I am excited to be offering a brand-new course for Spring Quarter, entitled ‘Evolution of Cognition.’ There are still spots available, so feel free to sign up. This course also fulfills the Writing Proficiency 3 requirement.
The goal of the course is to discuss the evolution of large brain size in primates and how it interacted with reproductive ecology (e.g., parental care, lactation and resource availability, changes in ovulation/estrus, and mating systems) as well as anatomical changes related to bipedality. Students will be asked to write a grant-proposal style paper on a topic of their choice, related to the class. This is a biology-heavy class focused on the evolution of cognition in our species and other primates (with comments on other animals, e.g., dolphins, canids, elephants), leading to humans today.