136-295 Evolutionary Ecology and Human Social Behaviour

Note

Available as 136-395 at 3rd-year level.

Credit Points

Coordinator

Prerequisites

None.

Semester

Contact

Subject Description

Evolutionary ecology explores functional relationships between behaviour and context in order to understand why people in different times and places act as they do. The emphasis is on variation in behaviour, both within and between societies. This subject will introduce the logic of evolutionary ecology and discuss how its analyses contribute to and articulate with a broader understanding of human behaviour. Ethnographic examples will be used to explore the application of evolutionary ecology to understanding patterns of resource procurement, the organisation of access to material and social resources, life history strategies and reproductive behaviour, gender roles, formation and maintenance of groups for production and consumption, alliance formation and the emergence of social complexity.

Assessment

Written work which may include an essay, class papers and take-home examinations totalling no more than 5,000 words.