Audio Books : Misc. Educational : Other quality : English
Evolutionary Psychology I: The Science of Human Nature

Course Overview
"Why do we do what we do?" In this thought-provoking series of lectures, Allen D. MacNeill examines the surprising-and sometimes unsettling-answers to this most basic of human questions. The remarkable new field of evolutionary psychology takes a scientific approach to the evolution of human nature. Analyzing human behavior in relation to food, clothing, shelter, health care, and sex, Evolutionary Psychology proves an immensely stimulating exploration of human endeavor.

Course Syllabus

Lecture 1 Evolutionary Psychology: A Conceptual History

Lecture 2 Investigating the Unmentionable

Lecture 3 Natural Selection and Adaptation

Lecture 4 Evolved Psychological Mechanisms

Lecture 5 Deconstructing the Blank Slate

Lecture 6 Food, Clothing, Shelter, and Health

Lecture 7 Cooperation and the Paradox of Altruism

Lecture 8 Gender and Sex Differences

Lecture 9 Sex Lives of the Vertebrates

Lecture 10 The Evolution of Human Sexuality

Lecture 11 Monogamy and Polygamy

Lecture 12 Attraction, Courtship, and Mating

Lecture 13 Love, Attachment, and Childrearing

Lecture 14 Parents, Offspring, and Families

Allen D. MacNeill
Cornell University


Biography:

Allen MacNeill earned a B.S. in biology in 1974 and an M.A. in science education from Cornell in 1977. He has taught the support course for introductory biology at Cornell University since 1976. As a senior lecturer in the Learning Strategies Center at Cornell, MacNeill works with students taking both majors and non-majors introductory biology. In addition, he organizes and carries out in-service training for teaching assistants in biology and related fields. Allen also teaches evolution for the Cornell Summer Session, and has taught the introductory evolution course for non-majors at Cornell. He has served as a Faculty Fellow at Ecology House and as an honorary member and faculty advisor for the Cornell chapter of the Golden Key International Honour Society. He has served on numerous advisory committees and editorial boards at Cornell and in the Ithaca community.

Along with his many teaching assignments, Allen has appeared in a number of Off-Broadway plays and in other acting venues.