HUMAN ECOLOGY: BIOS 5445
Spring Semester 2014
Tuesday - Thursday, 3:30-4:45 p.m.
Room 1106 Wood Hall
Dr Stephen B. Malcolm
3151 Wood Hall, tel: 387-5604, e-mail: steve.malcolm@wmich.edu
http://homepages.wmich.edu/~malcolm/
Department of Biological Sciences,
Western Michigan University.
Office hours: Tuesday - Thursday 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
Goal:
To develop an appreciation for patterns of distribution and
abundance of Homo sapiens and the ecological processes
that generate these patterns, through lectures, reading,
multi-media, discussion and dissemination of research and
understanding.
Objectives:
To develop skills in the following:
• Analytical thinking.
• Discipline-specific information acquisition and analysis.
• Communication and discussion.
• Objectivity and interaction among ideas, deductive
hypotheses and methods.
• Value of interdisciplinary synergism (how methods from
one discipline can allow another discipline to ask and
develop new questions).
COURSE DESCRIPTION
What is Human Ecology? It is the ecology of a single species – us! Since
we are the focus it is more challenging to be objective and to avoid our subjective
biases based on our own experience and cultural backgrounds. These experiences
don’t invalidate our appreciation for our own ecology, but our appreciation for our world
BIOS 5445 Human Ecology
Dr. S.B. Malcolm
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and our immediate environments is so interwoven with our cultural biases, beliefs and
experience that we often lose sight of the realities that surround us. This course is
designed to make us think about these realities and how we fit within our environment at
scales that range from molecular to global.
Inevitably this course will benefit from a synergism among many different
disciplines and part of the excitement comes from making distinctions between ecology
and the other biological sciences, but also among philosophy, human geography,
sociology, anthropology, mathematics and economics. This generates a synergism that
benefits from the product of ecologists and others talking to each other and borrowing
ideas and methods to produce something that is greater than the sum of its
components. If you perform a literature search you’ll find that anthropology and
geography are the two disciplines that identify most readily with “human ecology.”
However, rather than focus just on Homo sapiens from an anthropological perspective,
or the distribution of humans from a geographical perspective, we will consider Homo
sapiens from an ecological perspective by considering intrinsic properties of human
populations and life history, but also our interactions with other species and with
populations within our species.
This sounds idealistic, but it should work given the will to succeed. Our
problem as humans is that much of what we do is governed by our genes acting
selfishly and like all other organisms we are programmed to maximize survivorship
within the confines of our environment. However, unlike other organisms we are the
first species on Earth that has evolved the ability to control resource availability at
landscape scales or even at a global scale. This makes our species unique, with
arguably an equally unique potential to control our population density, so that resource
availability is maximized on a per capita basis. Such an argument appears to invoke
altruism, but while there may be evolutionary arguments in favor of the benefits of
altruism, the argument may also be considered as being purely selfish.
So how do we resolve these issues? I don’t pretend that this course will fully
answer such questions. However, we will discuss these issues and consider possible
resolution of Jeremy Bentham’s early 19th century dilemma of maximizing two variables
simultaneously: population and resources.
COURSE STRUCTURE AND EVALUATION
Each Tuesday session will consist of a lecture by Steve Malcolm on the relevant
topic followed by a short discussion. On Thursdays we will enjoy your efforts with
student presentations and modeling activities. Presenters will be awarded marks for the
presentations and marks will also be awarded to all discussion participants as described
below. So if you find it difficult to talk in public, it would be a good idea to try and make
some kind of contribution to the discussion by being well-prepared each session - no
constructive comments can ever be considered pointless or silly, so please come
prepared to say what you think, or at least try.
BIOS 5445 Human Ecology
Dr. S.B. Malcolm
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GRADE ASSIGNMENT
Grades will be assigned on the basis of the points listed below awarded for your
paper presentation, weekly discussion, computer model, assigned text presentation and
two exams. Each of the two exams will be based on take-home questions that should
be answered with short, succinct essays, and figures.
Paper presentation
Discussion participation (best 5 assessments at 20 points each)
Computer model
Assigned text presentation
Exams
Mid term exam
(February 20)
Final Exam
(April 24)
TOTAL
Grading scale:
A
B
C
D
=
=
=
=
>90%
>80%
>70%
>60%
BA
CB
DC
E
=
=
=
=
points
100
100
100
100
100
200
700
>85%
>75%
>65%
<60%
Paper presentation and assigned text presentation:
I would like each person to make a PowerPoint® presentation of a selected,
relevant paper to the class and encourage discussion of the paper and concept. The
paper will be relevant to the topic for that week and either I will assign the paper or you
may choose a paper (with my approval) that you would like to present. I would also like
you to make presentations that explain the ideas in the book “Cows, pigs, wars &
witches. The riddles of culture” by the anthropologist Marvin Harris (1974). Both the
papers and the chapters from Harris will be assigned in class.
The assessment rubric for both of these presentations is as follows:
Class presentations of assigned papers will be graded on the basis of 8 criteria,
worth 10 to 20 points each for a total score out of 100. Each person in the group will
receive the same score – if anyone feels that a team member is either not working or
working too hard please let me know.
