Engaging with the Public and the Past: The Archaeological Legacy of Brian Fagan

Throughout his career, archaeologist Brian Fagan has consistently marshaled an unparalleled amount of cross cultural comparative data to address social phenomena with roots that stretch deep into our human past. As one of the country's best known authors of popular archaeology, Brian's scholarship on a wide range of anthropological themes is exemplified in dozens of widely-read books. As an influential public intellectual, Brian has led the charge in making anthropology accessible to students, scholars and the public alike. In the spirit of his lifelong contributions to the discipline --and with an eye towards public engagement, papers in this symposium employ cross cultural data from archaeological hot-spots worldwide to address and problematize the nature of prehistoric human-environment interactions. In doing so, we acknowledge Brian's legacy of research on the environment and its role in shaping society--both ancient and modern, as well as inform on the history of human vulnerability in prehistoric populations across the globe.