Ellen Dissanayake

Author and Lecturer

Affiliate Professor
School of Music
University of Washington

Photograph by Ekkehart Malotki

Photograph by Ekkehart Malotki

Lectures
(Keynotes, Guest Lectures, Conference Participation)

Art as a Behavior

2018Symposium Participant, Origin of the Arts: What the Arts Share and Why, in The Unification of the Arts: Neurocognitive Perspectives on What the Arts Share and Why.” McMaster University, Hamilton ON, May 1.

2017Symposium Participant, A Precursor Behavior to the Arts in Human Evolution, in Art as a Human Behavior: Challenges and Prospects 40 Years On. Behavior 2017. Estoril, Portugal, 30 July - 4 August.

2016 Keynote, Art as a human universal. Autofocus’16, From Darwin to Dissanayake, Seminar on Architecture Philosophy Neuroscience. Instituto de Filosofia da Universidade do Porto, 8-9 November.

2012 Invited Participant, Symposium on Play, Ritual and Belief in Animals and Early Human Societies, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge University, 13 to 16 September.

2012Invited Participant, Consilience Conference: Evolution in Biology, the Human Sciences, and the Humanities. University of Missouri – St. Louis, April 26-28.

2011Invited Participant, Born to Artify: The Universal Origin of Picturing, in The Origins of Pictures—Anthropological Discourses in Picture Sciences, Technical University, Chemnitz, Germany, March 29-April 1.

2010Invited Lecture, Green College, Centre for the Study of Human Evolution, Cognition and Culture. University of British Columbia, Canada, February 8.

2010Invited Participant, 6th Annual Life Sciences and Society Symposium: “From Art to Biology and Back Again.” University of Missouri, Columbia, March 12.

2008Invited Speaker, Faculty of Theology, Department of the Study of Religion’s ongoing project: “Religion, Cognition and Culture,” University of Aarhus, Denmark, March 14.

2008Gyldendal Lecture of Excellence, Research Council for Culture and Communication, Syddansk Universitet, Odense, Denmark, March 10.

2006Invited Speaker, Art of the Animal, Inaugural Symposium on “The Human Question” research program, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, Nov. 27- 28.

2004Invited Lecture, The Arts in Human Evolution: Babe-Magnets, Spandrels, Costly Signals, Or . . .? in Darwinism Across the Disciplines: Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior, a speaker series sponsored by the Institute of Cognitive and Decision Sciences, University of Oregon.,May 7.

2004Invited Speaker, Third Cognitive Science Conference: “Adaptations, Environments, and Behaviour: Then and Now.” Carleton University, Ottawa, CA, October 15-17.

2000Invited Speaker, Conference of International Society for the Experimental Study of Literature. Toronto, August 1-4.

1999Invited Speaker, Conference, “Imagination and the Adapted Mind: The Prehistory and Future of Poetry, Fiction, and Related Arts,” University of California, Santa Barbara, August 26-29.

1997Invited Participant, 21st International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences, for Committee VI: Biological Foundations of Aesthetics, Washington, D.C., November 23-30.

1996Invited Lecture, The Evolutionary Origin and Significance of Music, Behavioral Evolution and Development, Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, March 8.

1996Symposium participant, Mother-Baby Communication and the Beginnings of Temporal Art, in “Science and Art: One World or Two? Evolutionary Biology and the Arts,” Arizona Humanities Council and Arizona State University School of Art, Phoenix, November 20.

1995Invited Participant, 20th International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences, for Committee VI: In Pursuit of Beauty: Biological Foundations of Aesthetics, Seoul, Korea, August 21-27.

1993Plenary Speaker. Sociobiology and the Arts: Problems and Prospects, European Sociobiological Society, Amsterdam, August 19-21.

Music/Music Cognition/Music Education

2018Keynote, “Music in Human Nature and Human Nature in Music.” Conference on Interdisciplinary Musicology CIM18, Meaning and Music. Poznań (Poland), 17-20 October.

2016Keynote, “Homo musicus: Are humans predisposed to be musical?” Multiple Modernities Festival, Conservatory of Music, Geneva, 3-6 November.

2015Keynote, “The Deep Structure of Music.” KNEW (Kasimierz Naturalist Workshop) Putting Art and Music in Nature. Centre for Philosophical Research. Kasimierz-Dolny, Poland, November 5-10.

