Darwin's Roadmap to the Curriculum
This book integrates the vast literature in the interdisciplinary field of Evolutionary Studies (EvoS), providing clear examples of how evolutionary concepts relate to all facets of life. It provides chapters dedicated to the processes associated with an EvoS education, including examples of how an interdisciplinary approach to evolutionary theory has been implemented successfully at various colleges and universities and in degree programs. Chapters outline a variety of applications to an evolution education, including improved sustainable development, medical practices, and creative and critical thinking skills. Finally, this book explores controversies surrounding evolution education and provides a roadmap to help shape a positive future for this approach to asking and answering questions. Although Darwin’s theories have famously changed the foundational ideas related to the origins of life, shaping entire disciplines in the biological sciences, across the globe today people are famously misinformed and uneducated about Darwinian principles and ideas. Applications of evolutionary theory outside the traditional areas of biology have been slow to progress. Further, scholars doing such work regularly experience political backlash. But there is hope. A slow but study push to advance the teaching of evolution across academic disciplines has been under way for more than a decade, with the editors of this book sitting at the forefront of this trend. This book is designed to provide a model for ways to ask Darwinian questions across all areas of intellectual inquiry.