Do we really need evolution in our psychology classes? A letter exchange between two colleagues in search of understanding

Abstract

Within many academic communities, the large-scale emergence of the evolutionary perspective in psychology in the past few decades has been a cause of wide-scale, intensive, and often critical debate. The SUNY New Paltz Psychology Department, our home department, has been a particularly active home of such interactions. This article is an exchange of letters between two members of this department on this issue. Phyllis Freeman is a physiologically trained comparative psychologist who has been teaching psychology since the mid-1970s. Professor Freeman's focus always has been on how best to teach and achieve high-level student development. Professor Geher has been with the department since 2000, and developed the department's undergraduate course in evolutionary psychology (PSY-307) in 2003, the course that served as the catalyst for this and other discussions among the faculty over the past decade. The letter exchange presented here provides a snapshot of the kind of dialogue that has transpired in our department on this topicwith the hope of providing others a glimpse into the kinds of dynamics that surround evolutionary psychology at a local, departmental level.