ANTHROPOLOGY 1301 INTRO TO PHYSICAL ANTH & ARCHEOLOGY
Fall 2014 (MWF 12:30) Dr. Carmichael
COURSE SYLLABUS
Overview
Is warfare a uniquely human behavior? Is it an inevitable human behavior? Do you know how many human races there are? What do IQ tests measure? Have you ever wondered how evolution can be both a fact and a theory? Are humans really descended from monkeys? Are you related to the Neanderthals? Do you know what the most important human invention of all time was? What makes the New World new? This semester we will engage in lively considerations of these and other big questions about who we are as a species, how we got to where we are today, and our relationship to the rest of the world.
The course is designed to provide an introduction to current scientific understandings of the origin and diversity of humans as revealed by research in paleoanthropology, primatology, archeology and ethnology. Topics will include the genetic and fossil evidence for human biological evolution, and evidence for the most important cultural evolutionary changes reflected in the archeological record. The level of instruction assumes no prior experience in anthropology or archeology.
Learning Objectives
The course is intended to address four primary goals: 1) Students should understand and be able to articulate how scientists know things about our world. More specifically, you should understand how it is possible to know things about the ancient past… what types of evidence are available, and what forms of reasoning are used to make sense of the evidence. Understanding the relationship between explanations and supporting evidence is central to your success in this course. The class is intended to help you develop and practice your critical thinkingskills. 2) Students should develop a familiarity with the evidence for biological and cultural change; that is, evolution. What characteristics of the fossils, artifacts, DNA, etc. provide the evidence for change? 3) Students should be able to discuss why things happened as they did. Why was agriculture invented when and where it was? Why was bipedal locomotion advantageous to the hominids? How do we know our closest relatives in the animal kingdom are the apes? 4) You should be able to view and discuss the challenges currently facing our species in the context of the long term patterns of human development and change.
Major Themes & Perspectives
Anthropology is a very broad discipline, and the topics studied by anthropologists bear on literally every aspect of human existence. Even this course, with its focus on the prehistoric past, is more relevant to our present circumstances than one might first imagine. I will sometimes bring materials or perspectives into a discussion that deal with contemporary topics such as religion, politics and the environment. When I address such topics, it will be in the context of the main organizing themes of this course. In other words, they will be relevant to the information in your text, in my lectures, the videos, or our class discussions. So, if you ever find yourself wondering why a piece of information is being presented, why I’m requiring you to read about some nearly extinct hunter-gatherer tribe or listen to chimpanzees howl, ask yourself how the information relates to the major themes.
All the material presented in the course relates in some way to one or more of these four major themes:
1) Evolution is a fact. People who doubt this statement often don’t have a clear idea about what evolution really is, or they have been exposed inaccurate information about it, so let’s deal with that right up front. Evolution does NOT mean that we are descended from monkeys or chimpanzees. No living species can be descended from another contemporary species. Nor does it mean that we can choose to evolve as individuals during our lifetimes.
Rather, biological evolution is change in populations of organisms. Darwin referred to it as descent with modification; a more modern definition would be change in gene frequency over time. The fact of change is not in dispute. Evolution can be observed in the laboratory and in the wild, even within a single human lifetime. The reason we have not yet cured AIDS is that the virus has evolved, and it continues to change as we develop new drugs. Some antibiotics that used to be effective in treating bacterial infections no longer work because the bacteria have evolved. Change in gene frequency over time does not necessarily lead to new species, but it can if the processes involved act over a sufficiently long period of time. The fossil record provides the evidence for speciation, of long term change in gene frequency.
Evolution is a theory; or more precisely, there are several theories of evolution. But evolution is also a fact. How can evolution be both a fact and a theory? Good question. The answer has to do with the differences in the way terminology is used in science versus the popular vernacular of society at large. In science, the term theory means a well-supported explanation. It does NOT mean a guess, hunch or hypothesis, as is often the case in popular (mis)use of the term. So, there are several well-supported explanations for changes in populations of organisms, and we will discuss them in some detail.
