PSY 3020: Evolution, Science & Superstition 4 Credits, Winter 2019
Instructor: Nicole Barbaro, M.S. Office: 218 Pryale Hall Course Section: 12879 Office Hours: TW 1:00-2:00pm Class Time: MWF 8:00-9:07am Email: [email protected] Classroom: 312 Pawley Hall Website: www.nicolebarbaro.com
COURSE INFORMATION
Course Description: Overview of the methods and products of science with a focus on Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, and on the psychological processes that explain supernaturalism. Religion, superstition, and supernatural beliefs are ubiquitous features of human cultures across the world. Human culture is a product of the individuals that comprise groups; and individual minds are a product of evolution by natural selection. Religion can therefore be understood as a product of evolution by natural selection.
This course, specifically, will discuss how evolved psychology produces culture, and will focus on the Bible as a product of human culture from an evolutionary perspective.
Religious and/or spiritual belief is a domain that is deeply personal for many people. Some material in this course may contrast with personal beliefs. This course involves regular class participation. If you anticipate that any of these topics will be too upsetting to discuss in the context of scientific theories and empirical research, I recommend that you not take this course.
Course Pre-requisites: PSY 250/PSY 2500 with a grade of 2.0 or higher.
Required Texts: van Schaik, C. & Michel, K. (2016). The Good Book of Human Nature: An Evolutionary Reading of the Bible. New York, NY: Basic Books. ISBN-13: 978-0465074709 ISBN-10: 0465074707
Provided PDFs (also available for download on Moodle)
Lewis, D. M. G., Al-Shawaf, L., Conroy-Beam, D., Asao, K., & Buss, D. M. (2017). Evolutionary psychology: A How-To Guide. American Psychologist, 72, 353-373.
Tooby, J. & Cosmides, L. (1992). The psychological foundations of culture. In J. Barlow, L. Cosimides, & J. Tooby (Eds.), The adapted mind: Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture (pp. 19-136). New York, MY: Oxford University Press.
Course Procedures: Lectures and Discussion
Course Objectives: On completion of this course the student will: 1. Understand and explain how our evolved psychology generates culture, including religion and supernatural beliefs. 2. Read, assess, and evaluate religious belief and texts in a dispassionate manner. 3. Apply principles of evolutionary biology to the study of human religion. CLASS POLICIES
Academic Conduct: Oakland University students are expected to exhibit behavior consistent with the University’s standards of academic integrity and honesty. The University’s regulations that relate to academic misconduct will be fully enforced. Any student suspected of cheating and/or plagiarism will be reported to the Dean of Students and, thereafter, to the Academic Conduct Committee for adjudication. Anyone found guilty of academic misconduct in this course may receive a course grade of 0.0, in addition to any penalty assigned by the Academic Conduct Committee. Students found guilty of academic misconduct by the Academic Conduct Committee may face suspension or permanent dismissal. The full policy on academic misconduct can be found in the General Information section of the Undergraduate Catalog. (Academic Conduct Regulations can be found in the Student Handbook, https://www.oakland.edu/deanofstudents/conduct-regulations/). Some examples of misconduct relevant to this class include cheating on examinations, turning in others’ work as your own, plagiarism, and unauthorized collaboration.
Classroom Courtesy and Behavior: USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES IN CLASS IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED. While I understand that you can find infinitely more interesting things on the Internet than what you’re learning in class, your capacity to absorb and engage with the information presented in lecture and discussion is diminished if you are not actively paying attention. Multi-tasking, such as taking notes and texting, result in poor performance for both tasks. Taking notes on a laptop or tablet reduces understanding of conceptual information—not to mention all the time you spend browsing online in between “important bits of information”. If you chose to use electronic devices anyway, at the very least, be courteous of those around you—do not disrupt and distract the students that are, in fact, paying attention and actively participating in discussion. Please refrain from using your phone during class – there is arguably no valid reason for using it during class. Disruptive classroom behavior will be addressed by (1) a general announcement, (2) direct announcement, (3) a request to leave the classroom, and (4) calling Campus Police to have the student removed from the classroom.
