Sex, Leadership, and the Evolution of Human Societies

Study of how biological and cultural adaptation shape leadership and, more broadly, political organization. Case studies drawn from primatology, cultural anthropology, and political history, about what makes human leadership unique and investigate why leadership and political organization vary across human and non-human societies. Questions to be considered include: Why do humans adopt leader and follower roles at all? What is the political organization of other social animals, particularly the great apes? Are there any human societies that lack leadership? Are there societies in which, on average, women wield more power than men? Why are some human societies more hierarchical than others? Exposes students to the diversity of political organization in humans and other animals and stimulates them to think critically about the ultimate causes of human social behavior in general.