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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
CAHSS to Host Intellectual Conversations on “Migration,” Jan. 19
James E. Doan, Ph.D.
NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) is pleased to again host its Intellectual Conversations on Thurs., Jan. 19. This is the first in the winter series titled, “Migration.” This event will feature James Doan, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Literature and Modern Languages (CAHSS) and Emily Schmitt Lavin, Ph.D., Professor and Chair in the Department of Biological Sciences (Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography.) They will discuss “Hominin Migrations Past and Present.”
The conversation will be held from noon – 1 p.m. in the Cotilla Gallery on the Second Floor of the Alvin Sherman Library on NSU’s Fort Lauderdale/Davie. The event is free and open to the public.
Migrations have defined hominins, including our species, Homo sapiens, and shaped our evolutionary history. Beginning as early as 1.8 million years ago, our ancestor, Homo erectus, began migrating out of the African homeland into the Middle East, the Caucasus and eventually East Asia. Later migrants include Neanderthal man (Homo neanderthalensis) and Denisovan man (Homo sapiens ssp. Denisova), who seem to have followed a similar trajectory, with the former also claiming much of Europe, and the latter settling in the Altai Mountains and probably further east. In addition, we find intercrossing among all these species, including interbreeding, with the result that most of the world’s population displays a small percentage of Nenderthal and/or Denisovan ancestry. Off all these species, Homo sapiens has proven to be the most adaptable, ranging over the entire planet and our migrations may take us even farther in the future. It is becoming increasingly clear that migrations define us, shape our history and will determine our future.