This course will meet in the Anthropology Lab in Rowand-Johnson 37D.
This course provides a detailed introduction to physical (or biological) anthropology, the study of human variation and human origins. The principal aims of the course are as follows:
At the end of this course students should be able to:
Weeks 1-2, August 22 – 29
Topics:
Presentations available:
Readings:
Assignments:
Week 3, September 5
Topics:
Presentations available:
Readings:
Assignments (due 9/4):
Week 4, September 12
Topics:
Presentations available:
Readings:
Assignments (due 9/11):
Week 5, September 19
Topics:
Presentations available:
Readings:
Assignments (due 9/14):
Week 6, September 26
Topics:
Presentations available:
Readings:
Assignments (due 9/25):
Week 7, October 3
Topics:
Presentations available:
Readings:
Assignments (due 10/2):
Week 8, October 10: MIDTERM EXAM
Week 9, October 17
Topics:
Presentations available:
Readings:
Assignments (due 10/16):
Week 10, October 24
Topics:
Presentations available:
Readings:
Assignments (due 10/23):
Week 11, October 31
Topics:
Presentations available:
Readings:
Assignments (due 10/30):
Week 12, November 7
Topics:
Presentations available:
Readings:
Assignments (due 11/6):
Week 13, November 14: OFF FOR AAA
Week 14, November 21: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Week 15, November 28
Topics:
Presentations available:
Readings:
Assignments (due 10/27):
Week 16, December 5
Topics:
Presentations available:
Readings:
Assignments (due 12/4):
FINAL EXAM WILL BE TAKE HOME: DISTRIBUTION & DUE DATES TBA
Exams:
There will be an in-class essay midterm exam and a take-home essay final exam. Exams are designed to simulate the comprehensive exams, allowing students to learn, review, and synthesize material as they will be forced to do for that milestone in the program. The midterm will be allocated the full class period. Essays should be well-organized and written in addition to being factually correct and complete, including spelling, grammar, and punctuation. They will be scored in accordance with the following rubric, which approximates the evaluation criteria for the comprehensive exams:
Limited (0) |
Fair (1) |
Good (2) |
Excellent (3) |
|
Content knowledge |
||||
Innovation |
||||
Accuracy |
||||
Form |
||||
Overall Impression |
Participation:
Your participation will be established by demonstrating that you are well prepared for class. There will be three general areas in which this will be assessed:
Blogs
Each of you will be assigned a blog on the UA Anthropology Word Press blog site that you may use while you are a student here (though posts regarding this class may be removed by the administrator at the end of the semester). Information regarding how to set up and use these sites will be provided in class.
Blog entries are an opportunity for you to engage the material, the discipline, and an online community of scholars. Each of you will be given blog space to set up on a UA Anthropology Word Press site. You are expected to summarize the articles assigned and discuss how they relate to other things you have read or are reading, your own research, or anything else that seems relevant. Additionally, this blog space will be yours, and you are encouraged to use it for academic blogging with respect to your own research and other topics of interest to you as they relate to anthropology. Examples of academic blogging vary widely, but you can get some ideas via the following post on my blog in which I compiled all the active biological anthropology blogs I could find: http://evostudies.org/2012/05/biological-anthropology-blogs/.
Your grade will be determined by your scores on four essay exams and on your participation in class as follows:
There will be no make ups for classes, exams, or other assignments.
This is a discussion-oriented class and attendance is required. Since 30% of your grade for this course is based on participation, any absences will lower your grade. Please contact Dr. Lynn in advance if you have some urgent need to be absent from a class session.
These additional required readings will be available via eLearning:
Cohen, M.N. 1998. "The emergence of health and social inequalities in the archaeological record." In S.S. Strickland & P.S. Shetty (eds.) Human Biology and Social Inequality. Pp. 249-271. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hartwig, W. 2011. "Primate Evolution." In C.J. Campbell, A. Fuentes, K.C. MacKinnon, S.K. Bearder, & R.M. Stumpf (eds.) Primates in Perspective. Pp. 19-31. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Konner, Melvin. 2010. chapters from The Evolution of Childhood.