2011Invited Speaker, Xth Annual Conference of SACCoM (Sociedad Argentina para las Ciencias Cognitivas de la Musica), International Workshop in Music, Psychology, and Evolution, UAI (Universidad Abierta Interamericana). Buenos Aires, Argentina, 18-23 July.

2010Symposium Organizer, International Conference on Music Cognition and Perception (ICMPC11). Seattle, Washington August 23-27.

2010Keynote, NIME3: Third International Music Education Conference. Narrative Inquiry in Music Education. The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, November 24–27.

2008Invited Speaker, Department of Cognitive Psychology, University of Finance and Management, Warsaw, Poland, March 18.

2008Invited Speaker, 'Homo Musicus,' CDIME9: Cultural Diversity in Music Education, University of Washington School of Music, March 21.

2008Invited Lecture, “How Music Began,” opening lecture in Music and the Brain Series, Library of Congress, Oct. 17.

2007Invited Speaker, Peter Wall Symposium at VISI (Vancouver International Song Institute), Vancouver, B.C., June 17-27.

2006Session Participant, European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music (ESCOM), Bologna, Aug 22-26.

2004Keynote, Early Childhood Commission (ECC) of International Society for Music Education (ISME), Barcelona, July 5-10.

2000Invited Speaker, Homo musicus: Music As a Species Traitxi, Festival-Forum (Music), Stockholm, 31 August to 3 September.

2002Session Participant, International Musicological Society Conference, Leuven, Belgium, August 1-7.

1999Invited Speaker, “Music and Manipulation: The Social Uses and Social Control of Music,” Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, September 17-19.

1997Invited Participant, “Man, Mind and Music I: The Origins of Music.” The Florentine Workshops in Biomusicology, Florence, Italy, May 29-June 3.

1997Guest Speaker, The Biological Origins of Music, School of Music, Ball State University, September 29.

1995Invited Speaker, Massachusetts General Hospital Neurolinguistics Laboratory, Boston. April 13.

The Arts
(Miscellaneous)

2016Keynote, 6th International Meeting of Research Groups: Convergences between Art, Science, and Technology & Mixed Realities: Experience Places. Institute of Arts, Universidade Estadual Paulista, São Paolo, Brazil. June 29-July 1.

2013Guest Lecture, Origins Institute, McMaster University, Hamilton ON. January.

2013Guest Lectures, National Speaking Tour hosted by the Australian Experimental Art Foundation (Adelaide) and the International Visitors Program of the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council for the Arts, and supported by Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Sydney College of the Arts, and the Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, 17-28 March.

2013Guest Lecture, Hopkins Center for the Arts. Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 8 May.

2011Invited Speaker at Grand Opening of New Art Facility at Florida State University, Tallahassee, October 1.

2010Invited University Lecture, Ellen Dissanayake Answers Questions About Art and Music., Department of Art and Design, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, 9 March.

2010Invited Lecture, PhD Program in Leadership and Change, Antioch University, Seattle, 14 January.

2009Invited Lecture, Math and Science Colloquium, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA. 12 November.

2009Invited Lecture, Graduate Visiting Artist Lecture Series, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland OR, 29 October.

2009Invited University Lecture, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Mar. 3.

2008Invited Lecture, Department of Film and Media Studies, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, March 7.

2008Invited Speaker, School of Athens Lecture Series, Port Townsend, WA April 13.

2008Invited Speaker, Washington State Cultural Congress, Artists Trust, Leavenworth, WA, April 28-30.

2008Invited participant, Colloquium on “Literary Reading and Emotion,” Myrifield Institute for Cognition and the Arts (MICA), Heath, MA, July 13-14.

2008Invited lecture, The Arts Are Normal, Natural, and Necessary, 7th Renee May Annual Lecture, Walters Arts Museum, Baltimore, Sept. 11.

2008Invited Speaker, The Deep Structure of the Arts, Annual Hogue-Sponenburgh Art Lecture. Willamette University, Oct. 9.

2007Invited Speaker: Arts on Earth Project, Arts and Minds Symposium and Learning Event, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Nov. 1-2.

2007Invited Speaker, Art and Science Symposium, Edmonton Cultural Capital Project, Edmonton, AB, Nov. 9-10.

2006Invited Participant, Colloquium: GReAT (Graduate Research in the Arts Today). University of North Carolina (Greensboro), April 21-22.

2005Invited Lecture, Auditory Laboratories (MARCS), University of Western Sydney, February 7.

2005Invited Lecture, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities. University of Western Australia, Perth. February 15.

