ANTH 1100
Book: Our Origins, 3rd Edition
Our Origins StudySpace (from 2nd edition, but still useful)
Will an older version of the book work? Kind of, but not really. Some things are pretty stable in human origins science. The human fossil record, however, is improving all the time and the new text includes numerous major fossils that the old book does not.
Blackboard
Anthropology is the study of humans. Biological anthropology approaches this study with the understanding that humans are mammals, albeit special ones, and examines them using the methodologies of biological sciences. It attempts to decipher human adaptations and their natural history. It combines studies of evolutionary biology, modern and fossil primates, the human fossil record, modern human variation and adaptation, and behavior. Biological anthropology synthesizes information from these fields into a composite picture of humanity that has a time dimension.
Human evolution studies currently occupy a strange position in our society. Almost 99% of Americans believe in the reality of DNA. Most believe in fossils. The existence of each of these on its own is good evidence of evolution, yet between 33-50% of Americans don't 'believe' in evolution. This is striking!
The reason for this is philosophical; the idea that humans emerged through a process as seemingly random as evolution is startling. It conflicts with traditions found in many large groups within our society:
• Literal interpretations of religious texts are misguided.
• Humans do not occupy a divinely-mandated special postion in nature.
• Our people are not necessarily exceptional compared to other people.
• We are not really sure that we are doing the right thing all the time, after all.
• Nationalism is irrational.
• Good and evil are somewhat (but not totally) abstract concepts.
All the same, many of the values we cherish in our society are derived from a secular (or at least 'deistic') view of the world:
• Each individual human should have essentially equal rights (Human Rights).
• Each individual human should have essentially equal political voice (Democracy).
• No cartel or government should hold unreasonable power over trade (Free Market).
Additionally, there are several important conclusions drawn from human evolutionary biology that have social consequences:
• Race, as defined by our society, describes groups of people DIFFERENT from the groupings that are found based on DNA... In other words, race, as we know it, is NOT REAL.
• Humans emerged in Africa.
• Human intelligence emerges in Africa.
• Human instinct is shaped by evolution.
In spite of (or maybe BECAUSE of) the importance of these realities, most do not fully accept/digest human evolutionary studies.
This course is a introduction to biological anthropology. The following are some of the major learning outcomes of the class:
•Learn what science is
•Learn the history of science
•understand about the history of evolutionary theory
•distinguish between natural selection, which was understood long before Darwin, and Darwin's main contribution, the recognition of speciation.
•understand DNA, protein synthesis, and biological evolution
•learn about primates and understand there attributes, behaviors, and evolutionary pattern.
•Learn about primate behavior and how it reflects on our own behavior.
•understand stratigraphy, deep time, and geological dating methods
•become familiar with the human fossil record
•understand the fallacy of race and the true nature of human biological variation
•understand how forensic anthropologists analyze bones
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CSUEB academic dishonesty policy
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Reading
Larsen, Our Origins. I encourage you to find used copies of the book or to share. You will be assigned additional reading material in class.
Notes, Quiz, and Exams:
There will be a quiz and two exams (a mid-term and a final exam). They are short-answer, multiple choice, and short essay questions.
YOU NEED A SCAN TRON!
Any material from the reading OR class may appear on tests, so come to every class.
I expect you to come to class prepared and to have read the assigned material BEFORE class.
You will be evaluated on your effective participation in class discussions. Notes are to be re-copied using a word processor and submitted via blackboard (find this under COURSE MATERIALS in BlackBoard). One week's notes are dropped from the grade (you can miss one turn-in).
A wide range of student backgrounds are represented in big introductory classes. There are many attendance problems and many issues with classroom focus and lecture comprehension. A big part of a professor's job is addressing these issues, and this is the only way I can do it. But I know that many people have developed their own successful note taking habits. For this reason if you get A's on the exams you can elect to not turn in notes and your grade will not be affected, but why take the chance? Notes are graded subjectively.
!!Missed exams, quizzes, or assignment deadlines MUST BE CLEARED BEFOREHAND. If you get sick, YOU MUST SEND ME AN EMAIL THE DAY OF THE BEFORE THE EXAM, AND YOU MUST BRING A NOTE FROM THE DOCTOR. No note, no makeup!!
Email and communication
The phone only works during office hours. Email will generally be addressed 3-4 times per week. Email must relate to course material or academic advice. ALWAYS put "ANTH 1100" in the subject or send the mail via blackboard or I WILL NOT RESPOND. Sorry about the impersonal feel of this...this is just the only way that I can realistically try to respond to all student email effectively. Also, expect emails to be terse and pointed. Due to the high volume of emails I will answer questions in a rather mechanical way. If you want more tutorial interaction, come to office hours.
Grading
Attendance/participation/Notes: 10%; Midterm 1 20%; Midterm 2 30%; Final exam 40%; Grading will be based on a curve, but watch out! The class average is set to a B. One standard deviation above this is an A. One standard deviation below this is a C. But here is the tricky part: C+ and A- are only 1/10 of a standard deviation from the mean, and there are no B+’s or B-’s. This means that there are NOT VERY MANY B’s, and that there are a lot of A-’s and C+’s. The grade of a D is assigned to grades that are 1.67 standard deviations below the mean. The grade of F is assigned to grades that are lower than 2 standard deviations from the mean.
Here is a table that you can use to figure out your grades (AVE=average score; StDEV=standard deviation):
A/A- cutoff AVE+StDEV
A-/B cutoff AVE+(.25*StDEV)
B/C+ cutoff AVE-(.25*StDEV)
C+/C cutoff AVE-StDEV
C/C- cutoff AVE-(1.25*StDEV)
C-/D cutoff AVE-(1.5*StDEV)
D/F cutoff AVE-(1.67*StDEV)