This past weekend, the SMC Anthropology Club under the supervision of professors Brewster and Melendez traveled to San Diego. On the Friday, we attended the CARTA symposium at UCSD entitled “Extraordinary Variations of the Human Mind: Lessons for Anthropogeny”. The speakers discussed their research on various conditions that affect the human mind and the insights we can gain from their work. The topics explored conditions as diverse as autism, Williams syndrome, savant syndrome, synaethesia, amusia and musical savantism.
On the Saturday, we visited the San Diego Zoo. This zoo sets the gold standard that other zoos endeavor to emulate. Each exhibit is carefully thought out and strives to mimic the natural habitats of their various species. As anthropology students, the highlight for us were the primates. The complex behaviors on display by groups as diverse as capuchins and gorillas, reminds us of our shared evolutionary history. What more perfect coda to a weekend that began with an exploration of the human mind.
Here a few photos I snapped on our visit to the zoo.
