Download The purpose of this course in ANT-121 is to introduce the college

BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
ANT-121
Dr. H. James Birx
Professor of Anthropology
Canisius College
Office: Old Main 016D
E-mail: [email protected]
Office Phone: (716) 888-2745
Anthropology/Criminal Justice/Sociology Department
Office Hours: MTWRF 3:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. (and by appointment)
Course Abstract
The purpose of this course in ANT-121 is to introduce the college student to the aim, scope, and
content of modern biological anthropology. Attention is given to recent facts, as well as new
concepts, methods, research areas, and hypotheses. This discipline offers a comprehensive,
scientific, and rational understanding of and appreciation for the place of humankind within
natural history. The fact of evolution is stressed, with a special focus on both hominid fossil
evidence and primate behavior studies. This is a student-professor interactive course and class
participation is encouraged. No prerequisite is required.
This course is divided into six (6) distinct sections:
1. Introduction to General Anthropology and Organic Evolution: The origin and historical
development of anthropology, as well as the idea, theory, and fact of evolution from early
speculations in Greek antiquity to the pioneering work of Charles Darwin, Thomas Huxley,
and Ernst Haeckel (among other relevant early naturalists).
2. Science of Genetics: Principles of heredity, mutation research, DNA/RNA molecules,
mechanisms of organic evolution, population studies, the history of the concept of race, as
well as the physical variation in and geographic distribution of humankind.
3. Earth History: Historical geology, dating techniques, the origin and evolution of life,
primate paleontology and taxonomy (classification).
4. Human Osteology: Basic evolutionary trends in both the skull and postcranial skeleton
from fossil apes through hominid history, with an in-class laboratory exercise that focuses
on the modern human skeleton.
5. Paleoanthropology: Famous biological anthropologists, their most important hominoid
paleontology sites and major hominid fossil discoveries, as well as both past and present
evolutionary interpretations of the hominoid/hominid fossil evidence and artifact record.
6. Primate Behavior: Primate classification, evolutionary trends, comparative behavior
studies (especially the baboons and four great apes or pongids), and ongoing research, e.g.,
recent ape-communication studies, as well as pongid-biochemistry and pongid-culture
research.
Emphasis is placed on the origin and evolution of humankind, genetic variability, sociocultural
adaptation, and the relationship between our own species and the other primates (especially the
four great apes or pongids). Several relevant and required announced DVDs are also included
when possible (see page 4).
2
Course Goals and Objectives
1. To understand and appreciate the value of anthropology as a comprehensive discipline in
terms of science and reason.
2. To learn valuable knowledge about the origin, evolution, and diversity of our own species.
3. To acquire a general comprehension of earth history, the science of genetics, and human
osteology.
4. To understand and appreciate those similarities that exist between our own species and the
other primates, especially the four great apes (pongids).
5. To gain a greater tolerance for human diversity and a deeper respect for the crucial role that
anthropology plays in comprehending the place of our own species within evolving nature.
Core Curriculum Goals and Objectives: Field Six
Goal: Students will demonstrate through explanations, interpretations, and critical analyses their
understanding of natural phenomena. Students will:
Objective 1A: Recognize valid application of cause and effect reasoning.
Objective 1B: Describe patterns of scale, proportion and quantity in the natural world.
Objective 1C: Define natural systems in terms of energy, material components and processes of
change.
Goal: Students will demonstrate the ability to reason and communicate so that their actions can have
positive impacts on society. Students will:
Objective 2A: Communicate and collaborate effectively across disciplines (science and non-science).
Objective 2B: Use qualitative and quantitative analysis to make rational predictions of
natural phenomena based on knowledge.
Objective 2C: Apply scientific knowledge to issues impacting society.
Departmental Goals and Objectives
Majors will think critically about facts, concepts, and issues in anthropology.


Objective A: Demonstrate an understanding of the scientific method as applied to the
study of anthropology;
Objective B: Demonstrate an understanding of the major approaches to conducting
research in the four traditional subfields of anthropology.
Majors will acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for graduate studies or careers.


Objective A: Demonstrate a familiarity with the major concepts, theories, and theorists
in the four major subfields of anthropology;
Objective B: Articulate the role of global awareness in applying anthropological theories
and methods in the real world.
Majors will demonstrate the importance of global awareness in anthropology.


Objective A: Articulate the role of anthropology in the historical development of
conceptions of ethics, values and morality within a cross-cultural framework;
Objective B: Demonstrate an understanding of the socio-cultural differences among
human groups, including the crucial role of language in human thought and cultural
diversity.
3
Grading
1.
2.
3.
4.
Exams (6) 100%
Research Presentation (extra credit)
Class Participation (extra credit when merited)
Special Event (extra credit given when merited)
Research Presentation
The research presentation requires a student to use library facilities in order to find information
from academic books, scholarly articles, professional DVDs, and relevant facts and concepts
retrieved from the Internet. Each student prepares an outline or description of his/her
presentation for Professor Birx, and special classes may be held for the research presentations (a
research presentation guide will be provided). Your topic must be both relevant to biological
anthropology and have prior approval from Professor Birx.
