EEH Schedule

Environmental & Evolutionary Health — Class Schedule — Fall 2023
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Day	Date	Class Topic	Reading Assignment
Aug	23	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
	25	Introduction to Environmental Health	See Moodle - Environmental Health 1
	28	Environmental Health Implications; Discussion
	30	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 (Hunter-Gatherer Within) Chapter 1
Sept	1	Introduction to Evolution (continued)
	4	Human Evolution	Text Chapters 2 and 3; Food For Thought: Meat-Based Diet Made Us Smarter
	6	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
	8	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
	11	Why We Get Sick; conitnued; discussion
	13	Video & Discussion: Ghost in Your Genes	Super brief explanation of Epigenetics; Epigenetics 101;
	15	Genes, Epigenetics, and Health	Epigenetics in Action 1- See Moodle; Epigenetics in Action 2 - See Moodle; Epigenetics in Action 3 - See Moodle
	18	Genes, Epigenetics, and Health continued; discussion; review
	20	EXAM 1
	22	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
	25	Toxicology and Health (continued)
	27	Pesticides, Biocides, Pest Control, and Health (cont.)	See Moodle - Environmental Health Chapter 18; Article on chlorpyriphos (dangerous pesticide) (also available on Moodle)
	29	Water and Health	See Moodle - Environmental Health 16
Oct	2	Air Pollution (including indoor) and Health	In India, Air So Dirty Your Head Hurts (also available on Moodle); see Moodle -Environmental Health 13
	4	Climate Change and Health	See Moodle - Environmental Health 12
	6	NO CLASS - Fall Break
	9	Climate Change and Health (cont.)
	11	Catch up/Discussion
	13	NO CLASS - work individually on RESEARCH SUMMARY topics
	16	Occupational Health	See Moodle -Environmental Health 4
	18	Occupational Health, real world examples; RESEARCH SUMMARY Title, Etc. Due	See Moodle -Environmental Health 8
	20	Occupational Health, continued; discussion	See Moodle -Environmental Health 21
	23	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)
	25	EXAM 2
	27	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" (if technically possible) or "My Big Fat Diett"
Nov	1	"Diets"/Discussion	Text Chapter 8
	3	“World’s Worst Foods”; "Myths"	A spoonful of sugar; The Science of Fat-Loss: Why a Calorie Isn’t Always a Calorie Text Chapter 13 & Text Appendix 4
	6	"Why Science Sometimes Gets It Wrong"; Discussion	Text Appendix 1
	8	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)
	10	Movie: "Cereal Killers" (if technically possilbe); Native peoples & human variation	Chapter 12; Text Appendix 3; You Can Prevent Alzheimer's; Interview of author of Wheat Belly
	13	"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)
	15	Environment, Evolution & Human Health --- "Non-Diet" Basic Recommendations (sleep, exercise, stress, vitamins, etc.)/Discussion; RESEARCH PRESENTATION POWERPOINT DUE (Note: student presentations will be sent to me in PowerPoint format)	Exercise May Enhance the Effects of Brain Training; How Exercise May Help the Brain Grow Stronger; Exercise and bus drivers in London --- Moodle
	17	Student presentations
	20 - 24	Thanksgiving Break
	27	Student presentations
	29	Student presentations
Dec	1	Student presentations
	8	Final Exam Friday, Dec 8, 12:00 - 2:00 pm