SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS University of Virginia, Academic Sponsor
Voyage: Spring 2015 Discipline: Psychology PSYC 3500-101: Evolutionary Psychology Division: Upper Faculty Name: Joseph Lowman Credit Hours: 3; Contact Hours: 38
B Days 1300-14:15 hours
Pre-requisites: None
COURSE DESCRIPTION This course concerns new evolutionary ways of thinking about human and animal behavior and does so within the context of the Semester at Sea international experience. We will revisit some of the topics studied in the introductory psychology course, e.g. fear, emotion, motivation, personality, and language, but we will view them through the lens of an intellectual perspective that better integrates genetic and environmental evolutionary thinking than the standard social science model. Plus, our course goes into more depth into several topics not usually studied in introductory psychology. For example, we’ll cover mate selection, sexuality, and religion and morality from an evolutionary perspective. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution or “common descent with modification” will receive attention throughout this course as it forms the foundation of how we will approach each specific topic. No single text has been adopted. Instead, individual chapters from a number of specific books will be read and discussed, especially as they fit or do not fit students’ observations in various diverse ports and cultures.
. COURSE OBJECTIVES
Students will become very familiar with what is called Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, including an ability to distinguish the roles of fitness or survival and sexual selection. They will also have an in-depth appreciation of how he created, refined, and eventually published his controversial theory. Students will also be able to show how this new perspective improves the ability of traditional psychological research into fundamental human processes by asking “why” questions about their possible adaptive purposes among our primate and early human ancestors.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS (None: All readings will come from chapters available on the Ship’s electronic library. Selections from two of Darwin’s works and chapters from books by established evolutionary biologists and psychologists such as Richard Dawkins, Franz DeWaal, Jared Diamond, Steven Pinker, and Geoffrey Miller are included as well as readings from lessor
1 known figures such as Jesse Bering, Mark Pagel, Nicholas Wade, and Christopher Ryan)
TOPICAL OUTLINE OF COURSE
Depart Ensenada- January 7:
B1-January 10: Introduction and Overview of Evolutionary Psychology Pinker, 2002, Chapter 3
B2-January 12: Humans and Other Apes DeWaal, 2005, Chapter 1 Pagel, 2010, Chapter 1 Hilo: January 14
B3-January 15: Fear, Survival, and Human Adaptation Gardner, 2008, Chapter 2
B4-January 17: Evolution by Natural Selection and Darwin’s Early Intellectual History Darwin’s 1845 Journey of the Beagle, Chapter X Dawkins, 2009, Chapter 1 Lost Day: January 19
No Classes: January 20
B5-January 21: Survival versus Sexual Selection Miller, 2009, Chapter 2
B6-January 23 Exam #1:
B7-January 25: Case Studies of Indigenous Peoples Thomas, 2006, Chapter 7 Diamond, 2012, Prologue
Yokohama: January 26-27 In-Transit: January 28 Kobe: January 29-31
B8-February 2: Dating and Marriage in Contemporary Japan Japanese Dating from the Perspective of a Western Man History of Marriage in Japan
Shanghai: February 3-4 In-Transit: February 5-6 Hong Kong: 7-8 2
B9-February 10: Motivation and Emotion Gaulin-McBurney Chapter 6 Darwin, 1872, Expressions of Emotions Introduction
Ho Chi Minh: February 11-16
B10-February 18: Personality and Evolution Workman & Reader, 2008 Chapter 13 Cain, 2012 Chapter 4
Singapore: February 19-20
No Classes: February 21
B11-February 23: Health, Diet, and Stress in the Modern World Fessenden, 2013 Dunn, 2012
Rangoon: February 24-March 1
B12-March 3: Human Mating Miller, 2009, Chapter 6
B13-March 5: Human Mating (Continued) Roach, 2008, Chapter 9
Cochin: March 6-11
B14- March 13: Human Universals and Evolution Brown, 1991 Chapter 6
No Classes: March 14
B15-March 16: Evolution of Music and Dance Levitin, 2006 Chapter 9
Port Louis: March 18
B16- March 19: Exam #2
No Classes: March 21
B17-March 22: Language, Diversity, and Human Adaptability Pinker, 2007, Chapter 7
A18-March 24: Language (continued) Ressano, 2003, Chapter 17 3
Cape Town: March 25-30
B19-April 1: Focused Discussion of Port Observations
Walvis Bay, April 2-6
B20-April 8: Religion and Morality Wade, 2009, Chapter 3
No Classes; April 10
B21-April 11: Religion & Morality (continued) Dawkins, 2006, Chapter 5
B22-April 13: Student Presentations of Course Concepts and Port Observations as Presented in Papers
B23-April 16: Student Presentations of Course Concepts and Port Observations as Presented in Papers (continued)
Casablanca: April 18-22
B24-April 23: Final Integration
Global Lens Course Final Exams and Study Day
B25-April 26: B Day Final Exams
April 29: Arrive in Southampton
Field lab attendance is mandatory for all students enrolled in this course. Please do not book individual travel plans or a Semester at Sea sponsored trip on the day of your field lab.
