Mating Strategies (fall term)

Stephanie Meredith / Human Evolutionary Biology/FAS / stephaniemeredith@fas.harvard.edu

Human Evolutionary Biology 1366, Thursdays 1-4 p.m., University/Geological Museum 103a

In this advanced seminar, we will examine the selection pressures that drive animals (including the human animal) to make particular mating decisions. We will engage in a broad, comparative exploration of the diversity of mating strategies across the animal kingdom, paying particular attention to primates, in order to ground our understanding of human mating strategies in an evolutionary perspective. Topics to be covered include the evolution of: sex, paternal care, sex-role reversal, social monogamy versus sexual monogamy, sexual coercion, homosexual behavior, and frequency dependent mating strategies. Note: Human Evolutionary Biology concentrators will have priority, if space is limited. Prerequisite: Human Evolutionary Biology 97 or Human Evolutionary Biology 1330 or Organismic and Evolutionary Biology 57 or permission of instructor. (catalog # 62507)