* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download Scientific Method
Survey
Document related concepts
Cross-cultural differences in decision-making wikipedia , lookup
Ethnography wikipedia , lookup
Political economy in anthropology wikipedia , lookup
Intercultural competence wikipedia , lookup
Discovery of human antiquity wikipedia , lookup
Dual inheritance theory wikipedia , lookup
Human genetic variation wikipedia , lookup
Craniometry wikipedia , lookup
History of anthropometry wikipedia , lookup
Cultural ecology wikipedia , lookup
Evolutionary archaeology wikipedia , lookup
Social Bonding and Nurture Kinship wikipedia , lookup
American anthropology wikipedia , lookup
Social anthropology wikipedia , lookup
Human variability wikipedia , lookup
Transcript
ANT 270 Introduction to Biological Anthropology Professor: Room Office 16 tenHoor Hours: By appointment, ee- mail, dropdrop- in Graduate ANT 270 Dr. Bindon Dr. Bindon [email protected] Teaching Assistant: Ms. Copeland [email protected] Office: 23A tenHoor Office Hours: 9:00 – 9:30 and 11:00 to 12:00 noon, Tuesday and Thursday Anthropology The study OF strangers BY strangers The HOLISTIC study of man Anthropology The field of inquiry that studies human culture and evolutionary aspects of human biology; includes cultural anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, and physical (or biological) anthropology. (Jurmain et al.) Anthropology is the study of differences and similarities, both biological and cultural, in human populations. Anthropology is concerned with typical biological and cultural characteristics of human populations in all periods and in all parts of the world Anthropological Concepts Two unifying concepts that cut across all of the subdisciplines and specialties Culture Culture— —uniquely anthropological concept that informs research in all subdisciplines Evolution Evolution— —change through time, whether in social systems or organisms In biological anthropology, the central unifying paradigm, as for all biological sciences, is organic evolution by natural selection Culture Culture is an important aspect of how humans adapt to their environment Jurm ain et al.: All aspects of human adaptation, including technology, traditions, language, religion, marriage patterns, and social roles. Culture is a set of learned behaviors that is transmitted from one generation to the next by nonbiological means. Culture consists of the beliefs and ideas which affect behavior and are transmitted by learning Culture is imperfectly shared, leading to variations in both beliefs and behavior within social units This imperfect sharing is socially structured 1 Science? Some anthropologists deny the validity of science for understanding others Post modern approaches deny the ability to scientifically understand the “other other”” The best we can hope to do is to describe their behavior The Humanistic approach has emphases on relativity, the understandings of participants, and on meaning Science Jurmain is a body of knowledge gained through observation and experimentation; from the Latin scientia,, meaning knowledge scientia The Scientific method is a research method whereby a problem is identified, a hypothesis (or hypothetical explanation) is stated, and that hypothesis is tested through the collection and analysis of data If Science is a technique for evaluating competing explanations given current knowledge It asserts that there are regularities in behavior and biology that can be discovered Terminology the hypothesis is verified, it becomes a theory Scientific testing involves the precise repetition of an experiment or expansion of observed data to provide verification; the procedure by which hypotheses and theories are verified, modified, or discarded Science et al. (focus on data): Science Physical Anthropology according to Jurmain et al. Study of human biology in the framework of evolution. Subfields: Paleoanthropology: Hypothesis: Jurmain et al. A provisional explanation of a phenomenon. Hypotheses require verification Provisional statement of relationship between facts ---usually usually a “because because”” statement Anthropometry: human evolution measurement of body parts Genetics: gene structure and action and the patterns of inheritance of traits from parent to offspring Primatology: Theory: Jurmain et al. A broad statement of scientific relationships or underlying principles that has been at least partially verified Broad explanatory statement that has been subjected to testing and falsification and found to be accurate given current knowledge Physical Anthropology Seeks to answer two of the most fundamental questions about humanity Osteology: study of nonhuman primates study of skeletons Course Resources Course Web Site Where How did we come from (human origins) do we differ from one another (human variation) Human Origins http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/bindon/ant270 Paleoanthropology: Primatology: Human Fossil Man Behavior and Anatomy Variation Patterns of variability: Race versus ethnicity Adaptation Forensic Anthropology Human The history of anthropology is the history of the study of human variation 2 Grading My Background U.C. Berkeley: A.B. (honors) in anthropology Senior project on enamel hypoplasia and Harris (or growth arrest) lines in California Indians Penn State: M.A., Ph.D. Master Master’’s project on the effect of tetrahydrocannabinol on thermoregulation in man Doctoral dissertation on genetic and environmental influences on the morphology of Samoan adults in Hawaii and American Samoa How do these topics fit with the goals of Physical Anthropology? All are in pursuit of understanding human variation Skeletal variation caused by the interaction of genes and the environment, specifically nutritional and disease stress Physiological variation in response to environmental stress as it is affected by the ingestion of substances Morphological variation within a population based on genetic and environmental variation Subsequent 20+ years studying Samoans Investigated the effect of rapid culture change leading on obesity, diabetes, heart disease Surveyed topics from infant feeding to childhood and adult diet to genes to the effect of stress on the health of adults work remains in this vein Other Work Effects of stress on health Mississippi Stress Local Tribe of Choctaw Indians associated with diabetes symptoms African American Community New techniques for measuring stress show association with blood pressure Multi Multi--ethnic Looking hotel workers in Hawaii at blood pressure among workers in resorts on the island of Hawai’ Hawai’i and in Honolulu Biocultural Research I have slowly learned over the years how to integrate cultural measures with biological measures to produce a better understanding of human processes Not the addadd- on a social measure or two approach of most biological anthropologists Biocultural evolution (Jurmain): The mutual, interactive evolution of human biology and culture; the concept that biology makes culture possible and that developing culture further influences the direction of biological evolution; a basic concept in understanding the unique components of human evolution 3