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Earth, Body, and Mind: Changes in Scientific Thought
| Course Home Page | Purposes & Overview of Course | Course Schedule & Readings | Course Procedures | Course Related Web Links | Academic Skills Center |
Class Schedule and Readings: Spring 2016
Textbook: The Hunter-Gatherer Within: Health and the Natural Human Diet, Brock & Diggs, 2013.
Topic |
Reading |
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| UNIT I: INTRODUCTION, PLATE TECTONICS, MASS EXTINCTION | |||
| Feb | 1 | Introduction to Class; Does Science Matter? Science as a Way of Knowing; Science as a Candle in the Dark (Lecture) | Purposes & Overview; Naturalism |
| 3 | Plate Tectonics (Lecture) | Alfred Wegener; Geology: Plate Tectonics; Major Tectonic Plates of the World | |
| 5 | Plate Tectonics continued (Lecture & HWC video) | This Dynamic Earth | |
| 8 | Plate Tectonics continued (Kiluhea Video & Discussion) | Tsunami Graphics; Tsunami Information | |
| 10 | Mass Extinction; K-T Impact (Lecture) | K-T (or K-Pg) Event; Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event; Article on Permian Extinction; 2nd Permian Extinction Article, 3rd Permian Extinction Article, Ancient Crash, Epic Wave |
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| 12 | Unit 1 Exam | Example Exam for Unit 1 | |
| UNIT II: THE DARWINIAN REVOLUTION | |||
| 15 | Pre-Darwinian Paradigms & The Darwinian Revolution: Evolution of a Paradigm Shift (Lecture) | Biology Before the Beagle (Gavin De Beer)---Moodle The Origin of Species (Introduction) (Charles Darwin); Principles of Geology (Charles Lyell)---Moodle | |
| 17 | The Darwinian Revolution (Continued) (Lecture & Discussion) | Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution; Evidence Supporting Biological Evolution | |
| 19 | Primate and Human Evolution | ||
| 22 | Primate and Human Evolution | Textbook Chapter 2 | |
| 24 | Human Evolution continued (Video) | Hobbit-Like Ancestor Found in Asia; The Hadza | |
| 26 | Changes in Worldview; Sociobiology (Lecture) | The Boy Raised as a Girl; On Becoming Human---Moodle; The Brains of Gay Men---Moodle | |
| 29 | Creationism (Lecture, Video, Discussion) | Seven Short Creationism Readings---Total of 11 pages (Farewell to Newton, Einstein, and Darwin; Creationism and the Age of the Earth; Does Evolution Conflict with Religious Belief?; Challenging Evolution Does Not Make Creationism Science; Creationists versus Evolution: The Issues; Evidence for Scientific Creationism?; Putting Darwin Back in the Dock)---Moodle; The Texas Debate Over Teaching Evolution; Sadly, An Honest Creationist | |
| Mar | 2 | Creationism cont. (Church video & discussion) | Intelligent Design? (an 8 page article including essays by both Intelligent Design proponents and Scientists)---Moodle; Five Major Misconceptions about Evolution |
| 4 | Evolutionary Medicine; Intelligent Design?; Benevolent Design? (Lecture) | Textbook Chapters 1, 2 (you read this earlier), & 3; If Humans Were Built to Last---Moodle | |
| 7-11 | Spring Break | ||
| 14 | Molecular Evolution; The Irony of Knowledge; Evolution Summary (Lecture & Discussion) | ||
| 16 | Unit 2 Exam | ||
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| UNIT III: THE ENVIRNOMENT: a) Body & b) World | |||
| 18 | Food: What's In It (Part 1) | Textbook Chapter 4 & 5 | |
| 21 | Food: What's In It (Part 2) | Textbook Chapters 6 & 7 | |
| 23 | Food and How Science Goes Wrong | Textbook Chapter 8 & Appendix 1 | |
| 25 | Food Toxins: Plants Fight Back | Textbook Chapter 10 & Appendix 3 | |
| 28 | Food: How the Body Works | Textbook Appendix 2 & Chapter 9 | |
| 30 | Diet, Health, & the College Student | Textbook Chapters 11, 13 & 14 | |
| Apr | 1 | The Environment – An Overview (Lecture) | Endrocrine Disrupters, Tragedy of the Commons, 1602: Tragedy of the Commons, What are Ecosystem Services |
| 4 | Ozone Depletion and Global Climate Change (Lecture) | Good News on the Ozone Hole, Climate Change (EPA); Global Warming Effects Around the World; 2014 Breaks Heat Recordd; 2015 is Hottest Year | |
| 6 | Biodiversity and the Extinction Crisis (Lecture & Discussion) | A Modern Mass Extinction?; The Real Biodiversity Crisis | |
| 8 | Population-the Ultimate Environmental Problem (Lecture) | World Population Clock | |
| 11 | Unit 3 Exam | ||
| UNIT IV: COGNITIVE SCIENCE | |||
| 13 | Introduction, History of the Problem of Consciousness (Lecture) | History of the Brain; Brain Structures and Their Functions | |
| 15 | Introduction to the Brain, and Damaged Brains Part 1(Lecture) | Brain Parts handout---Moodle; Neurons, Synapses, and Neurotransmission; The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (Oliver Sacks)---Moodle | |
| 18 | Philosophical Considerations (Lecture & Discussion) | Free Will (Thomas Nagel)---Moodle; Do You Have Free Will? (John Tierney)---Moodle | |
| 20 | Damaged Brains Part 2 (Lecture) | From Left Brain, Right Brain (Springer and Deutsch): Introduction, Evidence from Brain Damage; Splitting the Brain; Implications of Split-Brain Research---3 documents total, on Moodle | |
| 22 | Sleep and the Brain (Lecture) | Sleep on It---Moodle | |
| 25 | Videos (Koko, Changing Sex, Tourette Syndrome) | Bruce Jenner video | |
| 27 | Artificial Intelligence | Can a Computer Have a Mind?---Moodle | |
| 29 | Sex and the Brain (Lecture) | Sex, Math, and Scientific Achievement---Moodle, Pas de Deux of Sexuality Is Written in the Genes | |
| May | 2 | Animal Consciousness (Lecture) | Time in the Animal Mind |
| 4 | Unit 4 Exam | Some definitions and names (to help you study for your exam)---Moodle | |
| 6 | No Class on last Friday of semester | ||
| 12 | FINAL EXAM (OPTIONAL) Thursday, 3–5 pm |
All material on this page copyright 2016, George M. Diggs, Jr. & Kerry G. Brock
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