Evolutionary Studies 301:
Evolutionary Studies Seminar Series
Section 01
SUNY New Paltz
Spring 2014
Professor: Glenn Geher
• Office: JFT 314
• Office hours: T, 11-1*; W, 12:30-2:30; Th, 11-1*;F, 1:30-3:30
W and F hours are open/walk-in;
*T and Th require an appointment via Jane Lehman (lehmanj@newpaltz.edu)
• Office phone number: 257-3091
• E-mail: geherg@newpaltz.edu
• Web address: http://www.glenngeher.com; www.newpaltz.edu/EvoS; www.evostudies.org
Course Assistants: TBD
Place: Each week we will meet at 4:30 in our classroom. On selected weeks (see calendar, below) we will migrate to larger rooms in the Lecture Center to attend public lectures by our invited speakers (this migration will take place mid-way through the class period).
Required Reading Materials (order of reading demarcated in calendar section):
Geher, G. (2014). Evolutionary Psychology 101 (CHAPTER 1, provided free). New York: Springer.
2. Readings provided by our invited speakers. These will be made available on the EvoS Community BlackBoard site (note that this is NOT the same as the site for this class – you will be added to the Community site within the first week of class’ start).
3. Readings for your term paper.
Course Background and Objectives:
Without question, this is the most intellectually exciting, intense, and educational course that I’ve ever been part of. This semester will be no exception. This course will be intense and will, without question, force you to challenge long-standing beliefs about life and the world – and will get you to, for the rest of your life, develop a powerful way to understand connections among phenomena near and far. Evolutionary theory is perhaps the most integrative set of ideas in all of academia – and understanding it well, along with understanding applications of evolution to disparate phenomena (from the nature of human warfare to the reproductive strategies of wild garlic) will, without.question, make you a more informed person.
This course is the cornerstone of the New Paltz EvoS Program – a program that has become one of the most popular interdisciplinary programs on our campus – and that has been the recipient of a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. Make no mistake about it – this is not an ordinary course and this is not an ordinary program. And I’m not just saying that.
In this course, you will be exposed to basic ideas of evolution with many primary readings. You will also be exposed to examples of evolutionary reasoning applied across several different areas – including guest visits from some of the top evolutionary scholars alive on this planet. (again, this is not an ordinary course). You will meet with these scholars in small settings and will have multiple opportunities for interaction.
Throughout the course, you will also work on an original paper – related to an area of interest to you – that connects to evolution in some important way. These papers have tended to be extraordinary in past incarnations of this course – and several have been published in the peer-reviewed journal: EvoS Journal: The Journal of the Evolutionary Studies Consortium. Work hard, take advantage of what all is offered by this course and the EvoS program that surrounds it, and your understanding of the world will be enhanced qualitatively. Simply: work hard, you’ll learn a lot!
Each and every class you take should change your worldview – if even slightly – in some way. This class should be no exception. The journey will not be easy – the readings will be dense – the writing assignments will be graded with a critical eye – and the exam will be designed at a high level. If all goes right, the successful student in this class will be rewarded intellectually for his or her hard work. I want that to be you. Welcome.
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ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Posting of Content-Oriented BlackBoard Comments Regarding Each Guest Speaker (UNGRADED – 12% of final grade; each of the 6 weeks counts for 2%. 0 for zero postings, 50 for one posting; 100 for two or more postings). Note that the FIRST POSTING MUST be made within three days BEFORE the guest’s visit (or on the date of the guest’s visit – before 4:30pm) and the SECOND POSTING MUST be made within the three days AFTER the guest’s visit.
A core element of this class will include visits by guest speakers on evolutionary topics. In addition to the discussion that we’ll have during class, we’ll have online discussions (facilitated by our course assistant) via BlackBoard. For each speaker, to receive full credit, you need to post at least TWO content-oriented comments on the appropriate discussion thread. Your comments need to be content-oriented (e.g., I’m curious about the physiological mechanisms that underlie our ability to digest highly processed foods – based on what Ken Nystrom had to say, …). If your comments are deemed as non-content-oriented by the course assistant or myself, you will not receive credit.
