Integrative Anthropology Lab
We're a new lab directed by Manvir Singh and based in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Davis. Our work combines evolutionary, cognitive, and sociocultural theory and methods to understand the the nature of human behavior and its evolutionary and psychological origins.
Some of our core research topics include:
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the nature and origins of magic and religion (including witchcraft, shamanism, and beliefs in supernatural punishment)
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cross-cultural patterns in aesthetic behaviors (especially music and story) and their evolutionary and psychological origins
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the origins of norms and social institutions (e.g., justice)
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drug use and mystical experiences across societies
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higher-level cultural evolutionary theory
We use a diversity of tools, but we prioritize two: long-term ethnographic fieldwork and the construction and analysis of cross-cultural datasets.
Our mascot is Thoth.