EvoS (for Evolutionary Studies, pronounced as one word) is a campus-wide evolutionary studies program that was initiated by David Sloan Wilson at Binghamton University in 2003 and received National Science Foundation support in 2007 to expand into a nationwide consortium.

The vision of EvoS is to make evolutionary theory a common language that can be spoken across all biological and human-related disciplines at a campus-wide scale.

The vision of EvoS is to make evolutionary theory a common language that can be spoken across all biological and human-related disciplines at a campus-wide scale. This is in contrast to virtually all colleges and universities, where evolution is still taught primarily as a biological topic.

An EvoS program enables students to learn about evolution in parallel with their traditional major, starting early and continuing throughout their academic careers. It also provides a framework for faculty interactions across disciplines. In short, it approaches the ideal of a university as a single intellectual community. This has always been the goal of a liberal arts education, but evolutionary theory provides the “common language” required for it to become a reality.

The EvoS Consortium already includes groups from over 35 institutions of higher education, spanning the range from community colleges to major research universities, and is rapidly expanding worldwide. Please consult the resources listed at right for more information and contact David Sloan Wilson if you wish to become involved.

EvoS and the EI are separate entities but they are closely related and mutually reinforcing. Essentially, the EI has the same broad vision for the world of public policy that EvoS has for the world of higher education.