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9/23/2004 12:19:00 AM

Scientia series to examine origins of violence

The desire for peace and tranquility may run deep in the human spirit, but conflict, violence and war have been nearly ubiquitous hallmarks of mankind’s past. This year’s Scientia series, titled “Conflict, Violence and War,” will examine the nature and origins of violent conflict, not only in modern-day warfare and throughout human history but in its evolutionary roots within other animal species.

Evolutionary biologist Joan Strassmann will give the first lecture in the 2004-05 series, presenting “Conflict and Violence in Animals” at 4 p.m. Sept. 28 in McMurtry Auditorium, Anne and Charles Duncan Hall.

In the abstract of her lecture, Strassman wrote: Conflict is intrinsic to natural selection, but how often does it take the form of behavioral violence among individuals? Violence can be common in specific social systems. A female chimp severely wounds a male introduced into the group. A mother egret stands on the edge of her nest ignoring the fatal pummeling her second-hatched chick gives her third-hatched chick. A speckled wood butterfly backs off without fighting when he sees the territory is already occupied. Is violence a breakdown in the social system or an evolved part of it? Do social conventions increase or decrease the likelihood of violence? What can understanding these conventions and their failure tell us about behavioral violence and our own prospects for avoiding it?

Throughout the lecture series, speakers will examine a spectrum extending from the appearance of violence in images to the occurrence of competition versus cooperation in gaming and bargaining experiments. The series will look at the causes and possible purposes of violent behavior as well as what might be done to contain violence in the future.

Scientia, an institute of Rice University faculty, was founded in 1981 by the mathematician and historian of science Salomon Bochner. Scientia provides an opportunity for scholarly discussion across disciplinary boundaries; its members and fellows come from a wide range of academic disciplines.

The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, visit <www.ruf.rice.edu/~scientia>.