2005Invited Lecture, Dhaka Institute of Fine Arts and Asia Society, Bangladesh, December 17.

2004Invited Lecture, The ‘Deep Structure’ of the Arts, The 2003-04 Luther S. and Dorothy Cecilia Cressman Lecture in the Humanities, The Oregon Humanities Center, May 6.

2003Invited Lecture, Art in Human Context, “The Engaged Artist” series, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, March 21.

2003Keynote, Mathematics as Story: Symposium on Mathematics through the Lenses of Art and Technology, University of Western Ontario, London, June 13-15, 2003.

2002Invited Lecture, Midwest Conference on Film, Language, and Literature, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, April 4-7.

2002Invited Lecture, “Why the Arts Are Necessary,” Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Texas A&M, College Station TX, October 31

2002Session Participant, South Central Modern Language Association regional conference, Austin, TX October 31-November 2.

2000Distinguished Speaker, NSCAD Public Lecture Series, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, March 17-18.

2000Invited Speaker, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, March 22.

2000Invited Speaker, “Art. Body, Mind” lecture series, College of Fine Arts, Ohio University, Athens, Nov. 2-5.

2000Invited Speaker, In the Beginning, Art, Community College Art Symposium, Moorhead State University, Moorhead MN, Oct. 17.

2000Invited Speaker, Conference of International Society for the Experimental Study of Literature [IGEL], Toronto, August 1-4.

1999Two public lectures, School of Art, Ohio University, Feb. 23 & 25.

1999Distinguished Lecture series, Why the Arts are Necessary, Montana State University, Billings, March 11

1999Invited Lecture, Why the Arts are Necessary, Monday Noon Series, University of Missouri-St. Louis Center for the Humanities, April 12.

1999Invited Lecture, In the Beginning, Art, Saint Louis University Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, St. Louis, MO, April 14.

1999Two public lectures, School of Art, Ohio University, April 27 and 29.

1999Invited Speaker, Fairmount Park Art Association New Land Marks Symposium, Philadelphia Museum of Art, May 7.

1999Three Public Lectures as Distinguished Visitor, University of Western Australia, Perth, September 27-30.

1998Invited Speaker, Theory Forum of Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters: “Mutual Understanding.” Rethymnon Crete, October 1-7.

1998Invited Speaker, Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS) annual conference, Star Island NH, July 25-August 1.

1998 Four Public Lectures as Distinguished Visiting Speaker, Art as a Human Need: The Relevance of Biology to the Arts (1. Setting the Scene, 2. Art and Excess, 3. Hands and Minds, (4) Why the Arts Are Necessary), Department of Art and Design, University of Alberta (Edmonton), September 24, October 15 & 29, November 26.

1997Public Lecture, Is Art Innate?, Herron School of Art (Indiana University), Indianapolis, Sept. 23.

1997Keynote, Time, and Emotional Communication, International Conference of Research on Dance (ICORD), Tucson, AZ, Oct. 31- Nov. 3.

1996Invited Lecture, Department of Art, University of Arizona, Tucson., November 14.

1995Invited Lecture, Department of World Art and Museology, University of East Anglia, Norwich (UK), Feb. 8

1995Invited Speaker, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh, Scotland, February 24.

1995Invited Speaker, American Comparative Literature Society (ACLS), Athens, GA, March 16-18.

1995Invited Speaker, University of Texas at Dallas, March 29.

1995Invited Speaker, Pilchuck Glass School Trustees Retreat, Stanwood, WA, May 19-20.

1995 Invited Speaker, Department of Developmental Psychology. Sapporo, Japan. September 1-2.

1995Invited Speaker, Symposium: “The Role and Function of Art in the 21st Century,” University of South Florida,Tampa, September 22.

1995Invited Speaker, Art, Life and the Bottom Line, Department of Art, University of Oregon, Eugene. October 3.

1995Invited Speaker, Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, Vancouver, B. C., October 10.

1994Invited Visitor, Public Lecture Series by Artists and Critics 1993-94, Department of Fine Arts, University of Colorado, Boulder, March 7-11.

1994Invited Speaker, Autumn Lecture Series, University of Edinburgh Centre for Human Ecology, Edinburgh, Scotland, November 1.

