BIONB 6702 - Special Topics in Behavioral Ecology

(crosslisted)
(also NTRES 6702)

Fall. 1-3 credits, variable. S-U grades only.

Prerequisite: BIONB 2210 or equivalent. Enrollment preference given to graduate students. Undergraduates admitted with special permission of instructors. Number of credits assigned is based on number of contact hours and reading required to address the topic and material selected each year.

J. L. Dickinson, W. D. Koenig.

An advanced graduate seminar designed to examine selected topics in behavioral ecology in depth. Topics change each year and address a critical sub-field or cross-disciplinary area of investigation. Examples of topics include: Evolution of behavioral syndromes (2008), Evolution of empathy and intersubjectivity (2009), Evolution of social networks in animal societies (2010), Evolution of Cooperation (2012) and Sexual Selection, Sperm Competition, and Cryptic Female Choice (2013). Each student is responsible for creating a presentation based on an extensive reading list related to the main topic, and for leading subsequent discussion by the entire group that week. In weeks they are not presenting, students are responsible for a limited subset of the readings and active participation in discussion. [See course roster for details.]

Outcome 1: Learn about and understand the differences among a range of models and behavioral games related to social dilemmas.

Outcome 2: Learn how underlying mechanisms governing decision-making map onto the different models for sustained cooperation.

Outcome 3: Develop a conceptual understanding of how cooperation is influenced by population structure, social viscosity, social network metrics, and individual variation in cooperative tendencies.

Outcome 4: Participation is expected to provide students with the background they would need to develop 1-3 university lectures on this topic as part of a course they might teach in the future.

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