Diversity

Catalog description

Diversity is everywhere. We see it in the 8+ billion human beings and the 4-7,000 languages they speak. It is present at every scale from the cell types making up complex organisms to the different species present in an ecosystem. It is even present in the opinions people have on diversity itself. Talking about the worldwide loss of biodiversity and languages or about present and past human diversity thus requires clarifying and discussing important concepts. Understanding patterns of genetic diversity within species to unravel their evolutionary history requires a critical analysis of patterns and processes. This has consequences for our understanding of human evolution but also for our understanding of endangered species. During this course we will need a common language to clarify and discuss important concepts (what is diversity, how can it be quantified, how is it represented across scales, but also what is science, is it just a narrative among others, diverse narratives, can the idea of model and consistency be useful to identify scientific from other types of discourses?)