Evolutionary Psychology

Although we will utilize a textbook, our approach in this course will not generally be a traditional textbook approach.  My goal will not be to provide a comprehensive overview of research and theory in evolutionary psychology, but mainly to get you to understand and appreciate its general perspective and how this differs from most other contemporary approaches in psychology.  Toward this end, Dawkins provides an overview of modern evolutionary theory, particularly as it applies to behavior (though little of it concerns human behavior, at least directly).  This book is a true "classic," and I think you will find it interesting and thought-provoking.  The Buss book is the first true textbook for the field of evolutionary psychology.  I will let Buss provide the general overview of the field, and I will focus in class mainly on specific topics that are of particular interest to me.  Although the course is not designed as a seminar, and will be too large to be run that way, I would like to have as much open discussion in class as possible.

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The major paper will involve reviewing research literature on some topic in psychology from an evolutionary-psychological perspective.  There are many ways this could be done, which we will discuss in class, but the ideal paper would compare and contrast an evolutionary-psychological and some other perspective on a particular research topic in psychology.  Specific requirements and suggestions for the papers will be discussed in class.  Note that the paper will be due not at the very end of the semester, but a week earlier.  The goal here is to keep this assignment out of the big pile of other papers you undoubtedly will have due at the end of the semester, and also to ensure that you are prepared to present a brief summary of your paper to the class during the last week [see below]. 

In addition, the paper will also involve two additional (but closely related) components that will count toward your paper grade: (1) Shortly after Spring Break, I will ask you to turn in a brief (e.g., 1 to 2 pages) paper proposal summarizing what you would like to write your paper about (or perhaps two alternative topics if you are undecided).  This will give me an opportunity to provide some specific feedback and guidance in advance, and to make sure you are on the right track.  I strongly encourage you to do this earlier -- the sooner the better -- but the due date (3/20) is the latest the proposal will be accepted without penalizing your grade.  (2) During the last week of class, you will give a brief (e.g., 10-minute) oral summary of your paper to the class.  I will bump your paper grade up or down a tad if your presentation is particularly good or unsatisfactory; however, the purpose of these presentations is not so much for assigning grades as it is an opportunity for everyone to hear about the ideas others have developed.

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Tentative Schedule of Lectures and Readings

Week of

Read for Class

Topics