グローバル教養科目（Learning From the Fossil Record: Mass Extinctions and the Future of Biodiversity）

Week 1: Course Introduction Weeks 2–5: Reading the Fossil Record Week 6: The Garden of Ediacara, Early Animal Extinctions, and the Cambrian Explosion Week 7: The Paleozoic Mass Extinctions and the Conquest of Land Week 8: The End-Permian Mass Extinction and the Rise of Modern Ecosystems Week 9: The End-Triassic Mass Extinction and the Age of Dinosaurs Week 10: The End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction and the Rise of Mammals Week 11: The Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum and the Cooling Cenozoic World Week 12: Human Evolution, the Anthropocene, and the Sixth Mass Extinction Week 13: Student Poster Session Students will complete a self-guided field trip to the National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno, Tokyo outside scheduled class time. Admission is free for University of Tokyo students, but students are responsible for their own transportation to and from the museum. An alternate assignment will be made available on a case-by-case basis for students who are unable to visit the museum. Students will practice interpreting the fossil record and communicating scientific findings in English through a research project. Each student will select a topic highlighting the role of the fossil record in advancing one or more of the three relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 13, 14, and/or 15), write a project proposal, and develop the project throughout the semester. They will write an abstract summarizing the project's findings, which will be peer reviewed by multiple classmates before final submission to the instructor. The course will culminate in a poster session during the final class meeting, at which each student will present the results of their project. The poster session will be divided into two blocks so that every student has the opportunity both to present their work to their peers and to evaluate their peers' posters, simulating the experience of an international academic conference conducted entirely in English. This course plan is subject to change.

Class time will consist of lectures, student-led discussions based on at-home readings and homework assignments, group activities, and individual student presentations.

【Please check the grading scale that applies to this course. If the Course Code ends without “-P/F”, this is a course with a letter grade (A+, A, B, C, F). If the Course Code ends with “-P/F”, this is a Pass/Fail Course.】 Weekly Assignments and Participation: 50% Field Trip Report: 20% Final Project (Proposal, Abstract, Peer Review, Poster Presentation): 30%

【If the number of students enrolling in this course exceeds 20, there may be a selection process. Instructions for the selection process will be given in the first class, so if you are interested in taking this course, please be sure to attend the first class.】 Students of all backgrounds are welcome, and no prior knowledge of paleontology, geology, biology, or climatology is required to succeed in this course. This course will be taught entirely in English, but levels of English proficiency are expected to vary considerably, and students will not be evaluated on their English proficiency. Students should nevertheless be prepared to complete weekly readings and encounter unfamiliar scientific terminology. They are also expected to express their ideas during class discussions while respecting the perspectives of their classmates.