The concentration in Biological Anthropology helps students understand human evolutionary biology, comparative primate behavior and biology, evolutionary genetics, and the hominin and primate fossil records. Students will be knowledgeable about the fundamentals of evolutionary biology, mechanisms of evolution and population genetics, human and non-human primate behavioral ecology, life history and reproductive ecology, and the relationship of our species to other primates. They will be prepared to navigate research on human and non-human primates thoughtfully and ethically and will have a grounding in the principles of rigorous scientific research, quantitative reasoning, data analysis, data interpretation, and critical analysis of primary scientific literature.
The concentration in Biological Anthropology is distinguished from the major in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology by its focus on the evolutionary biology of humans and our primate relatives, including the use of genetics and endocrinology to address questions about both our evolution and our current world, and on the interplay of human biology and culture. Students are encouraged to gain solid scientific backgrounds by taking courses in related departments such as Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
The concentration in Biological Anthropology overlaps with and complements the concentration in Medical Anthropology and Global Health in conceptual approaches and scientific methods. It complements the Department’s Archaeology program by its coverage of the fossil and archaeological record for early human evolution and of the ecological, behavioral, and demographic context in which our own species emerged and successfully dispersed across the world. It complements the program in Sociocultural and Linguistic Anthropology by providing a comparative context for understanding how our species than came to manifest our contemporary unprecedented behavioral diversity and flexibility.
Courses
All students with this concentration need to complete at least six credits in biological anthropology or cognates, not including the senior project. These must include:
ANTH 1400 - Introduction to Biological Anthropology
Up to four of the following, depending on the number of advanced seminars and approved cognates:
ANTH 132 - Sex, Love, and Reproduction
ANTH 1548 - Hormones and Behavior
ANTH 1482 - Primate Behavior and Ecology
ANTH 2600 - Social Dimensions of Evolution
ANTH 2403 - Primate Conservation
ANTH 2504 - Molecular Anthropology
ANTH 2510 - Birth: Intersections among biology, culture and society
ANTH 2517 - Hormones, Evolution, and Human Behavior
ANTH 2530 - Evolutionary Biology of Women’s Reproduction
ANTH 2536 - Obesity: Biosocial Approaches
ANTH 2442 - Human Evolutionary Biology and Life History
ANTH 2667 - Human Evolution
ANTH 280 - Evolution of Primate Intelligence
ANTH 3443 - Primate Behavior and Ecology (cannot double count with ANTH 643)
ANTH 310 - Mammalogy
ANTH 3435 - Primate Diversity and Evolution
ANTH 3554 - Cuerpos Femeninos (Female Bodies): Biology, Evolution, and Society
ANTH 3476 - Observing and Measuring Behavior, Part 1 (Study Design)
ANTH 3477 - Observing and Measuring Behavior, Part 2 (Data Analysis and Reporting)
ANTH 3594 - Methods and Research in Molecular Anthropology I
ANTH 3595 - Methods and Research in Molecular Anthropology II
ANTH 4564 - Human Osteology
ANTH 4567 - Blood: Science, Culture, Society
At least one advanced seminar in biological anthropology, e.g.:
ANTH 6443 - Primate Behavior and Ecology
ANTH 6665 - Evolution of Human Diet
ANTH 8540 - Human Reproductive Ecology
ANTH 8512 - Current Topics in Anthropological Genetics
ANTH 8530 - Topics and Issues in Human Life History Evolution
ANTH 8449 – Primate Models for Human Evolution
ANTH 8600 - Topics and Issues in Evolutionary Theory
ANTH 475/875 – Issues in Primate Behavioral Ecology
Senior requirement:
Senior majors concentrating in Biological Anthropology must either enroll in ANTH 491 and complete an essay based on independent research project or do a more extensive year-long independent essay project while enrolled first in ANTH 471/472 and then in ANTH 491. Essays written as term papers for seminars do not meet the senior requirement.