University of Oxford

Centre for Anthropology and Mind

The mission of the Centre for Anthropology and Mind (CAM) is to generate ground-breaking scholarship in the cognitive scientific study of culture.

Certain aspects of human culture and behaviour appear to be universal, whereas other features vary significantly from one population to the next. Research at CAM is directed to explaining cultural regularity and variation. At least some human universals appear to be shaped and constrained by implicit (unconscious) cognitive mechanisms. Explaining how cultural differences came into being entails close tracking of the way cultural phenomena are created and transformed through processes of transmission. The invention and communication of ideas and practices within and across generations requires tools – not just physical artefacts, like books and buildings, but also mental tools, such as the ability to acquire new concepts and to recognize their potential applications.

Though located in the ICEA and the School of Anthropology & Museum Ethnography, CAM seeks to develop collaborative, interdisciplinary projects across the University.