This is a science group satisfying course that examines key issues related to human biological variation, with a focus on human adaptation and evolutionary medicine. This course examines genetic and phenotypic variation in contemporary human populations. It uses an evolutionary biocultural framework to understand how adaptation to various ecological stressors (e.g., temperature, solar radiation, altitude, and nutrition) promotes human biological diversity. In addition, the course focuses on how recent cultural changes (e.g., agriculture, industrialization, and urbanization) shape human variation and health, with an emphasis on chronic diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. This course uses a scientific approach, drawing on the methods, theories, and bodies of knowledge from various scientific disciplines, including anthropology, evolutionary biology, human physiology, nutritional science, medicine, and epidemiology.
This course has three main sections:
Section 1 concentrates on describing human biological variation. This section begins with an historical overview of approaches to classifying human biological diversity. This includes a discussion of the rise and fall of the concept of “race” in anthropology. This section of the course also describes how genetic and environmental factors shape human skeletal variation, and discusses how knowledge of skeletal variation is used in applied fields such as forensic anthropology.
Section 2 focuses on understanding the factors that shape biological variation in contemporary human populations. This section of the course uses an evolutionary approach and, in particular, relies on life history theory and biocultural theory to understand the forces that shape variation within and between contemporary human groups. This section of the course also describes how genetic tools allow us to document evolutionary change and detect recent selection in human populations. Further, this section of the course describes how specific environmental stressors, such as temperature, solar radiation, and hypoxia, shape contemporary human biological variation.
Section 3 introduces students to the basic principles of evolutionary medicine, and emphasizes differences between proximate and ultimate explanations of patterns of human health and disease. This section of the course uses the evolutionary medicine framework to examine infectious diseases, and includes a discussion of how major cultural transitions in human history have altered exposure to infectious disease. This section of the course pays particular attention to chronic diseases such as cancer, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
Course Format: Lecture, in-class discussion, and required weekly laboratory sections.
Expectations and Grading: Regular attendance at lectures and participation in laboratory sections are required. Grades are based on exams and lab exercises, as well as lab section attendance and participation. Required readings are essential to passing exams, completing lab assignments, and participating in lab section activities.
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