The Biology of Politics Fall 2013 Monday & Wednesdays, 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Transcription

1 The Biology of Politics Fall 2013 Monday & Wednesdays, 2:00pm - 3:15pm Professor Christopher Dawes Wilf Family Department of Politics 19 West 4th Street, Room cdawes@nyu.edu Course Description Why do we participate in politics? Who tends to participate? Why do individuals have the political attitudes they do? These questions are central to the study of politics. Political scientists have traditionally focused on factors such as demography, socioeconomic status, mobilization, electoral institutions, and social norms to answer these questions. However, scholars have recently begun to explore the possibility that biological di erences may, at least in part, help to explain individual di erences in political attitudes and behavior. This course explores the relationship between biology and political behavior with an emphasis on how the two may be linked. The goal of this course is to provide students with an introduction to the theoretical arguments employed by scholars studying the biological basis of political behavior as well as the findings that have been reported by this nascent literature. Along with theories from political science, we will touch on concepts from genetics, neuroscience, psychophysiology, psychology, and evolutionary theory. The course will also expose students to the methodological techniques employed by researchers doing empirical work in these fields. Finally, we will critically evaluate this research agenda and discuss how it may contribute to the future study of politics. Each topic will begin with an introduction designed to make sure students are familiar with key theoretical and methodological concepts. Following these lectures students will be exposed to research using these concepts and tools to explain political behavior. Prerequisites There are no prerequisites for the course (successful completion of an introductory statistics course would be helpful). The course will be taught from the perspective that students are not familiar with the biological concepts being covered so no advanced knowledge of biology or genetics is required.

2 Readings There are two required text for the course The first is Man is by Nature a Political Animal: Evolution, Biology, and Politics edited by Pete Hatemi and Rose McDermott (Chicago University Press). You can get a copy from the bookstore. The second is Predisposed: Liberals, Conservatives, and the Biology of Political Di erences by John Hibbing, Kevin Smith, and John Alford. The book will be available around September 17th. Additional weekly reading assignments (listed below) will be posted on Classes (or available for download from sources NYU has access to). Online Resources Students may also wish to utilize some of the excellent online genetics tutorials. For example: 23andMe Genetics Tutorials Iwillperiodically linkstoadditionalresourcesIcomeacrossduringthecourseofthe semester. O ce Hours Iwillholdo cehoursmondaysfrom10:00am-12:00pminroom325at19thwest4th Street. If you need to schedule a time to meet outside of the schedule o ce hours, please me (cdawes@nyu.edu). Grades Your grade will be based on a midterm, 3 short discussion papers, class participation, and anon-cumulativefinalexam. Discussion papers: We will engage in three student-led discussions over the course of the semester about topics designed to provoke thought about challenging and sometimes controversial issues. For each of those discussions, you will be asked to write short papers 2pagesinlength(doublespaced). Theshortpaperswillbedueattheendofclassonthe discussion days (see the Course Schedule section). I will provide instructions and readings for the class discussions separately. Class participation: Youwillbegradedbasedonyourparticipationindiscussionof the assigned readings. Late assignments will reduced by 5% per day. Make-up exams will not be available for students who fail to provide advanced notice, nor for students without an acceptable explanation and, if necessary, documentation. Grades will be computed as follows: Midterm 25% 1

3 Class participation 10% Short papers 30% (10% each) Final Exam 35% Course Schedule Please be aware that this list of readings, days of readings, and topics may change slightly. I will announce changes in class giving you su cient advanced warning. TBD means readings will be added for those weeks. Note: ** denotes that the reading is primarily for reference purposes. Do not get hung up on the technical details. Introduction Wednesday 9/4 No reading Monday 9/9 Harder and Krosnick (2008) Why Biology? Wednesday (9/11) Man is by Nature Introduction Fowler and Schreiber (2008) The Anatomy of Politics (also listen to the podcast) This is Your Brain on Politics (On the Media podcast) The Search for the Political Gene The Twin Design Monday (9/16) Lecture on Concepts (No reading) Wednesday (9/18) Twin Study Primer (Psychology Today) Guo (2005) Predisposed Chapter 7 (about twins) 2

4 Monday (9/23) Man is by Nature Chapter 4 ** Hatemi and McDermott (2012) Alford, Funk and Hibbing (2005) Identifying Genes Wednesday (9/25) Lecture on Genetic Concepts Predisposed Chapter 7 (about genes) Hatemi, Byrne and McDermott (2012) ** Monday (9/30) Pearson and Manolio (2008) ** My Genome, My Self Wednesday (10/2) Dawes and Fowler (2009) Hatemi et al. (2011) Monday (10/7) Charney (2008) Chabris et al. (2012) Benjamin et al. (2012) Wednesday (10/9) Class Discussion #1 Monday (10/14) Fall recess (no class) Personality Wednesday (10/16) Predisposed Chapter 3-4 Carney et al. (2008) Gerber et al. (2010) Monday (10/21) Mondak et al. (2010) Alford and Hibbing (2008) 3

5 Wednesday (10/23) Midterm Exam Social Preferences Monday (10/28) Man is by Nature Chapter 6 Blais and St-Vincent (2011) Kam (2012) Cesarini et al. (2009) Gene-Environment Correlation and Interaction Wednesday (10/30) Man is by Nature Chapter 8 Boardman et al. (2008) Monday (11/4) Settle et al. (2010) Why Can Some Kids Handle Pressure While Others Fall Apart? The Social Life of Genes Attention Wednesday (11/6) Predisposed Chapter 5 TBD Neurocognitive Correlates Monday (11/11) Man is by Nature Chapter 10 Jost and Amodio (2012) Wednesday (11/13) Class Discussion #2 Psychophysiology Monday (11/18) Man is by Nature Chapter 7 Predisposed Chapter 6 4

6 Wednesday (11/20) Mutz and Reeves (2005) Gruszczynski et al. (2010) Oxley et al. (2008) Hormones Monday (11/25) Man is by Nature Chapters 8-9 Stanton et al. (2010) Kosfeld et al. (2005) Zak TED Talk Depth of the Kindness Hormone Appears to Know Some Bounds Disgust Sensitivity Wednesday (11/27) Inbar et al. (2012) Smith et al. (2011) Survival s Ick Factor (take the test!) Evolution Monday (12/2) Man is by Nature Chapters 1 Predisposed Chapter 8 Wednesday (12/4) TBD Wrap Up Monday (12/9) Predisposed Chapter 8 Final Exam review Wednesday (12/11) Class Discussion #3 5