2. Questions Pertaining to Weekly Readings (UNGRADED – 8% of final grade; each of the four weeks in which we’ll discuss primary readings (see calendar; 2 points for each successful submission)).
To increase our ability to have informed discussions during class, students will be required to submit TYPED and PRINTED questions and/or comments they have regarding the readings. The course assistant will collect and keep records of these. These questions/comments need not be more than a few sentences. They are designed to ensure that all members of the classroom community have given some critical thought to the content. Importantly, please bring TWO copies of your questions/comments to each class period (one to be collected by the course assistant at the start of class, the other to be retained by you for your purposes during class discussion). These will not be accepted late. Questions for a set of readings are DUE THE DAY FOR WHICH THEY ARE ASSIGNED (see calendar).
3. Reaction Paper based on ONE of the External Presentations (GRADED – 10% of final grade). For one of the external speakers, you are to submit a brief reaction paper describing a specific concept addressed by the speaker (in his or her writing and/or oral presentation). In addition to the specific concept (or concepts) that you describe, you need to also some reaction of yours. For instance, you may summarize your opinion of the scientific merit of an idea, your thoughts on political implications of an idea, your own personal experience with content related to the speaker’s talk, etc.
This paper (roughly 1-3 pages) is due at the class period subsequent to the speaker’s visit.
4. Topic for Final Paper (UNGRADED – 2% of final grade. 100 for submitting at start of class period. 0 for failing to submit at start of class period).
As this course is writing intensive, it is designed so that you can obtain feedback on different elements of a term paper on a topic of your choosing. Such feedback at multiple stages is critical for honing writing skills.
For this assignment, you simply need to provide a thesis topic for your term paper. It can be on any topic that you can directly relate to evolution. Here is a brief sample of topics:
· Evidence for animal evolution in the geological record
· Evidence for plant evolution in the geological record
· Evidence for human evolution in the geological record
· Some specific physiological evolutionary adaptation (e.g., neurons in squids that allow for rapid propulsion)
· Some specific behavioral evolutionary adaptation (e.g., the nests of bowerbirds created by males during courtship).
· Some feature of human evolution (e.g., such as a paper on the hobbit-like creatures called “Homo floresiensis,” recently discovered to have lived in Australia)
· Mating behaviors in some animal species
· Human mating behaviors
· DNA as a tool for understanding shared ancestry across species
· The evolution of emotional expressions
· The evolution of human social systems
· The evolution of social systems of other primates (e.g., olive baboons)
· The evolution of the social insects (e.g., honey bees)
· The evolution of art
· The evolution of humor
· The evolution of human intelligence
· The evolution of religion
· The evolution of sexual dimorphism in sexually reproducing species
This list is, in fact, remarkably incomplete. Talk to me and the course assistants about topics – and let the readings for the course help guide you toward a topic that fascinates you.
What to hand in: A brief (one-paragraph, or so) statement of the topic you’d like to study for your term paper. The more specific and focused you are at this point (all things equal), the better.
5. Outline for Final Paper (UNGRADED – 3% of final grade. 100 for submitting at start of class period. 0 for failing to submit at start of class period).
Once your topic is set, it is usually helpful to come up with an outline (often in the form of headings and subheadings) to help guide your work on a big paper project. This outline can also help me help you.
6. Preliminary Draft of Final Paper (UNGRADED – 5% of final grade. 100 for submitting at start of class period. 0 for failing to submit at start of class period).
This draft should be as complete as you can make it to allow me to optimally comment on your work. While you get full credit for submitting something when this is due (see calendar), I urge you to shoot high and put a lot into this draft. Further, feel free to bring to my office hours (or the course assistant’s office hours) for feedback at any point in the process.
