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ANTH 278 Course website

Anthropology (ANTH) 278
Human Evolution and Diversity
(Revision 2)

Revision 2 closed, replaced by current version.

View previous syllabus

Delivery mode: Individualized study or grouped study.
Video component.*
*Overseas students, please contact the University Library before registering in a course that has an audio/visual component.

Credits: 3 - Social Science.

Prerequisite: None.

Centre: Centre for Work and Community Studies

ANTH 278 is not available for challenge.

Course website

Overview

ANTH 278 is an introductory level physical anthropology course designed to provide students with an understanding of human evolution and diversity from a biological perspective. The course is divided into five parts and begins with an introduction to physical anthropology within the discipline of anthropology. Part Two presents a history of the development of evolutionary theory, and discusses the biological basis for human evolution and adaptation. Part Three covers the ecology, physiology and social behaviour of nonhuman primates. Part Four explores the origins of our hominid ancestors, with particular reference to reconstructions of physiology, ecology and behaviour. The course concludes with an overview of contemporary human evolution, including Neandertals, anatomically modern humans, and modern features of human variation and adaptation.

Outline

The course consists of the following fifteen units.

Unit 1: Introduction to Physical Anthropology

Unit 2: The Development of Evolutionary Theory

Unit 3: The Biological Basis of Life

Unit 4: Heredity and Evolution

Unit 5: An Overview of the Primates

Unit 6: Fundamentals of Primate Behaviour

Unit 7: Models for Human Evolution

Unit 8: Processes of Macroevolution: Mammalian/Primate Evolutionary History

Unit 9: Paleoanthropology: Reconstructing Early Hominid Behaviour and Ecology

Unit 10: Hominid Origins

Unit 11: Homo erectus and Contemporaries

Unit 12: Neandertals and Other Archaic Homo sapiens

Unit 13: Homo sapiens sapiens

Unit 14: Microevolution in Modern Human Populations

Unit 15: Human Variation and Adaptation

Evaluation

To receive credit for ANTH 278, you must achieve a minimum grade of “D” (50 percent) on both the mid-term and final examinations, and an overall grade of “D” (50 percent) for the entire course. The weightings for the course activities are as follows:

Telephone quiz 3-Lab Exercises Mid-term Exam Final exam Total
5% 60% 15% 20% 100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Textbooks

Jurmain, Robert, Lynn Kilgore, Wenda Trevathan and
Harry Nelson. 2003. Introduction to Physical Anthropology. 9th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

Kramer, Andrew. 2003. Study Guide for Jurmain, Kilgore,
Trevathon, and Nelson’s Introduction to Physical Anthropology
. 9th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

France, Diane L. 2004. Lab Manual and Workbook for Physical
Anthropology
. 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

Other Materials

The course materials also include a student manual, and forms.

The course is also accompanied by a set of videos, available from the AU library. As well, a set of measuring instruments, required for the lab exercises, is also available from the AU library.