How do we acquire rituals, conventions and norms in childhood? Why do people everywhere engage in rituals, and how do these practices foster cohesion and cooperation? Is the role of ritual changing in modern societies? This seminar explores these fundamental questions, delving into research findings from developmental psychology, anthropology, history, and archaeology. Understanding the nature and power of ritual may be crucial to creating more peaceful and sustainable futures.

About the speaker

Harvey Whitehouse, Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Magdalen College, is Director Oxford’s Centre for the Study of Social Cohesion and a founding director of Seshat, a vast database on human history that enables scholars and scientists to test hypotheses about the rise and fall of human civilizations. His many books include The Ritual Animal (2021, OUP) and Inheritance: The Evolutionary Origins of the Modern World (2024, Penguin Random House).