Environmental &Evolutionary HealthFall 2020 George
M. Diggs, Jr. |
Environmental & Evolutionary Health Class Schedule Fall 2020
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Day |
Date |
Class Topic |
Reading Assignment |
Aug |
26 |
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 |
|
|
28 |
Introduction to Environmental Health |
See Moodle - Environmental Health 1 |
31 | COVID-19: Environmental Health Implications; Discussion | ||
Sept |
2 |
Introduction to Evolution |
Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution - See Moodle; |
4 | Introduction to Evolution (continued) | ||
7 | Human Evolution | Text Chapters 2 and 3; Food For Thought: Meat-Based Diet Made Us Smarter |
|
9 | 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 | |
11 | Why We Get Sick, continued |
The Hygiene Hypothesis (Old viewpoint; 1page); Cleaning up the Hygiene Hypothesis (now the Old Friends Hypothesis); Changing dietary trends and the obesity epidemic - See Moodle; Origins of Dental Crowding and Malocclusions: An Anthropological Perspective |
|
|
14 |
Why We Get Sick; conitnued; discussion |
|
|
16 |
Video & Discussion: Ghost in Your Genes |
|
|
18 |
Genes, Epigenetics, and Health |
Epigenetics in Action 1- See Moodle; Epigenetics in Action 2 - See Moodle; Epigenetics in Action 3 - See Moodle |
|
21 |
Genes, Epigenetics, and Health continued; discussion; review |
|
23 | EXAM 1 | ||
25 | Toxicology and Health | See Library - Environmental Health 6; Text Chapter 11; Estrogen in the Environment (Historical); Women, Disease & Environmental Estrogens; Sperm Count in Western Men Has Dropped; Code Breaker - See Moodle | |
28 | Toxicology and Health (continued) | ||
30 | Coronavius updates; Review; etc. | ||
Oct |
2 |
NO CLASS - work on RESEARCH SUMMARY topics |
|
5 |
Pesticides, Biocides, Pest Control, and Health (cont.) |
See Moodle - Environmental Health Chapter 18; Article on chlorpyriphos (dangerous pesticide) (also available on Moodle) |
|
7 |
Water and Health |
See Moodle - Environmental Health 16 |
|
9 | NO CLASS - Fall Break | ||
12 | Air Pollution (including indoor) and Health | In India, Air So Dirty Your Head Hurts (also available on Moodle); see Moodle -Environmental Health 13 | |
|
14 |
Climate Change and Health; RESEARCH SUMMARY Title, Etc. Due |
See Moodle - Environmental Health 12 |
|
16 |
Occupational Health |
See Moodle -Environmental Health 4 |
|
19 |
Occupational Health, real world examples |
See Moodle -Environmental Health 8 |
|
21 |
Occupational Health, continued; discussion |
See Moodle -Environmental Health 21 |
|
23 |
Discussion and REVIEW |
|
|
26 |
Food in the Evolutionary Contex (this material will be on Exam 3) |
The Celiac Surge - See Moodle; Running on Empty - See Moodle; George Diggs TEDx Talk (13 minutes); George Diggs YouTube video (~45 minutes) |
28 | EXAM 2 | ||
|
30 |
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 |
Nov |
2 |
Video & Discussion: "The Perfect Human Diet" (if technically possible) or "My Big Fat Diett" |
|
|
4 |
"Diets"/Discussion |
Text Chapter 8 |
|
6 |
“World’s Worst Foods”; "Myths" |
A spoonful of sugar; The Science of Fat-Loss: Why a Calorie Isn’t Always a Calorie |
9 | "Why Science Sometimes Gets It Wrong"; Discussion | Text Appendix 1 | |
|
11 |
Hunger & Its Controls/Discussion; RESEARCH SUMMARY DUE |
Text Chapter 7, 9; Sarah Hallberg TED YouTube; A reversal on carbs....; Carbs against Cardio....; Why Fat People Don't Lose Weight(1 page) |
13 | NO CLASS | ||
|
16 |
Movie: "Cereal Killers" (if technically possilbe); Native peoples & human variation; RESEARCH PRESENTATION POWERPOINT DUE (Note: student presentations will be sent to me in PowerPoint format, including audio, rather than presented in class---I'll be giving detailed instructions) |
Chapter 12; Text Appendix 3; You Can Prevent Alzheimer's; Interview of author of Wheat Belly |
|
18 |
"Diet: Summary of “Recommendations" or Science Based Natural Eating"; "Sugar -- The elephant in the kitchen"; Wheat Belly and Grain Brain; 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); Need for Protein Makes Monkeys and Human Overeat. (1 page) |
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 - 27 | Thanksgiving Break | ||
30 | Student presentations | ||
Dec | 2 | Student presentations | |
4 | Final thoughts; Review | ||
|
8 |
Final Exam Tuesday, Dec 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 2020, George M. Diggs, Jr.