Event
The Neck: A Natural and Cultural History
Join us on Saturday, February 22, 4:00 pm for a conversation with author Kent Dunlap to celebrate the launch of his new book, The Neck: A Natural and Cultural History.
A 300-million-year tour of the prominent role of the neck in animal evolution and human culture.
Humans give a lot of attention to the neck. We decorate it with jewelry and ties, kiss it passionately, and use it to express ourselves in words and songs. Yet, at the neck, people have also shackled their prisoners, executed their opponents, and slain their victims. Beyond the drama of human culture, animals have evolved their necks into various shapes and uses vital to their lifestyles. The Neck delves into evolutionary time to solve a living paradox—why is our neck so central to our survival and culture but so vulnerable to injury and disease?
Biologist Kent Dunlap shows how the neck’s vulnerability is not simply an unfortunate quirk of evolution. Its weaknesses are intimately connected to the vessels, pipes, and glands that make it vital to existence. Fun and far-reaching, The Neck explores the diversity of forms and functions of the neck in humans and other animals and shows how this small anatomical transition zone has been a locus of incredible evolutionary and cultural creativity.
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PROGRAM:
4:00 – 4:30 – Refreshments
4:30 – 5:00 – Kent will be interviewed by Tema Kaiser Silk from New England Public Media
5:00 – 5:30 – Audience Q&A
5:30 – 6:00 – Book signing
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This event is FREE to the public, but will require advance registration.
Books will be sold onsite by River Bend Bookshop, on the day of the event. Concessions will be open and available if guests want to purchase beverages, popcorn, and snacks.
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Photo by Nick Caito
Kent Dunlap is a Professor of Biology at Trinity College in Hartford, where he teaches physiology and anatomy and researches the neurobiology and behavior of fish (animals without necks!). In the summers, he makes pottery and sculpts ceramic animals.
