Faculty Syllabus
ANTH-2301 Physical Anthropology
Sherry Heiden
Credit Spring 2026
Section(s)
ANTH-2301-009 (15140)
LEC DIL ONL DIL
Course Requirements
This is a totally online (DIL/ONL) course that is 8 weeks long. We will not meet for lecture but there are Zoom lectures twice a week that you do not have to attend in live time but must view them once posted.
Exams: There will be four (4) noncumulative exams in this course. Each exam will be composed predominantly of multiple-choice questions, though true/false, matching questions may also be used. The questions will be drawn from Zoom lectures, readings, and videos. Exams will be taken on Blackboard.
There are 5 required Discussion Board postings. You may also do an Extra Credit Review (20pts). Students may replace missed Unit Test or lowest Unit Test score with optional cumulative Final
.
Readings
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 edtion 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
Course Subjects
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
Student Learning Outcomes/Learning Objectives
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.
-Will understand the processes of biocultural hominin evolution.
-Will understand human diversity.
Office Hours
T Th 10:30 AM - 11:55 AM RGC nain building rm 1131
NOTE You may also email me sheiden@austincc.eduPublished: 01/21/2026 15:16:24