CENTRE FOR LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL FOR UNDERGRADUATES
HOW HUMANS EVOLVED: THE LONDON ROOTS OF DARWINISM
Key Information
Module code
Taught during
Module workload
Module leader
Department
Credit
Level
Pre-requisites
Assessment
ISSU1008
Block One: Monday 4 July - Friday 22 July 2016
45 teaching hours plus approximately 100 study hours
Professor Volker Sommer
Anthropology, Faculty of Social & Historical Sciences
0.5 UCL credits, 7.5 ECTS, 4 US
Level 1, first year Undergraduate
Standard entry requirements
Three multiple choice tests (30%)
Presentation (10%)
1500-word essay (60%)
Module Overview
The course explores how London's scientific milieu stimulated the development of evolutionary theory in
general and human phylogenesis in particular.
Week One
 Thinking about Change in Victorian England: Malthus, Lyell, Spencer
 Which Animal Are We? Comparative Anatomy in the Grant Museum
 What is a Primate? The Order We Belong To
 Being a Primate I. Skulls and Teeth
Week Two
 The Dawn of Darwinism. From Gower Street to Down House
 The Modern Synthesis: Innovators at UCL (Fisher, Medawar, Haldane, Crick, Maynard-Smith,
Hamilton)
 Being a Primate II. The Post-cranial Skeleton
 Almost Human. Eye-to-eye With Our Cousins.
Week Three
 Politics and Controversies. Social Darwinism, Eugenics, Determinism
 Reaching into Thought. Sigmund Freud and Anna Freud
 Against Nature? Homosexuality and Evolution
 Non-human Personhood? Jeremy Bentham’s Vision of Animal Rights
Please note that this module description is indicative and may be subject to change.
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Module Aims
Evolutionary biology is modern life science’s most important theory – and no other institution has been as
influential in shaping this discipline than UCL. This course will explore how London's vibrant historic and
intellectual milieu stimulated revolutionary discoveries about the origins of life in general and the development
of humanity in particular. We will learn about our evolutionary history, how our primate ancestry still shapes
our current lives and what evolution may hold for us in times to come. Lastly, we will scrutinize various
controversies that were of triggered by Darwinian theory.
Teaching Methods
The module offers 50 contact hours, including lectures, tutorials, debates, film, quizzes, visits to London Zoo,
the homes of Darwin and Freud as well as practicals in biological collections. Students are expected to spend
an additional 100 hours on assignments and self-study. Reading lists and relevant materials will be housed on
the UCL Moodle system and a printed workbook will be provided for hands-on lab-classes. Student support
will be provided via seminars/tutorials, weekly office hours and the opportunity book additional 1:1 meetings
via e-mail.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this module, students will:
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Appreciate how we, as human beings, are connected with all other life forms through a common
history of millions of years.
Understand that our body and mind have a deep past shared with other apes and monkeys.
Appreciate how this biological kinship entrusts us to preserve the magnificent biodiversity we are a
part of.
Be able to speculate about the future of a special member of the mammalian order of Primates that
we have come to call Homo sapiens.
Recognize the implications of evolutionary thought for current political debates such as those about
sexual rights, non-human personhood and secular ethics.
Assessment Methods
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Three multiple choice tests (30%)
10-15-minute Presentation (10%)
1500-word essay (60%)
Key Texts
Barrett, Louise; Robin Dunbar & John Lycett (2002). Human Evolutionary Psychology. Houndsmill: Palgrave
Boyd, Robert & Joan B. Silk (2015). How Humans Evolved. New York, London: W.W. Norton
Dunbar, Robin (2014). Human Evolution. London: Penguin
Mitani, John, Josep Call, Peter Kappeler, Ryne Palombit, Joan Silk (eds) (2012). The Evolution of Primate
Societies. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Park, Michael Alan (2008). Biological Anthropology. An Introductory Reader. Boston etc.: McGraw-Hill
Sommer, Volker & Paul Vasey (eds.) (2011). Homosexual Behaviour in Animals. An Evolutionary Perspective.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Stanford, Craig; John S. Allen, Susan C. Anton (2013). Biological Anthropology: the natural history of
humankind. New Jersey: Pearson
Stein, Philip L. & Bruce M. Rowe (2014). Physical Anthropology. Boston etc.: McGraw-Hill. 11th edition
Please note that this module description is indicative and may be subject to change.
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