ANTHROPOLOGY 1020
HUMAN ORIGINS: EVOLUTION AND DIVERSITY
Instructor: Rachelle Handley
Email:
Mail Stop: HAN CT266
Phone: 801-949-0267
Class Location: Library Square Campus (LSC) Room 401
Class Time: Saturday 11:30 AM – 02:20 PM
Office Hours: Saturday – Before Class 10:30 AM- 11:30 AM
Text: Essentials of Physical Anthropology by Jurmain et al., 9th ed.
http://www.cengagebrain.com/micro/1-1GQPR6F
Reserved Readings: Electronic Reserve on Canvas course page: http://ereserve.slcc.edu/eres/default.aspx Password: darwin (Note: Instructor will be Schafer)
Course Description: Introduction to biological anthropology; surveys of hominid fossils, primate biology and behavior, human biological variation, ecology and adaptation, and evolutionary theory.
Student Learning Outcomes: By the end of this course, students will be able to describe the holistic approach of anthropology, the subfields of biological anthropology, basic biological principles including evolutionary theory, define topic-specific terms, critically evaluate the evidence biological anthropology has to offer in support of human evolution, including the uniqueness of biocultural evolution, and communicate effectively about evolution.
Requirements: There will be 400 points divided as follows:
1. Exams: there will be three non-cumulative exams (including the final) worth 100 points each. These tests will consist of multiple choice, true/false, short answer and essay questions. The lowest exam score will be dropped, therefore the total number of points towards your grade will be 200.
2. Quizzes: There will be a quiz each week, this will be conducted online in canvas. The quiz will need to be completed prior to class and will be on the reading materials that will be covered that day in lecture (you will not have a quiz on the week we have an exam). Each quiz will be worth 10 points, the two lowest quiz scores will be dropped, therefore the total number of points towards your grade will be 100.
3. Writing Assignment: This is your signature assignment for your ePortfolio, this is required for all General Education Courses. This assignment will be worth 25 points and will include a written paper (20 points) plus an in class presentation (5 points).
4. Class attendance/participation: Attendance and participation in class will be recorded for each class, this includes exam days (you cannot leave after exams as we will be holding class afterward since we only meet once a week). Full credit will be received if you attend the entire class and participate in class activities. Only partial credit will be given if only part of the class is attended or if a portion of a class activity is missed. No credit will be given when a class is missed entirely. There are 15 classes (not including the day of the final), each worth 5 points, therefore the total number of points towards your grade will be 75. You are allowed two absences during the semester without any loss of points.
Extra Credit: There will be 4 opportunities to earn extra credit, each will be worth 5 points for a total of 20 possible extra credit points. These opportunities include:
1. Posting your signature assignment to your eportfolio page. Due at the time of your signature assignment.
2. The other 3 opportunities will come from lab reports based on lecture and classroom activity materials.
Exam Schedule: There will be no make-up exams except for pre-approved, documentable absences.
Test 1 – February 15 Grading
Test 2 – March 22 A 90-100%
Test 3 – May 3 B 80-89%
C 70-79%
D 60-69%
E 59% or below
Final Grades will include a (+) and minus(-) within the major letter grades.
Other Important Dates:
Classes Begin – Monday 01/13/2014
Last Day to Add Classes – Wednesday 01/22/2014
Tuition Due – Wednesday 01/29/2014
Last Day to Drop Classes with 100% Refund – Monday 02/03/2014
Spring Break – Monday 3/10/2014 – Saturday 03/15/2014
Last Day to Withdraw (No Refunds) – Monday 3/24/2014
Last Day of Classes – Thursday 05/01/2014
Reading Day – Friday 05/02/2014
Final Exams – Saturday 05/03/2014 – Thursday 05/08/2014
Fall Graduation (Commencement) – Thursday 05/08/2014
Grades Available – Wednesday 05/14/2014
General Education E-Portfolio
This course fulfills the biological science requirement for the General Education Program at Salt Lake Community College. It is designed not only to teach the information and skills required by the discipline, but also to develop workplace skills and to teach strategies and skills that can be used for life-long learning. This course, when combined with other General Education courses, will enable you to develop broader perspectives and deeper understandings of your community and the world, as well as challenge previously held assumptions about the world and its inhabitants.
