Core Requirements
Students are required to complete the following courses:
Required Courses
- Introduction to Culture, Society & Biology
- Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
- Human Cognitive Evolution
- Arts and Sciences Seminar
Independent Study
Students must take an independent study course under the mentorship of their advisor:
Biology, Behavior and Society Minor Portfolio
For more information, view the course catalogue for current program requirements, course numbers and credit hours
Anthropology, biology, economics, history, psychology and sociology each include a disciplinary focus on the origins and current consequences of individual and group behavior and social outcomes. However, among disciplines — and even within disciplines — there is disagreement about the relative importance of genes, natural environment, individual rational choice and sociocultural construction on individual and group behavior, cultures and social institutions.
Historical views have ranged from strong biopsychological determinism, to environmental determinism and individual rational choice, to strong sociocultural determinism. Views on the origins and current functions of behavior, culture and society can and often do affect social policy; extreme views have provided the intellectual rationale for eugenics, racism, sexism, imperialism, laissez-faire capitalism, and collectivization and cultural revolution. On a positive note, interdisciplinary progress in understanding the origins and functions of human behavior, cultures and societies has contributed to progressive reforms in the areas of mental health, public health, laws and criminal justice, education, intercultural understanding, and programs to provide economic and social opportunity for the underprivileged.
Views on questions of human nature have tended to become polarized between the biological (biology, evolutionary psychology, biological anthropology) and the social science (social psychology, cultural anthropology, history, sociology) poles. This dialectical relationship between the social and biological sciences, and the corresponding dialogue between both, forces both sides in this rich debate to refine their positions and exposes students to a deeper understanding of the foundations of the respective disciplines and their impact on the world.
Core Electives
Students are required to complete one course from each of the following:
Category 1
- Understanding the Americas
- Global Perspectives on Sexuality
- Introduction to Race and Ethnicity
- Environment, Technology and Society
- Sex and Commerce
- Men and Masculinities
- Medicine and Society in America
- Modern Sex
- History of Women in America
- History of Gender and Sex
- History of the American Family
- War and Gender
- History of Nazi Germany
- History of the Holocaust
- Health, Wealth, Inequality and the Environment
- International Development and Social Change
- Food and Society
- Introduction to Gender
Category 2
- Current Readings in Animal Behavior
- Animal Learning and Cognition
- Neurobiology
- Evolution
- Game Theory and Economic Strategy
- Neuroscience and Society
- Organizational Behavior 1
- Social Psychology
- Human Sexuality
- Personal Relationships
- Learning and Memory
- Advanced Topics in Social Psychology
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Health Psychology
