Human evolution and how various cultural factors have influenced it over time.

    Discuss human evolution and how various cultural factors have influenced it over time. Also discuss our study of the evolution of phenotypic variation in humans. Consider especially the following questions: How do we explain our differences, including (but not exclusively) the ones we see? What role has disease played in human evolution? How have genes and culture interacted in this process? In your answer, consider the changing relationship between humans and disease over time. How has this relationship unfolded in the longue durée (long term) of history? How have diseases shaped our evolution? What role has culture played in that process? What can we learn about the nature of evolution from disease and human phenotypic variation? What is an epidemiological transition? How have the choices humans have made affected the way diseases interact with our biology? Consider how cultural choices have affected our evolutionary trajectory in terms of mating choices. How significantly have these shaped our evolution? Do these factors continue to affect our evolutionary trajectory? How and why? Be sure to use multiple specific examples of diseases, cultural choices, and the resulting phenotypes reviewed in lecture and from the readings by Laland, Odling-Smee and Myles and Fuentes in your answer.