There will be four (4) Unit Tests in this course. Each exam will be composed predominantly of multiple-choice questions. The questions will be drawn from lectures, readings, class/zoom discussions, and videos. Unit Tests will be taken on Blackboard. 

Discussion board postings are worth 40 pts.

Extra Credit:Review: an additional 4 page paper

Students may replace missed Unit Test or lowest Unit Test score with optional cumulative Final Exam.

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Essentials of Physical Anthropology, 10th edition (2017), by R. Jurmain, L. Kilgore, W. Trevathan, and E. Bartelink. Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

There will be a link to a free online version of edition 9 posted in Blackboard.

ISBN-13:978-1-305-86623-2 and ISBN-10: 1-305-86623-1

Additional Zoom lecture, readings and supplementary material will be posted to Blackboard

Introduction to Bioanthropology/Genetics:

-what is anthropology, what is bioanthropology, scientific theory

-key individuals and their contributions to evolution

-DNA, DNA replication, Cell Division, Protein Synthesis, Genes, alleles, Mendelian traits, inheritance, population genetics (Hardy-Weinberg)

-Natural Selection, Genetic Drift, Mutation, etc. 

-Human variation and adaptation

-Forensic anthropology

Primates: macroevolution, taxonomy/phylogeny, primate characteritics, living primates, primate behavior and culture

Paleoanthropology: Primate evolution, early hominins, bipedalism, early Homo, modern human origins

By the end of this course, the student

          -Will be able to describe what anthropology and physical anthropology are.

          -Will understand the methods and theories of physical anthropology.

          -Will understand the processes of evolution, focusing on hominin evolution.

          -Will understand the processes of biocultural human evolution.

          -Will understand human diversity.