Developing Undergraduate and Graduate Research Traineeship Programs

1. Developing Undergraduate and Graduate Research Traineeship Programs David Sloan Wilson Professor, Departments of Biology and Anthropology Director of EvoS Binghamton University

2. Integrated Graduate Education and Research Training “The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education, for students, faculty, and institutions…in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.”

3. What they are looking for… • Catalyze cultural change • Transcend traditional boundaries • Teach breadth in addition to depth • Diversity of student participation • Preparation for nonacademic in addition to academic careers • Facilitate change in faculty research and teaching activities • Promote collaborative efforts

4. A two-stage competition • Pre-proposals submitted in spring (551) • Subset invited to submit full proposals in fall (120) • 38 expected to be funded • 38/551=.068 :( • Max 3.2 million dollars over 5 year period :)

5. Recent successful IGERT grants • Arizona State University: Urban Ecology • Carnagie Mellon University: Computational analysis of social and organizational systems • Columbia University: Globalization and International Development • SUNY Buffalo: Biophotonics materials and applications • UC Davis: Biological invasions • UC Santa Barbara: Advanced optical materials

6. EvoSUsing evolutionary theory to change the culture of education and research at a campus-wide scale • Survived the first stage of competition; second stage pending… • How the spirit of the IGERT and other training grant programs can be implemented at most colleges and universities with existing assets and resources. • It is essential to have already accomplished something to compete for external funding.

7. Darwin was already practicing what IGERT and other programs are trying to implement in the future. • All taxa (orchids…barnacles) • All topics within biology (development…biogeography) • Humans in addition to the rest of life (emotions…morality)

8. How did he do it? Perhaps Darwin was a great man Perhaps there was less knowledge back then, which made it possible to be a generalist Perhaps there is something about the theory--even in its rudimentary form-- that makes such extreme integration possible.

9. It is possible for the average student (or faculty) to learn to think like Darwin • The basic principles of evolution can be taught within a single semester. • Can be applied to all subjects relevant to the natural world and human affairs. • Depth and breadth can be achieved in subsequent courses. • Can transcend the specialization of knowledge, creating a single intellectual community.

10. Impossible? Battle on Teaching Evolution Sharpens Peter Slevin, Washington Post Staff Writer March 14, 2005 WICHITA – Propelled by a polished strategy crafted by activists on America's political right, a battle is intensifying across the nation over how students are taught about the origins of life. Policymakers in 19 states are weighing proposals that question the science of evolution…

11. A success story • “Evolution for Everyone” • Anthropology, Art, Biology, Business, Chemistry, Cinema, Computer Science, Creative Writing, Economics, Education, Engineering, English, History, Human Development, Linguistics, Management, Mathematics, Nursing, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Women’s Studies. • First half : Basic principles • Second half: Diversity of applications

12. “This course provides evidence that evolution is evident in everything; it revolutionized my way of viewing problems...”

13. “I came into the class not knowing a lot about evolution. I now have an entirely new outlook on how evolution can be applied to many aspects of life.”

14. “I had taken evolution classes from high school and never felt it was interesting. But this class changed all my views upside down. The most boring theories became interesting thoughts, that I could relate to my own day to day life.

15. Quantitative assessment shows that the class succeeds across the spectrum of religious belief, political belief, and prior knowledge of evolution. “How much has this class changed your views on evolution in relation to human affairs?

16. How it works so well • The main impediment to learning evolution concerns issues such as threat and relevance, not factual matters. • Evolution can be taught in a way that is unthreatening, explanatory, and useful.

17. Unthreatening, Explanatory, Useful • Any theory with these properties is psychologically alluring. • The challenge of learning such a theory is reduced to the intrinsic difficulty of the subject • Evolutionary theory is not intrinsically difficult to learn!

18. The same basic principles that got Darwin started… • Adaptation and Natural Selection • Adaptations: be careful what you wish for • Not everything is adaptive • Science for Everyone • There is more to evolution than genetic evolution • These “building blocks” can be taught in half a semester

19. By the end of the semester, students are using evolutionary theory to transcend disciplines, just like Darwin • Adoption, alcoholism, attractiveness, body piercing, depression, eating disorders, fashion, fear, hand dominance, homosexuality, laughter, marriage, play, sexual jealousy, sibling rivalry, social roles, suicide, video games, yawning… (sample of poster projects chosen by students)

20. From a single course to a multi-course program

21. How a campus-wide program can be assembled largely from existing parts • Certificate program that can be taken in parallel with any existing major or graduate research concentration. • Menu of courses, many already being taught. • Individually tailored curriculum to accomplish both depth and breadth.

22. Faculty participation • Most campuses have a core of faculty who have become engaged in evolutionary studies… • …and additional faculty interested to learn. • Interdisciplinarity is always a 2-way street; Every faculty is a teacher and a student, cultivating mutual respect. • EvoS currently includes over 50 faculty from 15 departments, from molecular biology to the humanities. • Professional-level competence and new collaborations can be quickly achieved.

23. EvoS seminar series • Individual differences in taste perception (Linda Bartoshuk) • Vocal mimicry in wild populations of parrots (Jack Bradbury) • Archeology as a fossil record of human cultural evolution (John Hart) • Evolutionary models in computer science (Hiroki Sayama)

24. EvoS seminar series (cont.) 5) The social psychology of happiness (Timothy Wilson) 6) Ecosystem Genetics (Thomas Whitham) 7) Evolution and Morality (Allan Gibbard) 8) Integrating evolutionary and molecular biology in the study of Lyme disease (Daniel Dykhuizen) 9) Evolution, folk tales, and the world of Homer (Jonathan Gottschall)

25. A single intellectual community • Attended by a single audience of undergraduates, graduates, and faculty who have learned to speak the common language of evolution. • Cutting-edge research and scholarship; not “watered down”. • Co-hosted with relevant department and open to entire campus and surrounding community. • Audience size typically >100 • Followed by dinner and continuing discussion attended by >30 students who have read papers and written commentaries in preparation.

26. What it means to “think like Darwin” • Adoption, alcoholism, attractiveness, body piercing, depression, eating disorders, fashion, fear, hand dominance, homosexuality, laughter, marriage, play, sexual jealousy, sibling rivalry, social roles, suicide, video games, yawning… (sample of poster projects chosen by students)

27. Matt Gervais • Wrote his term paper on Laughter. • Joined EvoS • Individually tailored curriculum . • Awarded Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship

28. “Laughter and humor: An interdisciplinary perspective on their evolution and function” • Major review article, accepted by the premier journal Quarterly Review of Biology • “This is an extraordinary synthesis of multiple literatures..I especially appreciated the new predictions that this theoretical account motivates…I suspect that these will render the paper highly influential for years to come.” (reviewer’s comment)

29. Conclusions 1) Evolutionary theory is especially well suited to serve as a common language for all topics relevant to the natural world and human affairs. 2) The potential that Darwin immediately put into practice is still in the process of being realized, at different rates in different disciplines, making it possible for even an undergraduate student to achieve foundational insights.

30. Conclusions 3) EvoS was created largely from “existing parts” at a very modest cost provided intramurally. 4) Highly sustaining intellectually at all levels, from undergraduates to faculty. 5) Transcends the specialization of knowledge, converging upon the ideal of a liberal arts education.

31. A platform for external funding in a research climate that increasingly requires integration • Catalyze cultural change • Transcend traditional boundaries • Teach breadth in addition to depth • Diversity of student participation • Preparation for nonacademic in addition to academic careers • Facilitate change in faculty research and teaching activities • Promote collaborative efforts

32. http://bingweb.binghamton.edu/~evos/