Listen and Learn

The study of human and social dynamics can yield valuable insight into how society functions in the modern world and how peoples and cultures have adapted and changed over time.

In this image, Meryanne Tumonngor, a graduate student in anthropology at the University of Arizona, records language variation on the Indonesian island of Sumba.

Researchers will combine these data with genetic data and health histories to analyze the co-evolution of population genetic structure, languages and diseases such as malaria and hepatitis, shedding light on variation at the community level.

Credit: J. Stephen Lansing, University of Arizona