Barbara J. King
Barbara J. King is a contributor to the NPR blog 13.7: Cosmos & Culture. She is a Chancellor Professor of Anthropology at the College of William and Mary. With a long-standing research interest in primate behavior and human evolution, King has studied baboon foraging in Kenya and gorilla and bonobo communication at captive facilities in the United States.
Recently, she has taken up writing about animal emotion and cognition more broadly, including in bison, farm animals, elephants and domestic pets, as well as primates.
King's most recent book is How Animals Grieve (University of Chicago Press, 2013). Her article "When Animals Mourn" in the July 2013 Scientific American has been chosen for inclusion in the 2014 anthology The Best American Science and Nature Writing. King reviews non-fiction for the Times Literary Supplement (London) and is at work on a new book about the choices we make in eating other animals. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for her work in 2002.
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Do you know which paw your cat uses first when coming down the stairs? Anthropologist and cat lover Barbara J. King discusses with researchers why a new finding of paw preference matters for our pets. -
In response to a report of "heroic" behavior by a female mountain gorilla aiming to protect her baby, anthropologist Barbara J. King explores questions of conscious awareness of infanticide in apes. -
Would you eat beef, chicken, even foie gras grown from animal cells in the lab? Anthropologist Barbara J. King takes a look at new food technologies. -
If you involve your pets in holiday festivities, you'll immediately get why sanctuaries and nature centers fuss over their animals at this time of year, says anthropologist Barbara J. King. -
When was the last time you got really excited by good science depicted in a movie? Anthropologist Barbara J. King joined scientists last week in helping producers make more accurate TV and movies. -
Polynesia was colonized by the French and, even today, Polynesians are taught more about French history than their own. A new archaeological project aims to help change that, says Barbara J. King. -
From real-life, seaweed-carrying dolphins to fictional singing seahorses, animals in these new books can excite the mind, says anthropologist Barbara J. King. -
Gorilla naturalist? Barbara J. King suggests watching this young male gorilla in the Virunga Mountains during his close-up encounter with a baby owl.
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Tiny filler words in human rapid-fire conversation hold the key to understanding how language is unique, according to a new book. But anthropologist Barbara J. King raises some questions. -
Students in this "Living Deliberately"' class embrace asceticism and challenge stereotypes of college kids who can't put down their cellphones, says anthropologist Barbara J. King.