McBrearty, S. & A.S. Brooks. 2000. The revolution that wasn't: A new interpretation of the origin of modern human behavior. Journal of Human Evolution 39:453-563.
Relethford, John. chapters 6-10. Reflection from Our Past.
Spencer, Frank. 1981. The rise of academic physical anthropology in the United States
(1880-1980): A historical overview. American Journal of Physical Anthropology
56(4):353-364.
Sussman, Robert W. 2011. "A Brief History of Primate Field Studies." In C.J. Campbell, A. Fuentes, K.C. MacKinnon, S.K. Bearder, & R.M. Stumpf (eds.) Primates in Perspective. Pp. 6-11. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Tattersall, Ian. 2000. Paleoanthropology: The Last Half-Century. Evolutionary Anthropology 9(1):2-16.
Washburn, Sherwood L. 1953. The strategy of physical anthropology. In A. L. Kroeber,
ed., Anthropology Today. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pp.714-726.
Participation in the following will not earn you course extra credit but is a good way to enhance your academic career, develop your teaching abilities, become involved in ongoing research, and develop your own research design and methodology:
The UA Anthropology Department offers a course in anthropology at Tuscaloosa Magnet Elementary School during the fall semester as part of the TMSE-UA Partnership. The course is administered by Dr. Lynn and Dr. Duke Beasley, and we are looking for two graduate students to assist with this course. The class meets over the course of 12 weeks on Tuesdays from 1-1:45. The curriculum has already been developed, but we welcome new ideas. See the blog for information about this course: http://tmseanthro.edublogs.org/.
The Human Behavioral Ecology Research Group is an integrated group of grad and undergraduate students from several disciplines directed by Dr. Lynn, the goal of which is to formulate and carry out exciting and innovative research projects in human behavioral ecology. Weekly meetings are held Fridays 9-noon in Rowand-Johnson 37.
Some current projects include "Fireside Relaxation Study," "Cultural Knowledge & Mating Success," "Religious Ecology Study in Costa Rica & Tuscaloosa," "Inking of Immunity: Tattooing & Immunoglobulin A," and others initiated by various members. See the HBERG website for more info: http://anthropology.ua.edu/hberg/.
See Dr. Lynn if you are interested in participating.
All students in attendance at the University of Alabama are expected to be honorable and to observe standards of conduct appropriate to a community of scholars. The University expects from its students a higher standard of conduct than the minimum required to avoid discipline. Academic misconduct includes all acts of dishonesty in any academically related matter and any knowing or intentional help or attempt to help, or conspiracy to help, another student.
The Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Policy will be followed in the event of academic misconduct.
In the case of a tornado warning (tornado has been sighted or detected by radar, sirens activated), all university activities are automatically suspended, including all classes and laboratories. If you are in a building, please move immediately to the lowest level and toward the center of the building away from windows (interior classrooms, offices, or corridors) and remain there until the tornado warning has expired. Classes in session when the tornado warning is issued can resume immediately after the warning has expired at the discretion of the instructor. Classes that have not yet begun will resume 30 minutes after the tornado warning has expired provided at least half of the class period remains.
UA is a residential campus with many students living on or near campus. In general classes will remain in session until the National Weather Service issues safety warnings for the city of Tuscaloosa. Clearly, some students and faculty commute from adjacent counties. These counties may experience weather related problems not encountered in Tuscaloosa. Individuals should follow the advice of the National Weather Service for that area taking the necessary precautions to ensure personal safety. Whenever the National Weather Service and the Emergency Management Agency issue a warning, people in the path of the storm (tornado or severe thunderstorm) should take immediate life saving actions.
When West Alabama is under a severe weather advisory, conditions can change rapidly. It is imperative to get to where you can receive information from the National Weather Service and to follow the instructions provided. Personal safety should dictate the actions that faculty, staff and students take. The Office of Public Relations will disseminate the latest information regarding conditions on campus in the following ways: