College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

What came first – all-seeing Gods or complex societies? God the Father and Angel, Guercino Giovan Francesco Barbieri via Wikimedia Commons

Big Gods Came After the Rise of Civilizations, Not Before, Study Finds

The original function of moralizing gods in world history was to hold together fragile, ethnically diverse coalitions, write researchers at UConn, University of Oxford, and Keio University.

Madison Reed home hair color founder and CEO Amy Errett '79 (CLAS) welcomes UConn students on their trip to Silicon Valley. (Submitted Photo)

Student Entrepreneurs Spend Spring Break in Silicon Valley

'This trip is really important for our students to see first-hand how the spirit of entrepreneurship works in a real setting,' said UConn's David Noble.

Erosion along the banks of Wamassee Creek on St. Catherines Island caused a tree to fall in 2013, exposing a burial ground from the period just before and just after European contact. Intensive excavations followed to recover and protect burials threatened by erosion. Following consultation with appropriate Indigenous representatives, the St. Catherines Island Foundation partnered with multiple research groups to explore the archaeology, bioarchaeology, ancient DNA, stable isotopes, geophysics, radiocarbon dating, geoarchaeology, and ancient proteomics at the Fallen Tree site. Photo by Caitria O’Shaughnessy.

Snapshot: Deborah Bolnick, St. Catherines Island

A glimpse into a UConn research project located off the coast of Georgia, on an island inhabited by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years.

In Honor of St. Patrick’s Day: A Bit About Irish Fashion

English professor Mary Burke discusses the success of Irish fashion exports to post-World War II America.

Detroit Publishing Company vintage postcard of the Thoreau and Alcott House, historic house in Concord, Massachusetts, 1902. From the New York Public Library. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

Thoreau’s Great Insight for the Anthropocene: Wildness is an Attitude, not a Place

The mantra 'In Wildness is the preservation of the world' can remain true, provided we ask ourselves what we mean by wildness and what we’re trying to preserve, writes Robert Thorson at UConn.

Associate professor of anthropology Deborah Bolnick and graduate student Sam Archer, in the laboratory. Bolnick is one of a group of anthropologists who have documented how bringing diverse perspectives into scientific inquiry goes beyond increasing representation in the lab: diversity transforms the very practice of science. (Photo by Bret Brookshire)

Science is Better When it’s Diverse

A group of anthropologists document how bringing diverse perspectives purposefully into scientific inquiry goes far beyond increasing representation in the laboratory: diversity transforms the very practice of science.

Neurons. (Matt Wimsatt/JAX Medical Illustration)

Exploring Hypothalamic Circuits, One Neuron at a Time

A new study by UConn and JAX Genomic Medicine provides important clues for understanding certain neural circuits in the brain and the potential for the development of targeted neuropsychiatric therapies.

New Grant Trains Future Researchers in Communication Disorders

A team of UConn researchers has received a grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders to train graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in communication disorder research skills and methods.

Lisa Darminova, left, and Angela Villella, center, both of UConn, and Ellen Zhang of UC Irvine wander through the cherry blossoms in Hong Kong. (Submitted Photo)

Education Abroad: Lisa Darminova ’19, Hong Kong

'There are so many different people in Hong Kong. There is a big international community, so it’s easy to make friends,' says Lisa Darminova '19 (CLAS).

A path in a secondary forest in Lindero Sur, San Juan Province, Argentina.

Tropical Forests Naturally Regrow Quickly, But Without Species Variety

Forests recover growth in a few decades, but it may take centuries before the species diversity returns to the original composition, according to a study co-authored by Robin Chazdon of UConn.