Discussion with Manvir Singh
Co-sponsored by the Berkeley Institute for Data Science and the School of Information
Join Manvir Singh for an in-person, collaborative deep dive into his topic “Universality and Diversity in Story and Song”.
Space is limited. Submit the application form to request an invitation.
The Cultural Analytics Series is a series of lunchtime talks and workshops highlighting research that focuses on the data-driven analysis of cultural phenomena.
Speaker
Manvir Singh
Manvir Singh is an assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of Anthropology. He directs the UC Davis Integrative Anthropology Lab, which combines evolutionary, cognitive, and sociocultural methods and theory to understand the nature and origins of human behavior, particularly ubiquitous sociocultural traditions such as shamanism, witchcraft, story, and music. He is also interested in ancestral social organization, drug use and mystical experiences, and evolutionary approaches to mental health.
His research is mostly built on two methods: (1) long-term ethnographic fieldwork and (2) the construction and analysis of cross-cultural databases. Since 2014, he has worked with Mentawai communities on Siberut Island, Indonesia. You can learn more about his work and projects at the lab website and his personal webpage.
Singh is also a contributing writer at The New Yorker, where he covers culture, history, and human psychology. Find his New Yorker pieces here.
Contact
If you have questions about this event, please contact Lilli Wessling Hart at lilli@berkeley.edu.