Instructors: Paul Hooper (phooper@unm.edu) and Hillard Kaplan.
Teaching assistant: Gandhi Yetish (gyetish@unm.edu); Office hours Monday 12-12:50 and Tuesday 12:30-1:30, or by appointment
The original class syllabus is available for download here. (Modifications to the schedule--due to class cancellation, etc.--will be reflected on this course website, but not on the original course syllabus.)
The required text (Why Sex Matters: A Darwinian Look at Human Behavior by Bobbi Low) is available from the UNM NetLibrary. ***The protocol for accessing this document has changed. Now, click here for access. You may have to enter your UNM username and password.*** There is also a hardcopy of the book at the reserve desk at Zimmerman Library.
Additional readings are directly accessible from the links below.
Week 1, January 17, 19
Tu - Lecture 1. Introduction to the course (click here for slides)
Th - Lecture 2. Basic principles of natural selection (click here for slides)
Readings:
Trivers: Ch. 1, A scientific theory of organic creation, pp. 1-18 (click here)
Trivers: Ch. 2, Natural selection, pp. 19-41 (click here)
Week 2, January 24, 26
Tu - Lecture 3. Natural selection, heritability, behavior, and learning (click here for slides)
Th - Video: The Human Quest I
Readings:
Trivers: Ch. 5, Genetics, behavior, and learning (click here). *Now with all pages right-side-up, thanks to Gandhi!*
Low: Ch. 1, Introduction, pp. 3-18 (accessible from NetLibrary)
Week 3, January 31, February 2
Tu - Lecture 4. Altruism, kin selection, and group selection (click here for slides)
Th - Lecture 5. Reciprocal altruism (click here for slides)
Readings:
Trivers: Ch. 3, Elementary social theory (click here)
Trivers: Ch. 4, The group selection fallacy (click here)
Low: Ch. 2, Racing the Red Queen: Selfish genes and their strategies, pp. 19-34 (accessible from NetLibrary)
Week 4, February 7, 9
Tu - Video: The Human Quest II
Th - Lecture 6. Life history theory and the evolution of the human life course (click here for slides)
Readings:
Low: Ch. 9, Nice guys can win--In social species, anyway, pp. 146-162 (accessible from NetLibrary)
Kaplan et al. (2000) A theory of human life history evolution: Diet, intelligence and longevity (click here)
Week 5, February 14, 16
Tu - Lecture 7. Life history theory and the evolution of the human life course, continued (click here for slides)
Th - In-class review for Exam 1
Fr - Out-of-class review for Exam 1 at 11am
Readings:
Review Kaplan et al. (2000) A theory of human life history evolution: Diet, intelligence and longevity (click here)
Study for exam; attend review sessions with questions. **The review sheet for the exam is available here.**
Week 6, February 21, 23
Monday - Out-of-class review for Exam 1 at noon
Tu - Exam 1
Th - Lecture 8. Parental investment and sexual selection (click here for slides)
Readings: (these readings correspond to lecture 8, and will not be covered on Exam 1)
Trivers: Ch. 9, Parental investment and sexual selection, pp. 203-238 (click here)
Low: Ch. 3, The ecology of sex differences, pp. 35-56 (accessible from NetLibrary)
Week 7, February 28, March 1
Tu - Lecture 9. Rank and reproductive success in other primates (click here for slides)
Th - Hand back and discuss exam 1; catch up on lectures.
Readings:
Low: Ch. 4, Sex, status, and reproduction among the apes, pp. 57-76 (accessible from NetLibrary)
Low: Ch. 5, Sex, appearance, and mate choice, pp. 77-88 (accessible from NetLibrary)
Week 8, March 6, 8
Tu - Video: N!ai, The Story of a !Kung Woman
Th - Lecture 10. Female and male maturation (click here for slides)
Readings:
Low: Ch. 6, Sex, resources, and human lifetimes, pp. 92-112 (accessible from NetLibrary)
Week 9, March 13, 15
Spring break
Week 10, March 20, 22
Tu - Lecture 11. Male-male competition and mate choice in traditional societies (click here for slides), and Video: Male Displays
Th - Review for Exam 2
Fr - Out-of-class review session, 11:30-12:30
Readings:
Low: Ch. 13, Sex resources, and early warfare, pp. 213-229 (accessible from NetLibrary)
Study for exam; attend review sessions with questions. **The review sheet for the exam is available here.**
Week 11, March 27, 29
Mo - Out-of-class review session, 4-5pm
Tu - Exam 2
Th - Lecture 12. Resource competition, inheritance, and sex differences in traditional stratified social systems (click here for slides)
Readings:
*** Boone (1986) Parental investment and elite family structure in preindustrial states: A case study of late medieval-early modern Portuguese genealogies *** (click here)
Week 12, April 3, 5
Tu - Lecture 13. Resource competition, inheritance, and sex differences in traditional stratified social systems II (click here for slides)
Th - Lecture 14. Demographic transition I (click here for slides)
Readings:
*** Kaplan et al. (2002) Evolutionary approach to below replacement fertility ***(click here)
Week 13, April 10, 12
Tu - Hand back and go over exam 2
Th - NO CLASS
Readings:
Low: Ch. 8, Sex, resources, and fertility in transition, pp. 127-145 (accessible from NetLibrary)
*** Geronimus et al. (1999) Health inequality and population variation in fertility-timing *** (click here)
Week 14, April 17, 19
Tu - Lecture 15. Demographic transition II (click here for slides)
Th - Lecture 16. Teen pregnancy (click here for slides)
Readings:
Low: Ch. 15, Wealth, fertility, and the environment in future tense, pp. 127-145 (accessible from NetLibrary)
Week 15, April 24, 26
Tu - Hand out review sheets
Th - In-class review session 1
Readings:
Make sure to review the 3 key articles marked *** above (Boone, Kaplan, and Geronimus).
Study for exam 3; attend review sessions with questions. **The review sheet for the exam is available here.**
Week 16, May 1, 3
Tu - In-class review session 2
Th - Exam 3