For more information: http://www.slcc.edu/learningcenter/docs/EPortfolioManual.pdf.
SLCC requires all students enrolled in General Education courses to maintain a General Education ePortfolio. YourePortfolio will allow you to include your educational goals, describe your extracurricular activities, and post your resume. When you finish your time at SLCC, yourePortfolio will then be a multi-media showcase of your educational experience.For detailed information including a StudentePortfolio Handbook, video tutorials for eachePortfolio platform, classes, locations and times of free workshops and other in-person help, visit www.slcc.edu/gened/eportfolio.
Your signature assignment will discuss and reflect on a current issue/development in the field of biological anthropology due ON DATE ASSIGNED, NO EXCEPTIONS. Instructions are available on Canvas.
Accommodations for Persons with Disabilities:
Salt Lake Community College is committed to providing a working and learning atmosphere that reasonably accommodates qualified persons with disabilities. Students with medical, psychological, learning or other disabilities desiring accommodations or services under A.D.A. must contact the Disability Resource Center. The DRC determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of these accommodations and services for the college. Please contact the DRC at the Student Center, Suite 244, Redwood Campus. (801) 957-4659 or by email: . For more information see http://www.slcc.edu/drc/.
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is taking credit for another person’s words, works, and ideas or failing to acknowledge that person’s words, works, and ideas. If you borrow from someone else you must give that person credit through proper citations. The first offense in which students are caught plagiarizing or cheating on assignments and tests will result in the failure of that assignment. A second offense may result in course failure. For more information, see http://www.slcc.edu/policies/docs/Student_Code_of_Conduct.pdf.
The instructor may use plagiarism-detecting service such a Turnitin http://turnitin.com/. Matches greater than 25% are not acceptable.
Student Responsibilities
Conduct and Expectations:
1. Students are referred to the Student Code of Conduct regarding appropriate behavior, cheating, plagiarism, discrimination, etc. Please visit: http://www.slcc.edu/policies/docs/Student_Code_of_Conduct.pdf.
2. Turn off all cell phones prior to class. We will be taking breaks, so please make/return text/calls at that time.
3. Reserve non-course conversations, reading, web surfing, etc. for outside of class.
4. Disruptive students may be asked to leave the classroom.
5. Bring textbook to class as it will be referenced during lecture.
6. Students are encouraged to attend class as it is a part of the grade. Students are responsible for all readings, assignments, and tests, regardless of attendance.
7. No late work will be accepted and there will be no make-up exams for ANY reason. The lowest test score and the two missed classes are dropped from the final grade to allow for any necessary absences. Students must turn in their signature assignment on the scheduled day of their presentation, and the presentation must be done on the day assigned. Students are responsible for staying up to date on readings, attending class, keeping track of any assignments and due dates, and being prepared for exams. The instructor does not provide any written notes nor are the PowerPoint presentations used in class available outside of lecture. It is the student’s responsibility to obtain lecture notes from another student if class is missed.
Schedule of weekly topics. Students are responsible for all readings. Readings need to be done before class in order to have a basic understanding of the material lectured on in class, and to have background information for class activities and quizzes. The Reserve Readings can be accessed online through the link provided in Canvas; the password is sapiens.
Class videos are on SLCC’s Films on Demand: http://digital.films.com.dbprox.slcc.edu/Dashboard.aspx
Note that the syllabus is not binding and is subject to change. Any changes will be announced in class and on the Canvas webpage so you are advised to check in regularly.
01/18/2014 / Introduction to course
Introduction to anthropology Scientific Method / Text Chapters
1: Introduction
Reserve Readings:
Bad Breath Gangrene, and God’s Angels
Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs
Class Activity: Scientific Method – What is it? How does it Work?