2) Humans share a common ancestry with apes. Many people are uncomfortable with the idea that we humans are part of the animal kingdom. Nevertheless, many cultures around the world recognize the similarities between humans and non-human primates; this relationship is even alluded to in some creation stories, such as the Mayan account recorded in the Popol Vuh. Such observations of similarity are accurate. Darwin correctly predicted our close biological relationship with the apes more than a century ago based on anatomical resemblances, and modern genetic studies have supported his observation. For example, Morris Goodman, a researcher at Wayne State University, reports that humans and chimpanzees have 95% of their DNA sequence and 99% of coding DNA in common. Now, this doesn’t mean that humans descended from chimpanzees. But it does mean that both humans and modern chimps evolved from a common prehistoric ancestor, one that lived about 6-10 million years ago. There are a number of human and pre-human ancestors revealed in the fossil record, and there are transitional forms… fossils that exhibit both human and ape-like characteristics. Although new fossils are being discovered all the time, at present it is thought that our common ancestor with the apes is one of the pre-Australopithecine species. Fossil evidence that supports this conclusion will be presented and discussed in the middle portion of the course.
3) There is only one human race: the Tour de France. One of my colleagues in sociology likes to say the only human race is the Boston Marathon. I refer to the Tour de France because I’m a serious cyclist and cycling fan. But the point is the same… there are NO biological races within the human species. Why would we make such an outrageous claim? After all, everybody “knows” there are people of different races, right? I mean, we’ve grown up learning to judge people and treat people differently based on their race, so those groupings must be biologically real, right? Wrong. Certainly there are groups that most people refer to as races, but they are not valid biological groupings. Instead, they are socio-political categories that we use to classify (and sometimes hurt) one another. The racial classifications most people use do not reflect the actual distribution of genetic variability within our species. In fact, the more we learn about genetics and the human genome, the clearer it is that our racial classification fails to describe the real patterns of genetic variation. There is so much more to any individual than skin color, and the other traits vary independently of skin color.
Anthropologists have been making the case against race for at least 70 years, since Ashley Montague’s book, Man’s Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy of Race (1942), but most people apparently don’t want to hear it. Perhaps skin color is too convenient an excuse to discriminate against others… The bad news is… we have used race as an excuse to mistreat people. The good news is… there is no valid biological basis for continuing to do so. Several kinds of evidence will be presented to show why race is not a valid biological concept for humans, and why it is not useful for understanding human variation. If you take only one thing away from this course, I hope it will be the knowledge that there is no biological basis for discrimination against any group of humans as defined by our misguided racial classification.
4) Food production was the most important human invention of all time. The Neolithic is the prehistoric period during which human populations shifted to food production. That is, our ancestors changed from being hunter-gatherers dependent on wild plant and animal foods to producing their own food by means of plant and animal domestication. This shift is considered by many researchers to be the most important change humans have ever made, because it seems to be the only time that an organism has changed to adapt to a completely new ecological niche without undergoing speciation. Instead, humans altered the natural environment to suit the needs of their growing populations. Remarkably, it seems that all the later developments that we take for granted as typical aspects of “civilization” were predicated on the earlier invention of food production. The ability to produce food and store the surplus was the basis for the development of nearly all the complex societies in the world, and the basis for cultural developments such as market economies, political hierarchies, craft specialization, trade, warfare, and most other aspects of recent and modern society. In fact, the demographic and ecological consequences of the Neolithic shift to food production are still being felt by our world today. Contemporary challenges such as population growth, poverty, war, global warming, nutrition and public health issues will be discussed in this context.
Grading and Class Procedures
This course is an introduction to the evidence for evolution… evidence for biological and cultural changes in humans and our ancestors, as well as changes in the environments to which they adapted. There are so many lines of inquiry, and so many details of evidence that bear on these issues that it would be easy to get bogged down in the details; to miss the forest for the trees. In might be easier for me to test you on your ability to memorize names and dates, but I choose not to structure the course in that fashion, for at least two reasons. First, new archeological and fossil finds are being made all the time, and some of the specific facts you might memorize today will be superseded by new discoveries in a few years. Second, and more importantly, I don’t want you to merely believe what I tell you, or what you read in your textbook; I want you to understand why scientists have reached the conclusions they have. In other words, I want you to understand the connection between the scientific evidence and the warranted explanations for that evidence. The exams and other assignments are designed to assess your ability to synthesize various kinds of evidence, evaluate complex arguments, and understand the bases for our current knowledge about the human past. Vocabulary, names, dates and other such details are important only to the extent that they relate to a thorough understanding of the larger issues.
