Fall . . .
In the Fall, I organize the graduate level Topics in Evolution course (EBIO 561), which was historically a journal club style course. Each year, the course is different. Some years we focus on a specific topic and read papers from the peer-reviewed scientific literature. In other years, we read a book on a given topic.
Fall 2015 – Topic: Speciation (Text: Speciation by Coyne and Orr)
Fall 2016 – Topic: The evolution of ecological specialization (peer-reviewed literature)
Fall 2017 – Topic: Eco-evolutionary Dynamics (Text: Eco-evolutionary Dynamics by Hendry)
Fall 2018 – Topic: The evolution of ecological specialization (peer-reviewed literature)
Fall 2018 – Topic: The evolution of ecological specialization (peer-reviewed literature)
I also contribute to the EEB Core Course (EBIO 569) for our incoming graduate students, where I teach individual classes on population genetics, speciation, co-evolution and professional development.
Spring . . .
In the Spring, I teach Evolution (EBIO 334/BIOC 334). This a a broad lecture-based course that is mainly geared towards undergraduates, although beginning graduates students in our M.S., PhD and PSM programs also participate.
The class is taught with the spirit of Dobzhansky’s famous statement about the importance of evolution: “Nothing in biology makes sense, except in the light of evolution“. As such, I teach a course that covers the most important foundations of evolutionary science, but also with an eye to our current world and the applications of evolutionary thinking to many different topics in agriculture and medicine.
This class is of broad interest to Rice students, including undergraduates from 31 different majors (so far):
Anthropology
Asian Studies
Astrophysics
Art History
Biological Sciences
Biochemistry & Cell Biology
Chemistry
Cognitive Sciences
Computer Science
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Economics
English
Environmental Science
French Studies
History
Kinesiology
Latin American Studies
Linguistics
Mathematics
Mathematical Economic Analysis
Managerial Studies
Philosophy
Political Studies
Policy Studies
Psychology
Sociology
Social Policy Analysis
Spanish & Portuguese
Statistics
Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality
Visual and Dramatic Arts