THE GEORGE AND MARY FOSTER LECTURE
IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

This lectureship was endowed with an anonymous gift to honor the anthropological careers of George and Mary Foster, both of whom received their Ph.D. degrees from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1990, George Foster received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Southern Methodist University.

Spring 2009:

What Darwin Found Convincing: A New Look at his Human and Non-Human Data

Dr. William Durham
Bing Professor in Human Biology
Department of Anthropology
Stanford University

Spring 2008:

Premodern Kinship in Postmodern Guise?
The Chinese Lineage Under Colonialism,
Communinism, and Capitalism

Dr. James L. Watson
Fairbank Professor of Chinese Society and Professor of Anthropology
Department of Anthropology
Harvard University

SPRING 2007:

Excusing the Haves and Blaming the Have-Nots
in Jared Diamond’s Histories

Dr. Deborah Gewertz
G.Henry Whitcomb Professor of Anthropology

Department of Anthropology
Amherst College

Spring 2006:

AFTERMATH: CALCULATING THE SOCIAL COSTS
DISASTERS AND RECONSTRUCTION

Anthony Oliver-Smith
Professor of Anthropology
University of Florida

Spring 2005:

WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS:
PARENTS WHO KILL THEIR CHILDREN

Jill Korbin
Professor of Anthropology, Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences
Case Western Reserve University

Spring 2004:

THE VISION OF THE LIMITED GOOD AND
THE SPECTER OF THE UNLIMITED GOOD

June Nash
Distinguished Professor of Anthropology Emerita
City College and Graduate Center, CUNY

Spring 2003:

CULTURAL BELIEFS AND CANCER RISK FACTORS:
A STUDY OF PERCEPTIONS OF HISPANIC AND ANGLO WOMEN AND PHYSICIANS

Leo Chavez
Director of Chicano/Latino Studies
University of California, Irvine

Spring 2002:

THE CUBAN HEALTH EXPERIMENT AT THE 21ST CENTURY

Linda M. Whiteford
Department of Anthropology
University of South Florida

Spring 2001:

DEMOCRATIZATION AND CULTURE CHANGE
IN POST-FRANCO SPAIN

David D. Gilmore
Department of Anthropology
SUNY- Stonybrook

THE FRED WENDORF DISTINGUISHED LECTURE SERIES IN ARCHAEOLOGY

Fall 2009:

Jane E. Buikstra

Professor of Anthropology
Director, Center for Bioarchaeological Research
Arizona State University

 

Fall 2008:

THE ORIGINS OF AGRICULTURE - EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Bruce D. Smith
Curator of Anthropology
National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution

 

Fall 2007:

IN PRAISE OF "OLDER" WOMEN:
WOMEN'S WORK AND WOMEN'S LIVES 25,000 YEARS AGO

Olga Soffer
Professor of Anthropology
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Fall 2006:

THOSE ELUSIVE SPANISH MISSIONS:
ROMANCE AND REALITY IN AMERICA’S MYTHICAL MISSION PAST

David Hurst Thomas
Curator of Anthropology
American Museum of Natural History

 

Fall 2005:

CO-EVOLUTION OF WAR AND SOCIETY IN ANCIENT MEXICO

Joyce Marcus
Robert L. Carneiro Distinguished University Professor
University of Michigan

 

Fall 2004:

FROM CHIEFDOM TO ARCHAIC STATE:
SOCIAL EVOLUTION IN ANCIENT HAWAI’I

Patrick V. Kirch
Class of 1954 Professor of Anthropology
University of California, Berkeley

The Anthro Club also sponsors a number of events over the course of the academic year, most notably the annual "Pig Roast" held each Spring semester. Now an institution within the department, the "Pig Roast" consists of a special guest lecture chosen each year by either the archaeology or anthropology side of the department. These lectures have succeeded in bringing to SMU some of the most interesting and provocative researchers in these fields to SMU.