1993Lectures given in Kandy and Colombo, Sri Lanka as part of my tenure as Fulbright Senior Scholar, under the general title “What’s Happened to Art? And What IS Art Anyway?”.
Kandy, Institute for Fundamental Studies, April 22
Colombo, Institute for Aesthetic Studies and Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, May and June (4 lectures)
University of Peradeniya Faculty of Arts. June and July (4 lectures)
Colombo, American Center, Inaugural lecture in new building), July 1.

1992Coordinator and Speaker, New School for Social Research Public Lecture Series: Issues and Ideas in Contemporary Art and Art Criticism, New York, Feb. 3-March 11.

1992Invited Speaker, Sustaining Democracy Series: Undiscussed Realities: Taboos as Content of Art, New School for Social Research, New York City, April 21.

1991Invited Speaker, Is Art Innate?, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, April 22.

1991Invited Speaker, Visiting Artists Program, Utah State University Department of Art, Logan, November 8.

1990Invited Speaker, Museum of History and Art, Anchorage (Alaska), October 5.

1988Invited Speaker, Lecture Series: New Perspectives on Contemporary Art, New School for Social Research, New York City.

1987Invited Speaker, Lecture Series: New Perspectives on Art, New School for Social Research, New York City.

1983Invited Participant, Symposium (with Suzi Gablik and Vera Zolberg): What Is Art For?, New School for Social Research, New York City.

Rock Art

2018Keynote, “Abstract-Geometric Rock Art: Questions and Answers.” URARA (Utah Rock Art Research Association) 38th Annual Symposium, Bluff, Utah October 6-7.

2018Session Speaker, “Let’s Look for Evidence of Mark-Making, Not a Chimera, ‘Art.’” International Federation of Rock Art Organizations (IFRAO): Is there Paleoart Before Modern Humans?: Did Neanderthals or Other Early Humans Create Art? Turino, Italy, 22-23 August.

2018Session Speaker (Mens simbolica), “Symbolmania: Rethinking the Automatic Attribution of Symbolic Intent and Meaning to Any and All Rock Markings.” 20th International Federation of Rock Art Organizations (IFRAO): Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, Boario Terme (Valcamonica), Italy, 24-26 August.

2011Invited Distinguished Lecturer, Nevada Rock Art Foundation, co-sponsored by the Nevada Museum of Art (Reno), Las Vegas (February 8), Reno (February 10).

2010Session Speaker, “The Deep Structure of Pleistocene Rock Art: The ‘Artification Hypothesis.’” International Federation of Rock Art Organizations (IFRAO): Pleistocene Art of the World. Tarascon-sur-Ariège, France, Sept. 6-11.

Aesthetics
(Philosophy/​Psychology/​Neuroscience of Art)

2018Graduate seminar on my work, Department of Philosophy of Art, Cá Foscari University, Venice, 24 July.

2014Keynote, International Conference, “The Aesthetic Mind and the Origin of Art,” Italian Society for Aesthetics, Florence, Italy, Jan. 23-25.

2013Invited Guest, How Can We Formulate a Naturalistic Aesthetics: Una conversazione con Ellen Dissanayake, Dipartimento di Filosofia, Università Ca’ Foscari, Venice, Italy.

2011Invited Session Participant, Special Symposium on the Life and Work of Denis Dutton, American Society for Aesthetics Conference, Tampa FL, Oct. 28.

2009Invited Speaker, The Copenhagen Conference: Setting the Foundations for Neuroaesthetics. Copenhagen, Sept. 24-26.

2008Invited Speaker, Aesthetics Department, Roman Ingarden Institute of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, Krakov, Poland, March 17.

2007Invited Speaker, Conference on Aesthetic Psychology. Department of Philosophy, University of Durham,UK, Sept. 24-26.

2006Invited Speaker, Conference of Nordic Society for Aesthetics, Jyväskylä, Finland, May 18-21.

2005Invited Lecture, Department of Philosophy, University of Adelaide, Australia, Feb. 25.

2005Invited Speaker, Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts (Division 10 of the American Psychological Association), International Conference on Empirical and Scientific Approaches to the Arts. Perm (Russia), June 1-5.

2002Invited Lecture, Departments of Literature and Aesthetics, University of Uppsala (Sweden), June 4.

1981Invited Speaker, Aesthetic Experience and Human Evolution, The Second David and Marianna Mandel Lecture in Bioaesthetics, American Society for Aesthetics 39th Annual Meeting, University of South Florida,Tampa, FL, October 29-31.

Art Education

2014Guest Lecture, Visual and Performing Arts Education Program, UCLA, 19 February.

