Skip to main content

Staff profile

Overview

Professor Jeremy Kendal

Professor

Affiliations
AffiliationTelephone
Professor in the Department of Anthropology+44 (0) 191 33 41630
Fellow of the Durham Research Methods Centre
Associate Fellow in the Institute of Advanced Study
Fellow of the Institute for Medical Humanities

Biography

With a background in cultural evolution, my research interests include learning, memory, epistemology, ontology and disease emergence.   Much of my research is in collaboration with scholars from a variety of academic disciplines. 

Following a BSc in Biology, University of Nottingham, and a MSc in Biological Computation, University of York, I studied for a PhD supervised by Kevin Lala, Sub-Dept. of Animal Behaviour (Madingley), Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge (2003). My research involved running learning experiments with guppy fish and developing mathematical models to research the adaptive value of social learning. I then took up a postdoctoral fellowship with Marc Feldman, Department of Biology, Stanford University, developing mathematical models of cultural evolution, and then a post doctorial position with Kevin Lala, School of Biology, University of St. Andrews, researching social learning in stickleback fish. In 2007, I joined Durham Anthropology as a RCUK Fellow which led to a faculty position. I am currently serving as Deputy Head in the department.

Teaching

Includes evolution and behaviour, quantitative methods, study design, epistemology.

Research interests

  • Cultural evolution
  • Disease emergence
  • Epistemology and ontology
  • Learning and memory

Publications

Chapter in book

  • Prestige-Biased Social Learning
    Offord, M., Brand, C., & Kendal, J. (2024). Prestige-Biased Social Learning. In J. J. Tehrani (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Cultural Evolution. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198869252.013.16
  • Foreword
    Kendal, J. (2017). Foreword. In C. Deane-Drummond & A. Fuentes (Eds.), The evolution of human wisdom. Lexington Books.
  • Cultural Evolution, Gene–Culture Coevolution, and Human Health: an Introduction to Modelling Approaches
    Kendal, J., & Walters, C. (2015). Cultural Evolution, Gene–Culture Coevolution, and Human Health: an Introduction to Modelling Approaches. In J. Bissell, C. Caiado, S. Curtis, M. Goldstein, & B. Straughan (Eds.), Tipping points : modelling social problems and health. (pp. 146-167). Wiley.
  • Gene-Culture Coevolution
    Kendal, J. (2015). Gene-Culture Coevolution. In J. Wright (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (pp. 813-818). Elsevier.
  • Gene-culture Coevolution
    Kendal, J. (2013). Gene-culture Coevolution. In J. McGee & R. Warms (Eds.), Theory in social and cultural anthropology : an encyclopedia. (pp. 316-319). SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452276311.n101
  • Interactions between cognition and culture
    Kendal, J. (2011). Interactions between cognition and culture. In V. Swami (Ed.), Evolutionary psychology : a critical introduction. (pp. 311-342). Wiley.
  • Animal culture: problems and solutions
    Laland, K., Kendal, J., & Kendal, R. (2009). Animal culture: problems and solutions. In K. Laland & B. J. Galef (Eds.), The Question of Animal Culture. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv322v4wf.11
  • What the models say about animal social learning.
    Laland, K., & Kendal, J. (2003). What the models say about animal social learning. In D. Fragaszy & S. Perry (Eds.), The Biology of Traditions (pp. 33-55). Chicago University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511584022.003

Edited book

  • Oxford Handbook of Cultural Evolution
    Tehrani, J. J., Kendal, J., & Kendal, R. L. (Eds.). (2025). Oxford Handbook of Cultural Evolution. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198869252.001.0001

Journal Article

Manual

Working Paper