H. Lyn Miles
UC Foundation Professor of Anthropology
Ph.D., 1978, University of Connecticut
Contact Information:
302A Brock Hall
(423) 425-4440
Lyn-Miles@utc.edu
Recent Courses:
Introduction to Anthropology ANTH 1520
Physical Anthropology ANTH 2070
Primate Behavior ANTH 3150
Dr. Miles is a UC Foundation Professor of Anthropology., She was trained in the evolution of language and coginition and primate behavior a Yale University and the University of Connecticut, where she received the doctorate in anthropology based on her study of chimpanzee sign language conversations. In 1978 she began Project Chantek and raised an orangutan Chantek and taught him sign language and aspects of human culture, including games, rules for social behavior, and making stone tools, arts and crafts, and jewelry. This research has resulted in over 200 publications and papers and two books, The Mentality of Gorillas and Orangutans (Cambridge University Press), and Anthropomorphism, Anecdotes and Animals (SUNY Press). Her research is featured in two exhibits in the Smithsonian Institution as well as international documentary films on the Discovery Channel, A&E, PBS, Animal Planet, BBC and NHK, and in the New York Times, Washington Post, Time Magazine, and London Sunday Times Magazine. She is currently working on a book about Chatek's abilities, as well as a book on how individuals integrate their prior beliefs with learning about human evolution. She has been an Affiliate Scientist at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center of Emory University, and has received grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. She teaches courses in ape language, human evolution, primate behavior, and physical anthropology, and has won a Student Government Association Outstanding Professor Award and a College of Arts and Sciences Research Prize. She is one of the original signers of the Great Ape Project delcaration of rights for great apes.
Updated 10/24/12
