WINONA STATE UNIVERSITY
PROPOSAL FOR NEW COURSES
Department _______Biology_________________________________
Date ______August 26, 2011______________
Refer to Regulation 3-4, Policy for Changing the Curriculum, for complete information on submitting proposals for
curricular changes.
____ BIOL 111___
Course No.
____Human Biological Diversity________________
Course Title
This proposal is for a(n)
___x___ Undergraduate Course
Applies to:
______ Major
_____ Required
_____ Elective
______ Minor
_____ Required
_____ Elective
______3_____
Credits
______ Graduate Course
___ University Studies*
_x_ Not for USP
Prerequisites: _None______________________________________________________________________________
Grading method __x___ Grade only
______ P/NC only
______ Grade and P/NC Option
Frequency of offering __yearly_______________________
*For University Studies Program course approval, the form Proposal for University Studies Courses must also be
completed and submitted according to the instructions on that form.
Provide the following information:
A. Course Description
1. Catalogue description
Human Biological Diversity(BIOL 111) explores biological traits of humans (including: race,
gender, aging, obesity, beauty, beliefs, and brain differences) through the eyes of science.
Students compare scientific approaches to other world views through mentor dialogues and
critical reading exercises. Grade only. Offered yearly.
2. Course Outline
I.
Introducing the ideas behind diversity: Science is one way of perceiving our
world.
A. Other perceptions we will encounter: Art and culture
B. Training our perception: Recognizing evidence and encountering the others.
C. Defining the terms we will use the most
-dichotomies and us; assign identities for the human decoupage
II. An overview of the “laws of Nature” and Nurture’s revisions
A. Reading from Ridley’s book followed by discussion
B. The view of science (nature) modified by culture (nurture)
III.
Human in an animal context, what does biology include and
similarity/diversity: Do the curves.
A. Movie: Human Family Tree (journal exercise)
B. introduce statistics: parametric vs. nonparametric information applied to the
concept of race.
C. Is race real? What is the biology and usefulness? Use the statistical methods
D. Medical uses of race if it is real
E. Cultural aspects of race and social class
F. Summarize our thoughts on race and its role in diversity
IV.
Sex vs. gender vs. orientation (which has a biological component).
A. Gender brains-review the brain literature maintaining the biology of gender
differences
B. Biological roles of the sexes/are they based on gametes?
C. Hormones and behavior (via the brain)
V.
Environmental influences: Are they nature or nurture?
VI.
Beauty and symmetry: Is selection at work?
VII.
Is what we see up to us? Bring in the elephant from the Happiness Hypothesis
book.
A. How do we learn/brain wiring
B. How much is subconscious (a reading from Incognito).
VIII. Biology of obesity
A. Obesity and bacteria
B. Genetics of obesity
C. Mouse studies-insight into factors leading to human obesity?
D. Obesity and illness/Erasmus Darwin weighs in
IX.
Age and sex (death and sexual reproduction-where is the choice?)
A. Ageism: Can we rise above it?
B. Cofactors with age
X.
The Art and Science of Evil
XI.
What is happiness and how valuable is it?
A. Is there biological diversity in happiness?
B. Can the level of happiness (in an individual) change?
XII.
Faith and altruism and science
XIII. Bring the Human Decoupages to the class.
3.Instructional Delivery Method
Lecture: Auditorium
ITV
Online
Web Enhanced
Lecture: Classroom x
Service Learning
Travel Study
Laboratory
Other: (Please indicate)
3.b. MnSCU Course media codes: (Please check all that apply).
None:
3. Internet
6. Independent Study
1. Satellite
4. ITV Sending
7. Taped
2. CD Rom
5. Broadcast TV
8. ITV Receiving
Web Supplemented
Internship/Practicum
9. Web Enhanced
10. Web Supplemented
4. Course requirements: On syllabus; journal, human decoupage project, debates and
exams. Means of evaluation: journal criteria below, project is peer reviewed, debate
criteria below and exams graded, returned and discussed.
4a.Example: Journal Criteria for Diversity
You need to make entries for each class showing how you first encounter a subject (from
general topics to specific sub-sections) and how that changes when you listen to other
people in the class.
Consider journal entries as responses to reading and discussion. Readings that we do not
discuss fully may be expanded in your journal and full discussions may call for further
response from you.
Your response should be intellectual and emotional.
Around mid-term your journal should incorporate larger chunks of what you have learned
about diversity:





Males use motion more in their drawings while females use more color (so a male
notebook should look different than a female product)
Males compartmentalize
How does your journal reflect your race or ethnic heritage?
Use what you learn about your brain, beauty, etc to change how you express
yourself in “writing”
Remember that we are seeing reflections of diversity, not determinism
Consider modifying the poster that forms the cover page for the class.
Develop your ideas of nature and nurture and scientific thinking versus social
constructivist thinking. No matter which one dominates your world view, you should
recognize both and be able to see which you are using.
Periodically review the terms introduced the first week and consider modifying definitions
based on new information or emotional changes.
Exercise the diverse areas of your brain: your journal should reflect a verbal, emotional,
kinetic individual.
5. List of Course materials: no text is used and articles are provided on the course
website. Students need a journal and have the books available listed under “Bibliography”
below.
6. Assessment of outcomes:

Assessment will include written and oral feedback related to value sensitive
learning focused on each of the diversity traits (gender, race, obesity, beliefs, age
and ethics)

Journal criteria are available to the students at the course onset and assessment
will address their ability to fulfill the criteria

Sensitivity towards the ways of learning about diversity will be continually
monitored by the class and behavior will be evaluated as response to the feedback

Students will present a human decoupage that will reflect their ability to place the
diversity traits in context and the relative contribution of science and culture
related to each trait

