February 24 EASC Colloq

The sixth East Asian Colloquium of the spring semester is Friday, the 24^th of February.

PRESENTER: Andrea Wiley (Anthropology, IU Bloomington)

TOPIC: Rising Milk Consumption in East and Southeast Asia and Expectations for Child Growth: An Anthropological Perspective
DATE: Friday, February 24, 2012

TIME: 12:00-1:15 p.m.
LOCATION: Ballantine 004

(Light refreshments will be served. You are also welcome to bring your own lunch.)

Historically the consumption of milk was limited to relatively few populations across the globe – especially northern Europeans and pastoralist populations in Africa and central Asia.   This pattern was associated with population differences in the frequency of genes that affect the digestion of the milk sugar lactose in adulthood, with most of the world’s populations retaining genes that stop milk digestion capacity in childhood (i.e. lactose intolerance).  However, over the past 30 years milk consumption has skyrocketed in countries in East and Southeast Asia, despite high rates of lactose intolerance and these regions are witnessing major growth in dairy production, while the opposite is true in countries with longstanding dairy traditions.  In this talk Andrea Wiley discusses population variation in milk digestion, and some reasons why milk consumption is trends seem to be diverging, with special reference to East Asia.  She argues that this is related to ideas about milk’s contributions to child growth, and the differing cultural values of growth.

Andrea Wiley is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Human Biology Program at IUB.  She has conducted research on milk consumption and child growth both in India and the United States and written about the current globalization of milk. She is author of Re-Imagining Milk (Routledge, 2011) and currently working on a new book that compares dairy traditions in the U.S. and India and how milk consumption is related to child growth. 

Persons with disabilities interested in attending our events who may require assistance, please contact us in advance at (812) 855-3765.

East Asian Studies Center

Indiana University

1021 East Third Street

Memorial Hall West 207

Bloomington, IN  47405

Phone:  (812) 855-3765

Fax:  (812) 855-7762

http://www.iu.edu/~easc/

E-mail:  easc@indiana.edu

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