SoS 205: Dimitris Xygalatas on Fire walking and other things that make us human

Chris and special guest co-host Courtney Manthey-Peirce interview Dimitris Xygalatas, author of Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living. Associate Professor in Anthropology and Psychological Sciences at the University of Connecticut and head of the Experimental Anthropology Lab, Dimitris is an anthropologist and cognitive scientist who studies some things that make us human – but not the obvious ones. He is interested in some of the more peculiar aspects of human nature: ritual, music, sports fanship, and other things that help people connect, cope, and live meaningful lives. Dimitris’ research combines experimental methods with ethnographic fieldwork to study human culture holistically over the last several years in Southern Europe and Mauritius. ------------------------------ Contact Dimitris: xygalatas@uconn.edu Website: xygalatas.com; Twitter: @xygalatas ------------------------------ Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association: Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Chris Lynn, HBA Public Relations Committee Chair, Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, E-mail: cdlynn@ua.edu, Twitter:@Chris_Ly Courtney Manthey-Peirce, Guest-Co-Host, Website: courtneymanthey-pierce.godaddysites.com/ E-mail: cpierce4@uccs.edu, Twitter: @HolyLaetoli Cristina Gildee, SoS producer Website: cristinagildee.org, E-mail: cgildee@uw.edu, Twitter:@CristinaGildee