Biological Anthropology at the
University of Southern California

USC's anthropology department is best known for its nationally prominent program in visual anthropology. There is, however, also a Ph.D. program in biological anthropology with a special emphasis in primatology. Because the two primary faculty members of the program, Craig Stanford and Christopher Boehm, are most interested in the social behavior and ecology of the African great apes - the chimpanzee, bonobo, and gorilla - this is the area in which all of the current graduate students in the program are working. This tight focus has allowed us to conduct some very interesting research into the behavior of great apes and their implications for the origins of behavior in early hominids. Our current crop of graduate student thesis projects range from a field study of the influence of testosterone on the social behavior of wild male chimpanzees (Martin Muller, in Kibale National Park, Uganda) to an action plan for the conservation of African apes (Norm Rosen, also in Uganda) to the nesting behavior of chimpanzees in dry forest habitats and their implications for hominid ranging (Adriana Hernandez, in Tanzania). We have also been quite successful in placing undergraduates in some of the top bioanthro PhD programs in the U.S.

Coursework for the program is a mixture of biological anthropology classes and seminars, taught mainly by Professor Stanford, and required graduate courses taken with the sociocultural faculty.

Graduate students receive support from fellowships and Teaching Assistantships. We have recently established a field research station in Bwindi-Impenetrable National Park, where Professor Stanford is directing a study of chimpanzees and mountain gorillas. This will be a resource for USC students at some point in the future.

Those interested in application materials for graduate study in Biological Anthropology at USC should contact:

Department of Anthropology
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0032 USA
Tel: +1 (213) 740-1900

The Anthropology Department Course Offerings can be found in the

USC Catalogue and in the current Schedule of Classes
It is also highly recommended that you contact one or both faculty members below:

Biological Anthropology Faculty
(followed by a list of their relevant publications):

Craig Stanford, Professor and Chair(Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley):

Major Research Projects:

1996-present. Directing a field study of sympatric ecology of chimpanzees and mountain gorillas in Bwindi-Impenetrable National Park, Uganda.

1990-95 Field study of predator-prey ecology of chimpanzees and red colobus monkeys, Gombe National Park, Tanzania.

1986-88 Field study of ecology and social behavior in the capped langur (Presbytis pileata)in Bangladesh, with supplemental study of other nonhuman primates, 18 months.

1987 Comparative analysis of Hanuman langur (Presbytis entellus) habitats, north India, 3 months.

1985 Field study of saddle-backed tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis) in Tambopata Reserve, southern Peru, 2 months.

Some relevant publications, of a total of about 60 including 3 books:

• 1999 Stanford, C.B. The Hunting Apes: Meat-eating and the Origins of Human Behavior. Princeton University Press (publication April, 1999).
• 1998 Stanford, C.B. Chimpanzee and Red Colobus: The Ecology of Predator and Prey. Harvard University Press.
• 1998 Stanford, C.B. The social behavior of chimpanzees and bonobos: empirical evidence and shifting assumptions. (with commentary and author's response). Current Anthropology 39 (4): 399-420.
• 1998 Stanford, C.B. and C.H. Janson (Editors) Predation and Primate Social Systems. Behaviour 135: 389-533 (special issue).
• 1998 Stanford, C.B. Predation and male bonds in primate societies. Behaviour 135: 513-533.
• 1997 Goldsmith, M.L. and C.B. Stanford. The Bwindi-Impenetrable Great Ape Project, Uganda. Gorilla Conservation News 11: 17-18.
• 1996 Stanford, C.B. The hunting ecology of wild chimpanzees; implications for the behavioral ecology of Pliocene hominids. American Anthropologist 98: 96-113.
• 1996 Stanford, C.B. Chimpanzee hunting behavior and hominid evolution. In Research Frontiers in Anthropology (C. Ember and M. Ember, eds.). Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall Publishing Co.
• 1995 Stanford, C.B. To catch a colobus. Natural History 104 (1): 48-55.
• 1995 Stanford, C.B. The influence of chimpanzee predation on group size and anti-predator behaviour in red colobus monkeys. Animal Behaviour 49: 577- 587.
• 1995 Stanford, C.B. Chimpanzee hunting behavior and human evolution. American Scientist 83 (3): 256-261.
• 1995 Muller, M., E. Mpongo, C.B. Stanford, and C. Boehm. A note on the scavenging behavior of wild chimpanzees. Folia Primatologica 65: 43-47.
• 1994 Stanford, C.B., J. Wallis, E. Mpongo and J. Goodall. Hunting decisions in wild chimpanzees. Behaviour 131: 1-20.
• 1994 Stanford, C.B., J. Wallis, H. Matama and J. Goodall. Patterns of predation by chimpanzees on red colobus monkeys in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, 1982-1991. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 94: 213-228.
• in press Stanford, C.B. and H.T. Bunn (editors). Meat-eating and Human Evolution. Oxford University Press.
• in press Stanford, C.B. Hunting primates: a comparison of social meat-foraging by chimpanzees and human foragers. In Meat-eating and Human Evolution (Oxford University Press, C. Stanford and H. Bunn, eds).
• in press Stanford, C.B. Meat-eating and meat-sharing in apes and humans: on the roots of social cognition. In The Tree of Humanity (F. de Waal, ed.). Harvard University Press.
• manuscript. Plummer, T. and C.B. Stanford. Analysis of a prey bone assemblage made by wild chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania.
• manuscript Stanford, C.B. The subspecies concept in primatology: the case of mountain gorillas.

