Sussman to outline critical role of culture in understanding society

“The anthropological concept of culture is extremely important and often misunderstood because many of the things that are assumed to be biologically determined, like criminality or homosexuality or IQ, are really behaviorally and societally defined,” says WUSTL physical anthropologist Robert W. Sussman, and it forms the basis for his Phi Beta Kappa/Sigma Xi Lecture, “The Importance of the Concept of Culture to Science and Society,” the next Assembly Series program held at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 9.

The role of food in American culture

The role of food, and of meals shared and meals denied in the struggle for American citizenship, will be the topic of Rafia Zafar’s Phi Beta Kappa Lecture at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, in Lab Sciences, Room 300. This Assembly Series event, the final one for this academic year, is free and open to the public.