The Biological Basis of Human Communication

4.0 credits

What makes human communication unique? We will address this question through an ethological lens by examining how our species communicates "in the wild" and considering the evolutionary adaptions (anatomical, neural, and behavioral) we possess to support our communication system. Using this biological grounding, we will also explore similar behaviors in animals with the goal of understanding the features of human communication that are truly unique versus those that have analogies/homologies in other species.