Ant 263: Humans and Race
Spring 2016
Syllabus
Subject to change at instructor’s discretion
Professor: Dr. Zachary Cofran
Lecture: 8154, Tuesday & Thursday 15:00-16:15 pm
Email: zachary.cofran@nu.edu.kz
Office: 8219
Office hours: Tuesday & Thursday 16:30-18:00, Wednesday 15:00-17:00, and by
appointment
This course examines the nature of human biological variation, in the contexts of
genetics, anatomy, history, and society. Students will learn about why humans vary,
what this variation does and does not tell us about people, and the ways in which
social inequality becomes manifest in human biology. The course will begin by
surveying biological variation, both adaptive and selectively neutral, in humans. We
will then focus on what the term ‘race’ means biologically, and why this concept does
not describe human variation. Moving from biology and genetics, we examine
psychological and historical origins of racialist thinking in the United States. This
historical overview segues into an analysis of how racial categories are used in
biomedical research today. Through the framework of the developmental origins of
health and disease, we review the biological mechanisms whereby social inequality
results in health disparity.
Course objectives
By the end of the semester, hard-working students will:
 understand how and why humans vary biologically
 appreciate the roles of genes and environment in contributing to human
variation
 appreciate the interplay between biology and society
 learn how to identify and comprehend quality scientific articles
 learn to research and present scientific information graphically
Textbooks & Readings
Weekly readings are posted to Moodle. All readings should be read for the week in
which they are posted/assigned. The course will draw heavily from a few books
which are available in the library, including:
Mielke, Konigsberg & Relethford (2006). Human Biological Variation. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Muehlenbein, ed. (2010). Human Evolutionary Biology. Cambridge University Press.
Grading
Participation = 25%
Pop quizzes over the current week’s readings can happen at any time.
Quizzes must be taken in class and cannot be made up. Your lowest score will
be dropped from the final grade. You will also be graded for participation in
classroom activities and miscellaneous small assignments.
Infographic project = 40%
Ant 263: Humans and Race
Spring 2016
The major term project is an infographic that presents empirical data illustrating
one way in which humans vary. This project will be done with one partner, with
whom you will work closely on the following:
 Brainstorming meeting (5%)
Early in the semester, you and your partner will meet with the professor to
decide upon a topic for your project.
 Article summaries (4 x 5% = 20%)
For each of four specific aspects of your project topic, you will write brief
summaries of either peer-reviewed journal articles or official government data.
You and your partner must work together to ensure that 1) you are not writing
about the same article, and 2) that your separate articles logically relate to
each other.
 Infographic presentation (15%)
You and your partner will synthesize and present your summaries in the form
of an infographic. Presentations will take place on 19 and 21 April.
Exam 1 = 15%
In class 03 March
Exam 2 = 20%
Finals week
Except for a few points on the exams, there will be no opportunities for extra credit.
Grading scale
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
95-%100%
90%-94.9%
85%-89.9%
80%-84.9%
75%-79.9%
70%-74.9%
65%-69.9%
CD+
D
F
60%-64.9%
55%-59.9%
50%-54.9%
0%-49.9%
Excellent, exceeds the highest standards in the assignment or course
Excellent; meets the highest standards for the assignment or course
Very good; meets high standards for the assignment or course
Good; meets most of the standards for the assignment or course
More than adequate; shows some reasonable command of the material
Acceptable; meets basic standards for the assignment or course
Acceptable; meets some of the basic standards for the assignment or
course
Acceptable, while falling short of meeting basic standards in several ways
Minimally acceptable
Minimally acceptable; lowest passing
Did not satisfy the basic requirements of the course
Late policy
Work turned in late will not be accepted. I do not grant extensions. You must be in
attendance for quizzes and the midterm exam.
Academic Integrity
All work you submit must be your own. You may discuss assignments with
colleagues, but you may not turn in the same work (except on the Infographic; details
to follow). When you use references, other people’s ideas, and especially other
people’s direct words, you absolutely must cite them. Failure to cite is plagiarism
which will result in your failure of the assignment. Plagiarism and other academic
misconduct will be reported to the SHSS for possibly further disciplinary action.
Ant 263: Humans and Race
Spring 2016
Attendance
Whether you attend each class is ultimately up to you, but you will do better if you
come to class. Note that there will be quizzes every week which cannot be made up
if missed. Keeping up with course material and due dates are ultimately your
responsibility. Please do not waste either your or my time by sleeping in class (you
will be asked to leave).
Schedule of topics & assignments*
*Schedule and content subject to change
Due dates in red
12-14 January: Race and ethnicity
Readings
Kottak, 2007. Chapter 4: Ethnicity and Race. Mirror for Humanity. Pages 59-84.
Race, Ethnicity, and Genetics Working Group, 2005. The use of racial, ethnic, and
ancestral groups in human genetics research. American Journal of Human
Genetics 77: 519-532.
