Being Human
TESC/E&W Studies
Fall ‘08
Syllabus
Instructor: Richard McKinnon, Ph.D.
Email: mckinnon.rick@comcast.net
Blog: www2.evergreen.edu/humandevelopment/
Time: Tues. 5:30 – 9:30
Place: SEM 2 A2107
Credits: 4
Course Description: In this course we will strive to understand how human thinking, motivation, behavior and social relationships develop. A major premise that we will embrace is that it is impossible to make sense of human development in absence of an understanding of human evolution. To this end, we will build a model of humans that is ecologically valid, i.e., views the brain as a set of mechanisms that evolved to deal with problems such as deciding what foods to eat, coordinating complex activities through communication, determining whether someone is lying, dividing time and attention among different relatives, and choosing a mate. The psychological mechanisms discussed are involved in phenomena such as perception and the control of activity, language, learning, and cognition, mate selection and courting, development and parenting, altruism, aggression, and social structure.
Text: Pinker, S. ( 1997). How the Mind Works. Norton.
de Waal, F. (2001). The Ape and the Sushi Master. Basic Books.
Course Requirements: In addition to reading the texts and contributing to class discussion, full participation in this course will include the completion of weekly study guides. Study guides will include exercises, questions for response writing, thought problems, and essential concepts. Participants will contribute to the course blog, posting their work and extending discussion of the ideas addressed during class. Each participant’s work will be evaluated based on the following components:
• Ability to view human development in an ecologically plausible manner.
• Coherence of thought about both evolutionary and developmental processes.
• Ability to integrate information from a variety of sources.
Each participant will bring a written self-assessment on the 9th week, describing in detail how s/he has progressed in meeting the goals and objectives of the. This self-assessment will be shared and discussed within a peer group. Participants will then bring a revised version on the 10th week for submission to the instructor. The self-assessment will constitute the most comprehensive description of the participant’s work, and will contribute to the participant’s course evaluation for the quarter.
