Empowerment Through Education: Shaping the Future

This summer, something rare happened in southwest Ethiopia. From June 29 to July 3, sixteen Ethiopian faculty members and graduate students came together at the South Omo Research Center in Jinka for the first Workshop on Cultural Evolution ever held in the region. In just three weeks of recruitment, we received 32 applications for only 17 seats — a clear sign of how hungry researchers here are for training that is almost impossible to access from within the global south.

Over five intensive days, participants worked through the core theories, methods, and landmark studies of the field: lectures, hands-on practicums in behavioral observation and economic games, and guest talks beamed in over Zoom from leading researchers around the world. Students formed small teams to design their own research projects, trading feedback with mentors and peers. In keeping with local tradition, we closed the week with a banquet and a certificate ceremony attended by leaders from Jinka University. The workshop was made possible by a $2,500 outreach award from the Cultural Evolution Society.

The enthusiasm was extraordinary. “Through cultural evolution,” one participant wrote, “we ourselves evolved from colleagues to friendships.” Another simply said the week was “amazing” and asked when the next one would be. In our evaluations, participants overwhelmingly reported that they intended to bring these methods into their own work.

But teaching is only the start. To turn that energy into real scholarship, OVRP launched a research grant of up to $1,000 for participants to carry out their own studies, paired with mentorship to help them design, analyze, and ultimately publish their work — and we hope to send an awardee to the 2028 Cultural Evolution Society conference. Fourteen scholars applied, many with excellent proposals, and we are selecting awardees now. This is where you come in. Your generosity is what allows OVRP to keep opening doors for talented researchers who have the drive to contribute to global science but few chances to do so. Thank you for standing behind them.