The 8 criteria are:
(1) Overall presentation - general overview
20 points
(2) Content of the presentation - accuracy & depth of communication
10 points
(3) Handout - quality of handout given to class as a summary
10 points
BIOS 5445 Human Ecology
Dr. S.B. Malcolm
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(4) Understanding - relative level of appreciation for material
10 points
(5) Clarity of presentation - ability to communicate clearly
10 points
(6) Stimulate questions - ability to generate discussion about paper
10 points
(7) Handle questions - ability to explain material
10 points
(8) Other material - use of other papers, or aids in explanation
20 points
Total
100 points
Discussion participation:
During presentations in the Thursday sessions you will each be assessed on
your level of participation in discussions of the papers presented. This will involve
assessment of the frequency, extent and depth of your contributions to the
discussion. If you find it hard to participate in public discussion it would be helpful to
explain this to me as well as make as much effort as possible to join in. Each
participant in each presentation will be assessed out of 20 points and I will add the
highest 5 grades for a score out of 100. This is subjective so it helps if you make plenty
of constructive noise!
Computer modelling:
For this exercise I would like you to work in pairs to encourage discussion and
interaction. I would like you to use Populus and its “interaction engine” to build a model
of human population growth. In this model I’d like you to try and examine the impact of
different mortality factors and the availability of resources to make predictions about
human population density in the future and the likely quality of life for individuals.
Further details will be given in class.
Exams:
The two exams will consist of essay-style questions and answers.
Academic integrity:
Cheating, fabrication and plagiarism will result in a score of zero for the relevant
activity and will be treated as described under “Student Rights and Responsibilities” at:
http://catalog.wmich.edu/content.php?catoid=20&navoid=778
of
the
current
Undergraduate Catalog.
“You are responsible for making yourself aware of and understanding the policies and
procedures in the Undergraduate and Graduate Catalogs that pertain to Academic
Honesty. These policies include cheating, fabrication, falsification and forgery, multiple
submission, plagiarism, complicity and computer misuse. [The policies can be found at
http://catalog.wmich.edu under Academic Policies, Student Rights and Responsibilities.]
If there is reason to believe you have been involved in academic dishonesty, you will be
referred to the Office of Student Conduct. You will be given the opportunity to review the
BIOS 5445 Human Ecology
Dr. S.B. Malcolm
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charge(s). If you believe you are not responsible, you will have the opportunity for a
hearing. You should consult with your instructor if you are uncertain about an issue of
academic honesty prior to the submission of an assignment or test. In addition, you
should review materials on the following web sites www.wmich.edu/conduct,
www.wmich.edu/registrar and www.wmich.edu/disabilityservices to access the Code of
Honor and general academic policies on such issues as diversity, religious observance,
student disabilities, etc.”
Religious Observances Policy:
“The University is a diverse, multicultural enterprise and, as a community, we jointly
embrace both individual responsibility and dignified respect for our differences. It is our
general policy to permit students to fulfill obligations set aside by their faith.
It is our intent that students who must be absent from scheduled classes to fulfill
religious obligations or observe practices associated with their faith not be
disadvantaged. However, it is the student’s responsibility to make arrangements with his
or her instructors in advance. It is in the student’s best interests to approach each
instructor expeditiously and with sufficient notice that the rights and responsibilities of
the instructor are not disrupted. Instructors should make it known to classes early in the
term what they consider reasonable notice for anticipated absences. Without specifying
a fixed notification time, we acknowledge in this policy joint responsibility: instructors will
inform students of their requirements and students will make every effort to cause no
disruption in the instructors’ plans and duties.
Instructors should assume that a claim of religious observance has veracity, especially
when advance notice is provided by the student. Students likewise must recognize that
it is their responsibility to meet all their course obligations. Instructors are not obligated
to provide materials to students unless these materials would have normally been
distributed to the entire class. For example, if an instructor does not normally post
notes, a student cannot expect notes to be provided for lectures missed.
If instructors choose to incorporate adjustments into the syllabus intended to cover
student absences, it should be explicit that these apply to absences for religious
observances, as well as all other contingencies.”
BIOS 5445 Human Ecology
Dr. S.B. Malcolm
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HUMAN ECOLOGY - BIOS 5445 - COURSE SCHEDULE
Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
1
Date
January 7
January 9
January 14
January 16
January 21
January 23
January 28
January 30
February 4
February 6
February 11
February 13
February 18
February 20
February 25
February 27
March 3-7
March 11
March 13
March 18
March 20
March 25
March 27
April 1
April 3
April 8
April 10
April 15
April 17
April 24
Topic
Introduction to HUMAN ECOLOGY.
“Tragedy of the Commons”
Approaches to human ecology
Presentations & discussion
Distribution and abundance
Presentations & discussion.
Population ecology
Presentations & discussion
The human population
Presentations & discussion
Human niche dimensions
Presentations & discussion
Mortality: malnutrition
Mid-term exam
Mortality: disease
Introduction to modelling
SPRING BREAK
Survivorship: resources
Model building & predictions
Survivorship: energy flow
Model predictions
Survivorship: resource cycling
Modelling discussion
Intraspecific competition & conflict
Marvin Harris – cows, pigs & war
Carrying Capacity
Marvin Harris – males, potlatch & cargo
The abundance – catastrophe debate
Marvin Harris – messiahs & witches
FINAL EXAM 12:30-2:30 p.m.
Reading
lecture
Hardin (1968)
lecture
assigned
lecture
assigned
lecture
assigned
lecture
assigned
lecture
assigned
lecture
none
lecture
none
lecture
none
lecture
none
lecture
none
lecture
1
Harris
lecture
1
Harris
lecture
1
Harris
1106 Wood hall
Harris, M. 1974. Cows, pigs, wars & witches. The riddles of culture. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-72468-0
(pbk).
BIOS 5445 Human Ecology
Dr. S.B. Malcolm
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