7. Final Draft of Term Paper (GRADED – 35% of final grade.)
In 2005, the Quarterly Review of Biology published a paper on the evolution of laughter (written by Matt Gervais and David Sloan Wilson). While this fact is not necessarily impressive in an absolute sense, consider this: This article is based completely on the paper that Matt Gervais (then an EvoS student at Binghamton) wrote for his paper in an undergraduate EvoS course (very similar to this same class). And that was before the establishment of EvoS Journal, which has gone on to publish peer-reviewed articles by SEVERAL SUNY New Paltz students. Shoot high. I want these papers to be great.
Your paper should be standard term-paper length – 10-20 double-spaced pages – and they need to be in APA (American Psychological Association) format. For information this format, please see:
8. Oral Presentation. (UNGRADED – 5% of final grade. 100 for doing it; 0 for failing to do it).
The two final class periods will be completely dedicated to students’ oral presentations. PowerPoint (or similar) technology will be available. Your oral presentation should be based on your term paper. Your talk should take approximately 15 minutes (and you should expect about 5 minutes of question-and-answer). The more prepared you are for the presentation, the better. I strongly suggest that you practice the talk in full on multiple occasions prior to the final week of class. You are more than welcome to discuss your plans for the presentation with the TAs and myself as well.
9. Final Exam (GRADED – 20% of final grade).
During the semester, I will work with the course assistants to create essay questions based on several chapters from the textbook as well as readings provided by the external speakers. These essay questions will be provided to you before the final exam. You will be encouraged to prepare all of them ahead of time and to meet with me and/or the course assistants to discuss your ideas regarding the essays. A subset of these essay questions will comprise the exam (which will be completely essay-based).
Grading: Grades for all assignments will be converted to percentages. The following equation will be used to determine your final grade:
• Final grade =
(BlackBoard Comments for Presenter #1 * .02) +
(BlackBoard Comments for Presenter #2 * .02) +
(BlackBoard Comments for Presenter #3 * .02) +
(BlackBoard Comments for Presenter #4 * .02) +
(BlackBoard Comments for Presenter #5 * .02) +
(BlackBoard Comments for Presenter #6 * .02) +
(Questions for Readings-Discussion #1 * .02) +
(Questions for Readings-Discussion #2 * .02) +
(Questions for Readings-Discussion #3 * .02) +
(Questions for Readings-Discussion #4 * .02) +
(Reaction Paper * .10) +
(Term Paper Topic * .02) +
(Term Paper Outline * .03) +
(Term Paper PRELIMINARY DRAFT * .05) +
(Term Paper FINAL DRAFT * .35) +
(Oral Presentation * .05) +
(Final Exam * .2)
Your final grade will be on a scale from 0 to 100. Final grades will be converted to letter grades using the following criteria:
| 94 – 100 = A90 – 93 = A-87 – 89 = B+84 – 86 = B
80 – 83 = B- 77 – 79 = C+ 74 – 76 = C 70 – 73 = C- 67 – 69 = D+ 64 – 66 = D 60 – 63 = D- Below 60 = F |
Calendar
Date |
Topic/Activity |
Readings |
Due |
|
1/27 |
Welcome to class |
THIS SYLLABUS |
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2/3 |
WHAT IS EVOLUTION? |
Carmen, R. A., Geher, G., Glass, D. J., Guitar, A. E., Grandis, T. L., Johnsen, L.,Philip, M. M., Newmark, R. L., Trouton, G. T., & Tauber, B. R. (2013). Evolution integrated across all islands of the human behavioral archipelago: All psychology as Evolutionary Psychology. EvoS Journal: The Journal of the Evolutionary Studies Consortium, 5(1), 108-126.Gallup, G.G., Burch, R.L., Zappieri, M.L., Parvez, R.A., Stockwell, M.L., & Davis, J.A. (2003). The human penis as a semen displacement device. Evolution and Human Behavior, 24, 277-289.Geher, G. (2014). Evolutionary Psychology 101 (CHAPTER 1, provided free). New York: Springer. |
QUESTIONS ON READINGS |
|
2/10 |
SPECIAL GUEST: Feb. 10 |
Reading for this talk to be posted on EvoS COMMUNITY BlackBoard site |
BLACKBOARD POSTINGS |
|
2/12 |
DARWIN’S BIRTHDAY! Bill Varga of Utah State University to talk about human/plant interactions in the high desert. DO NOT MISS! |
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|
2/17 |
Evolution as Truly Integrative |
Platek, S., Geher, G., Heywood, L., Stapell, H., Porter, R., & Waters, T. (2011). Walking the walk to teach the talk: Implementing ancestral lifestyle changes as the newest tool in evolutionary studies. Evolution: Education & Outreach, 4, 41-51. Special issue on EvoS Consortium (R. Chang, G. Geher, J. Waldo, & D. S. Wilson, Eds).Wilson, D. S., Geher, G., & Waldo, J. (2009). EvoS: Completing the evolutionary synthesis in higher education. EvoS Journal: The Journal of the Evolutionary Studies Consortium, 1, 3-10.
