Kanzi, user of language and maker of stone tools and perhaps the most famous bonobo in the world, died at age 44 in March. A Humanities Lab Workshop devoted to Kanzi and the relation between great apes and language will be held on April 19, from 1-6 pm in Rm. 142, Goldwin Smith Hall. The event is free and the public is welcome. A livestream will also be available via Zoom; registration is required. 

Credit: Provided

“Kanzi’s fame mainly derived from the outstanding symbolic and linguistic abilities he first developed in the experiment Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh led,” said event organizer Laurent Dubreuil, Distinguished Professor of Arts & Sciences (A&S). “His life, the research he facilitated, and the remaining members of his family still have a lot to contribute to future scholarship intersecting the sciences, the arts, the humanities, and the social sciences.”

During the workshop, a dozen researchers from around the world will meet at Cornell and online to remember Kanzi and to discuss the relation between apes and language, past and future. 

Read the full story on the College of Arts and Sciences website.