Unit name | How Societies Evolve |
---|---|
Unit code | ARCH20064 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | I/5 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Professor. Joanna Bruck |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of Anthropology and Archaeology |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
A simple reading of Darwinian natural selection suggests that evolution only takes place between competing individuals. However, societies are based in large part on cooperation. How then did those societies evolve? This course explores the mechanisms by which cooperation can evolve through natural selection and the resulting societies, in primates, hominins and modern humans. Group living has major implications for behaviour, reproduction and cognition, where the balance of costs and benefits can result in unexpected outcomes, which can be seen across primate species. We then turn to social evolution in hominins and how this shaped early modern human society. Finally, we assess a number of hypotheses for the evolution of large-scale human societies over the last 5,000 years. The common features of the evolution of societies can give us insights into contemporary human social life and help us identify future trends in social change.
Ten 2-hour lectures
Five 1-hour seminars
Student presentations (2 sessions - 8 hours total at Bristol Zoo and in-class)
Formative:
Presentation – ILOs 3-6
Summative:
2-hour exam (50%) – ILOs 1-7
2,500-word essay (50%) – ILOs 1-7
Maynard Smith J, Szathmary E. 1999. The origins of life: from the birth of life to the origin of language. (selected chapters).
Dawkins R. 1976. The Selfish Gene. (selected chapters).
Boyd and Silk. 2018. How Humans Evolved. (selected chapters).