Syllabus

Course: Evolutionary Biology 300

Instructor Information: Justin Zweck, Macelwane Hall Room 800. Office hours 1011am Tuesdays or by appointment. Contact jzweck@slu.edu
Course Description:
This course will provide an overview of major topics in evolutionary biology from
Darwin to the present. Students taking this course will likely be upperclassman or
beginning graduate students with pre-requisites in general biology, although
exceptions will be considered by request. This course will provide an opportunity to
both introduce topics in evolutionary biology and subsequently explore them
through reading, discussion, and student presentation. While lecture will often be
featured in class sessions, regular interaction with course material will also be
emphasized; ideally students will feel confident discussing evolutionary biology with
professionals and non-professionals alike upon completing this course. This course
will be advantageous to students pursuing graduate degrees in biology, as well as
any students with curiosity about this interesting and important topic.
Goals
1. This course will introduce the fundamental concepts of evolutionary biology from
Darwin to the present.
2. I hope students will leave my course with an appreciation for the fundamental
role evolution plays in all aspects of biology.
Objectives
1. Students will be able to clearly define key concepts in evolution and give
examples of the experiments used to advance and test these concepts.

2. At the end of the semester each student will be able to develop and create a presentation
expanding on a topic of evolutionary biology previously discussed in class.
Course Materials:
Evolutionary Analysis 5th edition, by John Herron.
Class Policies:
Attendance is expected in all class meetings unless an approved excuse (e.g. medical or family
emergency) is presented. Computers and sound recorders may be used during class. Cell phones

should not be used during class unless they are part of an in class activity. Participation is
expected during in class activities.
Assessments:

1. Formative (non-graded) assessments will take place during each class session, as students
discuss each days topic together and receive feedback from the instructor and their fellow
classmates. At the end of each week a summative (graded) assessment will be given in either the
form of a quiz or a short worksheet in which students match, define, and briefly explain that
weeks topic.
2. Each student will individually write an essay in which they further explore a topic in
evolutionary biology, and produce a power point presentation on the same topic which will be
given at the end of the semester. This project should expand on a topic covered in class, and may
be selected by the student. Students will meet with the instructor twice prior to the actual
presentation and will be provided with feedback on how to improve and fully realize the
presentation (a formative assessment). The presentation itself will be graded based on a rubric
provided to the students at the very beginning of the semester. Ideally, presentations will be
scientifically rigorous, but will be delivered in clear language that a non-evolutionary biologist
could understand.
Proposed Class Schedule:
Week 1: Introduction, What is Evolutionary Biology
Week 2: Natural Selection and Drift
Week 3: Types of Selection: Stabilizing, Disruptive, Directional
Week 4: All Saints Day
Week 5: Adaptation
Week 6: Sexual Selection
Week 7: Phylogenetics
Week 8: Speciation1: Species Concepts and Speciation).
Week 9: Processes Speciation2: Speciation Rates and additional concepts (e.g. Reinforcement,
character displacement

Week 10: Biogeography

Week 11: Thanksgiving
Week 12: Population genetics and Hardy Weinberg
Week 13: Population Processes (bottlenecks, dispersal, vicariance)
Week 14: Genomic consequences of evolutionary processes
Week 15: Pleiotropy, Epistasis
Week 16: Final