Grade criteria are specified on the syllabus available to students the first day of
class or on the class website
7. Bibliography:
Readings on Biology of Diversity (in Dr. Richardson’s library unless noted*). Numbers refer to the week
of class we will use that reference.
Andreasen, Nancy C. 2005. The Creating Brain: The Neuroscience of Genius. Dana Press.
Barnett, Rosalind and Caryl Rivers. 2004. Same Difference: How Gender Myths are Hurting our
Relationships, our Children, and our Jobs. Basic Books.
Baron-Cohen, Simon. 2003. The Essential Difference: The Truth About the Male and Female Brain. Basic
Books.
Begley, Sharon. 1998. Your child’s brain. Newsweek February 19: 55-62.
Belenky, Mary Field, Blythe McVicker Clinchy, Nancy Rule Goldberger and Jill Mattuck Tarule. 1986.
Women’s Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice, and Mind. Basic Books.
Boyer, Pascal. 2001. Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought. Basic Books.
Clinchy, Blythe. 1989. On critical thinking and connected knowing. Liberal Education 45: 14-19.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. 1996. Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention.
Harper/Collins.
D’Souza, Dinesh. 1992. Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus. Vintage.
Fausto-Sterling, Anne. 1985. Myths of Gender: Biological Theories About Women and Men. Basic Books.
King, Barbara J. 2007. Evolving God. Doubleday.
McElvaine, Robert S. 2001. Eve’s Seed: Biology, the Sexes, and the Course of History. McGraw Hill.
Noble, David F. 1992. A World Without Women: the Christian Clerical Culture of Western Science.
Oxford Press.
Oakley, Barbara. 2008. Evil Genes. Prometheus Books.
Oliver, Jack E. 1991. The Incomplete Guide to the Art of Discovery. Columbia.
Ostow, Mortimer. 2007. Spirit, Mind and Brain. Columbia.
Pope, Stephen J. 2007. Human Evolution and Christian Ethics. Cambridge.
Ridley, Matt. 1993. The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature. Harper Collins.
Root-Bernstein, Robert and Michele. 1999. Sparks of Genius: The Thinking Tools of the World’s Most
Creative People. Henry Holt.
Roughgarden, Joan. 2004. Evolution’s Rainbow: Diversity, Gender and Sexuality in Nature and People.
California University Press.
Rudacille, Deborah. 2005. The Riddle of Gender: Science, Activism and Transgender Rights. Pantheon
Books.
Sax, Leonard. 2005. Why Gender Matters. Doubleday.
Shaver, Phillip and Clyde Hendrick (eds). 1987. Sex and Gender. Sage.
Shlain, Leonard. 2003. Sex, Time and Power. Viking Press.
Tyre, Peg. 2006. The Trouble With Boys. Newsweek (cover story) January 20 pp 44-52.
Wade, Nicholas. 2009. The Faith Instinct. The Penguin Press.
Wilson, E. O. 1984. Biophilia: The Human Bond with Other Species. Harvard University Press.
Wood, Julia. 2001. Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender, and Culture (4th ed.) Wadsworth.
Zuk, Marlene, 2002. Sexual Selections: What We Can and Can’t Learn About Sex From Animals. California
University Press.
B. Rationale
1. This course was born in discussions with Gender Studies and other culture-based
disciplines at WSU. The need to address different ways of gaining knowledge early in the
University Studies curriculum from a scientific perspective became clarified in these
discussions. This class is designed so that students confront domains of knowledge and
are able to identify the bases of information as they continue to encounter it throughout
the remainder of their academic career. We use human traits (race, age, obesity, gender
and belief systems) that have well-studied biological components and equally well-studied
cultural inputs. The human decoupage created from a blending of biology and culture in
each trait is the focus for developing student ideas on the origins of knowledge.
2. Human Biological Diversity is the first University Studies course offered in the Biology
Department that specifically explores the interaction between biological sciences and
related non-science based disciplines (gender studies, the arts, and politics of diversity).
3. The University Studies offerings of the Biology Department that satisfy the Natural
Science area have been historically popular. We do not expect this course to attract more
students to a Biology offering but rather it represents a Natural Science option that
speaks directly to persons not served by the current offerings.
C. Impact
1. This course does not duplicate any other course offered at WSU. It does not
represent a pre-requisite for other courses but is designed to fulfill the Natural Science
requirement in University Studies with a focus on students who would normally be learning
in a cultural perspective.
2. Approval of Human Biological Diversity would not change the total number of credits
required by any major or minor at WSU.
3. This course does not have an impact on any minors or majors offered at WSU, it only
offers an alternative way of fulfilling the Natural Science requirement in University
Studies.
Attach a Financial and Staffing Data Sheet.
Attach an Approval Form with appropriate signatures.
Department Contact Person for this Proposal:
Robin Richardson
Name (please print)
457-5128
Phone
rricharson@winona.edu
e-mail address
[Revised 9-1-10]
WINONA STATE UNIVERSITY
FINANCIAL AND STAFFING DATA SHEET
New Course: BIOL 111 Human Biological Diversity
Include a Financial and Staffing Data Sheet with any proposal for a new course, new program, or revised program.
Please answer the following questions completely. Provide supporting data.
1. Would this course or program be taught with existing staff or with new or additional staff? If this course would be
taught by adjunct faculty, include a rationale.
Human Biological Diversity would be taught with existing faculty .
2.
What impact would approval of this course/program have on current course offerings? Please discuss number of
sections of current offerings, dropping of courses, etc.
Human Biological Diversity would be taught instead of sections of current University
Studies courses with declining enrollment such as Biology 104 or Biology 118.
3.
What effect would approval of this course/program have on the department supplies? Include data to support
expenditures for staffing, equipment, supplies, instructional resources, etc.
Human Biological Diversity would have no effect of department staffing, equipment,
supplies, etc.