Course Info: CS-0216
| Course | CS-0216 Animal Behavior I |
| Long Title | Animal Behavior I: Evolution and Function of Behavior -- Theory and Fieldwork |
| Term | 2016F |
| Note(s) |
Satisfies Distribution Textbook information |
| Meeting Info | Franklin Patterson Hall ELH on F from 9:00-11:50 |
| Faculty | Sarah PartanüMark Feinstein |
| Capacity | 40 |
| Available | 1 |
| Waitlist | 0 |
| Distribution(s) |
Mind, Brain, and Information Physical and Biological Sciences |
| Cumulative Skill(s) | Writing and Research Quantitative Skills |
| Additional Info | In this course, students are expected to spend at least six to eight hours a week of preparation and work outside of class time. This time includes reading, writing, research. |
| Description | This is the first of a two-course sequence exploring the main theoretical ideas and methods of ethology, the scientific study of animal behavior. In this first semester we explored the functional and evolutionary bases of animal behavior and cognition, including social behavior, communication, and anti-predator behavior. Students also learned and put into practice some of the methods ethologists use to observe, record and measure behavior, by designing and conducting group research projects on either wild animals or those at the Hampshire College farm. The main reading and discussion material for the course was drawn from the first half of John Alcock's textbook, Animal Behavior, supplemented by journal articles from the professional scientific literature. Written questions on the readings were required, along with multiple drafts and a full-length final term paper on a species and research topic of the student's choosing, in collaboration with their research team. The final project, with slides, was presented to the whole class in a spoken symposium. Subsequent enrollment in the second semester of the sequence was encouraged but not required. |