John Bock
Professor
Director, Cal State Fullerton Center for Sustainability
Degrees
MS, PhD, University of New Mexico
Biography
I am an evolutionary anthropologist interested in how peoples' behavior is shaped by the interaction of socioecological/cultural context and our evolved characteristics. My research agenda and teaching focus on children's learning, growth, and development; food, nutrition, and subsistence ecology; health and infectious disease; reproduction; indigenous and traditional knowledge systems; and human use of resources and effects on the natural world. I have been involved with research on these issues in Botswana and the United States.
Selected Publications
Kaplan, H.S., J. Bock, and P. Hooper. 2015. Fertility Theory: The embodied capital theory of life history evolution. International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, volume on Demography. (Editor-in-chief J. Wright). New York: Elsevier Science. Vol. 16, Pp. 28-34.
Lancy, D. , J. Bock, and S. Gaskins, Eds. 2010. The anthropology of learning in childhood. Lanham, MD: Alta Mira Press.
Bock, J. 2010. An evolutionary perspective on learning in social, cultural and ecological context. In D. Lancy, J. Bock, and S. Gaskins, eds. The anthropology of learning in childhood. Lanham, MD: Alta Mira Press. Pp. 11-34.
Lancy, D. , J. Bock, and S. Gaskins. 2010. Putting learning in context. In D. Lancy, J. Bock, and S. Gaskins, eds. The anthropology of learning in childhood. Lanham, MD: Alta Mira Press. Pp. 3-10.
Bock, J., D. Lancy, and S. Gaskins. 2008. A four-field anthropology of childhood. Anthropology News 49(4): 4-8.
Bock, J. and Johnson, S.E. 2008. Grandmothers' productivity and the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Cross Cultural Gerontology 25(3): 131-145.
Watkins, C. and Bock, J. 2007. Human-chimpanzee relationships: An ethnoprimatological perspective. In M. Bekoff, ed. Encyclopedia of human-animal relationships. New York: Greenwood Press. Pp. 156-163.
Bock, J. 2005. Farming, Foraging, and Children's Play in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. In A. Pellegrini and P.K. Smith, eds. The nature of play: Great apes and humans. New York: Guilford. Pp. 254-281.
Bock, J. 2005. What makes a competent adult forager? IN B. Hewlett and M. Lamb, eds. Hunter-gatherer childhoods. Somerset, NJ: Aldine Transaction. Pp. 109-128.
Bock, J. 2004. New evolutionary perspectives on play: An introduction. Human Nature 15(1) 1-3.
Bock, J. and Johnson, S.E. 2004. Subsistence ecology and play among the Okavango Delta Peoples of Botswana. Human Nature 15(1) 63-81.
Johnson, S.E.and Bock, J. 2004. Trade-offs in skill acquisition and time allocation among juvenile chacma baboons. Human Nature 15(1): 45-62.
Bock, J., ed. 2004. Special issue on New Evolutionary Perspectives on Play. Human Nature 15(1).
Bock, J. 2002. Learning, Life history, and productivity: Children's lives in the Okavango Delta of Botswana. Human Nature 13(2) 161-198.
Bock, J., ed. 2002. Special issue on Human Evolutionary Demography. American Journal of Human Biology 14(2): 145-256.
Bock, J. and Sellen, D.W., eds. 2002. Special issue on Childhood and the Evolution of the Human Life Course. Human Nature 13(2): 153-329.
Bock, J. 2002. Evolutionary theory and the search for a unified theory of fertility. American Journal of Human Biology 14(2) 145-148.
Bock, J. 2002. Evolutionary demography and intrahousehold time allocation: Schooling and children's labor among the Okavango Delta peoples of Botswana. American Journal of Human Biology 14(2) 206-221.
Bock, J. and Johnson, S.E. 2002. Male migration, remittances, and child outcome among the Okavango Delta peoples of Botswana. In C.S. Tamis-LeMonda and N. Cabrera, eds. Handbook of father involvement: Multidisciplinary perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates. Pp. 308-335.
Bock, J. and Johnson, S.E. 2002. The Okavango Delta peoples of Botswana. In R.K. Hitchcock and A.J. Osborne, eds. Endangered peoples of Africa and the Middle East. New York: Greenwood Press. Pp. 151-169.
Bock, J. and Sellen, D.W. 2002. Childhood and the evolution of the human life course: An introduction. Human Nature 13(2) 153-161.
Waitzkin, H., Williams, R.L., Bock, J., McCloskey, J., Willging, C. and Wagner, W. 2002. Safety-net institutions buffer the impact of Medicaid managed care: A multi-method assessment in a rural state. American Journal of Public Health 92: 598-610.
Kaplan, H.S. and Bock, J.A. 2001. Fertility Theory: The embodied capital theory of life history evolution (Volume: 3.3 Article: 155). In J.M. Hoem, ed. International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences, volume on Demography. (Editors-in-chief N.J. Smelser and P.B. Baltes). New York: Elsevier Science. Pp 5561-5568.
Kaplan, H.S. and Bock, J.A. 2001. Fertility theory: Caldwell's theory of intergenerational wealth flows (Volume: 3.3 Article: 102). In J.M. Hoem, ed. International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences, volume on Demography. (Editors-in-chief N.J. Smelser and P.B. Baltes). New York: Elsevier Science. Pp. 5557-5561.
Bock, J. 1999. Evolutionary approaches to population: Implications for research and policy. Population and Environment 21(2): 193-222.
Bock, J. 1998. Economic development and cultural change among the Okavango Delta peoples of Botswana. Botswana Notes and Records 30: 27-44.
Kaplan, H.S., Lancaster, J.B., Bock, J.A., and Johnson, S.E. 1995. Fertility and fitness among Albuquerque men: A competitive labour market theory. In R.I.M. Dunbar, ed. Human reproductive decisions: Biological and social perspectives . Pp. 96-136. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Kaplan, H.S., Lancaster, J.B., Bock, J.A., and Johnson, S.E. 1995. Does observed fertility maximize fitness among New Mexican men? A test of an optimality model and a new theory of parental investment in the embodied capital of offspring. Human Nature 6(4): 325-360.
