CICASP | Center for International Collaboration and Advanced Studies in Primatology

In this talk, Professor Anderson will describe aspects of his 40-year-long career as a primatologist. He will present some key “turning points” that ended up shaping his life as a teacher and researcher. Additionally, he will revisit some of the topics on which he has worked, including: environmental enrichment and welfare, abnormal behaviour, social processes including grooming, huddling, and dominance relations, tool-use, gaze-following, self-recognition, self-control, sleep, social learning and social evaluation, and death and dying.

Sharing what he considers to be “highlights” and “lowlights” of his primatological experiences, he will kindly share his comments on teaching and research that might be useful for young researchers beginning their careers, not only in primatology, but other fields as well.

About the speaker: Born and raised in Scotland, Professor James Anderson was introduced to research on wild and captive primates while undertaking his B.Sc., and later his PhD, in Psychology at the University of Stirling. Following his graduation, he taught Psychology at Strasbourg University (then known as Universite Louis Pasteur, or ULP), later becoming a researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. During his 12 years in France he conducted research on lemurs, capuchins, and macaques at the Centre de Primatologie de l'ULP. Returning to Scotland in 1995 to accept the position of Senior Lecturer and then Reader at the University of Stirling, he continued his involvement with non-human primates through the supervision of undergraduate and post-graduate students working with captive collections and field laboratories.

In 1998 he visited Kyoto as a visiting professor, which led to 15 years of regular visits to Japan, ending in 2014 when he became a full-time professor at Kyoto University. Now a professor emeritus, he is currently a vice Editor-in-Chief of Primates, and has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Comparative Psychology, Animal Cognition, Current Psychology Letters, American Journal of Primatology, and Primatologie.

Livestream on CICASP YouTube Channel

Date: October 26, 2022

Time: 17:00 Japan Standard Time (GMT+9)

International Primatology Lectures on Past, Present and Future Perspectives of the Field

In this lecture series, we explore various origin stories as told by famed members of our primatology comunity. Most lectures are live-streamed and archived on our CICASP YouTube Channel.

Unlike most academic lectures, which are usually focused on testing scientific hypotheses, this series is designed to offer a feel for how one becomes a professional in the field of primatology. In a way, we might think of it as a career primer for young primatologists just starting their own journeys into the nether regions of Academia. At the same time, anyone might enjoy the stories told of big dreams, exotic locations and species, and the humanity inherent in forging a new path in life and in work. 

Check out all videos in this series on our CICASP YouTube channel playlist, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with all our activities.