This course offers a "hands on" introduction to the human skeleton as a means to reconstruct the lifeways of past populations. We will learn how to reconstruct the biological profile (e.g. age, sex, health), and various aspects of behavior (e.g. diet, physical activity). Students will work in teams of 2-3 with the skeletal remains from the Italian Medieval site of San Paragorio (11th-16th centuries AD).

Analysis of the behavior and ecology of nonhuman primates in their natural habitats. Topics include: the adaptive diversity of primates; ecological niche differentiation in primates; social organization and interactions; social cognition; mating and reproductive behavior; mother-infant interactions; development, life histories, and population survival; and primate conservation. Draws heavily on field studies. (Gen.Ed. BS)

Throughout the semester, we will explore in depth the interaction of biological, social, and cultural factors in determining human diet, nutrition, and health. Course content will include discussions about the various approaches to nutritional anthropology, nutritional basics, food behaviors, methods of dietary and nutritional assessment, and a series of case studies addressing causes and consequences to nutritional problems across the world. Major anthropological contributions will be highlighted, along with works from nutrition, epidemiology, and other fields.

The course is designed to introduce students to the concepts, approaches, methods, and goals of medical anthropology. In doing so we will undertake an examination of the interplay between biology and culture and how health, illness, medicine and therapy exist in different cultures. Central to this concern is the idea that culture plays a central role in definitions of health and illness.

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Integrates evolutionary biology, genetics, immunology, ecology, and behavioral ecology with sociocultural anthropology, politics, and economics. General evolutionary theory and an introduction to Darwinian medicine frame an examination of viral, bacterial, parasitic, and prion-based diseases along with their hosts, vectors, and other organisms. Particular attention to how humans have purposely and inadvertently created both biological and cultural environments for the transmission of different diseases. Considers media representations and misrepresentations.

Reconstruction of the evolution of humans and our nearest relatives, with special emphasis on comparative anatomy as well as the fossil and archaeological records of human evolution. Recommended prerequisites: introductory biological anthropology or biology course .

The history of Native North Americans from their arrival on this continent, sometime between 80,000 and 12,000 years ago, up until their initial contact with Europeans. Archaeology as a source for the telling of history sensitive to voices often excluded from the written record. (Gen.Ed. HS, DU)

Thanks to programs like CSI (and its city-specific spinoffs), Fox?s Bones, A&E?s Cold Case Files, and Court TV?s Forensic Files, interest in forensics exploded. In this class, we will critique the methods used in these shows and compare them to the actual science of forensics. Television shows do not accurately portray the way forensic science is used to solve crimes. These popular programs glamorize work that is often difficult and tedious, giving a false impression that this work is possible without a background in the sciences.