Undergraduate course: Study of non-human primate behavior from the perspective of phylogeny, adaptation, physiology and anatomy, and life history. Focus on the five main problems these animals face: finding appropriate food, avoiding being eaten themselves, reproducing in the face of competition, interacting with social partners, and staying alive on a human-dominated planet. Offered at two levels for non-science students and science majors.

Undergraduate course: Critical in-depth evaluation of selected topics, including adaptationism, sociality, sexual competition, communication, kinship, dominance, cognition, and politics. Based on readings from original literature, students learn to appreciate scientific debate.

Graduate course: Broad coverage of the fundamentals and recent developments in the field of primate behavior and ecology.  Topics include feeding ecology, population biology, community ecology, conservation biology and social behavior. Required course for students in the Ph.D. program in Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), and usually co-taught by several NYCEP faculty members.  

Graduate course: How to carry out a research project on animal behavior, from formulating research hypotheses, choosing an analytical design, collecting and analyzing data, to presenting those data formally in both written and oral form.  The course also covers more philosophical issues, such as the scientific method, the dichotomy between field and lab study, and ethical issues that arise in real life. Students undertake individual observational projects on local animal species.

Graduate course: Advanced seminar in primate socioecology with emphasis on detailed, critical readings of recent literature. Topics change year to year.  

Past Topics:
Social Cognition
Three Primate Radiations
New World Primate Ecology and Behavior
Animal Traditions and Culture