ISP 101 224

ISP Course 101 224 - Darwin, Evolution, and Society
Winter Quarter 2004, TTh 10:10-11:40

Instructor: George F. Michel, (x 54246), rm 507, Byrne Hall;
Office Hours: TTh 3:15-5:00
e-mail: gmichel@depaul.edu

Type of Course: This is an Internet intensive course (for course syllabus and reading assignments see "Course Syllabi" - ISP 101 224 on my home page http://condor.depaul.edu/~gmichel). Teaching will involve lectures and assigned readings (on the Internet) and their integration via small group discussions, individual performance on homework projects, classroom discussion, and a final team presentation project. Evaluation will depend upon qualitative assessment of the student's classroom discussion and quantitative assessment of student's written assignments, presentation, and journal. Although there is a listed bibliography, the readings will be extracted from the Internet appropriately to the topic of discussion. Often, the reading assignments will illustrate alternative viewpoints.
As a Focal Point Seminar, this course is designed to introduce first-year students to the nature and scope of intellectual inquiry at DePaul University. In a Focal Point Seminar, students learn about a single topic in depth, and then learn to complicate their view of that topic by examining it from different perspectives. Students also learn to read challenging texts critically and carefully and to use writing as a means of learning difficult subjects thoroughly and effectively.

Brief Course Description: Ever since its initial presentation, Darwinian notions about evolution have engendered much controversy in western societies. This course compares Darwin's notions with those evolutionary notions prevalent before Darwin. Also, we examine how Darwin's notions lead to the Eugenics movement started by his cousin Galton and were adopted by Herbert Spencer for use in his theory of social organization (social Darwinism). Early in the 20th Century, Mendel's genetic theories were rediscovered and incorporated into a Darwinian framework to create the modern Synthetic Theory of Evolution. This lead to several "biological" theories about human behavior. For example, Sociobiology and Evolutionary Psychology seek to integrate social and biological sciences by treating many aspects of human psychology (e.g., violence, racial attitudes, intelligence, altruism, gender differences in values and behavior, homosexuality) and culture (e.g., incest taboos, marital customs, crime, religion, racial, sexual, and ethnic discrimination) as products of naturally selected genetic programs. The common assumptions of the Synthetic theory (that natural selection underlies all directed evolutionary change and that it acts on genes) are critically examined. Alternative accounts to Darwinian theory that rely on creationism notions are also examined critically. Finally a biological account is presented that is consistent with Darwinian notions, but is not reductionistic and deterministic.

Course Requirements: In addition to the assigned readings, students are responsible for:
    1.    Five projects (FAQs, three questions about "text material", "tree of life", "quincunx", and speciation) to be handed in at the times noted in the syllabus,
    2.    Nine homework assignments (a two-page report of what you learned during the previous week) - each will be handed into class on 1/13, 1/20, 1/27, 2/3, 2/10, 2/17, 2/24, 3/2, 3/9. When writing this paper, first describe exactly the information of which you were previously unaware or unfamiliar and then describe how it has changed your understanding of Darwin, evolution, and society. This report is not a brief summary of what was discussed or read during the previous week but rather an account of those ideas, notions, and bits of information encountered in the readings or discussion with which you were previously unfamiliar or unaware. When writing this paper, first describe exactly the idea, etc. with which you were unfamiliar and then describe how it changed your understanding of Darwin, Evolution, and Society.
    3.    A journal with at least two entries/week of class to be handed in during class on 3/11 (but will be collected periodically during the quarter for evaluation of your progress; so, bring it to every class meeting),
    4.    A team presentation (to occur on Mar 11 & Mar 18 (11:30-2:15). Each presentation will examine a specific issue about evolution (1. Evolution and Chance, 2. Evolution and Design, 3. Antiadaptationist Evidence, 4. Is Evolution a Religion?, 5. Human Evolution, 6. Evolution of whales). The presentation will provide information about: a) what is known about the issue; b) how it relates to the rest of the course; c) what discussion of this issue adds to the understanding of the relation of evolution to society. Only one presentation will be constructed by each team; however, each member of the team must contribute to the team's product. Each member of the team will grade his/her performance and that of each other member (including team facilitators) and include a paragraph justification for each grade.
    5.    Meeting once/week with your facilitator for about one hour to discuss your progress in the course, the homework assignments, and preparation for the team presentation.

