Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

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Co Requisite Comment

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Aims

This module will provide students with a core understanding of evolutionary theory and biology, designed specifically for students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds in behavioural sciences. The module will give students an understanding of the historical context of evolutionary theory through a brief history of evolutionary biology, and progress into a detailed understanding of the modern synthesis and associated concepts. Finally, the course will engage the students in applying these concepts to human behaviour in particular, covering current research in behavioural ecology, evolutionary medicine and cultural evolution. As well as providing a primer for the core concepts of modern evolutionary theory and practice, the course situates evolutionary biology in a wider context, covering the historical development of evolutionary theory, its philosophical ramifications, and its impacts and applications in the human social, behavioral and health sciences. The module is primarily designed as a unifying thread for the MRes strand in Evolution and Human Behaviour, but students from other strands are welcome and will not be at a disadvantage.

Outline Of Syllabus

The module will start with an introductory session and then include material on the following topics:
o       Principles of evolutionary biology
o       History of life and the hominid line
o       Variation and Heredity
o       Competition and Selection
o       Population genetics
o       Genetics and behaviour
o       Cooperation, competition and game theory
o       Plasticity and learning
o       Language and communication
o       Gene-culture co-evolution
o       Cultural evolution
o       Complex systems and collective behaviour

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

On completing the module students should be able to:

1. Display a firm grasp of the intellectual history of evolutionary biology and what evolutionary theory aims to explain

2.Discuss the mechanisms that give rise to adaptation and the biological evidence for evolutionary processes

3.Explain the core the concepts in evolutionary theory and how these can be applied to the study of human and behaviour and culture

Intended Skill Outcomes

On completion of the module students should be able to:

1.       Communicate clearly and informedly about evolutionary theory in historical context, particularly as it applies to human behaviour, including contentious issues in this application

2.       Critically and constructively evaluate research in the behavioural sciences in an evolutionary context

3.       Apply evolutionary thinking to empirical studies of behaviour, e.g., in developing ideas for a research project.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

This course is mainly focussed on students learning a new theoretical framework that is likely to be outside their previous area(s) of expertise. While many students may have encountered evolutionary theory in passing, they do not have an in-depth understanding of its underlying history, concepts, and applications to human behaviour in particular. The primary focus on lectures by experts who use evolutionary theory in their research will provide students with a solid foundation in evolutionary theory while also demonstrating the broad and diverse applications of the approach.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Essay 1 will be a short review of a piece of research in human behavioural science which critiques the work specifically from an evolutionary point of view. This is especially intended to evaluate skill outcome 2: “Critically and constructively evaluate research in the behavioural sciences in an evolutionary context”.

Essay 2 will specifically assess students’ ability to clearly explain complex technical concepts that often have different (but related) lay definitions (e.g., heritiability, adaptation). The short answer format is chosen over a longer form essay to emphasise concise communication of complex concepts over longer form argumentation. Questions will be made available on a Monday for submission by the Friday.

The formative presentation allows students to receive feedback on their understanding of how the reading and course material applies to current research and how to assess it.

General Notes

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