Study the ancient origins of diseases through skeletal remains. This course offers students a unique perspective on how pathogens, trauma, and genetic disorders affected past populations, and how past societies understood disease and healing, ideal for students seeking a deeper understanding of health from a historical and biomedical perspective.
Athena Title
Ancient Human Health
Prerequisite
ANTH 1102 or ANTH 1102E or ANTH 2120H or ANTH 2045 or ANTH 2045E or ANTH 2045W
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
Students will learn how to analyze skeletal remains to identify evidence of ancient diseases, trauma, and genetic disorders, gaining insights into how these conditions shaped past populations.
Students will learn how to evaluate historical perspectives on disease and healing, exploring how ancient societies understood and treated illnesses through cultural and medical practices.
Students will learn how to compare ancient and modern health challenges, examining how pathogens, trauma, and genetic disorders have evolved over time and their impact on contemporary medicine.
Students will learn how to examine the role of social and environmental factors in the prevalence and spread of diseases in ancient populations, with a focus on how these influenced health outcomes.
Students will learn how to integrate biomedical and historical approaches to health, fostering a deeper understanding of the intersection between ancient health practices and modern medical knowledge.
Topical Outline
Week 1 – Orientation to anthropological thinking
Week 2 – Understanding the complexity and cultural dimensions of human biology and human health
Weeks 3-4 – The skeleton as a changeable structure: introduction to the skeleton, bone biology, and skeletal plasticity
Weeks 5-10 – Ancient diseases and their manifestation on bones and teeth
Weeks 11-15 – Ancient medicine and perspectives on health
Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
