Preliminary Syllabus FYS 101-00?
(Humanities- History)
I. Catalog Description:
A history of the origins of human life from the history of the fish/amphibian who crawled out of the sea to hominids to the peopling of the continents, using fossil and genetic evidence. Honors the stories of origin of diverse peoples.. Many films.
II. FYS Brochure Description
We are all Africans. WHAT you say? The class explores the evidence that human life developed in Africa and then spread to other continents. And before that? Did we all evolve from the first fish/amphibian who crawled out of the sea named Tiktaalik 375 million years ago? Come and explore the earliest chapters of human history with the ideas of scientists. How did the continents become populated? How do we combine this with honoring origin stories of the world’s peoples? Many films.
III. Student Learning Goals are those of the FYS Program
A. Students will be more disposed to value learning in its own right and see themselves as having the ability and the right to invest themselves in this learning.
B. Students will be more disposed to pursue learning collaboratively,
both in formal academic settings and elsewhere
C. Students will be more disposed to actively question previous
Knowledge and examine new ideas and multiple perspectives
Content Goals: Students will increase their understanding of these topics:
Weeks 1-3
1. The evolution of species, going back to our illustrious ancestor Tiktaalik.
How did this work?
Text: Neil Shubin: Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5 Billion year history of the Human Body
Movies: Prehistoric Life, & What Darwin Never Knew
Evaluation: Students will be asked to explain their understanding of the process of evolution, using examples from the text and films in an essay of up to 4 pages.
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Weeks 4-6
2. Current paleoanthropology supports the idea that human life emerged in
Africa, but was by no means the only contender for the planet. Follows the fossil. hominid record through time. How do scientists go from fossils to theories?
Text: Carl Zimmer: The Smithsonian Intimate Guide to Human Origins
Movies: Discovering Ardi, & the two Million Year Old Boy, or Discover
Evaluation: Students will create a wall chart of evolution, each student will specialize on a fossil, and present its attributes and advances over previous contenders with an oral presentation to the class. Each student will fill a chart with what is learned from the classmates.
Australopithecus africanus
Weeks 7-11
3. Once human, Homo sapiens moved out to other continents beyond Africa, encountering and interacting with earlier species. How do we know this? What is the fossil, genetic and linguistic evidence for the settling of other continents?
Text: Alice Roberts: The Incredible Human Journey or Spencer Wells, The
Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey
Movies:
Alice Roberts: The Incredible Human Journey, Werner Herzog: Cave of
Forgotten Dreams , National Geographic: The Human Family Tree Tracing the
Human Journey through Time
Evaluation: Students will compile reports in teams of the peopling of the continents and regions using genetic, fossil and linguistic evidence.
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Weeks 12-15 includes EXPO exhibits and talks
4. Every society on earth has its story of origin too. As humans got established, they create and recreate stories of origin to claim the land on which they live as theirs since time immemorial. Vikings, Anishinaabe, Rapa Nui,
Maya….. movie: The Sacred book of the Maya The Popul Vuh by Patricia Amlin
Evaluation Each student will present on a different story of origin from a unique culture with an illustration, to be placed on a map of the world.
EXPO, students will work together in Week 14 to present the 4 principle themes of the course to the public with illustrations on the poster boards provided.
Norse Gods Mayan Corn God
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