FIELD LAB
Mondesa Township was established in the early 1950's to provide housing for Owambo, Damara and Herero people working in Swakopmund, a small city near Walvis Bay Namibia. These were some of the original tribal groups who were brought in to work in the colonial economy. The Mondesa Township has for half a century promoted education and employment for these peoples. We will travel by coach for a personal three-hour tour of the township to learn about the various cultures represented and the attempts to help these people make the transition from indigenous life styles to the demands of more Western economies and settings.
Academic Objectives: 1. Expose students to people from indigenous southern African cultures 2. Expose students to the attempts to integrate indigenous people with the more modern Namibian economy 3 Provide students an opportunity to appreciate the challenges of overcoming unemployment and poverty among native peoples.
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METHODS OF EVALUATION / GRADING RUBRIC Three exams (two during the voyage and one on the final examination day) will constitute the main method of evaluation. Each exam will be essay in format (five or six questions) and will allow students to show they have mastered the details of the readings and topics as discussed in class and have also integrated them as they reflect broader issues we have studied. Thus, the best essays will show full mastery of details and also independent thinking. Each exam will count 26.5 % toward the final grade. If the final exam grade is the highest of the three it will be counted 32%, the lowest grade will count 22%, and the other exam will count 26%.
Two papers are also assigned and each will count 10% toward the final grade. The first will be based on the class Field Lab in which everyone will participate. The second paper will be based on students’ port experiences and be on a topic of their own choosing that shows examples of topics we have studied. Each paper should be between 5 and 8 pages and be submitted electronically as pdf files. Each paper should include specific examples from our readings and classroom discussions as illustrated by specific observations that do or do not fit what we have studied. Examples of potential paper topics will be discussed from time to time in class. Due dates for papers will be posted after date for Field Lab is scheduled.
ELECTRONIC COURSE MATERIALS Several book chapters and research articles have been placed on the ship’s Electronic Course Materials site and will be assigned on a TBA basis throughout the voyage.
Brown, D. (1991). Human universals. Temple University. Chapter 6, The Universal People. Darwin, C. (1845). The Voyage of the Beagle. Chapter X, pp 189-210 Darwin, C. (1872) The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals. Chapter 1, Introduction, pp. 1261-1275 Dawkins, R. (2006). The God Delusion. New York: Houghton Mifflin, Chapter 5, The Roots of Religion. Dawkins, R. (2009). The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. New York: The Free Press. Chapter 1, “Only a Theory.” De Waal, F. (2005). Our Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why We are Who We Are. New York: Basic Books, Chapter 1 Diamond. J. (2012). The World Until Yesterday. New York: Viking Penguin. Prologue.
Dunn, R. (2012) Ancient Humans Mostly Vegetarian. Scientific American.
Gardner, D. (2008). The Science of Fear. New York: Dutton, Chapter 1.Gaulin, S.J.C.& McBurney, D. H. (2004). Evolutionary Psychology, 2nd Ed. Prentice-Hall, Chapter 6, Motivation and Emotion.
Fessenden, M. (2013). How to Really Eat Like a Hunter-Gatherer: Why the Paleo Diet Is Half- Baked
Japanese Internet Sites: Japanese Dating from the Perspective of a Western Man History of Marriage in Japan
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Levitin, D. (2006). This is Your Brain on Music. New York: Dutton, Chapter 9, The Music Instinct.
Miller, G (2000). The Mating Mind: How Sexual Selection Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature. Prentice-Hall. Chapter 2, Darwin’s Prodigy. Miller, G. (2009). Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior. New York: Viking. Chapter 6 Pagel, M. (2012). Wired for Culture: Origins of the Human Social Mind. New York: Norton. Chapter 1, The Occupation of the World. Pinker, S. (2007). The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature. New York: Viking. Chapter 7, The Seven Words You Can’t Say on Television. Rossano, M (2003). Evolutionary Psychology: The Science of Human Behavior and Evolution, Wiley. Chapter 17, The Evolution of Language Roach, M. (2008). Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Sex and Science. New York: Norton. Chapter 9, The Lady’s Boner: Is the Clitoris a Tiny Penis? Thomas, E. (2006). The Old Way: A History of the First Humans. Chapter 7, Hunting. Wade, N. (2009). The Faith Instinct: How Religion Evolved and Why it Endures. New York: Penguin, Chapter 3, The Evolution of Religion. Workman, L, & Reader, W. (2008). Evolutionary Psychology (2nd Ed). Cambridge. Chapter 13, Individual Differences
HONOR CODE Semester at Sea students enroll in an academic program administered by the University of Virginia, and thus bind themselves to the University’s honor code. The code prohibits all acts of lying, cheating, and stealing. Please consult the Voyager’s Handbook for further explanation of what constitutes an honor offense.
Each written assignment for this course must be pledged by the student as follows: “On my honor as a student, I pledge that I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment.” The pledge must be signed, or, in the case of an electronic file, signed “[signed].”
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