2014Guest Lecture Soka University of Arts Education Program, Alisa Viejo CA, 27 March.

2014Keynote, Colorado Art Educators Association, Annual Conference, October.

2012Guest Lecture, School of Art and the Division of Art + Design Education, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, April 10-12.

2011Honored Guest at Session “After Twenty Years, What IS Art For?” National Art Education Association annual conference, Seattle WA, March 19.

2009Invited Speaker, University of Washington Conference on Early Learning, Seattle, June 5-6.

2009Invited Speaker, International Conference, 'Crafticulation and Education'. Helsinki, Finland, Sept. 24-26.

2006Session Participant, National Art Educators’ Association (NAEA) Chicago, Mar. 26.

2004Invited Speaker, American Educational Research Association (AERA). San Diego, April 12-16.

2003Invited Lecture, Department of Arts Education, Queens University, Kingston, ON, November 10-13.

2003Invited Lecture, Detroit Institute of Arts Department of Education, Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.

2002Invited Speaker, California Department of Education Model Art Program Network, Arts Work Conference, San Jose, CA, May 16-18.

2001Invited Speaker, Dialogue of the Imagination Project, Touchstone Center, New York City, Nov. 6.

199915th Annual Percy H. Taçon Memorial Lecture, In the Beginning, Art, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, April 8.

1999Keynote, International Society of Education Through Art (InSEA). World Congress, Brisbane, Australia, Sept. 21-26.

1999Invited Speaker, Why the Arts are Necessary, Froebel College, Roehampton Institute, London (UK), November 30.

1997Invited Speaker, Makings and Doings: The Universality of Creating Art. Touchstone Center Annual Discussion-Workshop: Learning and the Imagination. New York City, February 9.

1997Invited Speaker, Hillwood Museum, Art Education and Art Therapy Departments, C. W. Post Campus, Long Island University February 11.

1997Public Lecture, Art and Excess, A Teacher’s Institute, in conjunction with exhibition, “Truce: Echoes of Art in an Age of Endless Conclusions. Site Santa Fe, August 6.

1997Keynote, Reinventing the Wheel, Art Education Association of Indiana, Indianapolis, December 6.

1995Keynote, International Society for Education through Art (InSEA), Asian Regional Congress, Taiwan, Nov. 10-15.

1995Keynote, Getty Center for Education in the Arts Fifth National Conference, Washington, D.C., Jan. 12-14.

1993Department of Visual and Performing Arts in Education, University of British Columbia, Vancouver B. C. (Canada), Nov. 17.

1992Invited Speaker, Lecture Series: America’s Cultures and Their Implications for Art Education. Columbia University, Teachers College, June 8-30.

1992Keynote, Getty Center for Education in the Arts Issues Seminar: Cultural Diversity in Arts Education, Barton Creek, TX, Aug. 6-9.

1991Keynote, Are the Humanities Human?, Maryland State Art Educators Association, Baltimore, November 1

1991Keynote, Are the Humanities Human?, Wisconsin State Art Educators Association, Milwaukee, October 25

1991Keynote, Is Art Innate?, Montana State Art Educators Association, Billings, October 17.

1991Keynote, “Art for Life’s Sake.” 31st Annual Convention, National Art Education Association (NAEA): What Is Art For? Atlanta, Mar. 20-24.

1989 Invited Speaker, Touchstone Center 20th Anniversary Seminar: Seeing Inwardly: Teaching and the Artistry of the Imagination. New York City.

Art Therapy/​Arts & Music in Health Care

2014Keynote, “How Our Pleistocene Ancestors Practiced Art Therapy and How and Why It Works Today,” American Art Therapy Association Annual Conference, July 10, San Antonio.

2010Gambrinus Lecture, Faculty of Musik in Pädagogik und Rehabilitation, and Invited Speaker, Europa InTakt: Culture and Persons With Special Needs (International Conference) Technical University, Dortmund, Germany, Oct. 6-10.

2009Keynote, Second ArtsHealth Conference, University of Newcastle (Australia) ArtsHealth Centre for Research and Practice, Oct. 7-9.

2008Keynote, Society for the Arts in Healthcare (SAH) 18th Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA, Apr. 17.

2006Keynote, Society for the Arts in Healthcare (SAH) 15th Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, April 26-29.

1994Keynote, American Art Therapy Association Annual Conference, Chicago, November 18.

1990Invited Participant: Symposium: Art History and Medicine: A Conference on Creativity & Mental Health, Rutgers University, October 12.