|
QUESTIONS ON READINGS; PAPER TOPIC |
|
2/24 |
SPECIAL GUEST: On how wrestling rhinoceros beetles, drinking LOVExCOLA and similar adventures, aka public and lifestyle experiments, may produce a bio-diverse, tasty and desirable future |
Reading for this talk to be posted on EvoS COMMUNITY BlackBoard site |
BLACKBOARD POSTINGS |
|
3/3 |
Evolutionary Studies in a Crystal Ball |
Geher, G., Crosier, B., Dillon, H. M., & Chang, R. (2011). Evolutionary Psychology’s Place in Evolutionary Studies: A Tale of Promise and Challenge. Evolution: Education & Outreach, 4, 11-16. Special issue on EvoS Consortium (R. Chang, G. Geher, J. Waldo, & D. S. Wilson, Eds).Glass, D. J., Wilson, D.S., & Geher, G. (2012). Evolutionary training in relation to human affairs is sorely lacking in higher education. EvoS Journal: The Journal of the Evolutionary Studies Consortium, 4(2), 16-22. |
QUESTIONS ON READINGS |
|
3/10 |
SPECIAL GUEST: From Ardipithecus to agriculture: The science of diet and human evolution |
Reading for this talk to be posted on EvoS COMMUNITY BlackBoard site |
BLACKBOARD POSTINGS; PAPER OUTLINE |
|
3/17 |
NO CLASS; SPRING BREAK … PARTAY!!! |
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|
3/24 |
SPECIAL GUEST: When one male is not enough: The diversity of primate mating systems |
Reading for this talk to be posted on EvoS COMMUNITY BlackBoard site |
BLACKBOARD POSTINGS |
|
3/31 |
Evolutionary Studies and Student Success |
Geher, G., Sokol-Chang, R., & Waldo, J. (2014). Evolutionary studies in higher education: Interdisciplinarity and student success. EvoS Journal: The Journal of the Evolutionary Studies Consortium, 6(1), 5-11. Glass, D. J., Guitar, A. E., & Carmen, R. A. (2014). Evolutionary studies from the student perspective. EvoS Journal: The Journal of the Evolutionary Studies Consortium, 6(1), 12-17.
