Faculty of Arts & Sciences

Special study of selected topics in human evolutionary biology, given on an individual basis and directly supervised by a member of the Human Evolutionary Biology Faculty.

An introduction to the issues and methods of human evolutionary biology, focusing on evolutionary theory, the concept of adaptation, and their application to human evolution. Weekly readings and discussions, with biweekly writing assignments that integrate major course themes.

Research and writing of the Senior Thesis.

Research and writing of the Senior Thesis.

Introduces students to experimental techniques used to investigate the structure and physiology of humans and other animals. Each instructor offers research projects that are undertaken in their laboratory (limit 5 students per instructor). Students meet to introduce their project, discuss their work and progress, and to present their final results. An extensive commitment of time in the laboratory is required. Grades are based on the work completed, the oral presentation, and a short research paper.

This course takes a broad look at how differences in male and female structure and physiology affect locomotion and movement. The first half of the course will include lectures and discussions introducing students to the biological determinants of sex, anatomical variation, and biomechanics. Students then participate in lab-based data collection and biomechanics analysis focusing on how men and women are different and similar in movement profiles. Grades are based on exams, discussion and lab participation, and a short paper and presentation.

An introduction to the interaction between hormones and behavior, emphasizing research in humans. General principles of endocrine physiology are presented. The course then focuses on how hormones affect the brain and body in early development and later in adulthood, and the relationship of hormones to sex and gender. We will explore human reproduction, energy metabolism, mating and sexuality, parental behavior, stress, and dominance interactions.

An examination of human sexuality from a scientific perspective. Students will read and present primary scientific literature that highlights current research on a variety of topics including: sexual development, gender identity, sexual orientation, cross cultural variations in mating systems, promiscuity, the evolution of monogamy, sexual attraction, sexual communication, including an exploration of the existence of human pheromones, libido and sexual dysfunction.

An examination of stress from a scientific perspective with a focus on stress research in mammals, especially primate and humans. A writing and speaking intensive seminar that will explore the basics of the stress response, physiological effects of the stress and factors that affect stress responsiveness, such as perinatal and early life effects, social support, outlets for frustration and coping skills. The relationship between stress and disease will also be explored. Scientific studies of the effectiveness of modalities of stress reduction will also be discussed. Students will present primary scientific literature that highlights current research on a variety of topics in the field.

This introductory course is designed to familiarize students with the behavioral ecology of humans from an evolutionary perspective, including evolutionary psychology and dual inheritance theory. We will survey behavioral diversity and consistency across human societies, and we will gain insights into the adaptive significance of human behavior and social organization by reference to social dynamics in other species. Topics to be covered include cooperation, aggression and warfare, dominance and hierarchy, mating and pair-bonds, parenting, social learning, culture and religion.

A review of the behavioral interactions in natural primate populations, drawing on experimental, observational, and theoretical studies. Discussion of ecological, physiological, and developmental bases of primate social behavior, with special attention to the evolution of patterns of behavioral interactions among individuals of different age, sex, relatedness, and status. Topics include sexual conflict, sexual selection, and mating systems; care of offspring and other aid-giving; manipulative and cooperative aspects of communication; competition, dominance, and territoriality; and the evolution of social relationships.

An advanced seminar on current topics in behavioral ecology research of chimpanzees and bonobos. Topics will include: foraging, dominance, cooperation, adolescence, reproductive strategies, culture, ranging, cognition, molecular ecology, and relationships. We will discuss behavioral flexibility of chimpanzees between different communities across Africa and learn how to collect and analyze behavioral data. We will compare the behavior of chimpanzees and bonobos with that of humans and examine how these species might serve as models for human evolution.

A course on the physiological ecology and evolutionary biology of human and primate reproduction. Topics covered include gamete production, gestation, birth, lactation, reproductive maturation, mature reproductive function, aging and senescence.

