Durham Cultural Evolution Research Centre
About Durham Cultural Evolution Research Centre
We are a highly interdisciplinary group of researchers using evolutionary models to study cultural change and diversity.
About Our Research
Our research involves observational studies, experiments, analyses of large secondary datasets, phylogenetic methods and mathematical modelling.
We are a welcoming and outward-facing group, meeting regularly to discuss current topics and articles in cultural evolution in an informal, friendly environment. We welcome new members from a wide range of disciplines with interests that may intersect with the field of cultural evolution – please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our Co-Directors (Dr Sheina Lew-Levy & Dr Bruce Rawlings) if you would like to join the group, give a talk or just find out more about us.
The Centre has strong links with the Cultural Evolution Society (CES), of which Professor Rachel Kendal was president from 2018 to 2020. We are hosting the CES 2024 conference, September 9-11. Please follow the DCERC X/Twitter and Bluesky accounts for details on the conference, including abstract submission.
The CES conference will be followed by the CES Capstone conference (12-13 September) to highlight the achievements of awardees and the results of the CES transformation fund. There will be more information on this conference soon.
DCERC members are co-editing the first cultural evolution handbook: Tehrani J, Kendal JR, Kendal RL. (In Progress). The Handbook of Cultural Evolution. Oxford University Press, as well as an open-access textbook on Evolution, Culture and Human Behaviour, produced in collaboration with the European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association.
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Get in Touch
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our Co-Directors (Dr Sheina Lew-Levy & Dr Bruce Rawlings) if you have any questions.
Contact Us
Durham Cultural Evolution Research Centre (DCERC)
Durham University
South Road
Durham, DH1 3LE
United Kingdom
Tel. +44 (0)191 334 1630