030622 VO Evolution and Biology of Human Behavior (2020W)

The aim of the course is to demonstrate how our behavior has evolved in the course of human evolution, which genetic and epigenetic basics our behavior has in interaction with the environment. The advances in modern biology are of particular importance to criminal law, as they show that our individual choices / emotions and responses are not independent of our evolution and genetics. Our genome is interacting with the environment and affecting our behavior.
The lecture will focus on the following topics: evolution, cooperation, environment and behavior genetics; Evolution and the emergence of antisocial behavior including violence – the interaction of environment and genetics; as well as the evolutionary and genetic bases of attitudes (for instance politics and religion).
The course also teaches basic methods of evolutionary biology, genetics and molecular biology, with a special focus on “Genome Wide Association Studies” and “Polygenic Risk Scores”, as these methods will grow on importance beyond biology.