Evolutionary Psychology and Art

Introduction

Introduction

  • Although we enjoy watching movies, reading novels, and listening to music, we might think that these are not very productive ways to spend our time. Yet every society throughout history has devoted significant resources to creating and enjoying art. Why is this the case? Some scholars have proposed that there is an evolved, biological "human nature" that can help explain why people are psychologically inclined to create and consume art, particularly art that tells stories. Just as songbirds have evolved the ability to create complex melodies, the argument goes, humans have evolved an ability to create and enjoy complex images, music, and stories. We will address questions such as: why does every human culture have art? Why do we enjoy hearing made up stories about people who don’t exist? Why do beautiful models date ugly rock stars? And why do we like watching good guys beat bad guys?
  • Like all Thinking With Writing modules, "Evolutionary Psychology and Art" is fundamentally a course in effective academic writing. This particular section will teach students to write effective arguments by discussing and evaluating theories that use evolutionary psychology to understand art and its effects on audiences. In doing so, students will also learn general concepts about critical thinking, humanist and scientific methods, evidence, and the nature of proof that can be applied to nearly any academic area. No prior knowledge of biology, art, or any other topic is necessary to succeed in the course.
  • The module is divided into four units. The first unit introduces the biological theory of evolution by natural selection, which explains the rich variety of life on our planet. The second unit discusses the controversial idea of evolutionary psychology, which aims to use evolution to explain aspects of modern human behavior and culture. The third unit discusses arguments that use evolution to explain why all human cultures have art at all, rather than simply putting their energy into other types of projects. The fourth unit discusses arguments that use evolution to explain why art tends to have certain features, even cross-culturally, and why audiences respond to artworks as they do.

Assessment

Assessment

  • Class participation (15%): This grade is based on how seriously I think a student is engaged with the class. I expect students to attend all class meetings, complete all assigned readings, regularly contribute to discussion, provide peer review for classmates, and meet with me for individual conferences.
  • Response papers (15%): Students are assigned 6-8 short (300 word), informal, low-stakes response papers throughout the semester. They will respond to a prompt designed to help them practice a relevant writing skill, such as summarizing content, identifying arguments, or determining a writer’s motive. The papers are graded on a credit/no credit system. No response papers are due on weeks when assignments are due related to papers 1 or 2.
  • Paper 1 (30%) and Paper 2 (40%): Paper 1 asks students to respond to an argument from the assigned readings; Paper 2 asks students to develop and answer an original research question. Both papers will have students submit proposals, outlines, and/or drafts for instructor and peer feedback to make sure students have enough guidance to produce successful work. Explicit guidance and grading criteria will be provided in class and on the course Canvas website.

Readings

Readings will be selections from sources such as the following. Specific reading assignments will be online on Canvas. Readings will be supplied to students.

  • Anderson, Joseph, and Barbara Fisher Anderson, eds. Narration and Spectatorship in Moving Images. Newcastle, England: Cambridge Scholars, 2007.
  • Badcock, Christopher. Evolutionary Psychology: A Critical Introduction. Cambridge, England: Polity, 2000
  • Boyd, Brian. On the Origin of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009.
  • Buss, David M. Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind. 6th ed. New York: Routledge, 2019.
  • Carroll, Joseph. Literary Darwinism: Evolution, Human Nature, and Literature. London, England: Routledge, 2004.
  • Dunbar, Robin, Louise Barrett, and John Lycett. Evolutionary Psychology: A Beginner’s Guide. Oxford, England: Oneworld, 2005.
  • Evans, Dylan, and Howard Selina. Introducing Evolution. London, England: Icon Books, 2015.
  • Evans, Dylan, and Oscar Zarate. Introducing Evolutionary Psychology. Cambridge, England: Icon Books, 1999.
  • Goldfinch, Andrew. Rethinking Evolutionary Psychology. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
  • Grodal, Torben. Embodied Visions: Evolution, Emotion, Culture, and Film. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2009.
  • Hogan, Patrick Colm. Cognitive Science, Literature, and the Arts: A Guide for Humanists. New York, NY: Routledge, 2003.
  • Martindale, Colin, Paul Locher, and Vladimir M. Petrov, eds. Evolutionary and Neurocognitive Approaches to Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Foundations and Frontiers in Aesthetics. Amityville, NY: Baywood, 2007.
  • Pinker, Steven. How the Mind Works. London, England: Penguin Books, 1999.

Books on writing (strongly recommended)

  • Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. “They Say / I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 3rd ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014.
  • Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, Joseph Bizup, and William T. FitzGerald. The Craft of Research. 4th ed. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2016.
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