Anthropology/Ethology of Art

2013Keynote, “What Cupules Suggest About Early Human Symbolic Capacity and the Beginning of Art.” International Congress "Biological Anthropology: Prospects and Perspectives," Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Bolzano, Sept. 2-6.

2009Invited Speaker, International Congress of the Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Munich, Sept. 15-18.

2002Participant in Invited Session in Visual Anthropology American Anthropological Association (AAA), New Orleans, Nov. 20-24.

1993Invited Speaker, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C. (Canada), November 18.

Craft and Design

2011Invited Lecture, Southern Graphic Council Conference: “Equilibrium,” SGC International and Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, Washington University at St. Louis, Mar. 16-19.

2009Plenary Speaker, Then and Now: How Our Species’ Past Has Prepared Humans to Make and Respond to the Arts. International Seminar at Kolding School of Design, Kolding (Denmark), March 23.

2008Invited Speaker, Museum of Glass, Science of Art Summit. Tacoma WA, November 6.

2007Invited Speaker and Participant, Conference: “The Object and Making: Function and Meaning,” Haystack Mountain School of Craft, July 15-19.

2005Invited Speaker, School of Design, University of Dundee (Scotland), May 5.

2004Invited Speaker, Tri-State Sculpture Conference, Winston-Salem, NC, Oct. 7-10.

2003Keynote, Surface Design Association Annual Meeting, Kansas City Art Institute, June 5-8.

2003Keynote, International Quilt Study Center Inaugural Symposium, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Feb. 27-March 1.

2000Invited Speaker, 50th International Design Conference in Aspen, June 14-17.

1999Invited Speaker at conference, “The Body Politic: The Role of the Body and Contemporary Craft,” University of Northumbria at Newcastle, UK, Sept. 14.

1999Invited Speaker, International Printmaking Symposium, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Oct. 1-5.

1999Invited Lecture, the 1999 Peter Dormer Memorial Lecture, "Hands and Minds,” Royal College of Art, London (UK), November 29.

1996Keynote. Glass Art Society, Boston, June 8.

1995Keynote, National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), Minneapolis, March 25.

1995Invited Speaker, First William Jamison Memorial Lecture, Oregon School of Arts and Crafts. Portland, OR, September 29.

1994Keynote, The Pleasure and Meaning of Making, American Craft Association Regional Conference, Detroit, October 15.

1992Keynote, Utilitarian Clay National Conference, “Celebrate the Object.” Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN, Sept. 9-10.

Conference Participation

Human Behavior and Evolution Society [HBES]

2004“Of What Is Art A Costly Signal?” Berlin, July 21-25.

2002"Beyond Sexual Selection" (session discussant), Rutgers University, June 19-23.

2002"Is Mother-Infant Interaction a Ritualized Behavior?" Rutgers University, June 19-23.

1999"The Poetics of Babytalk I: Macro-Poetics," University of Utah, Salt Lake City, June 2-6.

1998“Making Special: A Signal of Fitness for What?" BioAesthetics Group of HBES, University of California, Davis, July 12-13.

1998"Is Darwinian Aesthetics Relevant to Understanding Human Art Making and Experience?" University of California. Davis, July 8-12.

1996"Protocultural Aptitudes in Early Mother-Infant Interaction," Northwestern University, June 26-30.

1992“'Making Special': An Undescribed Human Universal and the Core of a Behavior of Art." University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, July 23-26.

1991"Biobehavioral Contribution to the Multicultural Curriculum Debate in Western Humanities Education." McMaster University, Hamilton Ontario, August 22-25.

1990"Music as a Human Behavior: An Hypothesis of Evolutionary Origin and Function." University of California at Los Angeles, August 16-19.

College Art Association [CAA]

2001Session Participant. “Aesthetic Incunabula" in “Are We Experienced?” 89th Annual Conference, Chicago, Feb. 28-March 3.

1997Session participant. "Darwin and Everyday Aesthetics, in Examining the Theoretical and Art Historical Possibilities of Everyday Aesthetics, 85th Annual Conference. New York, Feb. 12-15.

International Society for Human Ethology [ISHE] Biennial Conferences

2004Session participant. “Art and Anxiety,” Ghent, Belgium, July 27.

1998Session participant."Ritualized Features in Mother-Infant Interactions as Antecedents of Adult Affiliative Behaviors," BioAesthetics Group of HBES. Vancouver, Canada, Aug. 19-23.