Active Learning
Each student is encouraged to participate in class discussions and to contribute relevant
information on topics included in the lectures, as well as those topics covered in research
presentations and professional DVDs.
Course Outline
Part One
1. Origin, aims, scope, and divisions of general anthropology.
2. Early biological anthropology.
3. Historical development of the idea of evolution.
4. Linnaeus, French Enlightenment, and Lamarck.
5. Hutton, Lyell, Smith, Cuvier, and Boucher de Perthes.
6. Darwin.
7. Malthus, Spencer, and Wallace.
8. Huxley, Haeckel, and Gray.
9. Mendel and DeVries.
For Part One, please read the prologue, introduction, and chapters 1 and 2 from Birx’ Human
Evolution (1988).
Part Two
10. Early genetics and the mutation theory.
11. Principles of the synthetic theory of organic evolution.
12. DNA and RNA molecules: content, structure, and function.
13. Population genetics and evolutionary forces.
14. Concept of race, racism, and human variation.
15. Genetic engineering: recombinant DNA and cloning.
16. Sociobiology: the nature and/or nurture controversy.
For Part Two, please read chapters 4, 5, 20, 21, and 22 from Birx’ Human Evolution (1988).
Part Three
17. The geological column: major eras and epochs.
18. Dating techniques: relative and radiometric.
19. The paleontological record: major events.
20. The evidence for biological evolution.
21. The origin and evolution of life on earth.
22. Primate evolution: prosimians, monkeys, and apes.
23. General trends throughout primate evolution.
For Part Three, please read chapters 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 from Birx’ Human Evolution (1988).
4
Part Four
24. The evolution of the hominid skeleton (major changes and general trends).
25. The hominid skull and postcranial skeleton: specific bones and general features.
For Part Four, please read the relevant class handout from Birx’ Craniometry of the Orchid Site
Ossuary (1991).
Part Five
26. Important discoveries of fossil hominids.
27. Recent finds in paleoanthropology.
28. Dryopithecinae complex: Miocene and Pliocene hominoids.
29. Human paleontology: Homo habilis.
30. Human paleontology: Homo erectus.
31. Human paleontology: Homo sapiens.
32. Sociocultural influences on human evolution.
For Part Five, please read chapters 8, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 24 from Birx’ Human Evolution
(1988).
Part Six
33. Primate classification and evolution.
34. The prosimians.
35. The New World monkeys.
36. The Old World monkeys (especially the baboons).
37. The two lesser apes (hylobates).
38. The four great apes (pongids).
39. Primate biochemistry, ape-communication studies, and pongid-culture research.
40. Primate adaptation, ecology, and survival or extinction.
For Part Six, please review chapters 7, 2, and 20, and read chapters 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 19, 23, 24,
and 25, as well as the conclusion, epilogue, and afterward from Birx’ Human Evolution (1988).
Relevant class handouts about recent hominid fossil discoveries and the four living great apes
may be provided.
Course Requirements
Attendance is required (poor class attendance may result in removal from the course, a lower
grade, or even failure). When the professor is absent due to academic and/or professional
commitments elsewhere, relevant DVDs and/or a relevant special presentation may be scheduled
as both an extra-class event and an extra-credit opportunity. There are six (6) objective 50minute examinations based on both class lectures and required readings (text and handouts). No
exemption from any exam is allowed; the fourth hourly is an open-handout/notes test, and the
sixth hourly is your final exam. A short, in-class research presentation is also required.
Note
There is zero tolerance for rudeness or disrespect or arrogance in the classroom. Throughout this
course, Professor Birx will share with the class his relevant academic and professional
experiences. Any student having a problem or problems with this course in ANT-121 should first
meet with Professor Birx in order to work out a mutually agreed upon resolution when possible.
Text
H. James Birx, Human Evolution (Springfield, Illinois: Charles C Thomas, 1988).
5
DVDs
1.
2.
Life in the Trees (Life on Earth, David Attenborough, Part 12).
The New Chimpanzees (National Geographic).
Suggested Further Readings
Aydon, Cyril, Charles Darwin (London: Robinson, 2003).
Birx, H. James, “Evolution: As I See It” in Anthropologia Integra, 1(2):7-10, 2010.
Birx, H. James, ed., Encyclopedia of Anthropology, 5 vols. (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE
Publications, 2006). REF GN 11 .E63 2006
Birx, H. James, ed., Encyclopedia of Time, 3 vols. (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications,
2009). REF BD 638 .E525 2009
Birx, H. James, ed., 21st Century Anthropology: A Reference Handbook, 2 vols. (Thousand
Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010). REF GN 25 .AI44 2010
Browne, Janet, Charles Darwin: The Power of Place (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002).