Attendance and Participation: Class attendance is expected and course participation is required. Each day will involve active discussion and informal lectures. Your class attendance will therefore be directly associated with components of your grade. Class begins at 8:00am—please be on time. Each class meeting is just over one hour. Delays in student arrival will detract from class time. If you do arrive to class late, please enter quietly to avoid disrupting the entire class. Any and all material covered in class and in the assigned readings are fair game for exams.
Make‐up Policies:
Exams: Expected excuses for exams need to be discussed with the professor at least 1 week before the exam date to schedule a make-up exam time prior to the date scheduled for the class. Unexpected absences due to major life events require immediate notification to the professor and proof of reason for the absence (e.g., Doctor note, police report, etc). The format of the make‐up exam may differ from the format of the exam administered to the rest of the class. Arrangements to make-up missed exams must be made within one week of the date in which it was administered to the rest of the class (unless there are extenuating circumstances; e.g., illness that prevents you from attending school). If you have not made arrangements for your make‐up exam within one week, you will receive a grade of zero points for that particular exam.
Discussion Questions: If you will be missing a class for a valid reason (illness, family emergency, university event) you must notify the professor prior to missing class and email your discussion questions prior to the start of class (8am). For no reason will Discussion Questions be accepted after 8am on the date due and no Discussion Questions will be accepted without a valid reason.
There will be no exceptions to these policies. Students who must be absent from class due to University representation events (e.g., athletics, performances) are also subject to these policies (see the OU Excused Absence Policy, below). The class schedule is listed at the end of this syllabus. Schedule your vacation accordingly; early notice of vacationing will not count as an approved rationale for a missed exam.
Excused Absence Policy: University excused absences applies to participation as an athlete, manager or student trainer in NCAA intercollegiate competitions, or participation as a representative of Oakland University at academic events and artistic performances approved by the Provost or designee. For the OU excused absence policy, see http://wwwp.oakland.edu/provost/policies-and-procedures/
Moodle: Class materials and general class information, and major class announcements will be distributed through Moodle. Please, take the time to become familiar with and learn how to use Moodle. You can access Moodle from the OU main site by clicking “Moodle” on the top banner. If you do not know how to use Moodle, from the Moodle login page you can click “Help” and use the tutorials presented by the IT department.
Add or Drop the Class: The University add/drop dates can be found on the website for the Office of the Registrar (https://www.oakland.edu/registrar/important-dates/). It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of course drop deadlines.
Special Considerations: A student with a documented learning or physical disability must contact the Office of Disability Support Services, 103A North Foundation Hall, (248) 370-3266, and inform the professor of special needs during first week of classes. For more information, visit http://www.oakland.edu/dss
Audio Recording Policy: Recording of class discussions are not permitted. Because this is a discussion-based course whereby all students are contributing, it is not feasible to obtain consent from all students.
Veteran Support Services: The office of Veteran Support Services (VSS) is responsible for giving support services to more than 300 veterans, service members, and dependents of veterans. VSS is staffed with personnel who are veterans and current or former students. Any student veteran or dependent of a veteran requiring assistance with navigating the Veterans Administration, understanding service-related benefits, or requires referrals to campus and community resources should contact one of the Veterans Liaisons by visiting 116 North Foundation Hall, or phoning 248-370-2010. http://wwwp.oakland.edu/veterans/
GRADES
Your course grade will be based on exams and course participation.
Exams: There will be five exams total, each following a major section/ part of the required texts. Each exam will consist of short essay questions. Each exam will be graded on a 0-100% scale. These exams will not be “cumulative”— meaning each exam will cover only the material from the text since the previous exam. Each exam will be worth 15% of your final course grade. In the event that you are late for class on an exam day: (2) You will have whatever amount of time is left in the class period to complete the exam, and (1) Exams will not be distributed after the first person has finished the exam and has left the room.
