The cost of living is ridiculous, but one nice thing about living so close to the beach (besides the beach) is that the semester begins after Labor Day. Many of our students move into vacation homes when the season ends. So although many of you are scrambling to write your syllabi for an August start, we have a bit longer to wallow in procrastination here. It's August, the Sunday of the year.
Since syllabi are on our minds, I thought I'd share mine, once again, because I've changed it, once again.I get bored reading the same books and I'm ever-hopeful that I can improve my courses. Both of those things mean there's always serious work to be done on the teaching spectrum of this job--something that flies in the face of advice for securing tenure. But what good is that advice if teaching is valued at your institution? And what good is that advice when it's given to a lifelong learner who just cannot imagine heeding it? (I may answer these questions in an upcoming post about my path to being awarded tenure.)
Anyway, this year in APG 201: Human Origins (Introduction to Biological Anthropology; a requirement for majors and a general education course in the natural sciences), we're reading Your Inner Fish again, but we're replacing Paleofantasy with The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being. There is no textbook for good reason. And, as a bonus, students will only spend up to about 30 bucks total on materials.
Yes, I'm sort of chums with, and rather fond of, both books' authors, especially IUB's. But so what? These are fantastic books and complement beautifully not only one another but, most importantly, the material I cover in the classroom.
There will be three quizzes and a research project (focusing on information literacy) that add up to 50% of the course and a notebook that makes up the other 50%. The notebook has all the classroom notes that students take (imperative) and includes their hand-written daily assignments (yes, there are daily assignments) based on the assigned readings/viewings/activities.
Sure, it seems like a lot of grading. There are 120 students in this class, but I assure you that I am not insane. Number one: I tried the notebook experience last semester and it was hard work but it was manageable. Number two: If I can't teach at a small liberal arts college, I can still act like I do. Students deserve that experience. And so do I. The grading robots help out with the quizzes (mostly multiple-choice), but otherwise, it's up to me. I don't nit-pick with my red pen, at least not always. They just have to complete the notebook, but very thoughtfully and professionally so, to get credit. But I think it's a much much richer experience if they are encouraged to read along and to think along like this, on their own. And a great way to improve independent reading, writing, and thinking is to have them do it regularly, habitually--just like with sports. Detailed feedback or not, they will improve on these fronts just by practicing them, or they will fail the course for not doing the work. Don't come to practice, get cut from the team. It's so simple, yet so incredibly difficult for far too many with a high school diploma.
Anyway, here's the plan. If it helps you out, I'm honored. If you do something similar it would be encouraging if you could let me know (like if you use no textbook, or if you have them produce a notebook, or if you too rearrange the order of the material, which runs counter to every textbook, all of which put natural selection and genetics right up front and absolutely ruin the evolution learning experience to my mind, as I've written before). The headings for each day (see below) describe that day's lecture/discussion topic and there aren't always readings that address those specifically! I provide quite a bit of information in the form of handouts when that's the case. Also, I have more readings listed here than one might expect for an introductory level, general education course. The saying goes that students should spend three hours outside class for every hour inside class. And I agree. I also think it's a tragedy and, worse, a financial scam (some are $100k in debt... for a state school!) if they're not challenged enough to do much work outside of class. Some of the readings listed are there for students who need help understanding lecture or who missed lecture. That is, some of the readings can be skipped if students are present and engaged with lecture, which draws heavily on them. Of course, the readings that the assignments rest on cannot be skipped. And, of course, my questions based on the readings will improve each semester. Enough rambling, though. Here's the plan:
APG 201: Human origins
Unit 1. OBSERVE. This view of life. Our place in nature.
Big questions: What is the anthropological perspective? What is the scientific approach to understanding human origins? What is a human? What are human traits? How do humans fit on the Tree of Life? What is evolution?
1.1 – Introduction to course*
*I used to do Dog Origins with my dog, as a metaphor for what we were about to do with humans, but my dog is getting too old and frail and I've got this beautiful new baby so I'm going to use my baby instead and talk about his development and theirs, etc...to set up both the books and the lectures to follow. I don't pass out the syllabus until the end of this first day. We go over it on the second day of class.
Notebook Assignment
· In-class writing assignment ("What is evolution?")
1.2 – Overview of course
Reading/viewing
· IUB, Chapter 1: Beginnings - Roberts
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: Reflect on Roberts’ chapter and be sure to include what it’s got to do with human evolution.