Syllabus for Darwin, Evolution, and Society:

Topic Date

I. Introduction 1/6

Project: Form teams and answer FAQs and return to team facilitators 1/8

II. What is Evolution? 1/8

Project: Using text material, briefly describe: 1/13

1. Three common misconceptions about evolution

2. Three common misconceptions about natural selection

3. The differences between micro- and macroevolution

Hand in your work to your team facilitators by 1/20

III. Apes, Angels, and Victorians 1/15

A. Darwin's perspective (read Chapter 14) 1/15

1. Who was Charles Darwin? 1/20

2. Darwin in Context 1/20

3. A. R. Wallace 1/22

4. T. H. Huxley 1/22

B. Evolutionary theories before Darwin 1/27

1. Aristotle 1/27

2. John Ray 1/27

3. Carolus Linnaeus 1/29

4. Georges Cuvier 1/29

5. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck 1/29

6. Erasmus Darwin 1/29

Project: Using the Tree of Life, specify each of the classification steps from Eukaryotes to: 1) mushrooms, 2) pine trees, 3) magnolias, 4) bees, 5) humans. Hand in to team facilitators on 2/3.

C. Social Darwinism, Religion, and Society 2/3

1. The Victorian Response 2/3

2. Herbert Spencer 2/5

3. Sir Francis Galton 2/5

4. Eugenics 2/5

Project: Describe how the quincunx fit with Galton's notions about Eugenics. Hand in to team facilitators on 2/17.

IV. Development, Genetics, and Evolution 2/10

A. Gregor Mendel 2/12

B. Genetics and Development 2/12

1. Haeckel

2. Morgan

C. Genetics before Mendel 2/17

D. The Synthetic theory 2/19

V. Modern Consequences of Darwinism 2/24

A. Universal Darwinism 2/24

B. Speciation 2/26

C. Ultra-Darwinism 2/26

Project: Describe briefly the process of speciation, including the traditional scenario, polyploidy, punctuated equilibrium, ring species, and mating preference. Hand in to team facilitators on 3/2.

VI. Creationism and Creationism Science 3/2

A. Thesis 3/2

B. Antithesis 3/4

C. Resolution? 3/4

VII. Individuals as Active Players in their Destinies 3/9

Journals due 3/11 (in class)

Presentations 3/11 and 3/18 (11:30-2:15)

Bibliography:

Alters, B.J. & Alters, S.M. (2001). Defending evolution: A guide to the creation/evolution controversy. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Bowles, P. J. (1996). Charles Darwin: The man and his influence. NY: Cambridge U. press.

Cowen, R. (2000). History of life, 3rd Ed. Oxford, England: Blackwell Science, Inc.

Dawkins, R. (1986). Sociobiology: The new storm in a teacup. In S. Rose & L. Appignanesi (Eds.) Science and beyond (pp. 73-75). NY: Basil Blackwell.

Dawkins. R. (1996). The blind watchmaker: Why the evidence of evolution reveals a universe without design. NY: Norton

Dawkins, R. (1997). Climbing mount improbable. NY: Norton.

Dawkins, R. (1998). Unweaving the rainbow: Science, delusion, and the appetite for wonder. N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Dennett, D. C. (1995). Darwin's dangerous idea. NY: Simon & Schuster

Goodwin, B. & Dawkins, R. (1995). What is an organism? A discussion. In N.S. Thompson (Ed.) Behavioral design, Perspectives in Ethology, vol. 11 (47-60). NY: Plenum

Gould, S. J. (1981). The mismeasure of man. NY: Norton.

Gould, S.J. (1987). Darwinism defined: The difference between fact and theory. Discover (January), 64-70.

Gould, S. J. (1989). Wonderful Life: The Burgess shale and the nature of history. NY: Norton.

Gould S.J. (1996). Full house: The spread of excellence from Plato to Darwin. NY: Crown Publishers, Inc.

Gould, S.J. (1999). Rocks of ages: Science and religion in the fullness of life. N.Y.: Ballantine Books.

Gould, S. J., Ed. (2001). The book of life. NY: Norton.

Gould, S.J. & Lewontin, R.C. (1979). The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: A critique of the adaptationist programme. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 205, 581-598.

Kauffman, S. (1996). Even peptides do it. Nature, 382, 496-497.

Irvine, W. (1956). Apes, Angels and Victorians. London: Readers Union.

Rose, S. (1988). Reflections on reductionism. Trends in Biochemical Science, 13, 160-162 & 379-380.

Rose, S. (1998). Lifelines: Biology beyond determinism. NY: Oxford U. press.

Scott, E.C. (1996). Creationism, ideology, and science. In P.R. Gross, N Levitt, & M.W. Lewis (Eds.) The flight from science and reason (pp. 505-522). New York: The New York Academy of Sciences.

Thomas, W.A. (1986). Commentary: Science v. Creation-science. Science, Technology, and Human Values, 47-51.

Tort, P. (2001). Darwin and the science of evolution. NY: Harry N. Abrams Inc.

Wilson, E.O. (1978). On human nature. Cambridge, MA: Harvard U. Press.

Zimmer, C. (2001). Evolution: The tirumph of an idea. NY: HarperCollins Publishers.