Course Objectives and Goals: What Does It Mean to Be Human? Through Lectures and Discussions

Course Objectives and Goals: What does it mean to be human? Through lectures and discussions we will examine the major biological and cultural transformations that took place over the course of several million years, as modern Homo sapiens evolved from ancestral primate species, and developed the cultural and social foundations that gave rise to modern societies. We will examine theories of evolution as they pertain to the development of modern humans, as well as our nearest relatives among the apes, living and extinct. Evolutionary theory itself is not static, and we will examine developments from Darwin to today. What exactly is evolution? How does it work? What does it mean that we share 99% of our genome with Chimpanzees? Were there other species of humans? Are we still evolving?

With the advent of physically modern people (a mere 200,000 years ago or so) our focus will shift to the cultural and biological developments that bring us almost to the present. What, exactly, are Neanderthals, and what do they have to do with us? What did it mean for (possibly) more than one species of Homo sapiens to roam the earth at the same time? What is the significance of cultural developments in the Upper Paleolithic, as complex artistic renderings on cave walls and portable objects make a sudden appearance in the archaeological record? We’ll round out the course with a discussion of the transition from hunting and gathering as the primary way of life for all humans to the development of domestication, and the appearance of the early agricultural societies that would eventually give rise to Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Maya, and – eventually – the United States.

My goal for this course is to provide a broad base upon which further study in archaeology, bio- medical anthropology, socio-cultural anthropology, biology and related disciplines may be pursued. Though much of the course material engages with the theory and observed processes of evolution Anth 5a does not treat these subjects in the same depth or breadth as courses in Biology. Conversely, while students with prior experience in Biology courses pertaining to evolution, ecology, and genetics may find some of the material in Anth 5a overlaps with their previous courses, the focus on human evolution over the broad scale of time and the integration of biological change with a perspective on cultural processes represents an approach particular to anthropology.

Further, beyond the immediate goals of learning the details of facts and theories, assignments such as the weekly review of news pieces and the final paper assessing the claims made in a news report are intended to develop skills in assessing claims made in the popular media against data presented in scientifically vetted (peer-reviewed) sources. Assessment Policies, Assignments, and Grading: Grading is based on three exams, weekly online questions, and two brief papers – THERE ARE NO EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENTS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Although this is a lecture course, students are expected to attend lectures, prepare the readings on the day for which they are assigned, and be ready to discuss and answer questions about the readings in class. Discussion is encouraged – many of the topics we will be covering are not fact but theory and critical debate is a welcome contribution to class.

 On Sunday evenings, or before, you will respond to a brief set of questions concerning the previous week’s readings. These will be fact and concept-based questions, and will also offer the opportunity for you to raise questions for further discussion. We will take time for discussion of the responses. The weekly questions account for 20% of the final grade. The lowest grade for the semester will be dropped from the average.

 You will have three exams, taken outside of class, each of which account for 20% of your final grade. These exams will be sent to you as Google Form documents, to be completed on-line. The exams are open book, essays. There is no final exam during the exam period. • The first exam will be delivered on 2/9 and is due before the start of class on 2/12. • The second exam will be delivered on 3/16 and is due before the start of class on 3/19. • The third exam will be delivered on 4/22 and is due before the start of class on 4/27.

 Two brief papers (3 to 5 pages) are due on March 2 and April 2, each of which account for 10% of your final grade. The paper must be uploaded to LATTE unless permission has been obtained from Prof. Golden to submit a hard copy. The paper will address a topic of your choice – you will select a recent discovery (last 3 years) covered in popular publications (newspapers, National Geographic Magazine, Archaeology Magazine, etc.) concerning human evolution or early human culture, and discuss the implications of this new discovery. How does it change our understanding of human origins as presented in your textbook, if at all? Good sources of recent articles: http://anthropology.tamu.edu/news/, the New York Times, and Science Now, National Geographic, among many others. Please Note : EXTENSIONS ON PAPERS AND MAKE-UP EXAMS WILL ONLY BE GIVEN IF THE PROFESSOR OR COURSE ASSISTANTS ARE NOTIFIED AHEAD OF TIME OF AN EXISTING CONFLICT, OR YOU PROVIDE PROOF OF AN EMERGENCY THE PREVENTS YOU TAKING THE EXAM OR SUBMITTING THE PAPER.

