Lecture: 2 hrs/week
Seminar: 2 hrs/week
The course will employ a variety of instructional methods to accomplish its objectives, including some or all of the following:
- Lectures
- Small group discussion
- Large class discussion
- Class exercises with casts of the human skeleton and fossil hominins
- Films or videos
- Introduction to the discipline of anthropology and its subdiscipline biological anthropology.
- The history and development of evolutionary theory, including the work of Charles Darwin.
- Science and the scientific method as one way of knowing about the world.
- Introduction to the biological basis of life, basic genetics, and inheritance.
- The emergence of the modern synthesis theory of evolution and the mechanisms of evolution.
- Some of the reasons for controversy around theories of evolution, past and present.
- The complex interactions between biology and culture (biocultural) in humans species throughout their history.
- Survey of the living nonhuman primates, introduction to primate taxonomy, morphology, behaviour, and ecology, along with the evolution of primates.
- Brief introduction to human osteology.
- The origins of bipedalism and the early hominins.
- Theories for explaining the emergence of bipedalism, increased cranial capacities, and manufacture of stone tool.
- The emergence of the genus Homo and the appearance of Homo erectus and its spread outside of Africa.
- Archaic Homo sapiens and other forms of humans, including Neandertals and Denisovans and their relation to other forms of humans.
- Examine the origins and adaptations of modern humans, their global dispersal, and their contemporary biological variation.
At the conclusion of the course the successful student will be able to:
- Explain the scope and goals of biological anthropology, describe its place in the broader discipline of anthropology, and articulate the relevance of biological anthropology as a topic of study.
- Outline the history and development of evolutionary theory and basic genetics, combining these into an understanding of the synthetic theory of evolution and its mechanisms with specific examples from humans and nonhuman primates.
- Gain familiarity with the living nonhuman primates and understand the variation that exists among them in terms of anatomy, behaviour, and ecology.
- Identify and describe some of the major trends and key transitions in human evolution, including the fossil and molecular evidence of these in the paleoanthropological record.
- Describe the evidence for the emergence of anatomically modern humans and their global dispersal.
- Demonstrate understanding of the significance of contemporary human variation in the context of evolutionary biology.
Assessments will be based on course objectives and will be in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. The instructor will provide a written course outline containing specific criteria during the first week of classes.
Instructors may use a student’s record of attendance and/or level of active participation in the course as part of the student’s graded performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation will be clearly defined in the Instructor's Course Outline.
An example of a possible assessment scheme:
Test (3 x 20% each) 60%
Social Annotation of articles on topics of bio. anth. 10%
Paper on topic of bio. anth (i.e primates or fossils) 20%
Attendance and Participation 10%
Total 100%
Students may conduct research with human participants as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving human subjects.
Texts will be updated periodically. Typical examples are:
Shook, Beth, Katie Nelson, Lesie Aguilera and Lara Braff (2023) Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology. Second Edition. American Anthropological Association, Arlington, VA.
Spencer, Clark Larsen (2025) Essentials of Biological Anthropology. Sixth Edition. W.W. Norton and Company, New York.
Marks, Jonathan (2017) The Alternative Introduction to Biological Anthropology. Oxford University Press, New York.
Boyd, Robert, Joan B. Silk, and Kevin E. Langergraber (2024) How Humans Evolved. Tenth Edition. W.W. Norton and Company, New York.
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