Professor: Bernard Wood
Department: CASHP/Anthropology
Title: History of Great Apes
Description: Research early (pre-20thC) anecdotal and scientific descriptions of the great apes (chimpanzees/bonobos/gorillas and orang-utans). This is more difficult than it sounds because people did not always use the correct names for the animals they described or dissected. The aim is to prepare a chapter for a book I am co-editing about the history of primate research, and also preparing an article for Evolutionary Anthropology. The student would be a co-author. A previous RA co-authored this review ‘Great Ape Skeletal Collections: Making the Most of Scarce and Irreplaceable Resources in the Digital Age.’ Gordon, Adam D., Marcus, Emily* and Wood, Bernard. Am. J. phys. Anthropol., 57: 2-32. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.22391
Duties: Search the web to make sure I have identified all the relevant publications. Read them to make sure we have copies of all of the cited publications. Create a timeline of discovery for each of the great apes. Create a table of synonyms for each of the great apes. Help prepare the two manuscripts, and share in the process of seeing them through to publication.
Time commitment: 7-9 hours per week (average)
Credit hour option*: 3
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: bwood@gwu.edu
*If credit is sought, all registration deadlines and requirements must be met. Students selected to be research assistants should contact Ben Faulkner at benfaulkner@gwu.edu whether they intend to pursue credit or not.
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