Intro Physical Anthropology

Catalog description

Students in this course experience an overview of current data and theory related to biological variability among living and past human populations and the extensive fossils documenting human evolution. This course provides an essential comparative zoological perspective to understand our species’ origins, evolution and diversity through comparisons between humans and other mammals, particularly the living nonhuman primates. The course is structured around the theory of evolution, the unifying concept of biological anthropology. Throughout the course, students are introduced to evolutionary theory, the mechanisms of evolution and their relevance for understanding variation in past and present human populations. The course covers current research and topics in human evolutionary biology, including evolutionary theory, natural selection, molecular and population genetics, human variation, human biology, primate diversity and behavior, and the paleontological record of human evolution. This course also provides a rich foundation for understanding the human condition from a biological and anthropological perspective.