Christopher Boehm, Professor (Ph.D. Harvard University):

Major Research Projects

Direction of field investigation of free-ranging chimpanzee social behavior at Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania, using Hi-8 videotape research technology, 1992-1994.

Data analysis: videotaped materials on conflict-resolution behavior of free-ranging chimpanzees, 1989-1990.

Summer field research developing recording techniques for study of long-distance vocal communication of free-ranging chimpanzees, Gombe Stream Research Centre, Tanzania, 6 weeks, 1989.

Field study of developmental aspects of conflict-resolution behavior among free-ranging chimpanzees. Data collection at Gombe Stream Research Centre, Tanzania. Data analysis spring semester 1988 and spring semester 1989. Two years, 1987-1989.

Summer field research on long-distance vocal communication behavior of free-ranging chimpanzees, Gombe Stream Research Centre, Tanzania, 2 months 1987.

Data analysis: long-distance vocal communication behavior of free-ranging chimpanzees, spring semester 1987.

Summer field research on long-distance vocal communication behavior of free-ranging chimpanzees, Gombe Stream Research Centre, Tanzania, 2 months 1986.

Field research on chimpanzee conflict resolution behavior, Gombe Stream Research Centre, Tanzania, fall semester 1985.

Library research and writing on natural history of morality, academic year 1984- 1985.

Summer field work and documentary research on triadic interactions among free-ranging chimpanzees at Gombe Stream Research Centre, Tanzania, 3 months 1984.

Sociolinguistic field research on negotiation behavior, urban USA, 1 month 1983.

Research on egalitarianism in its social, political and biological aspects, at Harvard University, 7 months 1981-1982.

Research on conflict resolution among nonhuman primates, Tozzer Library, 2 months 1982.

Research on the early evolution of morality, Tozzer Library, 2 months 1981.: Conflict resolution in humans and in nonhuman primates; hunter-gatherers and egalitarian societies, chimpanzee social behavior. Fieldwork in Yugoslavia and Tanzania.

Some relevant publications:

• in press Boehm, C. Hierarchy in the Forest: Egalitarian Society and the Evolution of Democratic Politics. Harvard University Press.
• 1986 Blood Revenge: The Enactment and Management of Conflict in Montenegro and Other Tribal Societies. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. [1984 book reprinted with revisions and new title; this book is also being translated for publication in Serbian]
• 1997 Impact of the Human Egalitarian Syndrome on Darwinian Selection Mechanics. American Naturalist 150: 100-121.
• 1997 Egalitarian Behavior and The Evolution of Political Intelligence. In, Machiavellian Intelligence II, edited by D. Byrne and A. Whiten. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• 1997 Hierarchy, Exchange, and the Levels of Natural Selection. Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues 8:131-166.
• 1996 Emergency Decisions, Cultural Selection Mechanics, and Group Selection. Current Anthropology 37:763-793.
• 1995 A Note on Scavenging by Wild Chimpanzees. Folia Primatologica 65:43-47. (Co-Authored with M. N. Muller, E. Mpongo, and C. B. Stanford)
• 1994 Pacifying Interventions at Arnhem Zoo and Gombe. In, Chimpanzee Cultures, edited by Richard W. Wrangham, W. C. McGrew, Frans B. M. de Waal, and Paul G. Heltne. Pp. 211-226. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• 1993 Egalitarian Behavior and Reverse Dominance Hierarchy. Current Anthropology 34:227-254. [This paper won the Stirling Prize in Psychologica Anthropology]
• 1992 Segmentary "Warfare" and the Management of Conflict: Comparison of East African Chimpanzees and Patrilineal-Patrilocal Humans. In, Us Against Them: Coalitions and Alliances in Humans and Other Animals. A. Harcourt and F. de Waal (eds). Pp. 137-173. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• 1992 Vocal Communication of Pan Troglodytes: Possibilities for Explaining Human Language Origins. In, The Origins of Human Language. B. Chiarelli and A. C. Ciani, eds. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.
• 1991 Lower-Level Teleology in Biological Evolution: Decision Behavior and Reproductive Success in Two Species. Cultural Dynamics 4:115-134.
• 1989 Ambivalence and Compromise in Human Nature. American Anthropologist 91:921-39.