In this advanced seminar, we will examine the selection pressures that drive animals (including the human animal) to make particular mating decisions. We will engage in a broad, comparative exploration of the diversity of mating strategies across the animal kingdom, paying particular attention to primates, in order to ground our understanding of human mating strategies in an evolutionary perspective. Topics to be covered include the evolution of: sex, paternal care, sex-role reversal, social monogamy versus sexual monogamy, sexual coercion, homosexual behavior, and frequency dependent mating strategies.

This course is an exploration of female behavioral biology from an evolutionary and biosocial perspective. We will focus on physiological, ecological, and social aspects of women's development from puberty, through reproductive processes such as pregnancy, birth and lactation, to menopause and aging. We will also explore female life-history strategies in a variety of cultural settings. Topics include cognitive and behavioral differences between men and women and male and female reproductive strategies. Examples are drawn primarily from traditional and modern human societies; data from studies of nonhuman primates are also considered.

Within and across cultures people adopt widely varying diets, yet as a species, our foods are characteristically human. In this course we ask what is the fundamental nature of the human diet, what constrains it, how people adapt to different diets, and how the human diet evolved from those of our primate ancestors.

Recent research has illuminated the neural mechanisms underpinning sociality and social behavior in humans and other animals. In this seminar we will discuss publications that address modifications to neural structure and function as a result of behavioral specializations among taxa in relation to their social complexity or among individuals within species as a function of their social condition. This course will emphasize the value of approaching neurobiology from an evolutionary perspective and understanding the selective pressures that have shaped our mind, brain, and behavior.

An introduction to laboratory techniques and research design in behavioral endocrinology. Students conduct pilot research projects.

An introduction to laboratory methods in Human Evolutionary Biology. We will use state-of-the-art equipment and techniques to explore how humans metabolize caffeine, starch, and alcohol. Topics include quantitative pcr and genetic analysis, immunological methods, enzyme kinetics, chromatography, and measurement of isotope ratios in tissues.

How did the human body evolve, and how does it develop, grow and function? This course provides an integrative regional overview of human anatomy, with an emphasis on the musculo-skeletal system, and a comparative approach to the evolution of modern anatomy. Additional topics include: skeletal and dental development; gross anatomy of the nervous and circulatory systems; comparative limb anatomy; and comparative cranial anatomy.

Teeth are one of the best preserved and most commonly-recovered elements in fossil assemblages. This seminar will focus on ways in which dental remains may inform studies of primate growth and development, ecology, and health. Students will read and discuss current scientific literature, engage in histological studies in the Dental Hard Tissue Laboratory, and conduct pilot research projects.

This course applies a Darwinian perspective to explore the ultimate causes of human disease, and uses the tenets of evolutionary theory to explain variability in the health of individuals and populations. In addition, we will examine the role that environmental conditions, economic factors, and sociocultural practices play in shaping modern patterns of human health and disease. Topics will include human-pathogen coevolution, diet and nutrition, reproductive health, mental illness, and senescence.

In this class, we will collaboratively design a data collection protocol to answer questions of interest to both students and zookeepers regarding the Franklin Park Zoo gorillas, collect behavioral data at the Franklin Park Zoo (students will need to be able to commit to 5-6 hours of data collection during those weeks), analyze our behavioral data, write up study results in the format of a publishable scientific paper, and create a scientific meetings-style poster presentation of study results to be shared with the staff of the Franklin Park Zoo.

The lecture-seminar course will explore how primates have evolved and adapted. We will examine both living and fossil primates and discuss the degree to which "environmental" change is implicated in evolution. Goals include providing direct, hands-on experience with fossils and fostering an understanding of the strengths and limitations of the fossil record. Topics will include adaptations for food harvesting and processing, life history strategies, sexual dimorphism, and locomotion.

Recent advances in genetics, genomics, and developmental biology are improving our understanding of human and non-human primate biological traits. These disciplines, when incorporated into a multi-faceted context, can reveal the mechanistic basis of evolutionary adaptations. This seminar is designed to investigate and critically evaluate foundational and novel research in primates (and other organisms) that employs the tools of these trades. In doing so, students are exposed to an integrative perspective upon which to explore classic and modern questions in functional biology.

