<


Sex and Culture Anthropology 210

Professor Charles Brown

Course Description:

Anthropology 210, Sex and Culture, will examine the essential role of sexual reproduction and gender in human evolution, society and culture; in kinship and marriage.

Contrary to previous iterations of this class, sexuality will not be the primary topic, though it will be addressed.

Goals: To understand the origin and evolution of Life on Earth

To understand the origin and evolution of sexual reproduction

To understand the Modern Evolutionary synthesis


To understand reproduction as the primary determinant of Darwinian Natural Selective Fitness, contrary to the popular conception of fitness as primarily determined by longevity of life span.

To understand the perfection (for Darwinian evolutionary law ) of the definition of same species for sexually reproducing species as female and male mating to produce _fertile_ offspring.

To understand the physiology and ontogeny of sex

To understand genetically based instincts To understand why heterosexual instinct is probably selected for <


To understand reproduction as the primary determinant of Darwinian Natural Selective Fitness, contrary to the popular conception of fitness as primarily determined by longevity of life span. <


To understand the physiology and ontogeny of sex <


To understand genetically based instincts

To understand why heterosexual instinct is probably selected for <


To understand the concepts of symbolic communication - language and culture - as unique to the human species

To understand the distinction and relation between the concepts of sex and gender

To understand the Stone Age and original culture and language


To understand the essential role of regulation of sexual intercourse in the origin and evolutionary success of human society

To understand Antoinette Blackwell's critique of Darwin and Spencer's hypotheses on human evolution <


To understand the history of gender relations and sexual relations in Western Civilization

To understand the impact of male supremacy on sexual relations; women's liberationist critiques of gender relations and sexual relations

To understand the impact of historical economic class struggles on gender relations and sexual relations<