Professor Bentley researches cultural evolution and social change from the ancient past to the present. Within this, the topics range from Neolithic kinship and prehistoric disease to contemporary behavioral change related to health and sustainability, to the pace of innovation in science. Much of the research involves computational social science—visualization and modeling to find patterns in human behavioral data.

Bentley teaches classes in the archaeology of Europe and Asia, computational social science, biology and society (medical anthropology) and data science. For the College of Arts and Sciences, Bentley is the director of the new interdisciplinary program in Computational Social Science and director of the Center for the Dynamics of Social Complexity. His new book, on the evolution of technology, is forthcoming with Roman and Littlefield Press (2025).

Professional Service

• 2023-present: Student Success Faculty Advisory Council, UTK
• 2023: Interim Associate Dean, College of Emerging and Collaborative Studies (CECS), UTK
• 2023: Program Director, Intercollegiate Data Science degree, CECS, University of Tennessee
• 2023: CECS Planning Committee, UTK
• 2018-2020: Social Sciences Subcommittee, College of Arts & Sciences, UTK
• 2018-2019: Connections & Global Challenges Committee, College of Arts & Sciences, UTK
• 2017-2020: Head of Anthropology Department, UTK
• 2015-2016: Chair of the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies, University of Houston.
• 2012-2014: Head of Archaeology & Anthropology, University of Bristol (U.K.).
• 2012: Director Undergraduate Programs, Dept. Archaeology & Anthropology, University of Bristol (U.K.).

Awards and Recognitions

• 2009 Emerald Management Reviews Citation of Excellence (top 50 management articles in 2008)
• 2008 “Celebrating success,” Durham University for contribution to research.
• 2007 Innovative interdisciplinary teaching award, Durham University.
• 2000 University of Wisconsin Vilas Fellowship.
• 1998 University of Wisconsin University Fellowship.
• 1990 Edwin Herbert Hall Physics Prize  (Bowdoin College).

Publications

Updated and complete record on Bentley’s website.

Books

• O’Brien, M.J., Bentley, R.A. & W.A. Brock (2019). The Importance of Small Decisions. MIT Press.
• Bentley, R.A. & M.J. O’Brien (2017). The Acceleration of Cultural Change: From Ancestors to Algorithms. MIT Press.
• Bentley, R.A., M. Earls, & M.J. O’Brien (2011). I’ll Have What She’s Having: Mapping Social Behavior.  MIT Press.

Recent Highlights

• Bentley R.A., B.D. Horne, J. Borycz J, et al. (2024) Cultural evolution, disinformation, and social division. Adaptive Behavior 32(2) 189–203.
• O’Brien, M.J., S. Valverde, S. Duran‐Nebreda, B. Vidiella, R.A. Bentley (2024) Punctuated equilibrium at 50: Anything there for evolutionary anthropology? Yes definitely. Evolutionary Anthropology 33: e22009.
• Bentley, R.A., S. Valverde, J. Borycz, B. Vidiella, B.D. Horne, S. Duran-Nebreda, M. J. O’Brien (2023) Is disruption decreasing, or is it accelerating? Advances In Complex Systems 26(2): 2350006.
• Carrignon, S., R.A. Bentley, M.J. O’Brien (2023) Estimating two key dimensions of cultural transmission from archaeological data. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 72: 101545.
• Bentley, R.A., J. Borycz, B.D. Horne (2023). Climate complacency reflects cultural values of nations. Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology 5: 100137.
• Bentley, R.A. (2022). Prehistory of kinship. Annual Review of Anthropology 51: 137–154.
• Vidiella, B., S. Carrignon, R.A. Bentley, M.J. O’Brien, S. Valverde (2022). A cultural evolutionary theory that explains both gradual and punctuated change. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 19: 20220570.
• Duran-Nebreda, S., M.J. O’Brien, M.J., R.A. Bentley, S. Valvaerde (2022). Dilution of expertise in the rise and fall of collective innovation. Humanities & Social Science Communications 9: 365.
• Borycz, J.D., B.D. Horne, R.A. Bentley (2022) Forking paths of cultural complexity: A case study of research paradigms. Advances in Complex Systems 25(2): 2240004.
• Carrignon, S., R.A. Bentley, M.J. Silk, N.H Fefferman (2022). How social learning shapes the efficacy of preventative health behaviors in an outbreak. PLoS ONE 17(1): e0262505.
• Shteynberg, G., J.B. Hirsh, J. Garthoff, R.A. Bentley (2022). Agency and identity in the collective self. Personality and Social Psychology Review 26(1): 35-56.
• Bentley, R.A., S. Carrignon, D.J. Ruck, S. Valverde, M.J. O’Brien (2021). Neutral models are a tool, not a syndrome. Nature Human Behaviour 5(7): 807-808.
• Ruck, D. J., R.A. Bentley, J. Borycz (2021). Early warning of vulnerable counties in a pandemic using socio- economic variables. Economics & Human Biology 41: 100988
• Silk, M.J., S. Carrignon, R.A. Bentley, N.H Fefferman (2021). Improving pandemic mitigation policies through coupled dynamics of risk perception and infection. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 288: 20210834.
• Ruck, D. J., R.A. Bentley, J. Borycz (2021). Early warning of vulnerable counties in a pandemic using socio- economic variables. Economics & Human Biology 41: 100988.
• Bentley, R.A., B. Pradier, A.A. Kyaw, T.O. Pryce (2021) Kinship and migration in prehistoric Mainland Southeast Asia: The isotopic evidence. Archaeological Research in Asia 25: 100260.