HUMAN ECOLOGY
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Full programme
- Bibliography
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
No prerequisites required
The exam will be oral for a duration of 20 minutes; there will be evaluated:
• the knowledge of the topics presented during the lectures (70%)
• the critical analysis skills of the main theories of coevolutionary processes of the biological and cultural traits of the human species (30%).The answers will be evaluated both for the real acquisition of the notions provided in class and for the ability of their critical analysis.
The course aims to promote the ability to scientifically address the understanding of contemporary human behavior in relation to the natural and anthropic environment and non-human species also through the analysis and reconstruction of the evolution of human-nature relationships in biological and cultural terms with particular attention to the key points of human evolutionary history. At the end of the course the student will have learned the main theories of the co-evolutionary process of the human biological and cultural structure.The student will also have acquired the necessary skills for the preparation of critical analysis texts on the main issues relating to man-nature behavioral relationships as well as the basic knowledge essential for formulating judgments on textual works relating to the sphere of human ecology.
Specific contents will be: the essential characters of the biological and demographic evolution of the human species; the characteristic elements of human biological nature; the co-evolutionary path of the biological and cultural traits of the human species; the formation of critical attitudes to the analysis of current perception patterns of the external reality through a biological-cultural approach; the genesis and evolution of the scientific basis of the theories relating to the position of mankind in the natural context.
Biological and cultural nature (8 hours)
The biological nature
What makes us human?
Neotenia (chronic childhood of man)
Human nature or cultural nature?
The biological classification of man
The evolutionary path
Natural selection - the basic Darwinian model
Revolutionary scientific and cultural aspects of Darwinian theory
Human population growth (8 hours)
The appearance of Homo sapiens
Human population growth model
Human population growth: the past
Human population growth: the case of the year one thousand in Europe
Human population growth: the case of the black plague (1346-1353)
Human population growth: after 1700
Human population growth: the modern age
Birth rate decline
The demographic transition model
Carrying capacity of human population
Cultural and biological evolution 1 (6 hours)
Why culture?
Cultural evolution Vs. biological
Culture as a biological phenomenon
Sociobiology and Memetics
Dual inheritance and biological-cultural coevolution
Cumulative cultural evolution
An ecological and evolutionary approach applied to cultural models
Genetic determinism and Eugenics
Guiding forces of cultural evolution
Cultural and biological evolution 2 (8 hours)
Genetic and cultural adaptations to pathogenic forms (bacteria, viruses ...)
Social organization evolution (6 hours)
Essential characteristics of complex societies
Cooperation, altruism and selfishness
Collective goods / common goods
Mutual altruism
Parental selection and inclusive fitness
Nature perception schemes 1 (4 hours)
Reflections on the attitude towards nature in the western world
Subjective, emotional and aesthetic reactions to nature
Nature perception schemes 2 (8 hours)
Dualism humans-environment
Cultural ecological-anthropological vision
Ecological and cultural niche. Niche construction
Perceptive patterns of nature:
Gibson (psychological ecology)
Lévy-Strauss (coding / decoding)
Bateson (ecology of the mind)
Maturana (autopoiesis)
Main ecological schools:
Naess (deep ecology)
Burlington (social ecology)
Capra (ecocentric ecology)
The presentations and the scientific publications used for the lessons will be downloadable from the e-learning platform of the course.
The training objectives of the course will be achieved through lectures for a total of 48 hours.
Classroom lessons will be carried out with the help of slides and videos that will be made available to students on the E-learning platform.
In order to promote the application skills of the acquired knowledge, case studies concerning the most current national and international critical issues will be presented and discussed collectively.
Interview by appointment