about evolution and sexual selection. Go here for the main page, and here for the Why Sex?-specific page.
Next are two wonderful lectures by Professor Stephen Stearns at Yale University. I was lucky enough to take one class with him when I was a graduate student myself. His two lectures are The Evolution of Sex and Sexual Selection.
Here is a blog post reviewing the most common hypotheses regarding the evolution of human breasts (hint: it may involve sexual selection!).
This is another one from Greg Laden’s Falsehood series, entitled “Falsehood: A baby is not the biological offspring of its adoptive mother.” This bleeds into content about parenting, but I think it’s important for us to not see sexual selection and reproductive fitness in black and white terms.
And now a few good ones from Ed Yong, author of Not Exactly Rocket Science: Male water striders summon predators to blackmail females into having sex. This post looks at recent work on male water strider behavior to acquire matings with females. This will also be relevant when we talk about sexual coercion later. Female birds breed better in captivity if they see sexy males. Also a fun read! This post highlights work on attempts to increase the breeding success of captive Houbara bustard. This is an important example of the ways in which behavior can impact physiology, a causal relationship that we often assume to only go the other way (for instance, that testosterone causes aggression).
Wednesday, September 8th 2010
The “Around the Web” series highlights informative websites, and also targeted blog posts and news articles, relevant to the courses I teach. This semester I teach Anth 143: Biology of Human Behavior, an introductory-level course that covers the basics of evolution, behavioral biology, and the interaction of biology and culture. My hope is that these posts are useful not only for my current students, but other people hoping to gain background or insight into these topics.
This week I wanted to share a few cool TED talks and other links to introduce you to our closest relatives and the methods of behavioral ecology. These should be useful for Anth 143 students at the University of Illinois, but also anyone hoping to learn more about biological anthropology.
Robert Sapolsky’s TED talk on the uniqueness of humans. Always engaging and fun, and will give you a perspective on primate field work, why humans are special, and why they are not.
Jane Goodall’s TED talk on a similar topic, what separates us from the apes. Also engaging, and it has a full interactive transcript.
Ed Yong at Not Exactly Rocket Science shows us that even non-primate species pass on cultural traditions. This also hints to us that humans, and even primates, aren’t necessarily unique-ier (to use Sapolsky’s term) than other animals.
Here is a podcast by author Vanessa Woods and blogger/anthropologist Greg Laden covering new book Bonobo Handshake and the falsehood of primitive cultures.
A cool PLoS paper that just came out on bonobo versus chimpanzee cognitive abilities. An important read since they’re our two closest relatives. Plus, one of the authors Brian Hare is featured in Ape Genius, which we watch later in the semester in Anth 143.
And remember, you can see all the relevant articles I retweet from my @KateClancy account by following the hashtag #anth143.
