Course Description
Biological anthropology is the study of human biological evolution and biocultural variation. In this course, students will learn about the interdependent relationships between the environment, human adaptation, health, and culture, including human-induced effects on the environment, as well as the evolution, biology, and behavior of human ancestors and non-human primates.
Athena Title
Intro Biological Anthropology
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in ANTH 2045, ANTH 2045E
Non-Traditional Format
The W suffix is used for courses taught as writing intensive, which means that the course includes substantial and ongoing writing assignments that a) facilitate learning; b) teach the communication values of a discipline—for example, its practices of argument, evidence, credibility, and format; c) support writing as a process; and d) prepare students for further writing in their academic work, in graduate school, and in professional life. Writing instruction and assignments are integral to the class’s learning objectives, and the instructor (and/or the teaching assistant assigned to the course) will be closely involved in supporting students as writers.
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall and spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students will be able to recognize the importance of the scientific method and the evolutionary framework in anthropological research as well as in other scientific disciplines.
- Students will be able to describe, through examples, the role of the environment in human (genetic) adaptation and human adaptability.
- Students will be able to identify the major steps in our evolutionary history, including that of our closest relatives, and recognize the technologies and data used to understand the evolutionary history.
- Students will be able to relate basic evolutionary and biological principles and concepts to current and past human diversity, including relationships between humans and the environment across time and space.
- Students will be able to understand the interconnectedness between human activities and the environment, including ongoing challenges to human and non-human primate communities posed by global warming.
- Students will be able to explain why race is not a biological concept but a socio-cultural construct with important consequences in real life.
- Students will be able to develop a critical approach allowing them to distinguish between scientific and pseudoscientific arguments and understand the relationship between science and society.
Topical Outline
- Anthropology and Biological Anthropology
- Principle of Evolutionary Theory
- Evolution and Human Biological Diversity: From Genes to Populations
- Human Adaptation and Adaptability: The Relationship of Human Biology and Behavior with the Environment, including Race, Climate, and Altitude
- Human Adaptation and Adjustment to the Environment: Food, Nutrition, and Disease
- Primate Overview: Ecology, Behavior, and Conservation (including habitat protection)
- Paleontology and Primate Evolution
- The Ape-Hominine Transition
- Early Hominine
- Origin and Evolution of the Genus Homo
- Emergence and Geographic/Ecological Dispersal of Homo Sapiens
- Evolution of the Brain and Language
- Human in the Natural World: Is Human Culture Unique?
- Biomedical Anthropology
- Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology
- Future Challenges Facing Humanity: Global Warming, Conservation, Violence, and Inequality
General Education Core
CORE II: Life Sciences
Institutional Competencies
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
Social Awareness & Responsibility
The capacity to understand the interdependence of people, communities, and self in a global society.
