A current version of the syllabus I use for this 16-week course is available here. The current material received it’s last major (content) update in Fall 2023.

The course that follows these materials, as I teach it, is a 16-week advanced undergraduate/introductory graduate course focused on developing core competencies that allow for the critical evaluation of current and future knowledge. Because genetics - especially as related to complex behaviors and experiences - is a constantly developing field, and because you never know what you might need to learn about in the future, I focus skill development on accessing, reading, evaluating, and synthesizing the primary research literature. There are no exams in my course, and the major grade/product is a term paper on any topic of the students’ choosing (along with an accompanying piece of public-oriented science communication). Even in a large lecture course, I am able to manage individual development of highly specialized/selected areas of expertise by following a heavily scaffolded process (developed over a decade of teaching and growing this class) that helps students learn to learn.

Every instructor or textbook author necessarily makes decisions about what content to include, to focus on, to elevate or gloss over, and I am no different. There is no such thing as a neutral presentaion of any topic, much less one that has such profound and personal implications for individuals and society. For this reason, the material is not written as if by a neutral third party - I very intentionally present information from my first-person perspective, as both an expert in the field and as a whole human being.

This course is designed differently than the typical human behavior genetics course. The focus is less on preparing STEM-focused students to be academic or industry researchers (although many of my students certainly go that way) and more on preparing a diverse range of undergrads and graduate students to be consumers, caregivers, and citizens in a world where genetics is increasingly marketed as a way to make critically important decisions, both personally and as a society.

If you are looking for material that takes a more standard approach to an introduction to human behavior genetics, I recommend Scott Stoltenberg’s Foundations of Behavior Genetics textbook and/or Matt McGue’s Introduction to Behavioral Genetics course on Coursera.

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