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September 15, 2008
Soundbites

Tools, talking may go hand-in-hand
How did the human capacity for language evolve? Dietrich Stout, from the University College London, spoke to the anthropology department about how he uses functional neuro-imaging to investigate the neural bases of Stone Age tool-making skills, to learn about the evolution of human cognition and language.

Stout investigates stone tools dating back 2.5 million years from a site in Ethiopia. He also recruits participants for small-scale studies of the thought processes involved when they are given the task of making similar tools by hand.

“It’s a major undertaking,” Stout says. “I’d like to do expanded studies, but it shocks a lot of funding organizations when you tell them ‘I need to study stone-tool making and I need to do it for 10 years and I need a million dollars.’ — Carol Clark

Tutlanta appeals to adventurer in all
”The Carlos Museum’s continued relationship with Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, the museum’s and Emory’s longstanding scholarship in the field of Egyptology, and the foresight and support of the Atlanta community have brought us to this very special moment,” said Carlos Museum director Bonnie Speed at a press conference unveiling “Tutlanta,” a host of citywide Egyptian-themed partnerships and educational programs in conjunction with the Nov. 15 U.S. premier of “Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs.”

“We are very pleased to stand behind a ‘Tutlanta’ that is for everyone: teachers, students, families, scholars, urban explorers,” said Speed. “I believe this exhibition will appeal to the adventurer in each of us.”
— Elaine Justice

Kureishi: ‘Writing is like dreaming’
“I think of writing not as uncovering secrets, but uncovering what is there all the time,” said Hanif Kureishi during a Creativity Conversation with Emory’s Rosemary Magee. The British writer kicked off the Provost’s Luminaries in Arts and Humanities lecture series.

Always chasing the next idea, Kureishi explained: “Writing is like dreaming, it clears up your head. When you’re writing and you have an idea, it’s like falling in love…That’s the moment that’s good, and once you write it down, it’s gone.”

Kureishi’s works are known for their humor. “What’s terrible and wonderful about human life is that it’s really funny,” he said. — Kim Urquhart