In this groundbreaking text, Youdell and Lindley bring together cutting-edge research from the fields of biology and social science to explore the complex interactions between the diverse processes which impact on education and learning. Transforming the way we think about our students, our classrooms, teaching and learning, Biosocial Education draws on advances in genetics and metabolomics, epigenetics, biochemistry and neuroscience, to illustrate how new understandings of how bodies function can and must inform educational theory, policy and everyday pedagogical practices. Offering detailed insight into new findings in these areas and providing a compelling account of both the implications and limits of this new-found knowledge, the text confronts the mechanisms of interaction between multiple biological and social factors, and explores how educators might mobilize these ‘biosocial’ influences to enhance learning and enable each child to attain educational success. By seeking out transdisciplinary and multi-factor answers to the question of how education works and how children learn, this book lays the foundations for a step-change in the way we approach learning. It is an essential read for researchers, teachers and practitioners involved in educational policy and practice at any level.

Understanding human behavior is essential if medical students and doctors are to provide more effective health care. While 40 percent of premature deaths in the United States can be attributed to such dangerous behaviors as smoking, overeating, inactivity, and drug or alcohol use, medical education has generally failed to address how these behaviors are influenced by social forces. This new textbook from Dr. Donald A. Barr was designed in response to the growing recognition that physicians need to understand the biosocial sciences behind human behavior in order to be effective practitioners. Introduction to Biosocial Medicine explains the determinants of human behavior and the overwhelming impact of behavior on health. Drawing on both recent and historical research, the book combines the study of the biology of humans with the social and psychological aspects of human behavior. Dr. Barr, a sociologist as well as physician, illustrates how the biology of neurons, the intricacies of the human mind, and the power of broad social forces all influence individual perceptions and responses. Addressing the enormous potential of interventions from medical and public health professionals to alter these patterns of human behavior over time, Introduction to Biosocial Medicine brings necessary depth and perspective to medical training and education.

All human life unfolds within a matrix of relations, which are at once social and biological. Yet the study of humanity has long been divided between often incompatible 'social' and 'biological' approaches. Reaching beyond the dualisms of nature and society and of biology and culture, this volume proposes a unique and integrated view of anthropology and the life sciences. Featuring contributions from leading anthropologists, it explores human life as a process of 'becoming' rather than 'being', and demonstrates that humanity is neither given in the nature of our species nor acquired through culture but forged in the process of life itself. Combining wide-ranging theoretical argument with in-depth discussion of material from recent or ongoing field research, the chapters demonstrate how contemporary anthropology can move forward in tandem with groundbreaking discoveries in the biological sciences.

Biocapitalism, an economic model built on making new commodities from existing forms of life, has fundamentally changed how we understand the boundaries between nature/culture and human/nonhuman. This is the first book to examine its implications for education and how human capital understandings of education are co-evolving with biocapitalism.

In Our Biosocial Brains, Michele Lewis underscores culture, brain, behavior, and social problems to advocate for a more inclusive cultural neuroscience. Traditional neuroscientists to date have not prioritized studying the impact of power, bias, and injustice on neural processing and the brain’s perception of marginalized humans. Lewis explains current events, historical events, and scientific studies, in Our Biosocial Brains. Readers will be drawn to the relevancy of brain science to examples of injustices and social bias. Lewis also argues that incorporating non-western African-Centered Psychology is vital to diversifying research questions and diversifying interpretations of existing brain science, because African-Centered Psychology is not rooted in racist, classist, and exclusionary hegemonic methods. Lewis argues for attention to marginalized populations, regarding the impact of violence, disrespect, othering, slurs, environmental injustice, health, and general disregard on humans’ brains and behavior. Using hundreds of peer-reviewed studies and original research, the author presents scientific studies that are integrated with sociocultural explanations to foster wider understanding of how our sociocultural world shapes our brains, and how our brains’ responses influence how humans perceive and treat one another.

The Nurture Versus Biosocial Debate in Criminology: On the Origins of Criminal Behavior and Criminality takes a contemporary approach to address the sociological and the biological positions of human behavior by allowing preeminent scholars in criminology to speak to the effects of each on a range of topics. Kevin M. Beaver, J.C. Barnes, and Brian B. Boutwell aim to facilitate an open and honest debate between the more traditional criminologists who focus primarily on environmental factors and contemporary biosocial criminologists who examine the interplay between biology/genetics and environmental factors.

Design education and practice are inherently social from process to implementation. This book explores the transformation in design education, as educators prepare their students to address complex social design problems for all people in society. This seven-chapter volume provides the reader with a range of viewpoints on the role of design education in shaping the world. The book begins with the overarching potential of design to address the needs of an increasingly complex society and the importance of worldview that underpins education methodology. Each chapter addresses a context that varies by discipline – architecture, graphic, packaging and interior design – and location – Nigeria, Canada, Lebanon, UK and USA. The authors pull back the curtain on their educational methods and provide the reader with a candid view of their teaching outcomes. The needs of the marginalized – victims of Asian hate, students with dyslexia, tomato farmers and even design students themselves – are brought into focus here. These specific places and peoples provide a design context that can be translated to other situations in design education and practice. Design educators and practitioners of many design disciplines will benefit from the philosophical discussions and the practical education examples offered here. This volume can contribute to transforming design education that will one day transform design practice to place a greater emphasis on the needs of the forgotten in society.