1.3 – Doing Biological Anthropology
Reading/viewing
· What is it like to be a biological anthropologist? A Field Paleontologist's Point of View – Su (Nature Education)
· Notes from the Field: A Primatologist's Point of View – Morgan (Nature Education)
· Expedition Rusinga (video; 8 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y1puNyB9e8
· The ape in the trees – Dunsworth (The Mermaid’s Tale)
· How Do We Know When Our Ancestors Lost Their Tails? (video; 4 min)
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: Why do humans study biological anthropology? And also, why take this course? Be as objective or as personal as you would like with your answer.
1.4 – Scientific process
Reading/viewing
· How Science Works (video; 10 min):
· Understanding science: How Science Works, pages 1-21; starts here:
· Carl Sagan’s Rules for Critical Thinking and Nonsense Detection
· 10 Scientific Ideas That Scientists Wish You Would Stop Misusing
Notebook Assignment
· Scientific Process worksheet - Located at end of syllabus
· Osteology and comparative anatomy worksheet - Located at end of syllabus
1.5 – Linnaeus and the Order Primates – NOTEBOOK CHECK
Reading/viewing
· IUB, Chapter 2: Heads and brains – Roberts
· Characteristics of Crown Primates – Kirk (Nature Education)
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: Reflect on Roberts’ chapter and be sure to include what it’s got to do with human evolution.
· Primate Expert worksheet - Located at end of syllabus
1.6 – Primate taxonomy
Reading/viewing
· IUB, Chapter 3: Skulls and senses – Roberts
· Many primate video clips –Posted on Sakai
· Old World monkeys – Lawrence and Cords (Nature Education)
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: Reflect on Roberts’ chapter and be sure to include what it’s got to do with human evolution.
· In a half-page or more: Write about your primate video viewing experience, for example, you might write about what you saw, at face value, or you might want to write about what defied your expectations or what surprised you, or what you would like to learn more about.
1.7 – Locomotion and encephalization
Reading/viewing
· IUB, Chapter 4: Speech and gills - Roberts
· Many primate video clips –Posted on Sakai
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: Reflect on Roberts’ chapter and be sure to include what it’s got to do with human evolution.
· In a half-page or more: Without looking at any resources except for these films, come up with some categories for the different types of primate locomotion, give those categories names and definitions, and list which species in the films fall into which categories you’ve created.
1.8 – Tool use and communication
Reading/viewing
· IUB, Chapter 5: Spine and segments – Roberts
· The Human Spark 2 (video; 55 mins)
· Primate locomotion – Gebo (Nature Education)
· Primate Communication – Zuberbuhler (Nature Ed)
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: Reflect on Roberts’ chapter and be sure to include what it’s got to do with human evolution.
· In a half-page or more: Reflect on The Human Spark 2, highlighting something you already knew and also something you learned that was brand new to you. What is the human spark?
1.9 - Diet
Reading/viewing
· IUB, Chapter 6: Ribs, lungs and hearts– Roberts
· IUB, Chapter 7: Guts and yolk sacs – Roberts
· Peace Among Primates – Sapolsky (The Greater Good)
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: Reflect on Roberts’ chapters and be sure to include what it’s got to do with human evolution.
· In a half-page or more: Reflect meaningfully on the article by Sapolsky, relating it to your life is fine but not required.
1.10 - Sociality
Reading/viewing
· IUB, Chapter 8: Gonads, genitals and gestation – Roberts
· What Influences the Size of Groups in Which Primates Choose to Live? – Chapman & Teichroeb (Nature Ed)
· Primate Sociality and Social Systems – Swedell (Nature Ed)
· Primates in communities – Lambert (Nature Ed)
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: Reflect on Roberts’ chapter and be sure to include what it’s got to do with human evolution.
1.11 – Evolution and Darwin’s Evidence
Reading/viewing
· Two chapters from The Autobiography of Charles Darwin: "Voyage…" (p. 71-81 ) and "An account of how several books arose" (p. 116- 135)
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: What circumstances or experiences influenced Darwin's thinking?
1.12 - Phylogeny
Reading/viewing
· Reading a phylogenetic tree – Baum (Nature Ed)
· Trait Evolution on a Phylogenetic Tree – Baum (Nature Ed)
Notebook Assignment
· Phylogeny worksheet - Located at end of syllabus
1.13 – The modern evidence that Darwin wishes he had
Reading/viewing
· YIF, Chapter 1: Finding Your Inner Fish - Shubin
· Amazing Places, Amazing Fossils: Tiktaalik (video; 5 mins)
· YIF, Chapter 2: Getting a Grip - Shubin
· The Ancient History of the Human Hand (video; 4 mins)
· IUB, Chapter 9: On the nature of limbs – Roberts
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: What does Shubin mean by "your inner fish"? What's the connection between a fish’s fin and your hand? How could you falsify evolutionary theory?