Introduction to the primates, emphasizing their molecular evolutionary history and the forces that mold their genomes. Topics include the neutral theory of molecular evolution, molecular clock concept and its applications, evolution of multigene families, relationships between primate morphological and molecular evolution, molecular convergences, evidence for horizontal gene transfer in primate genomes, and evolution of simian and human immunodeficiency viruses, color vision genes.

Humans and our primate relatives display marked variation in biological traits. This variation results from natural selection operating on pre- and post-natal developmental mechanisms. While these mechanisms remain mostly unknown, recent advances in genetics, genomics, and developmental biology now allow us to begin to understand how evolutionary processes influence and are influenced by underlying developmental and genetic organization. This course explores these inter-relationships in the context of the primate paleontological record. We focus on the evolution of the cranium, dentition, axial skeleton, and limbs, and present studies that cast light on the mechanisms that underlie major transitions in human evolution.

A lecture/discussion course on primate evolution from a paleontological perspective. Following a survey of major primate groups as adaptive radiations, the hominoid fossil record will be reviewed within the context of the mammalian record, a particular focus being the relationship between adaptive, faunal, and climate change. Systems that can be inferred from the fossil record (for example, positional and foraging behaviors) will be discussed comparatively.

How and why does the human head look the way it does? How does the head develop, and what is the interplay between this development and how the head evolves? Why are human brains so anomalously large, while our faces are quite small? In this seminar, we will explore the evolution and natural history of the head, using the comparative anatomy of our primate and hominin relatives as a guide.

Research on human and non-human primate developmental trajectories has grown exponentially among numerous disciplines including evolutionary anthropology, psychobiology, nutrition, behavioral biology, and neuroscience. The seminar will cover the mechanisms, function, and evolution of human and non-human primate development from conception through pregnancy and lactation. Areas of development to be included will be somatic growth, immunology, behavioral/social interactions, neurobiology/cognition/learning, and metabolic processes.

A lecture, discussion, and research course using cast and comparative collections, focusing on important issues in hominid paleobiology: ape ancestors, human ancestors, and early hominin radiations; earliest Homo; neandertals and modern humans; the role of environmental change. Can be taken as a research seminar.

The course will explore human migration at several scales, time depths and data sources, including the movement of humans out of Africa and the complex movements of the first farmers across Europe. We will explore the impacts that climates and disease burden have had on human migrations, and discuss recent movements of people and the reasons for migratory behavior in humans. in addition, a personal migration story will be developed by the class.

How do we know where and how people migrated? How old is this ruin? Did ancient humans eat a lot of meat? This course will explore the known, the unknown, and the unknowable in the study of ancient biomolecules and critically evaluate the current literature and the accompanying press reports. The course couples topics about the past in which ancient biomolecules are used with an examination of the methods employed. The format of the course will be lecture and case study.

Critical reading of current literature on the genetics of living humans and discussion of evolutionary implications.

This course will introduce students to the use and interpretation of the major forms of mathematical models used in contemporary evolutionary biology, including dynamical population models, game theoretic models, and agent-based models. Sophisticated mathematical training and ability are not required, but some familiarity with first year calculus is assumed. The course will include an introduction to relevant software packages for mathematical analysis and simulation. Application of mathematical models to contemporary topics and debates such as the evolution of cooperation and life history evolution will be explored. Students will develop a model of their own as a class project.

Reading and discussion of current research in the behavioral ecology of humans and nonhuman primates. Emphasis placed on comparative and interdisciplinary approaches.

A discussion course for graduate students in Human Evolutionary Biology. Topics will include origins of hominids, radiation of hominins, origins of the genus Homo, and origins of Homo sapiens.

Graduate seminar to accompany undergraduate lecture course on ancient biomolecules.

Special reading in selected topics under the direction of members of the department.

Individual reading in preparation for the general examination for the doctoral degree.

Proseminar for Human Evolutionary Biology graduate students. Discussion of adaptations and the process of adaptation using examples from various areas of human evolutionary biology.

Independent laboratory study in the biochemical analysis of plant and animal foods, and of human and animal digestive physiology and feeding behavior.

Weekly seminars in human evolutionary biology.