ANTH

The basic objective is to gain an understanding of human biocultural evolution. By acquiring familiarity with the major fossil and archaeological finds spanning more than seven million years, students will learn how contemporary anthropologists reconstruct the outlines and patterns of human biological and cultural evolution. Students will also become familiar with debates surrounding the processes of human biological evolution, primate biology and conservation, the sources of human biological variation and the concept of race, and prehistoric cultural change. Through written essays and class participation, students will be able to actively engage in critical analyses of past and present academic and popular interpretations of human biocultural evolution. Laboratory sessions are designed to bring hands-on contact with a wide variety of human fossils, archaeological artifacts and comparative material, and thereby make more concrete the intricate variations of the physical record of human history. 1 The course also serves as a prelude and frequent prerequisite to more advanced courses in biological anthropology and anthropological archaeology.

This course will meet synchronously on Zoom on Thursdays 1:10-3:30.