ABSOLUTELY NO EXTENSIONS OR MAKE-UPS WILL BE GIVEN BECAUSE OF CONFLICTS WITH ASSIGNMENTS OR EXAMS IN OTHER CLASSES.

PAPERS/NEWS REVIEWS THAT ARE SUBMITTED LATE WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE INSTRUCTOR WILL BE DISCOUNTED ONE FULL LETTER GRADE PER DAY.

COMPUTER USE AND TEXTING DURING CLASS IS NOT PERMITTED WITHOUT EXPLICIT PERMISSION OF THE INSTRUCTOR. IF YOU REQUIRE A COMPUTER DURING LECTURE PLEASE DISCUSS WITH PROFESSOR GOLDEN ON YOUR FIRST DAY IN CLASS.

GRADING: A grade of “A” means “excellent” - the work is of superior quality on an exam and represents insightful, well-considered, and well-written/produced research & write-up. A grade of “A” typically represents a great deal of effort, but effort alone does not guarantee an “A.” A grade of “B” means “good” - the work fulfills all of the assignment instructions and adequately presents well-written, well-researched work. “C” means “average” - the work submitted fulfills the letter of the assignment, but lacks sufficient quality of research and/or presentation that would warrant a higher grade. A grade of “D” represents work that is unsatisfactory and has not fulfilled the stated goals of the assignment, while an “E” is a failing grade resulting from work that is incomplete, incoherent, or otherwise unacceptable given the guidelines for the assignment.

ACCOMODATIONS: If you are a student who needs academic accommodations because of a documented disability you should contact me, and present your letter of accommodation, as soon as possible. If you have questions about documenting a disability or requesting academic accommodations you should contact Undergraduate Academic Affairs at 6-3470. Letters of accommodations should be presented at the start of the semester to ensure provision of accommodations. Accommodations cannot be granted retroactively.

CHEATING (DON’T DO IT!): Academic dishonesty of any sort will be treated as a serious matter and such issues will be referred to the appropriate university offices and pursued to the fullest extent. Please refer to the current student handbook.

Textbook: Lewis, Barry, Robert Jurmain, and Lynn Kilgore (2013) Understanding Humans: Introduction to Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, Cengage Learning ISBN: 978-1-111-83177-6

Readings from the textbook are identified as UH, with a chapter number. Other assigned readings are identified by the author’s last name and will be posted to LATTE. Other web resources of interest: • http://hominin.net/ • http://www.becominghuman.org/ • http://humanorigins.si.edu/

ALL ASSIGNED READINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITH NOTICE FROM PROF. GOLDEN. M 1/12 Intro to Human Origins UH – CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO ANTHROPOLOGY W 1/14 UH - CHAPTER 2: THE DEVELOPMENT OF EVOLUTIONARY THOUGHT  A. Fuentes, et al. “On Nature and the Human,” American Anthropologist 112 (4): 512–521.  C. R. Darwin and A. R. Wallace, “Natural Selection” from Linnean Society Papers. Th 1/15  S. J. Gould “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs” from The Flamingo Smiles.  S. J. Gould “Evolution as Fact and Theory,” from Hen’s Teeth and Horse’s Toes: Reflections in Natural History. M 1/19 NO CLASS, Martin Luther King, Jr. DAY W 1/21 UH - CHAPTER 3: HEREDITY AND EVOLUTION • G. Mendel, “The Laws of Inheritance (1866)” The Garden: Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society 1901. Th 1/22  Readings Same as Above M 1/26  Readings Same as Above W 1/28  E. Pannisi, “Human Genetic Variation” Science 12/2007: 1842-1843.  D. A. Bolnik, et al. “The Science and Business of Genetic Ancestry Testing” Th 1/29 UH – CHAPTER 4: MODERN HUMAN VARIATION  R. M. Neese and G. C. Williams, “Evolution and the Origins of Disease” Scientific American 11/1998  J. Diamond, “Curse and Blessing of the M 2/2  F.Ghetto” Boas “Race Discover Problems 1991. in America”;  Bamshad and Olson “Does Race Exist?”  C. Linnaeus, excerpt from Systema naturae, th W 2/4  J.10 Marks,ed. 1758 “Science and Race” American Behavioral Scientist 40(2): 123-133.  M. Gladwell, “None of the Above” The New Th 2/5  ReadingsYorker 12/17/2007: Same as Above 92-96. M 2/9 EXAM 1 DELIVERED

