EVOS Courses

Key Courses

Evolution for Everyone (EvoS 105/BIOL 105/ ANTH 280F) - 4 credits
Satisfies requirements for the EvoS minor and Anthropology major and minor and carries an ‘N’ Social Science General Education designation. Recommended introduction for those new to evolution. Offered each fall semester and as an online course in summer.

This course explains the basic principles of evolution and why they are important for the study of humans in addition to the rest of life. Students from all majors are welcome and a background in science is not necessary. Those who have already learned about evolution will still learn much in this course about the relevance of evolution to human affairs. This course can be taken by itself and also serves as the best introduction to EvoS as a multi-course integrated curriculum.

Current Topics in EvoS (EVOS 451/BIOL 451/BIOL 680S) - 2 credits
Satisfies requirements for the EvoS minor and Anthropology, Biology, Psychology and Integrative Neuroscience majors. Offered each spring semester in association with the EvoS seminar series and as an online course during winter and summer sessions. Students are required to take this course twice for the EvoS minor.

This course is built on the EvoS seminar series, which brings distinguished speakers to campus on a weekly basis. The course consists of reading one or more articles in preparation for each speaker, writing a short response to the article(s), attending the seminar, and the possibility to meet with each speaker after the seminar for an extended discussion. This is a superb way to engage in interdisciplinary interactions with other members of EvoS and with some of the most distinguished scientists and scholars of our day. The course can be taken multiple times.

More Suggested Courses

Mechanisms of Evolution (BIOL 351)
Fundamental principles of synthetic theory of evolution and its development. Sources of variability; organization of genetic variability in populations; differentiation of populations; reproductive isolation and origin of species; role of hybridization in evolution; major trends of evolution; processes of evolution in man. Prerequisites: BIOL 117 and 118 or equivalent.

Evolution & Human Behavior (EvoS 456/BIOL 456)
Implications of evolutionary theory for understanding human nature, including the relationship between human behavior and biological fitness in modern and pre-modern societies, evolutionary psychology, evolutionary ethics and theories of culture as an evolutionary process. Prerequisites: junior or senior standing and an introductory course in BIOL, PSYC, ANTH or SOC. 4 credits.

Evolution and Sustainability (BIOL 450)
This course provides an introduction to evolutionary concepts relevant to biological and human social sustainability. Evolutionary training is essential because: a) the genetic evolution of nonhuman species takes place on ecological time scales; and b) human cultural change is also an evolutionary process. A single set of evolutionary principles can therefore be applied to both the natural and human components of coupled natural and human systems. This is a highly interdisciplinary course in the style of a graduate seminar. Undergrads must be prepared to work hard but no specialized knowledge is required at the beginning. 4 credits.

Biogeography (EvoS 422/BIOL 459)
Ecological principles applied to the study of past, present and future distribution patterns of living organisms. Effects of Earth history, spatial pattern, plate tectonics, climate and climate change, and human impacts on biota. Prerequisite: BIOL 355 or 373. 4 credits.

All Courses

Course numbers may change from year to year. Important Note: Not all courses are offered every year or even on a repeating basis.

Anthropology Department

ANTH 168 Introduction to Biological Anthropology (L)
ANTH 246 Sex & Evolution
ANTH 248 Evolutionary Medicine
ANTH 280F /EVOS 105 /BIOL 105 Evolution for Everyone – Social Science (N)
ANTH 280P Evolution Human Sexual Behavior
ANTH 280Z Biology, Culture and Lifestyle
ANTH 300, History of Anthropological Thought
ANTH 333/BIOL 435 Human Genetics
ANTH 334 Comparative Aspects of Human Growth
ANTH 335 Human Origins
ANTH 337 Human Biological Variation
ANTH 338 Introduction to the Primates
ANTH 342 Ice Age Europe Through Fiction
ANTH 380J Recent Human Evolution
ANTH 380N/ PSYC 380A Neuroanthropology
ANTH 380R Biomedical Anthropology and Health
ANTH 426 Ancient DNA and Forensics Lab
ANTH 428 Molecular Anthropology Lab
ANTH 480B Evolution and Human Behavior
ANTH 480C Evolution and Women's Health
ANTH 480H Language & Popular Science
ANTH 480N Evolutionary Dynamics of Human Pathogens
ANTH 480T Human Migration and Disease
ANTH 480S /LING 449S Evolution of Language
ANTH 480Z/BIOL 283 Archival Research in Biological Anthropology
ANTH 559 Molecular Anthropology Theory

Department of Biological Sciences

BIOL 105/ EVOS105 /ANTH 280F Evolution for Everyone – Social Science (N)
BIOL 117 Introductory Biology: Organisms and Populations
BIOL 283 / ANTH 480Z Archival Research in Biological Anthropology
BIOL 311 Genetics
BIOL 330 Genes and Heredity
BIOL 340 Genetics Lab
BIOL 351 Mechanisms of evolution
BIOL 366 / GEOL 366 Paleobiology
BIOL 370 Botany
BIOL 371 Zoology
BIOL 373 Ecological Principles and Applications
BIOL 375 Animal behavior
BIOL 377 Plant Systematics
BIOL 379 Biology and Conservation of Birds
BIOL 401 Molecular Genetics
BIOL 425 Molecular Biology Lab
BIOL 428 Functional Genomics and Proteomics
BIOL 441 Molecular Ecology Lab
BIOL 450 Evolution and Sustainability
BIOL 451/EVOS 451 Current Topics in EvoS
BIOL 452 Cultural evolutionary theory
BIOL 454 Behavioral Ecology of Primates (W)
BIOL 456/ANTH 480B/ PHIL 480A/ PSYC 470 Evolution & Human Behavior
BIOL 459 / EVOS 422 /GEOG 422 Biogeography
BIOL 472 Tropical Ecology and Conservation
BIOL 476 Population Ecology (W)
BIOL 477 Conservation Biology (W)
BIOL 480 Adv. Genetic Sem
BIOL 480L Biodiversity & Human Health
BIOL 480V Coevolution
BIOL 483Q Behavior and Disease

Economics Department

ECON 335 Economics & Evolution
ECON 461 Game Theory

English Department

ENG 450Q Animal Studies

Environmental Studies

ENVI 481E Evolving Local Sustainability
ENVI 381T Plants and People

Geography Department

GEOG 212 Historical Geography
GEOG 422/ EVOS 422/BIOL 459 Biogeography

Geology Department

GEOL 366/ BIOL 366 Paleobiology

Industrial and Systems Engineering

ISE 418X Collective Dynamics of Complex Systems
ISE 419 Applied Soft Computing

Linguistics Department

LING 449S/ANTH 480S Evolution of Language

Philosophy Department

PHIL 311 Faith and Reason (C, H)
PHIL 313 Science & Religion

Psychology Department

PSYC 327 Evolution and Behavior
PSYC 380A/ANTH 380N Neuroanthropology
PSYC 473B / EVOS 483B Comparative Psychology
PSYC 473A Psychobiology of Sex & Reproduction (W)
PSYC 473M Seminar in Evolutionary Psychology
PSYC 473M Cognitive Ethology: Evolution, Development, and the Origins of Thought
PSYC 473S Intimate Relationships (O, S, W)

Undergraduate Courses