I recognize that many students are challenged by some of the ideas presented in this course, especially those ideas that may seem to conflict with firmly held religious beliefs. I feel that students are not getting their money’s worth from college if they are not regularly challenged by the content of their courses. Nevertheless, let me assure you; it is not my intention to suggest what anyone’s religious beliefs should be. I will present and discuss the scientific knowledge as it is currently understood; whether you choose to accept the warranted arguments generated by science is your own business. I do not expect students to “believe” the textbook, or me, or to change their religious views. However, I do expect you to be able to demonstrate an understanding of the warranted arguments presented in class… I do expect you to be able to accurately express why scientists hold the views they do.
Understanding the relationship between evidence and conclusions is basic to success in this course. Why do I place so much emphasis on this ability? Because it is a critical thinking skill that will serve students well, long after completing this course. It can help you become a more discerning consumer of ideas and claims in other areas of life.
Grading is based onseveral quizzes and three inclass exams: two midterms and a final. The exams are a combination of objective questions, short answer, and essay. Each will make up 25% of the final grade. The remaining 25% will come from your average score on quizzes. Quizzes will occur approximately biweekly, but not necessarily on any given day of the week; they will not be announced ahead of time. Therefore, you will need to stay current on the assigned readings and videos at all times, and you will need to maintain regular attendance in class. Grades are not determined by the total number of points accumulated during the semester. Instead, each exam is assigned a letter grade based on the percentage of correct responses. The letter grades are then averaged, with the final grade calculated on a 4-point scale, similar to the way your overall GPA is expressed. You will be expected to stay current on assigned readings, and synthesize the readings, lecture materials, and videos for the exams. If you must miss a class, it is your responsibility to see a fellow student, the TA or me to find out about the material missed.
Over the past few semesters, students’ use of cell phones, MP3 devices, tablets, laptops, etc. has become increasingly disruptive in class. Therefore, the use of personal electronic devices will not be allowed in this class. Critical thinking, following and participating in nuanced class presentations and taking notes are among the academic skills students are expected to learn and practice in this class. Recent experience has shown that texting, visiting Facebook, and engaging in similar activities are distracting to neighboring students and disruptive to the instructional environment in the classroom. Devices must be turned off (not merely silenced) during class. Students who take calls, engage in texting or access the Internet may be asked to forfeit the device and/or be dismissed from class. The instructor reserves the right to drop students for repeated violations of this class policy. Please respect your fellow students’ rights to focus on class activities, and everyone’s educational experience will be enhanced.
If you have a disability and need classroom accommodations, please contact the Center for Accommodations and Support Services (CASS) at 747-5148, or by email at , or visit their office in the UTEP Union East, Rm. 106. CASS staff members are the only individuals who may validate the need and authorize accommodations for students with disabilities. For more information, please visit the CASS website at
Academic Dishonesty
Unless otherwise indicated in writing, the assignments you turn in for this course are to be your own work. Any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty is subject to discipline. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of someone else's work, and taking an exam for another person. Cases of suspected academic dishonesty will be referred to the Dean of Students for investigation. Disciplinary actions can include a failing grade, suspension, or expulsion from the University. If you have any doubts about what is acceptable, see me. You may also consult the UTEP Handbook of Operating Procedures, Student Affairs, Sections 1.2.2, 1.6.2, and 1.6.3 for definitions and details. Please refrain from such activities; it is easier and a lot more fun to simply do the work as assigned. Enjoy the course!
Required Text: Lewis, Jurmain & Kilgore (2013) Understanding Humans: Introduction to Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, Cengage Learning.
Contact Information:
Dr. David Carmichael Office hours: Monday through Thursday, 1:30-2:30, or by appt.
206 Old Main 747-6599
COURSE OUTLINE
Introduction
Aug 25-29What does it mean to be human? The discipline of anthropology. Different ways of knowing: myth and science. (Lewis, Ch. 1) Handout: Evolution pre-test.
An overview of anthropological approaches to knowing about humanity will be presented.Students are expected to demonstrate understanding of the essential differences between science and myths as ways of knowing about the world. Comparisons among several different creation stories will serve to highlight the ways in which all myths are similar and how they differ philosophically and methodologicallyfrom science.