University of Cambridge, Pembroke College

This course examines how animal behavior is shaped by evolution. Students consider a wide variety of the problems that animals have to face, including how to find sufficient food, how to avoid predation and how to choose a mate. Using examples from across the animal kingdom, students attempt to explain many of the key puzzles of life. For example, how do parents decide how much food to give to each offspring, and how much to save for themselves? Why might animals forego reproduction and instead help to raise the offspring of others? How do animals communicate, and what determines the form of the signals they use? Evolutionary theory allows us to make and test predictions about these and other questions. By comparing the behavior of different species, and using controlled field and laboratory experiments, students are able to find solutions to many problems raised by the study of animal behavior.

A research project that assigns students to expert professors in their proposed research topic. The course takes the students' research capabilities to a more professional level. This can be most closely compared to what is called a supervised research project in the USA.

This course enables students from any subject major to explore gender and sexuality from a critical angle. By looking at the most popular debates from across the world, students examine how cultural makings of body, gender, femininity, masculinity, and sexuality have historically shaped and been shaped by wider social forces. The course visits foundational concepts and theories (feminist and queer theory) in gender studies which draw for example on philosophy, anthropology, sociology, and history. The lectures provide examples from across the globe, to enable students to question their very own norms, in the way people often fail to notice they exist. In seminars, students discuss their chosen examples from popular culture and facilitate discussion of current controversies around gender vis-à-vis the themes and theories covered in the lectures.

A research project that assigns students to expert professors in their proposed research topic. The course takes the students' research capabilities to a more professional level. This can be most closely compared to what is called a supervised research project in the USA.