Submitted Discussion Questions: Nearly all classes will be active discussion on the day’s assigned reading. All days listed with “DQ’s due” are on the course calendar – 34 days total. You are required to read the material prior to the day the reading is scheduled to be discussed. Come to class prepared to discuss the material with your classmates. You will turn in 2 typed discussion questions each discussion period. Discussion questions should be questions that provoke discussion, critique logic or evidence, or ask for clarification on a complex topic or issue. Submitted Discussion Questions are worth 5 points each day, and constitute 15% of your final course grade.
Presented Discussion Questions: Each student will sign up to present at least 1 of their discussion questions on four (4) separate class meetings. You do not need to prepare anything extra for these dates, but be prepared to keep discussion with your classmates going and guide discussion with your questions. Presented Discussion Questions are worth 10% of your final course grade.
I reserve the right to curve individual exams or final course grades as I see appropriate.
Grade Calculation:
Exams 5 @ 15% each Submitted DQs 15% Presented DQs 10%
Course total 100%
The following scale will be used to determine your final grade:
A 4.0 93%-100% A- 3.7 90%-92% B+ 3.3 87%-89% B 3.0 83%-86% B- 2.7 80%-82% C+ 2.3 77%-79% C 2.0 73%-76% C- 1.7 70%-72% D+ 1.3 67%-69% D 1.0 60%-66% F 0.0 Below 60%
TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE
◄ Dec 2018 January 2019 Feb 2019 ► Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 First day of class
Introduction to the course Syllabus
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 T&C T&C Lewis et al. 2017 pp. 19-40 pp. 40-61 pp. ALL DQ’s Due DQ’s Due DQ’s Due 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 T&C T&C T&C pp. 61-82 pp. 82-102 pp. 102-123
DQ’s Due DQ’s Due DQ’s Due
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 MLK Day – NO CLASS T&C Recap Day T&C EXAM
27 28 29 30 31 V&M Introduction V&M Ch 1 pp. 1-25 pp. 27-40
DQ’s Due DQ’s Due
◄ Jan 2019 February 2019 Mar 2019 ► Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 V&M Ch 1 pp. 40-57
DQ’s Due
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 V&M Ch 2 V&M Ch 3 V&M Ch 4 pp. 58-66 pp. 67-72 pp. 73-82
DQ’s Due DQ’s Due DQ’s Due
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 V&M Ch 4 V&M Ch 5 V&M Ch 6 pp. 83-95 pp. 96-100 pp. 102-112
DQ’s Due DQ’s Due DQ’s Due
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
NO CLASS NO CLASS NO CLASS
24 25 26 27 28 V&M Ch 6 PART 1 EXAM pp. 112-120
DQ’s Due
◄ Feb 2019 March 2019 Apr 2019 ►
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 V&M Ch 7 pp. 121-139
DQ’s Due
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 V&M Ch 7 V&M Ch 7 V&M Ch 8 pp. 139-151 pp. 151-165 pp. 166-179
DQ’s Due DQ’s Due DQ’s Due
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 V&M Ch 9 V&M Ch 10 PART 2 EXAM pp. 180-196 pp. 197-203
DQ’s Due DQ’s Due
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 V&M Ch 11 V&M Ch 12 V&M Ch 13 pp. 205-224 pp. 225-237 pp. 238-253
DQ’s Due DQ’s Due DQ’s Due
24 25 26 27 28 29 30 V&M Ch 14 V&M Ch 15 V&M Ch 16 pp. 255-270 pp. 271-282 pp. 283-300
DQ’s Due DQ’s Due DQ’s Due
◄ Mar 2019 April 2019 May 2019 ► Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 V&M Ch 17 V&M Ch 17 PART 3 & 4 EXAM pp. 301-321 pp. 322-342
DQ’s Due DQ’s Due
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 V&M Ch 18 V&M Ch 18 V&M Ch 19 pp. 343-383 pp. 353-362 pp. 363-371
DQ’s Due DQ’s Due DQ’s Due
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 V&M Ch 19 Last day of classes University Study Day Final Exams Begin pp. 371-383
DQ’s Due
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
PART 5 EXAM
Final exam period 8am-11am
28 29 30