Karthik Panchanathan

Karthik Panchanathan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Missouri, where he also serves as Director of the Evolution and Social Science Group. His research spans evolutionary anthropology, focusing on cooperation, cultural evolution, developmental plasticity, and metascience.

• Current affiliation: University of Missouri
• Academic role: Associate Professor

Research Interests:

• Cooperation and Social Evolution
• Cultural Evolution
• Evolution of Learning and Development
• Metascience
• Philosophy of Biology

Recent publications (2024-2016) reveal expertise in:

• Modeling sensitive periods in development
• Evolutionary game theory and indirect reciprocity
• Metascience and scientific methodology
• Human behavioral ecology
• Developmental trade-offs and plasticity
• Interdisciplinary approaches to evolutionary theory

Teaching includes:

• Courses on cultural anthropology
• Evolutions of human nature
• Theory in anthropology
• Department capstone seminar

Contact Information:

• Email: PanchanathanK@missouri.edu
• Location: 225 Swallow Hall, Columbia, MO
• Office Hours: Tuesday 11 am-12 pm, Wednesday 2 pm-3 pm