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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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.