This course uses a critical pedagogy to challenge the normative assumptions made about the dynamic relationship between our genetic make up and our environments by exploring the field of epigenetics. Course sessions and assignments will retrace the experiments that led to the discovery of genes and their inheritance patterns, review molecular analyses to understand the functional products of genes, reveal how the acquisition and accumulation of mutations along with sexual reproduction lead to genetic diversity, and examine how behavioral and physical diversity can be influenced the natural, built, and social environment. Course readings include newspaper articles, secondary scientific literature, and a textbook, while videos and animations depict molecular DNA techniques and processes specific to biology.