Video: Ted Talks – Jane Goodall, Amber Case, Louise Leakey
01/25/2014 / History of evolutionary theory
Natural selection / Text Chapters
2: The Development of Evolutionary Theory
Reserve Readings:
Darwin’s Rib
Evolution as Fact and Theory
Class Activity: Natural Selection - Favorable vs. Unfavorable Variation
Video: Darwin’s Evolution and Natural Selection: It’s Place in Todays World
02/01/2014 / Genetics / Text Chapter:
3: The Biological Basis of Life
Reserve Readings:
Which of our Genes Makes us Human?
Class Activity: DNA – How to Build a DNA Molecule
Somatic vs. Gametes – Mechanics of Cell Division
Video: The Book of Life: Genetics and Evolution
02/08/2014 / Principles of Inheritance Microevolution / Text Chapter:
4: Heredity and Evolution
Appendix C, p. 391-393
Reserve Readings:
Curse and Blessing of the Ghetto
Class Activity: Punnett Squares – What are they? How do they work?
Video: Peas in a Pod
02/15/2014 / Exam 1 / Video: Journey of Man: The Story of the Human Species
02/22/2014 / Survey of primates / Text Chapter
6: An Overview of the Primates
Appendix A: Atlas of Primate Skeletal Anatomy, p. 378-385
Reserve Readings:
Community Ecology
Close Encounters
Class Activity: Primates – What do they look like and where do they come from?
Video: Among the Wild Chimpanzees
03/01 /2014 / Primate behavior / Text Chapter
7: Primate Behavior
Reserve Readings:
Dance of the Sexes
Class Activity: Primate Adaptations – What do they tell us?
Video: Cousin Bonobo
03/08/2014 / Macroevolution
Primate evolution / Text Chapter
5: Process of Macroevolution
8: Primate and Hominin origins, p. 186-200
Appendix B, p. 386-390
Reserve Readings:
What, if anything, is a Zebra?
What is a Species
Planet of the Apes
Class Activity: Hominins & how they differ from Hominids
Video: Ape Genius
03/15/2014 / N O C L A S S - S P R / I N G B R E A K
03/22/2014 / Exam 2 / Video: Becoming Human – First Steps
03/29/2014 / Australopithecines
Homo erectus / Text Chapters
8: Primate and Hominin origins, p. 198-227
9: First Dispersal of the Genus Homo
Appendix B, p. 386-390
Reserve Readings:
Finding Lucy
Littlest Human/How the Hobbit Shrugged
Class Activity: Who’s Who? Introduction to Hominins
Video: Becoming Human – Birth of Humanity
04/05/2014 / ‘archaic’ Homo sapiens / Text Chapters
10: Premodern Humans
Reserve Readings:
Food for Thought
Class Activity: Funny French words and the Paleolithic
Video: Becoming Human – Last Human Standing
04/12/2014 / Modern Homo sapiens / Text Chapter
11: The Origin and Dispersal of Modern Human
Reserve Readings:
African Data Bolster New View of Modern Human Origins
Are Humans Still Evolving?
Class Activity: Brain Size and Ingenuity – Do they correlate?
Video: Will Our Kids Be A Different Species? – Juan Enriquez
04/19/2014 / Human biological variation, adaptation, growth and development / Text Chapters
12: Human Variation
Reserve Readings:
Racial Odyssey
Differential Mortality and the Donner Party Disaster
Class Activity: Race – What does it mean? Does it exist?
Video: Skin Deep: Nina Jablonski’s Theory of Race
04/26/2014 / Forensics / Text Appendices
Appendix A: Atlas of Primate Skeletal Anatomy, p. 378, 381-385
Appendix D: Sexing and Aging the Skeleton, p. 394-398
Forensic Anthropologists in the Contemporary World, p. 24--25
Paleopathology, p. 340-341
Reserve Readings:
Saartje Baartman
NAGPRA and the Future of Skeletal Research
Recovery and Identification of Civil Victims of War in Croatia
The Iceman Reconsidered
Class Activity: Forensic Identification – Guest Speaker Derinna Kopp Utah State Forensic Anthropologist
Video: Nightmare In Jamestown
05/03/2013 / Final Exam