As the study of human cultural evolution matures, field sites will increasingly have a role to play, just as they have in the study of genetic and cultural evolution in nonhuman species. Progress, however, may not be easy due to complex intellectual histories and disciplinary norms. Cultural anthropology and sociology, the two most field-oriented disciplines in the human behavioral sciences, have been among the most avoidant of evolutionary theory. In other branches of the human behavioral sciences, the bulk of research is conducted on college students in the laboratory without any reference to their cultures or everyday lives.

The newly formed Cultural Evolution Society (CES) is in a unique position to facilitate the creation of field sites around the world. Prosocial World is therefore pleased to feature two essays on the topic by David Sloan Wilson, an evolutionary biologist by training, and Harvey Whitehouse, a social anthropologist by training. Together with commentaries by authors with diverse perspectives on field research, we hope to catalyze the formation of field sites for the study of cultural evolution around the world.

Developing the Field Site Concept for the Study of Cultural Evolution:
An Evolutionary Biologist’s View, David Sloan Wilson

Developing the Field Site Concept for the Study of Cultural Evolution:
An Anthropologist’s View, Harvey Whitehouse