The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour: Summer Conference
The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex
2-4 September 2009
St. John’s College, University of Oxford
Celebrating Darwin’s theory of sexual selection on the bicentenary of his birth.
Background
Two hundred years ago a man was born who would revolutionise biology by providing the field with a powerful and overarching unifying theory based on organic evolution. This man was Charles Darwin. Darwin’s evolutionary theory enabled biologists to make sense of variation and complexity at multiple levels, including behaviour. It also prompted a broader cultural revolution, changing drastically the way society viewed a range of topics including philosophy, religion and sex. Indeed, a cornerstone of Darwinian theory regarded the evolution of sexual traits.
In 1871 Charles Darwin published “The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex” in which he tackled two outstanding issues of his evolutionary theory: human evolution, and the evolution of exaggerated sexual traits, using a revolutionary conceptual framework: sexual selection. Since Darwin's original proposal, a unitary theory has been constructed that successfully explains much of the bewildering variation in sex differences and sexual behaviour across and within species. Sexual selection theory is now recognised as a cornerstone of evolutionary biology, and one its fastest-growing and most intellectually dynamic areas. While modern understanding of sexual selection has changed considerably from its original Darwinian form, Darwin's intuition of sexual selection remains one of his most influential and enduring legacies.
The scope of this summer conference is to celebrate the bicentenary of Darwin's birth, by promoting discussion on sexual selection in humans and other organisms. The conference will do this in two ways.
First, we will cover major recent developments in this rapidly-growing field by hosting a combination of plenaries from leaders in the field and research talks presenting novel work.
Second, we will celebrate the cultural revolution catalysed by Darwinian theory with a special event at the Oxford University Natural History Museum. This museum witnessed the very first debate on Darwinian theory in which Huxley and Wilberforce famously crossed swords and represents an ideal venue to consider Darwin’s legacies 200 years from his birth.
Plenary speakers include:
- Suzanne Alonzo (Yale University)
Mating systems and reproductive strategies - Clive Catchpole (Royal Holloway, University of London)
Sexual selection and bird song - Dave Hosken (University of Exeter)
Sexual selection and sexual conflict - Geoffrey Miller (University of New Mexico)
Sexual selection in humans - Tristram Wyatt (University of Oxford)
Sexual selection and pheromones
Conference format:
- 10 speaker sessions
- Multiple poster sessions
- Special event at the Oxford University Natural History Museum
- Conference banquet
Organisers: Tom Pizzari, Julie Collet, Becky Dean, Claire Harvey, Stuart Wigby, & Tobias Uller
Important Information
Conference programme (Final version)
Registration
Key dates
- Deadline for abstract submission- 19 July 2009
- Deadline for full registration
- Early birds: 15 March - 31 May 2009
- Late registrations: 1 June - 17 August 2009
- Conference dates - 2nd-4th September 2009.
Getting here
The conference will be held in St. John's College, at Oxford.
St. John's College
St. Giles
Oxford
Oxfordshire
OX1 3JPPhone: +44 (0)1865 277300
For directions to St John's please visit the St John's collection of maps or the Google map.
Accomodation
Funding to attend the conference
Student members of ASAB can apply for funding to cover travel, accomodation and registration at any of the ASAB conferences held each year. Full details of how to apply are available here. If you are not already a member of ASAB and would like to join, you can find out more about ASAB and how to join by visiting our website.
More information about ASAB
To know more about ASAB please visit the ASAB website