Anthropology 150, Fall 2010
Schedule of Lectures and Readings
Anthropology 150
Evolution and Human Emergence
Course Objectives:
1. Provide students with a high-level understanding of:
a. the scientific method
b. biological evolution
c. what primates can tell us about what it means to be human
d. the evolution of modern human anatomy and behavior
e. the social and scientific implications of human biological variation
2. Teach students how to write short assignments at a college-level
3. Encourage students to think critically about scientific claims
Schedule of Readings for Anthropology 150
Textbook: How Humans Evolved, by R Boyd & J Silk
Exam 1 covers chapters 1-4 of the textbook
Exam 2 covers chapters 5-8 of the textbook
Exam 3 covers chapters 11-14 of the textbook
Exam 4 covers chapters 15-17 of the textbook
Date
Week 1
24 Aug
Topic
Readings
Introduction
The evidence for evolution
Ch 1
26 Aug
The evidence for evolution (continued)
Week 2
31 Aug
Natural selection & what Darwin didn’t know
Ch 1
2 Sept
Understanding variation: Mendelian genetics
Ch 2
Week 3
7 Sept
Darwin and Mendel: The Modern Synthesis
Ch 3
9 Sept
Chromosomes, DNA, and Protein Synthesis
Ch 3
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Anthropology 150, Fall 2010
Schedule of Lectures and Readings
Date
Topic
Readings
Week 4
14 Sept
The origin of new species
Ch 4
16 Sept
Review
Week 5
21 Sept
EXAM 1
23 Sept
Our place in nature: The living primates
Week 6
28 Sept
Film: Life in the Trees
30 Sept
Chimpanzees, the almost human primate: Food, sex & war
Week 7
5 Oct
Nice monkeys? Kinship and altruism
7 Oct
Film: Family of Chimps
Week 8
12 Oct
Primate Ecology, Sociality & Sexual Selection
14 Oct
FALL BREAK
Week 9
19 Oct
Review
21 Oct
EXAM 2
Week 10
26 Oct
Our first steps: The earliest hominids, part 1
28 Oct
Our first steps: The earliest hominids, part 2
Week 11
2 Nov
Early hominid lifestyles: from ape to human
4 Nov
Early hominid lifestyles: subsistence and social organization
Ch 5
Ch 8
Ch 6 & 7
Ch 11
Ch 12
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Anthropology 150, Fall 2010
Date
Schedule of Lectures and Readings
Topic
Readings
Homo ergaster and Homo erectus
Homo heidelbergensis & the Neandertals
Ch 13
11 Nov
The emergence of modern humans
Ch 14
Week 13
16 Nov
Review
18 Nov
EXAM 3
Week 14
24 Nov
Language Evolution
Ch 16
26 Nov
Evolution and the Human Life Cycle
Ch 17
Week 15
30 Nov
Human Mate Choice and Parenting
Ch 17
2 Dec
Are human races real?: No and Yes
Ch 17
Week 16
7 Dec
Film: Eskimo Fight for Life
9 Dec
EXAM 4
Week 12
9 Nov
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