W 2/11  Readings Same as Above Th 2/12 EXAM 1 DUE M 2/16 NO CLASS, WINTER BREAK W 2/18 NO CLASS, WINTER BREAK Th 2/19 NO CLASS, WINTER BREAK M 2/23 UH – CHAPTER 5: MACROEVOLUTION: PROCESSES OF VERTEBRATE AND MAMMALIAN EVOLUTION  S.J. Gould “Full House, Chaps. 1-3  C. Zimmer “What is a Species?” Scientific American 6/2008. W 2/25 UH – CHAPTER 6: AN OVERVIEW OF THE PRIMATES  J. Cohen, “Relative Differences: The Myth of 1%” Science Magazine 6/2007: 1836  J. Marks, “98% Alike? (What Our Similarity to Apes Tells Us about Our Understanding Th 2/26 UH – CHAPTERof Genetics)” 7: PRIMATE The Chronicle BEHAVIOR of Higher  G. Vogel, “Chimps in the Wild Show Stirrings of Culture” Science 284:2070- 2073  Quammen – “The Left Bank Ape: An Exclusive Look at Bonobos,” National Geographic Magazine.  M. Balter, “Why We’re Different: Probing the Gap Between Apes and Humans” Science Magazine 12/2008: 404-405. M 3/2  Paper 1 Due

W 3/4 UH – CHAPTER 9: HOMININ ORIGINS  J. Shreeve, “The Evolutionary Road” National Geographic 7/2010: 35-67.  Gibbons – “Human Evolution: Gain Came with Pain” Science News 2/2013  Carrigan, et al. - Hominids adapted to Th 3/5  W. L. Leonard, “Food for Thought” Scientific American 12/2002.  A. Summers, “Born to Run” Natural History 4/2005. M 3/9 UH – CHAPTER 10: THE FIRST DISPERSAL OF THE GENUS HOMO W 3/11  Kohn and Mithen – Handaxes: Products of Sexual Selection? Antiquity 73: 518-526 (1999).  Machin - Why Handaxes Just Aren’t that Sexy. Antiquity 82: 761–766 (2008).  Mithen - ‘Whatever Turns You On’: a Reply to Machin. Antiquity 82: 766–769 (2008).  Nowell and Chang – The Case Against Sexual Selection as an Explanation of Handaxe Morphology. PaleoAnthropology 2009: 77−88 (2009)  Hodgson - Symmetry and Th 3/12  Readings Same as Above M 3/16  Joordens, et al. - Homo erectus at Trinil on Java used shells for tool production and engraving. Nature W 3/18 UH – CHAPTERwww.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/natur 11: PREMODERN HUMANS Th 3/19  Readings Same as Above  EXAM 2 DUE M 3/23  Stringer - Why we are not all Multiregionalists Now. Trends in Ecology & W 3/25 UH – CHAPTEREvolution 12: (2014). THE ORIGIN AND DISPERSAL OF MODERN HUMANS  Kim, et al. - Khoisan hunter-gatherers have been the largest population throughout most of modern-human demographic Th 3/26  Brown, et al. - An early and enduring advanced technology originating 71,000 years ago in South Africa. Nature 491: 590–593 (2012).  Azema and Rivere – Animation in M 3/30  Nowell and Chang – “Science, the Media, and Interpretations of Upper Paleolithic Figurines. American Anthropologist W 4/1  K. Wong, “The Littlest Human” Scientific American 2/2005 Th 4/2 UH – CHAPTERCulotta 13:“When EARLY Hobbits HOLOCENE (Slowly) HUNTERS Walked the AND GATHERERS  Paper 2 due  Sandom, et al. - Global late Quaternary megafauna extinctions linked to humans, not climate change. Proc. R. Soc. B 281: 20133254. M 4/6 NO CLASS,http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.3254 SPRING BREAK W 4/8 NO CLASS, SPRING BREAK Th 4/9 NO CLASS, SPRING BREAK M 4/13  Readings Same as Above W 4/15 NO CLASS - GOLDEN & COLLINS AT CONFERENCE Th 4/16 NO CLASS - GOLDEN & COLLINS AT CONFERENCE M 4/20 UH – CHAPTER 14: FOOD PRODUCTION W 4/22  Readings Same as Above  EXAM 3 DELIVERED Th 4/23 UH – CHAPTER 15: THE FIRST CIVILIZATIONS M 4/27  Readings Same as Above  EXAM 3 DUE