Greenland

Environmental &

Evolutionary Health

Spring 2018

George M. Diggs, Jr.
Co-Director, Program in Public Health
Austin College, Sherman, Texas
& Research Associate, Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT)


Environmental & Evolutionary Health Class Schedule Spring 2018
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Day

Date

Class Topic

Reading Assignment

Jan

29

Class Introduction (Procedures; Schedule; Textbook; Readings; Discussions; Research Paper & Presentation); Science as a Way of Knowing; Overview/Big Picture of Envirionmental & Evolutionary Health including concepts of Novel Environments, Evolutionary Mismatch, & Epigenetics

 

 

31

Introduction to Environmental Health

See Moodle - Environmental Health 1

Feb

2

Introduction to Evolution

Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution - See Moodle;
Introduction to the Origin of Species (Charles Darwin) (1page); Text Chapter 1

  5 Human Evolution Text Chapters 2 and 3;
Food For Thought: Meat-Based Diet Made Us Smarter
  7 Why We Get Sick, Introduction to Evolutionary Health/Medicine Text Appendix 2 (4 pages); Evolution and the Origins of Disease; Text Chapters 4, 5, & 6
  9

Why We Get Sick, Continued

The Hygiene Hypothesis (1page); Cleaning Up The Hygiene Hypothesis (now the Old Friends Hypothesis);
Changing dietary trends and the obesity epidemic; Origins of Dental Crowding and Malocclusions: An Anthropological Perspective

 

12

Class Discussion on Why We Get Sick

 

 

14

Video & Discussion: Ghost in Your Genes

Super brief explanation of Epigenetics; Epigenetics 101;

 

16

Genes, Epigenetics, and Health

Epigenetics in Action 1- See Moodle; Epigenetics in Action 2 - See Moodle

 

19

Toxicology and Health

See Library - Environmental Health 6; Text Chapter 11; Environmental Estrogens (1page); Sperm Count in Western Men Has Dropped; Code Breaker - See Moodle

 

21

Pest Control, Pesticides, and Health

See Library - Environmental Health 18; Trump’s Legacy: Damaged Brains;

 

23

Water and Health

See Library - Environmental Health 16

  26 Air Pollution (including indoor) and Health (this lecture included on EXAM 2) In India, Air So Dirty Your Head Hurts; see Moodle -Environmental Health 13

 

28

EXAM 1

 

Mar

2

NO CLASS - work on RESEARCH SUMMARY topics

 

 

5

Climate Change and Health

See Library - Environmental Health 12

 

7

Discussion on Air Pollution, Climate Change, and health

 

 

9

Occupational HealthRESEARCH SUMMARY Title, Etc. Due

See Library -Environmental Health 4

 

12-16

Spring Break

 

 

19

Occupational Health, real world examples

See Library -Environmental Health 8

 

21

Occupational Health, continued

See Library -Environmental Health 21

 

23

Other environmental challenges; discussion

 

 

26

Food in the Evolutionary Context

The Celiac Surge - See Moodle; Running on Empty - See Moodle; George Diggs TEDx Talk (13 minutes)

 

28

Detailed look at the modern diet ("SAD" - Standard American Diet) and the "Natural Human Diet"

Text Chapter 10; Is Sugar Killing Us? - See Moodle; Sugar Industry Long Downplayed
Potential Harms
; Sugar and Cancer

 

30

Video & Discussion: "The Perfect Human Diet"

 

Apr

2

"Diets"/Discussion

Text Chapter 8

 

4

“World’s Worst Foods”; "Myths"; "Why Science Sometimes Gets It Wrong"

A spoonful of sugar; The Science of Fat-Loss: Why a Calorie Isn’t Always a Calorie
Text Chapter 13 & Text Appendix 1; Text Appendix 4

 

6

EXAM 2

 

 

9

Hunger & Its Controls/Discussion

Text Chapter 7, 9; Sarah Hallberg TED YouTube; A reversal on carbs....; Carbs against Cardio....; Why Fat People Don't Lose Weight(1 page)

 

11

Movie: "Cereal Killers"; Native peoples & human variation; Discussion

Chapter 12; Text Appendix 3

 

13

Fetal/Intrauterine, early life, multigenerational, and long-term environental influences; Wheat Belly and Grain Brain; Epigenetics & Diet; Long-term implications for your life and your family

You Can Prevent Alzheimer's; Interview of author of Wheat Belly

 

16

"Diet: Summary of “Recommendations" or Science Based Natural Eating"; "Sugar -- The elephant in the kitchen": Robert Lustig Ted Talk Video; Discussion

Text Chapter 14 & Appendix 5; Paleolithic diet is so easy, cavemen actually did it;
Are We Getting Nutrition All Wrong? (1 page)

 

18

Movie: "Fed Up"; Discussion; RESEARCH SUMM. DUE

 

 

20

Environment, Evolution & Human Health --- "Non-Diet Basic Recommendations (sleep, exercise, stress, vitamins, etc.)/Discussion

Exercise May Enhance the Effects of Brain Training; How Exercise May Help the Brain Grow Stronger; Exercise and bus drivers in London --- Moodle

 

23

Biophilia & other Behavioral/Psychological/Mental Implications of the Modern World (Depression, etc.)

ADHA, Food Additives, & Histamine; A Conversation with E.O. Wilson; Need for Protein Makes Monkeys and Human Overeat. (1 page)

 

25

Environmental Ethics, Environmental Justice; Ecosystem Services, Sustainability, and You and Me; Discussion

 

 

27

Environmental Health in the Real World, Policy and Practice; Discussion

See Library -Environmental Health 26

May

30

Student Presentations

 

 

2

Student Presentations

 

 

4

Student Presentations

 

 

8

Final Exam Tuesday, May 8, 12:00 - 2:00 pm

 

For further information about this course, please contact:

Dr. George Diggs, Professor
Department of Biology
Austin College
900 N. Grand Ave.
Sherman, TX 75090
903-813-2246
Fax: 903-813-3199
gdiggs@austincollege.edu


All text and images on this page copyright 2018, George M. Diggs, Jr.