Binghamton University’s Evolutionary Studies program (EvoS) will soon spread to other universities and colleges throughout the nation, after it received a grant earlier this month from the National Science Foundation.

The program was founded five years ago by Professor David Sloan Wilson, who works in both the biology and anthropology departments at BU. A sister program was founded at SUNY New Paltz in 2007 by professors Glenn Geher and Jennifer Waldo.

According to Wilson, the program attempts to make a connection to other aspects of college studies in order to make evolution acceptable to scientists and non-scientists alike.

“I, and other people like me, were studying people the way we were studying animals, with a biological perspective,” Wilson said. “This wasn’t being taught at any college other than just a single course.”

The idea of extending the EvoS program came about when Geher noted the curriculum at Binghamton and thought that it would be perfect for SUNY New Paltz. After that the three professors decided that the program would also be great for a number of schools and petitioned the NSF for funds.

“We got together, mainly electronically, and basically came up with the idea to ask for money to support the program at Binghamton and New Paltz, but also give money to help start these programs at other colleges,” Waldo said.

Among the nine colleges chosen to begin the program were Cornell University, Northern Illinois University, SUNY Oswego and Broome Community College. The schools were proposed by the three professors because they had already been working with them in training undergraduates in evolutionary theory.

The general education course, Evolution for Everybody (BIOL 105), introduces students to the idea of using evolutionary theory to explain a variety of different aspects of human culture. This course will be duplicated in all of the schools slated to receive funding from the NSF.

The funding also covers a series of seminars featuring “distinguished speakers offering broad discussion opportunities to both students and faculty,” according to a press statement from BU.

One of the most interesting things about the EvoS program is that it is not targeted only toward biology majors, Waldo said.

“It’s allowed me to interact with people who feel that they don’t have much in common with me,” she said. “They could be from the theater department or elsewhere.”

At first the program began with 15 core faculty who were using evolutionary theories already. There are now more than 60 faculty members at BU alone who are part of the EvoS program and possess evolutionary expertise. They are from a variety of different departments including history, engineering and management.

These professors will then teach courses within their departments that show the interplay between that department and evolution.

“Leslie Heywood in the English department organized a class with me last spring semester called ENG 283R, Literature and Cinema from an Evolutionary Perspective,” Wilson said. “It was a very big hit, very likely to be offered again.”

This Friday at 4 p.m. in Lecture Hall 8, Barbara Oakley, the author of “Evil Genes: Why Rome Fell, Hitler Rose, Enron Failed and My Sister Stole My Mother’s Boyfriend,” will be giving a seminar titled “Why People Behave Badly.” This lecture will be informative for anyone interested in the EvoS program, Wilson said.

For more information about Binghamton’s EvoS program, visit evolution.binghamton.edu/evos/.