Browne, Janet, Charles Darwin: Voyaging (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995).
Carroll, Sean B., The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution
(New York: W.W. Norton, 2006).
Darwin, Charles, Autobiography (Amherst: Prometheus Books, 2000). Refer to the introduction
by H. James Birx, pp. vii-xxi.
Darwin, Charles, The Descent of Man (Amherst: Prometheus Books, 1998). Refer to the
introduction by H. James Birx, pp. ix-xxviii.
Darwin, Charles, The Voyage of the Beagle (Amherst: Prometheus Books, 1999). Refer to the
introduction by H. James Birx, pp. vii-xxii.
Dawkins, Richard, The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (New York: Free
Press, 2009).
de Duve, Christian, Vital Dust: Life as a Cosmic Imperative (New York: BasicBooks/
HarperCollins, 1995).
de Waal, Frans B. M., and Frans Lanting, Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1997).
Diamond, Jared, The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal
(New York: HarperCollins, 1992).
Fortey, Richard, Life: A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth
(New York: Vintage Books/Random House, 1999).
Fossey, Dian, Gorillas in the Mist (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1983).
Galdikas, Biruté Mary F., Great Ape Odyssey (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2005).
Galdikas, Biruté Mary F., Reflections of Eden: My Years with the Orangutans of Borneo
(Boston: Little/Brown, 1995).
Goodall, Jane, In the Shadow of Man, rev. ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988).
6
Goodall, Jane, The Chimpanzees of Gombe (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1986).
Harris, John, Enhancing Evolution: The Ethical Case for Making Better People (Princeton:
Prinston University Press, 2007).
Johanson, Donald C., Lenora Johnson, and Blake Edgar, Ancestors: In Search of Human Origins
(New York: Villard Books, 1994).
Leakey, Mary D., Disclosing the Past (New York: Doubleday, 1984).
Leakey, Meave, “The Dawn of Humans: The Farthest Horizon” in National Geographic,
188(3):38-51, September 1995.
Leakey, Richard E. F., One Life (Salem: Salem House, 1984).
Leakey, Richard E. F., The Origin of Humankind (New York: BasicBooks/HarperCollins, 1994).
Lewin, Roger, Bones of Contention: Controversies in the Search for Human Origins (New York:
Simon & Schuster, 1987).
Mayr, Ernst, One Long Argument: Charles Darwin and the Genesis of Evolutionary Thought
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1991).
Mayr, Ernst, What Evolution Is (New York: Basic Books, 2001).
Montgomery, Sy, Walking with the Great Apes: Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Biruté Galdikas
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991).
Morwood, Mike, and Penny van Oosterzee, A New Human: The Startling Discovery and Strange
Story of the “Hobbits” of Flores, Indonesia (Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press).
Mowat, Farley, Woman in the Mists: The Story of Dian Fossey and the Mountain Gorillas of
Africa (New York: Warner Books, 1987).
Napier, J. R., and P. H. Napier, The Natural History of the Primates (Cambridge: MIT Press,
1985).
Rachels, James, Created from Animals: The Moral Implications of Darwinism (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1991).
Salopek, Paul F., and George B. Schaller, “The Mountain Gorillas of Africa” in National
Geographic, 188(4):58-83, October 1995.
Schwartz, Jeffrey H., The Red Ape: Orang-utans and Human Origins, 2nd ed. (Bolder:
Westview Press, 2005).
Schwartz, Jeffrey H., ed., Orang-utan Biology (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988).
Shipman, Pat, The Man Who Found the Missing Link: Eugène Dubois and His Lifelong Quest to
Prove Darwin Right (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001).
Smuts, Barbara Boardman, Sex and Friendship in Baboons (New York: Aldine, 1985).
Strum, Shirley C., Almost Human: A Journey into the World of Baboons (New York: Random
House, 1987).
Susman, Randall L., The Pygmy Chimpanzee (New York: Plenum Press, 1984).
7
Swisher III, Carl C., Garniss H. Curtis, and Roger Lewin, Java Man: How Two Geologists’
Dramatic Discoveries Changed Our Understanding of the Evolutionary Path to Modern
Humans (New York, Scribner, 2000).
Tattersall, Ian, Becoming Human: Evolution and Human Uniqueness (New York: Harcourt
Brace, 1998).
Tattersall, Ian, and Jeffrey H. Schwartz, Extinct Humans (New York: Westview/ Nevraumont,
2000).
Tudge, Colin, The Link: Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor (New York: Little, Brown, 2009).
Watson, James D., The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of
DNA (New York: W. W. Norton, 1980).
Watson, James D., and Andrew Berry, DNA: The Secret of Life (New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
2004).
Weiner, Jonathan, The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time (New York: Alfred
A. Knopf, 1994).
Wells, Spencer, The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey (Princeton: Princeton University Press.
2002).
Wilson, Edward O., The Diversity of Life (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992).
Fall 2015