Conflict & Cooperation in Social Groups (C1114)

15 credits, Level 6

Spring teaching

Conflict and cooperation cuts across the whole of biology. You can study it among genes or 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.

This module focuses on:

• factors affecting the balance between conflict and cooperation in human society
• vertebrate societies including primates and cooperative breeders
• mutualism partners
• genes within organisms.

In seminars, research papers are initially presented by faculty and then by students.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 26 hours of contact time and about 124 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2021/22. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.