This course takes a scientific and evolutionary lens to cultural phenomena.We consider the origins of culture in non-humans and humans, and how tendencies to imitate, conform, teach, and uphold social norms via punishment and reward shape behavioral variation.
4
UnitsOptional
Grading1, 2, 3
PasstimeUpper division only
Level LimitLetters and science
CollegeProfessor Lawson is one of the most charismatic professors I have had at UCSB. His lectures are concise and very entertaining. The class is about 8 assignments and he drops the lowest score. The midterm was easy and the final is worth 30% of your grade which is a group project comprised of a presentation and policy brief.
Professor Lawson is good at giving lectures, fairly funny but for people who struggle to understand the material, or try to ask for help in any way, good luck because you're better off figuring things out for yourself. He'll most likely tell you to talk to the TA or vaguely suggest to just try harder if you're not doing well on quiz's and tests.
Professor Lawson was so awesome! His lectures are super interesting, and class discussions were open ended and fun. Homework assignments were pretty straight forward and he drops one. 2 group projects, but graded fairly. The final was fair amount of work but a super interesting topic and format for a group project. Not an easy A but worth taking.
Dr. Lawson put in a good effort to keep classes interesting with his humor. All exams were open book and so were the weekly quizzes and there were not any trick questions; it was a pretty straightforward class. Graded by 2 essays, weekly quizzes, attendance, a midterm, and a final. It's an interesting class if you're in the bio anthropology major.
Prof Lawson + TA Kilgallen were an amazing duo for this honors seminar! The assignments and readings were interesting and relevant to the course. He encouraged class discussion on important topics and provided good lectures on his personal experiences with research. The group project was fun and manageable. I would definitely recommend this seminar
He is a really knowledgeable person and will show you the work he has done in Africa regarding health studies which was really interesting. He is pretty funny and his lectures were interesting. He does grade a little more harsh than I expected but he is a decent professor.