There is perhaps a no more basic set of questions than, What does it mean to be human? What is human nature? Where did human nature come from and how did it arise? Such questions have been addressed since the beginning of civilization from a religious and philosophical perspective. It has only been in the last 50-100 years that a biological, and more specifically evolutionary, perspective has seriously attempted to answer these questions. This course will introduce the student to this perspective – first by introducing the basic concepts of animal behavior, evolution and natural selection needed for comprehension and analysis, then by applying these concepts to animal behavior and, finally by a biological examination of human behavior.