Anthropology 98-034 (Directed Group Study)
19th Century Origins of Evolutionary Anthropology
Winter Quarter 2004
T/Th 4:40-6:00PM; Location TBA; 4 hrs; CRN #51851

Syllabus

Course Description Goal and Objectives Readings Materials Attendance and Participation Course Format and Expectations Grading Schedule Supplemental Readings Web-Based Resources Added Note

Bruce Winterhalder
Anthropology & Graduate Group in Ecology
218 Young Hall
[bwinterhalder@ucdavis.edu; phone 754-4770]

Course Description back to top

This course will feature original texts, biographic and interpretive readings on the key figures of 19th Century revolution in human evolutionary theory, including Lamarck, Malthus, Mendel, Wallace and Spencer, but focusing particularly on Darwin. We will attend to their views on human origins, evolution, adaptation and behavior, and to the impact of their ideas on contemporary attempts to develop an evolutionary anthropology.

We will begin with an extended video history of Darwin's formative intellectual experiences, as he described them in The Voyage of the Beagle and his autobiographical writings. I will supplement the film with lectures on the historical and intellectual context for the evolutionary work of Lamarck, and the research and evolutionary theories of Spencer and Wallace. We will make a close textual analysis of Malthus' An Essay on the Principle of Population, and then follow with major sections of Darwin's The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man, and Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. We will consider the reactions of other scientists, clerics and the public to Darwin's ideas, through the end of the 19th Century and the emergence of social Darwinism.

The last section of the class will bring the evolutionary theories of the middle-to-late 19th Century forward to those of the late 20th Century, to provide a contemporary appreciation of the theoretical developments of a Century earlier. Along with other controversies about the wisdom and consequences of attempting to understand humans in evolutionary terms, we will consider the creationists' critique of neo-Darwinian evolution.

The class will mix lecture and discussion. It should be useful as an introduction or complement to a variety of upper-level anthropology courses in archaeology, biological anthropology, human and primate evolution, human and primate behavioral ecology, and Darwinian medicine and psychology. Majors in Anthropology, Biology, History of Science and Psychology should find it especially valuable to cover this material.

Several general questions will guide our study of Darwin and neo-Darwinsim. The first is biographic and historic: What prepared Darwin to make such profound and enduring contributions to science? The second is theoretical: What were his main ideas and how have they endured the last century and a half? The third question is one of relevance: How does neo-Darwinism contribute to our understanding of what it means to be human?

Goal and Objectives back to top

By the end of the course you will be well-versed in evolutionary theory and the history of Darwinism. However, unlike many who are knowledgeable about evolution, you will have read extensively and carefully from Darwin himself. You will be able to:

Readings Materials back to top

Three books comprise the bulk of the reading required of everyone in this course. They are listed immediately below, and are available in the textbook department of the university store.

In addition, you will be asked to read six selections from a short course pack. You can get additional credit by reading and writing a review of one of the many biographies of Darwin (see “Darwin Biographies”). These biographies can be obtained from the library, your local independent bookstore (e.g., Avid Reader), most likely by special order, or through one of the on-line book sellers.

Attendance and Participation back to top

This class is a student-based learning experience. Discussion of readings and guiding questions, and student presentations, make up most of the sessions. I do not keep a formal roll. However, you will be graded on your informed participation, and that requires careful, timely preparation and regular attendance.

Readings should be completed by the class period which follows the date of their assignment. The class requires an average amount of reading (40-50 pages per session). However, it requires greater than usual care in reading. And it requires greater than usual participation.

Course Format & Expectations back to top

The thirty class sessions include the following kinds of activities:

Note that discussion predominate, requiring your informed, verbal participation.

There are three kinds of written assignments:

The UC-Davis honor code is to be observed in this class. I grade on a ‘fudged’ curve. The curve is necessary to accurately reflect differing degrees of effort and comprehension. It will be fudged, that is adjusted upward or downward, depending on overall class performance. For instance, if everyone does very well, the curve will be moved upward to reflect that.

Grading of these assignments will be weighted as follows:

Schedule back to top

Introduction: Context and Contemporaries

The 19th Century: Malthus

The 19th Century: Darwin

The 20th Century: Neo-Darwinism & Some Issues

Course Conclusion

Supplemental Readings (Course Pack Materials) back to top