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Humans possess remarkable capacities for morality, politics, and culture. But where do these capacities come from and what cognitive mechanisms support them? In this seminar, we will take comparative and developmental perspectives to understand the origins of the social mind. We’ll explore how nonhuman animals, especially primates, represent and navigate their social worlds, and what makes the human mind unique. We’ll also explore the earliest manifestations of social intelligence that are present in human infancy, allowing babies to richly experience the social world long before they develop language. We’ll cover a range of topics, such as the abilities to remember other individuals and keep track of their social relationships and social groups, theory of mind, self-awareness, precursors of politics and morality, and the question of whether animals have culture. Enrollment limited to Junior & Senior Psychology, Neuroscience, Behavioral Biology, Cognitive Science, Philosophy, or Biology majors/minors. Prerequisite: 200.132 Intro to Dev. Psych OR 200.133 Intro Social Psych OR 200.110 Intro Cog. Psych OR 200.141 Foundations of BBC OR 050.102 Language and Mind OR 050.105 Intro Cog. Neuropsych OR instructor approval.