Teaching

I teach a range of courses on primate behavior, methods for studying animal behavior, community-based approaches to environmental issues, the philosophy and psychology of friends and enemies, and more. I prioritize student-centered design, real-world skills, scientific methods, and community engagement. 

UGS 302: Origins of Friend and Foe

Semester: Fall

Offered: 2024

In this course students learn about two main types of relationships: friends and enemies. Students discuss the meaning and function of these relationships, and do so through the lens of primates. There will be a focus on wild chimpanzees, specifically those at Ngogo (pronounced “in-go-go”) where Dr. Sandel studies them. Course material includes scientific articles, scholarly essays, movies, and my own reports from the field where the Ngogo chimpanzee community split into two groups. Students will work alongside me as I try to understand this phenomenon. In addition to primatology, we will draw from multiple disciplines including psychology, history, and philosophy.

ANT 348K: Primate Conservation

Semester: Fall

Offered: 2024

This course will introduce you to the major issues in primate conservation. What are primates and why do they matter? What value do primates have, and what are the philosophical foundations and futures of environmental conservation? What are the threats facing primates and the ecosystems in which they live? What are the strategies to combat those threats, and how can you as a student at UT Austin make a difference? We will be focusing on case studies in western Uganda, where I conduct my field research on chimpanzees. We will also focus on community-based methods to address socio-environmental issues in Austin, TX.

ANT 392J: Into to Graduate Bio Anthropology, Part 2: Behavioral Ecology, Genetics, and Biological Variation

Semester: Spring

Offered: 2025

In this course, we will be reading key articles that touch on important theory and data in the fields of primate behavior and evolution. The goal is to synthesize this material so that you can begin to build a theoretical framework of your own. How do you make sense of all the variation displayed by primates, including humans? Which theories in our field are/are not useful?

ANT 301 Wb

Semester: Fall

Offered: 2023

This course is an introduction to biological anthropology, the study of human beings from a biological perspective. It is a field that seeks to explain our relationship to other primates and to the rest of the natural world. In other words: Who are we? How are we unique? How, why, and when did we come to be the way that we are? The study of biological anthropology requires many different types of knowledge. Throughout the course, we will examine anatomical, behavioral, and genetic similarities and differences among the living primates, learn the basic mechanisms of evolution, and trace the path of human evolution as reconstructed from the fossil record. The main goal of the course is to obtain a clear understanding of our place in nature.

EEB UN1011: Behavioral Biology of the Living Primates (Columbia University)

Semester: Spring

Offered: 2024

Are you interested in understanding yourself and the world in which you live? One useful approach is to study primates, including lemurs, monkeys, and apes. Humans are primates, and many of our traits, such as big brains and opposable thumbs and being sociable, are shared with other primates. In this course, you will learn the basics of primate behavior from an evolutionary perspective. How and why do primates form groups? What do different species eat and how do they find food? Why do primates take so long to grow up, and why do they grow old? Why are so many primate species at risk of going extinct, and what can we do to help? This course provides a foundation in primatology, which draws on ecology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, and psychology.

ANT 310C: Primate Cognition

Semester: Spring

Offered: 2021

A key aspect of being human is our intellect. We innovate technology, communicate with language, and solve problems flexibly. We empathize and deceive. We imagine. In many respects, what makes us human is not that we walk upright, or that we are hairless—it's our cognition. This course will take a comparative approach to understand human psychology by looking at the cognitive abilities of animals with a focus on primates. The course will present experiments and observational studies that examine social learning, self control, tool use, communication, cooperation, and how primates theorize about their worlds, including the minds of others. Each week we will discuss a topic in primate cognition. We will combine traditional lectures with podcasts, discussions, and activities. For example, Dr. Sandel will interview the authors of many of the research articles that we discuss. Some of these scientists will join our class via video conferencing to enable students to ask their own questions. Students will also have assignments to implement cognitive experiments with their friends, pets (if applicable), maybe pigs, and squirrels!