Sex and Evolution

CRN: fall: 10251; winter: 20188
Note: This 12-credit program will meet from 6 to 9:50 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays as well as from 9 a.m. to 4:50 p.m. on five Saturdays each quarter (fall: Oct. 3, 17, 31, Nov. 14, Dec. 5; winter: TBA). First class will meet in SEM 2 B3109.

The year 2009 marks Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species. Darwin's work provided the foundations for evolutionary biology and ecology by developing the concept that ecological interactions can be best understood by looking at how adaptations of the organism (form, physiology, behavior) interact with its environment (physical conditions, competition, predation, etc.) to influence the organism's evolutionary fitness (reproductive success).

In this program, we’ll read works by and about Darwin, including The Origin of Species. We’ll also study some of the work by Darwin’s contemporaries, and learn about the scientific and cultural context of Darwin’s work. We’ll investigate how the perspectives of evolutionary ecology can cast light on applied problems such as conservation biology, global change, and other issues.

We will also use the lens of evolutionary ecology to investigate questions about reproduction. For example, why do few strictly asexual organisms exist? Why is sexual reproduction virtually ubiquitous in biology even though, in sexually reproducing organisms, only half of the individuals (females) produce offspring and the offspring only carry half of the genetic information from each parent? We will read works on the natural history of reproduction in animals and plants as we study evolutionary theory, genetics, and ecology.

Students will be expected to approach the topics with rigor from a scientific perspective. Some upper division credit may be awarded for upper division work by arrangement with the faculty at the beginning of the quarter.