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QUESTIONS ON READINGS |
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4/7 |
SPECIAL GUEST: April 7 |
Reading for this talk to be posted on EvoS COMMUNITY BlackBoard site |
BLACKBOARD POSTINGS; PAPER DRAFT |
|
4/10-4/13 |
NEEPS ON CAMPUS – David Buss to speak Friday, 4/10; 6pm. BEST CONFERENCE EVER! www.neepsociety.org |
DO NOT MISS this great opportunity! Talk with GG about possibly being a student volunteer – student volunteers have registration fees waived. Hang ou with some of the world’s leading evolutionary psychologists! |
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4/14 |
NO CLASS – PASSOVER |
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4/21 |
SPECIAL GUEST: April 21 |
Reading for this talk to be posted on EvoS COMMUNITY BlackBoard site |
BLACKBOARD POSTINGS |
|
4/28 |
ORAL PRESENTATIONS! |
MANDATORY ATTENDANCE AND FUN! |
FINAL PAPER DUE |
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5/5 |
ORAL PRESENTATIONS! |
MANDATORY ATTENDANCE AND FUN! |
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5/12 |
FINAL EXAM – 5-7pm |
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Course Assistant Guidelines
The course assistants for this class are included to be an important asset to the educational experience of this course. In addition to generally assisting with the delivery of this course, the course assistants will serve the specific following functions:
1. hold office hours to meet with students to go over writing assignments and help students understand content, etc.
2. attend the class and help contribute to and facilitate discussion
3. stay abreast of all assigned readings to be in a position to help students understand material
4. facilitate BlackBoard discussions regarding the readings and speakers (being responsive to student queries and helping correct information when necessary, etc.)
5. collect and provide feedback on students written questions/comments which are due weekly
Course Policies
1. Cheating. DO NOT CHEAT. Any student caught cheating on an exam will automatically fail that exam and, perhaps, the course. In addition, his or her name will be reported to the administration. This stuff gets ugly quickly.
2. Plagiarism. Plagiarism occurs when material is taken from a source without proper citation. If you quote something directly (i.e., if you use another authors EXACT WORDS), you must use quotation marks. If you borrow an idea and reword it, you must report your source. Any student caught plagiarizing will automatically fail the assignment and, perhaps, the course. In addition, his or her name will be reported to the administration. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE.
3. Missing exams. A Make-up exam may be given if there are extenuating circumstances AND it (the make-up exam) is officially scheduled before the scheduled examination. If such circumstances are shown to exist, you may be able to take a make-up exam. Special arrangements will be made as to the time and place of any make-up exams. If a student requests a make-up exam after the scheduled examination, and especially extenuating circumstances (e.g., a serious illness) are demonstrated to exist, scheduling of a make-up exam might be considered.
4. Late Assignments.
If you can get through your college career without ever handing in a late paper, you’re on the fast-track to success and I want to strongly encourage you to get there. As such, note the following:
A. the BlackBoard posts and Questions regarding readings will not be accepted late (unless, perhaps, evidence of some dramatic and conspicuous extenuating circumstance are provided).
B. The paper topic, outline, and rough draft will not be accepted late either (unless, perhaps, evidence of some dramatic and conspicuous extenuating circumstance are provided). If you do not hand these assignments in on time, you should do them anyway and bring them to my office hours to get my feedback so you can better succeed on subsequent assignments.
C. ABSOLUTELY NO PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THE LAST DAY OF CLASS (NOT THE FINAL EXAM). Further, any such late papers must be handed in by the student him or herself at the meeting of the last class.
D. If you miss giving your oral presentation, you will receive a grade of 0 (unless, perhaps, evidence of some dramatic and conspicuous extenuating circumstance are provided).
E. All assignments that are not accepted will be assigned grades of 0.
5. Attendance. All students are strongly encouraged to attend all class meetings.
6. SUNY New Paltz’s ADA Policy Statement:
Students with documented physical, learning, psychological and other disabilities are entitled to receive reasonable accommodations. If you need classroom or testing accommodations, please contact the Disability Resource Center (Student Union Building, Room 205, 257-3020). The DRC will provide forms verifying the need for accommodation. As soon as the instructor receives the form, you will be provided with the appropriate accommodations. Students are encouraged to request accommodations as close to the beginning of the semester as possible.
7. SUNY New Paltz’s Academic Integrity Statement:
Students are expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty in their college work. Cheating, forgery, and plagiarism are serious offenses, and students found guilty of any form of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary action. For definitions of these offenses, as well as the process that a faculty member will follow if a student is found to be engaging in any form of academic dishonesty, see the section on Academic Integrity in the Advising Handbook, available at www.newpaltz.edu/acadadv.