19-21 January: Evolution
Readings
Futuyma, 2010. Evolutionary Theory. In Human Evolutionary Biology. Muehlenbein,
ed. Pages 3-16.
Stinson et al., 2012. Human biology: An evolutionary and biocultural perspective. In,
Human Biology: An Evolutionary and Biocultural Perspective. Pages 3-22.
26-28 January: Skin
Readings
Jablonski, 2004. The evolution of human skin and skin color. Annual Review of
Anthropology 33: 585-623.
Elias and Williams, 2013. Re-appraisal of current theories for the development and
loss of epidermal pigmentation in hominins and modern humans. Journal of
Human Evolution 64: 687.
Jablonski and Chaplin, 2013. Epidermal pigmentation in the human lineage is an
adaptation to ultraviolet radiation. Journal of Human Evolution 65: 671.
02-04 February: Body size and shape
Infographic brainstorming meeting (week of 01 February)
Readings
Leonard and Katzmarzyk, 2010. Body Size and Shape: Climatic and Nutritional
Influences on Human Body Morphology. In Human Evolutionary Biology.
Muehlenbein, ed. Pages 157-169.
Brutsaert, 2010. Human Adaptation to High Atitude. In Human Evolutionary Biology.
Muehlenbein, ed. Pages 170-191.
09-11 February: Food
Readings
Mielke et al., 2006. Lactase Restriction and Persistence. In Human Biological
Variation. Pages 177-181.
Ant 263: Humans and Race
Spring 2016
Tishkoff et al., 2007. Convergent adaptation of human lactase persistence in Africa
and Europe. Nature Genetics 39: 31.
Pontzer et al., 2012. Hunter-gatherer energetics and human obesity. PLoS One
7:e40503.
Gut microbiome of the Hadza hunter-gatherers. Nature Communications 5:3654
16-18 February: Genetic variation
Summary 1: Variation, due Friday 19 February at midnight
Readings
Li et al., 2008. Worldwide human relationships inferred from genome-wide patterns
of variation. Science 319: 1100-1104
Relethford, 2009. Race and global patterns of phenotypic variation. American
Journal of Physical Anthropology 139: 166-22.
Pääbo, 2015. The diverse origins of the human gene pool. Nature Reviews Genetics
16:313-314.
23-25 February: Variation ≠ Race
Summary 2: Biology, due Friday 26 February at midnight
Readings
Shiao et al., 2012. Genomic challenge to the social construction of race. Sociological
Theory 30: 67-88.
Fujimura et al., 2014. Clines without classes: How to make sense of human
variation. Sociological Theory 32: 208-227.
01-03 March: Exam
Exam 1 in class Thursday 03 March
Reading
Marks, 2010. Ten facts about human variation. In, Human Evolutionary Biology.
Muehlenbein, ed. Pages 265-276.
08-10 March: Racial thinking
08 March – Women’s Day – no class
Readings
Hirschfeld, 1998. Natural assumptions: Race, essence, and taxonomies of human
kinds. Social Research 65: 331.
Blakey, 1999. Scientific racism and the biological concept of race. Literature and
Psychology 45: 29-43.
15-17 March: Eugenics
Summary 3: Environment, due Friday 18 March at midnight
Readings
Kauffman, 2009. Intelligence testing: The evolving landscape of IQ testing. Beautiful
Minds (blog). http://bit.ly/1VYNc8T
Micklos and Carlson, 2000. Engineering American society: The lesson of eugenics.
Nature Reviews Genetics 1: 153-158.
Check-Haydn, 2013. Ethics: Taboo genetics. Nature 502:
22-24 March: Spring break – no classes
Ant 263: Humans and Race
Spring 2016
29-31 March: Race, health and society
Summary 4: Society, due Friday 01 April at midnight
Readings
Duster, 2005. Race and reification in Science. Science 307: 1050.
Phelan et al., 2013. The Genomic Revolution and beliefs about essential racial
differences: A Backdoor to Eugenics? American Sociological Review 78: 167.
Cooper, 2013. Race in biological and biomedical research. Cold Spring Harbor
Perspectives in Medicine. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a008573.
05-07 April: Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
Readings
Hale and Barker, 2001. The thrifty phenotype hypothesis. British Medical Bulletin 60:
5-20.
Kuzawa and Sweet, 2009. Epigenetics and the embodiment of race: Developmental
origins of US racial disparities in cardiovascular health. American Journal of
Human Biology 21: 2.
12-14 April: AAPA Conference
Activities to be announced
19-21 April: Infographics
Infographics presented in class 19 & 21 April
26-28 April: Kazakhstan
Facchini et al., 2007. Prevalence of overweight and cardiovascular risk factors in
rural and urban children from Central Asia: The Kazakhstan Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey. American Journal of Human Biology 19: 809820.
Kulkayeva et al., 2012. Cardiovascular disease risk factors among rural Kazakh
population. Nagoya Journal of Medical Science 74: 51-61.
Exam 2 (Finals week)