Course Objectives
One of the central principles of biology is that all organisms and their characteristics are products of evolution. Evolution provides a framework for understanding all the features of living things and illuminates all the biological disciplines, from molecular biology and biochemistry to physiology, behavior and ecology. As the heralded evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky once said: "Nothing in biology makes sense, except in the light of evolution." Thus, the scope of evolutionary biology is vast: all organisms, and all the features of organisms, are grist for its mill. A one-semester course in evolution will undoubtedly fall short of capturing its true essence. This course is intended to serve as an introduction to some of the basic principles and concepts of evolutionary biology. I have attempted to make this course useful as a foundation for students who expect to draw on evolutionary biology in their professional careers. It is also my intention to make this course accessible and informative for students who do not expect to become professional biologists. Biology 450 begins with a brief history of evolutionary thinking culminating with the Darwinian view and the Modern Synthetic Theory of Evolution. Following this brief introduction, I have arranged this course in evolution into four main components:
Mechanisms of Evolutionary Change. Population genetics is a fundamental theory for evolutionary biology. This body of theory is important to evolution because it allows us to identify and understand mechanisms of evolution. During this section of the course, will spend a substantial amount of time addressing topics in evolutionary genetics, including causes of genetic variation, theoretical and disequilibrium population genetics, selection and fitness, quantitative genetics, and molecular evolution.
Evolution and Diversity. Evolution is central to understanding the diversity of life. We will, therefore, consider such topics as what a species is, how new species originate, and how to classify and reconstruct the evolutionary history of life.
The Nature of Adaptations. Many of the characters of organisms may superficially appear to be non-adaptive - make no difference to life. However, closer examination often reveals that they do matter. We will address this issue by examining three topics: 1) The relationship between selection and adaptation emphasizing how developmental constraints may cause what is often regarded as adaptive imperfection; 2) The causes and consequences of sex; 3) Why do the sexes differ?
Macroevolution. We will also discuss evolution on a grand scale. In particular we will examine mode and tempo of evolution with the fossil record as our main testing ground for these large evolutionary events.
The Creation-Evolution Controversy
There are many people in this country who do not accept the theory of evolution or view creationism as a competing theory to that of evolution. The reasons for these views are multifaceted, ranging from misconceptions of evolution to concerns that evolution is evil and may lead to moral decay. Robert Pennock's book "Tower of Babel" does a wonderful job of addressing the creation-evolution controversy. In my opinion, this book should be required reading for anyone who is interested understanding why evolution is considered a valid science and why creationism is to the contrary. Pennock addresses the old and the new creationist arguments regarding evolution and is extremely effective at exposing the fallacies of these arguments. He is particularly effective in placing the controversy in a larger scientific and social context. Pennock's book will serve as a wonderful supplement as you begin to develop a meaningful understanding of evolution.
The book can be organized into six major components: chapter 1 presents the conflicting views of creationists; chapter 2 and 3 address the standard criticisms of evolution; chapter 4 presents the new creationists attack on scientific naturalism; chapter 5 and 6 discuss the validity of the new creationism movement; chapter 7 presents the relationship between evolution and morality; chapter 8 stresses the importance of separating private religious beliefs from public scientific knowledge.
We will use Pennock's book in the evolution
course in the following manner. I will present a lecture that
summarizes the material presented in chapter 1-3. During the next
class period, you will be expected to come to class with four
questions pertaining to the information presented in chapter 4.
You must bring two copies of your questions: one to hand in to
me and the other to refer to during the class period. Your questions
cannot be frivolous ones. You are expected to generate developed
questions that reflect an earnest attempt to read and reflect
upon the material presented in the chapter. We will discuss as
many of the questions as we possibly can during the class period.
During the following class, I will give an overview of the ideas
presented in chapter 5. You will be expected to come to class
with four questions from chapter 6. The instructions for questions
from chapter 6 are the same as those for chapter four above. The
timetable for Pennock's book is as follows:
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| 02/19 | Lecture | Conflicting views of ceationists |
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| 02/21 | Questions and discussion | The attack on scientific naturalism |
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| 02/23 |
Lecture Questions |
The validity of the new creationism The validity of the new creationism |
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Of course, you are expected to read the appropriate chapters before coming to class regardless whether I am summarizing material from a chapter or you are presenting your questions. Some of the exam questions will be based on the ideas and information presented in Pennock's book.
Evolution Term paper
In partial fulfillment of this course, you are required to write a term paper. Your term paper assignment will be based on one of the topics that are presented below. If you are interested in pursuing a specific topic from the list let me know as soon as possible so I can reserve it for you. I will attempt to match a person with a topic on a first come, first serve basis. Because there are more persons in the course than there ate topics, most of the topics will be assigned to more than one person. However, no topic will be asigned more than twice. If you have not selected a topic by February 9th, I will randomly assign one to you. You must come and talk to me before you begin working on the paper so we can work together to put the topic into better focus. Also, I may be able to suggest a reference or two that will help in getting you started. Of course, you are welcome to come and talk to me about your paper at any other time during the semester.
The term paper must have a title page that includes the title of the paper, your name, the name of the course and the instructor for the course. Be sure to make the title somewhat more imaginative or descriptive than the name of the general topic you are assigned. You must have a least six reference and four of them must be sources (e.g., journal articles, books, essays, etc.) other than internet web sites. Your citations must be presented in exactly the same style that is used in your textbook (see the final pages of any chapter). If you fail to adopt this style, your performance on the paper will be lowered by a letter grade. The paper should be approximately 5-7 typewritten, double-spaced pages in length. The paper is due in class on Friday, March 30th.
Your papers will eventually be added
to a "Student Essays" link on the Cultural Perspectives
in Evolution web site (http://www2.evansville.edu/evolutionweb/)
constructed by Dr. Brad Cohen and myself. Your papers will probably
require some degree of editing before they can be added to the
site. I will, therefore, grade your paper and provide you with
comments and criticisms that would improve the overall quality
of the paper. Your paper will be returned to you within ten days
of its submission. If you re-write the paper and effectively incorporate
the suggested corrections and changes into the edited version,
you have the possibility of improving your performance on the
paper by a letter grade. Your revised paper along with the original
copy must be submitted to me by April 20th. Also, I final
copy of your paper must be emailed to me as an attached file by
no later than April 28th.
Topics for the Evolution Term Paper