Module Description

Darwinian approaches can contribute to our understanding of human behaviour, including our demography, health, psychology, culture, and can be applied in hunter-gatherer, small-scale agricultural/pastoralist and post-industrial societies. This course is about the evolution of behaviour in humans and examines how much of the variation in human behaviour can be understood in terms of maximizing reproductive success in different ecological and social circumstances. The course introduces classic theories of social evolution (kin selection, reciprocal altruism and indirect reciprocity). The course covers aspects of our behaviour and life history that have parallels in numerous species, as well as those that are (more or less) uniquely human (such as menopause), and discusses how cultural evolution has influenced our behaviour.

Topics will include basic behavioural ecology (as applied to both animal and human behaviour) and some evolutionary psychology and cultural evolution, mate choice, parental investment, life history evolution, evolution of cooperation and kinship and marriage systems.

Learning Outcomes

Factual Knowledge 

Gain a cross-cultural understanding of specific themes (mate choice, kin selection, parental investment, cooperation, life history theory, marriage and residence systems, game theory, human sociality, cultural evolution and social learning) in HBE and an evaluation of the intellectual debates concerning them.
Critical knowledge of other topics examining human behaviour from an evolutionary perspective (evolutionary psychology and cultural evolution)
Awareness and understanding of evolutionary principles and their relevance to human behaviour
Informed awareness and understanding of human behavioural diversity and major hypotheses for why this diversity occurs.
Detailed understanding of the importance of ecology in understanding human behaviour, and as an extension critically classify different anthropological fieldsites and their importance in understanding human behavioural adaptation (from hunter-gatherers to post-industrial state societies).
 

Conceptual knowledge

Describe, interpret and critical use of a repertoire of concepts, theories and research methods in HBE.
An awareness of humans in a cross-species perspective and an understanding of what this brings to the evolutionary study of human behaviour.
Metacognitive knowledge

Construct a realisation that knowledge is contested.
An understanding of the strengths, weaknesses and limitations of HBE and research studies within the paradigm.
Subject-specific skills 

Interpret varied information on different aspects of human diversity
Analyse and evaluate qualitative and quantitative research
Create your own interpretation and perspective on the scientific literature grounded in empirical evidence
Apply and analyses key concepts and theories in HBE
Apply the scientific process in terms of ability to read and write scientific reports (i.e. essays)
Intellectual reflection, evaluation and synthesis
Reflexively question assumptions taken for granted
Ability to recognise and challenge ethnocentric assumptions
 

Delivery Method

One two hour seminar per week.