Conflict & Cooperation in Social Groups (C1114)
Conflict & Cooperation in Social Groups
Module C1114
Module details for 2012/13.
15 credits
FHEQ Level 6
Module Outline
Conflict and cooperation cuts across the whole of biology and can be studied among genes or among organisms, in societies of micro-organisms, animals and humans, and also in multi-species mutualisms. It is relevant both in the origin of life and in modern-day organisms and societies. The module focuses on factors affecting the balance between conflict and cooperation in human society, vertebrate societies including primates and cooperative breeders, mutualism partners, and genes within organisms. There are 8 lectures followed by 6 2-hour seminars covering research papers in a single area. In the first of these seminars the research papers are presented by the faculty, and in the others by the students.
Module learning outcomes
Recall, explain and synthesize acquired knowledge about empirical evidence, scientific procedures, theoretical concepts and principles.
Write a summary/synthesis of a scientific paper or pair of papers that would be of interest to scientists, including both specialists and non-specialists, and which follows the format of a News & Views article in Nature magazine, or equivalent.
Give a seminar presentation, including slides, in order to present a particular scientific paper.
Read the primary scientific literature and participate in seminar discussions that critically discuss and compare scientific papers in relation to broader questions in evolutionary biology, behavioural ecology and socio-biology.
| Type | Timing | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Unseen Examination | Semester 2 Assessment | 70.00% |
| Coursework | 30.00% | |
| Coursework components. Weighted as shown below. | ||
| Briefing Paper | T2 Week 9 | 70.00% |
| Presentation | T2 Week 12 (20 minutes) | 30.00% |
Timing
Submission deadlines may vary for different types of assignment/groups of students.
Weighting
Coursework components (if listed) total 100% of the overall coursework weighting value.
| Term | Method | Duration | Week pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Semester | Seminar | 2 hours | 001111111111 |
| Spring Semester | Lecture | 1 hour | 444000000000 |
How to read the week pattern
The numbers indicate the weeks of the term and how many events take place each week.
Prof Francis Ratnieks
Convenor, Assess convenor
/profiles/128567
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