8. Course conflicts. If you have a regular scheduling conflict with this course (e.g., you will have to leave every class before the end of class because of work, you have another course scheduled that overlaps with this course, or you will be going to Rome for 2 weeks during the term) you should not take this course.
9. Your paper for this class may NOT be based on a paper you have written for another class.
10. NO ELECTRONIC DEVICES (e.g., cellphones, Blackberries, text-messaging devices, Sony Playstations, etc.) may be turned on in class or during an examination unless an agreement is made with the instructor ahead of time. Possible penalties for breaching this policy during an exam include failing said examination and/or having an academic dishonesty complaint filed against the student in question. And remember, texting is evil! … 😉
As a teacher I feel that my role is to help you learn, not to grade you, so please feel free to come see me or call me throughout the term if you have any concerns or questions. I mean it. Have a great semester.
Writing tips.
No papers with an abundance of the following errors will receive a grade of an ‘A.’
1. USUALLY affect is a verb and effect is a noun.
e.g., This variable affects several things.
e.g., That other variable produced a very large effect.
2. If the subject of your sentence is singular, the verb and subsequent pronouns referring to the subject must be also.
e.g., The participant then provided HIS OR HER (NOT “THEIR”) background
information.
e.g., The point of these studies WAS (NOT “WERE”) blah, blah, blah … (point is singular).
3. NEVER use the word “PROVE” in a psychology article. While psychologists do many things, proving is virtually never one of them.
INCORRECT: These results prove that Schmedley’s hypothesis was correct.
BETTER: These results support Schmedley’s hypothesis.
BETTER STILL: These results support the hypothesis that Schmedley should change his name … just kidding.
4. BE SUCCINCT. Do not use a lot of words to make a point if you can make the same point with fewer words. If two papers make the same points, the one with fewer words is, by my definition, better.
BAD: Asch’s research on conformity is very interesting because it includes interesting research and has important ideas that are very meaningful.
BETTER: Asch’s research on conformity is interesting for several reasons.
5. AVOID 1st person and, especially, opinions (unless they are asked for).
BAD: I am writing a paper on conformity. In this paper, I will talk about how social psychologists have studied conformity and why I am so interested in this interesting topic.
BETTER: This paper will address conformity as it has been studied in social psychology.
6. DO NOT USE CONTRACTIONS:
BAD: Subjects were asked if they’d administer an electric shock.
BETTER: Subjects were asked if they would administer an electric shock.
7. It’s means it is (but you should not be using contractions anyway).
Its is a possessive pronoun referring to a noun that possesses something.
e.g., The frog grabbed the fly with its tongue. (here its means the frog’s)
8. Punctuation marks go INSIDE quotation marks (when at the end of the sentence).
BAD: Then the experimenter said, “Oh Boy”.
BETTER: Then the experimenter said, “Oh Boy.”
BETTER STILL: Then the experimenter said, “Golly!”
9. Always follow the word “this” with a specific noun. Otherwise, your writing will be unclear.
BAD: Changes will be made at all levels of management. The impact of this will be enormous.
BETTER: Changes will be made at all levels of management. The impact of this restructuring will be enormous.
10. i.e., means “in other words.” e.g., means “for example.”
e.g., These people are thought to be cerebral in nature (i.e., they tend to think a lot).
e.g., Their diet includes several kinds of flowers (e.g., roses).
11. Here are some helpful word substitutions for you:
Change from to
looked at examined
got obtained
did conducted
12. Only use the word “correlation” if you are referring to a specific relationship between two different variables. Do not just throw this word around because it sounds good.
GOOD: A positive correlation was observed between number of hamburgers eaten and the size of one’s bellyache.
BAD: A correlation between these different ideas can be found. (This sentence simply does not mean anything).