Time Schedule:
Geoffrey C. Kushnick
BIO A 469
Seattle Campus
Delineation and analysis of a specific problem or a more general area in biocultural anthropology. Offered occasionally by visiting or resident faculty.
Class description
EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVES ON PARENTING AND CHILDCARE (5 Credits)
This course surveys our understanding of parenting and childcare adaptations in humans. As such, its perspective is evolutionary, covering comparative, theoretical, and empirical aspects of these adaptations. Particular attention will be paid to whether an evolutionary approach helps us explain modern human diversity in parenting and childcare.
Specific topics that will be covered include: comparative perspectives on primate parenting; hormonal and other phsyiological adaptations for parenting; biocultural models of childcare adaptations in humans; infidelity and parenting; environmental uncertainty and parenting; parental investment and parent-offspring conflict theory; cooperative breeding in humans; adoption; and, more...
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Lectures, with some student presentations, activities, and discussions.
Recommended preparation
There are no formal pre-requisites for the course, but you will get the most out of it if you have some biology or biocultural anthropology courses under your belt.
Class assignments and grading
TBD
