Comparative mythology, population genetics, linguistic phylogenetics, and cognitive patterns: Studies in the new science of cultural diffusion

December 12th-13th
Ecole Normale Supérieure (29, rue d’Ulm)

Organized by Martin Fortier

Wednesday
December 12th
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Salle Théodule Ribot

13:00-13:35 | Martin Fortier (Institut Jean Nicod, ENS, EHESS)
The vindication of diffusionism against nativism: evidence from comparative mythology, population genetics, and linguistic phylogenetics

13:35-14:10 | Charles Stépanoff (Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Sociale, EPHE)
The “dark tent” and the Dene-Yeniseian hypothesis: when ritual analysis meets linguistics and paleogenomics

14:10-14:45 | Valentin Thouzeau (Université Paris Dauphine)
Genetic and linguistic histories in Central Asia inferred using approximate Bayesian computations

14:45-15:05 | Coffee break

15:05-16:15 | Yuri Berezkin (Museum of Anthropology & Ethnology – Kunstkamera, Russian Academy of Sciences, European University at St Petersburg)
A data-base approach to comparative mythology: evidence for an early “Melanesian” component in the Americas

16:15-16:25 | Short break

Salle 236

16:25-17:35 | Natalia Chousou-Polydouri (Dynamique du Langage, CNRS)
Phylogeny and diffusion of Amazonian languages: a brief review 

17:35-18:10 | Konrad Rybka (Musée du Quai Branly)
Lexical and cultural diffusion: a study of fire fans in South America

18:10-18:30 | General discussion

Thursday
December 13th
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Salle Paul Langevin

9:30-10:05 | Vincent Hirtzel (Centre Enseignement et Recherche en Ethnologie Amérindienne, CNRS)
Détection des héritages et des diffusions: ce qu’apporte l’analyse de l’alignement des versions d’un récit mythologique envisagées comme “corpus comparable”

10:05-11:15 | Julien d’Huy (Institut des Mondes Africains, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)
Ce qu’une approche statistique des mythes peut nous apprendre de leur diffusion

11:15-11:35 | Coffee break

11:35-12:10 | Benjamin Balloy (LIAS-Institut Marcel Mauss, EHESS)
Can cultural diffusion compare to genetic diffusion? Some thoughts about underlying models

12:10-12:45 | Emmanuel Désveaux (LIAS-Institut Marcel Mauss, EHESS, University of Indiana at Bloomington)
Why comparing distribution of genes and distribution of mythological thema is scientifically pointless and ethically dubious

12:45-13:20 | Léo Fitouchi (Département d’Etudes Cognitives, ENS), Antoine Marie (CRI, Institut Jean Nicod, ENS), Sacha Yesilaltay (Institut Jean Nicod, ENS)
A cognitive and evolutionary look at cultural diffusion

13:20-13:45 | General discussion