Santa Fe Institute

Bio

Charles Perreault always has studied humans; he decided to become an archaeologist at the age of six. Years later, his world travels emphasized to him just how unique we humans are. Unlike many other animal species, “humans are basically everywhere…from the Sahara to the Arctic,” he says, and the variations in human behaviors – from food acquisition to family structures – are far greater than the variations in the behaviors of other animals.

Most social scientists attempt to explain the specialness of the human species through concepts and theories applicable only to humankind. Charles, on the other hand, is trying to explain “human-ness” by using theories that apply across species. In his doctoral work at UCLA, for example, he used classical paleontological concepts to examine human cultural evolution.

SFI provided him with the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues from many disciplines, he says, and to incorporate methods and ideas into his work that “are not typically available in the standard social science environment.

While at SFI he will pursue a deeper understanding of cultural evolution through the use of theoretical models and cross-cultural comparisons. As part of this work, he will compare the changes brought by evolutionary forces on both cultural and biological phenomenon.

Charles holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from UCLA and a master’s in anthropology from the Université de Montréal.