· In a half-page or more: Reflect on Roberts’ chapter and be sure to include what it’s got to do with human evolution.
1.14 – Quiz 1– NOTEBOOK CHECK
Unit 2. EXPLAIN and PREDICT. Explaining the similarities and differences. How evolution works.
Big Questions: Why are we like our parents but not exactly? Why are we like other species but not exactly? How did human traits and human variation evolve? How do we know what the last common ancestor (LCA) was like?
2.1 – Inheritance and gene expression, 1
Extra credit!!! Make a time machine then go back to the start of the semester, attend classes, take notes, read all of the things, think about all of the things, complete the assignments, and study for the quizzes.
Reading/viewing
· YIF, Chapter 3: Handy Genes - Shubin
· YIF, Chapter 4: Teeth Everywhere - Shubin
· The Evolution of Your Teeth (video; 3 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohq3CoOKEoo
· YIF, Chapter 5: Getting ahead - Shubin
· Our Fishy Brain (video; 2.5 mins) http://video.pbs.org/video/2365207797/
· Developing the Chromosome Theory – O’Connor (Nature Ed)
· Genetic Recombination – Clancy (Nature Ed)
· What is a Gene? Colinearity and Transcription Units – Pray (Nature Ed)
· RNA functions – Clancy (Nature Ed)
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: What did you learn about how to do paleontology from the Shubin chapters? What does he mean by your "inner shark"?
2.2 – Inheritance and gene expression, 2
Reading/viewing
· YIF, Chapter 6: The Best-Laid (Body) Plans - Shubin
· YIF, Chapter 7: Adventures in Bodybuilding – Shubin
· Hox Genes in Development: The Hox Code – Myers (Nature Ed)
· Gregor Mendel and the Principles of Inheritance – Miko (Nature Ed)
· Mendelian Genetics: Patterns of Inheritance and Single-Gene Disorders – Chial (Nature Ed)
· Phenotypic Range of Gene Expression: Environmental Influence – Lobo & Shaw (Nature Ed)
· Genetic Dominance: Genotype-Phenotype Relationships – Miko (Nature Ed)
· Pleiotropy: One Gene Can Affect Multiple Traits – Lobo (Nature Ed)
· Polygenic Inheritance and Gene Mapping – Chial (Nature Ed)
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: What are Hox genes and, according to Shubin, what do they have to do with linking a fruit fly to you? What is one benefit to being a sponge?
2.3 – Mutation and gene flow
Reading/viewing
· YIF, Chapter 8: Making Scents - Shubin
· YIF, Chapter 9: Vision - Shubin
· Finding the Origins of Human Color Vision (video; 5 mins)
· YIF, Chapter 10: Ears - Shubin
· We Hear with the Bones that Reptiles Eat With (video; 4 mins)
· Evolution Is Change in the Inherited Traits of a Population through Successive Generations – Forbes and Krimmel (Nature Ed)
· Mutations Are the Raw Materials of Evolution – Carlin (Nature Ed)
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: After reading the Shubin chapters… Is it fair to say that when you smell something, that something is touching your brain? Why is it called the eyeless gene if you can have it and still have eyes? How does hearing work? What does your ear do besides hear, and how? What does drinking lots of alcohol do to your ears?
· Scenario building assignment - Located at end of syllabus
2.4 – Genetic drift
Reading/viewing
· Neutral Theory: The null hypothesis of molecular evolution – Duret (Nature Ed)
· Things Genes Can’t Do – Weiss and Buchanan (Aeon)
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: Reflect meaningfully on the Weiss and Buchanan article and highlight something that you already knew, but also the things that you learned that are brand new to you.
2.5 – Natural selection
Reading/viewing
· Negative selection – Loewe (Nature Ed)
· On the mythology of natural selection. Part I: Introduction – Weiss (The Mermaid’s Tale)
· On the mythology of natural selection. Part II: Classical Darwinism– Weiss (The Mermaid’s Tale)
· Secrets of Charles Darwin’s Breakthrough - Bauer (Salon)
· Natural selection, genetic drift and gene flow do not act in isolation in natural populations – Andrews (Nature Ed)
· Sexual selection – Brennan (Nature Ed)
Notebook Assignment
· Wisdom Teeth worksheet - Located at end of syllabus
2.6 – Malaria resistance and lactase persistence
Reading/viewing
· Natural Selection: Uncovering Mechanisms of Evolutionary Adaptation to Infectious Disease – Sabeti (Nature Ed)
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: How can natural selection explain the prevalence of sickle cell anemia?
2.7 – Building evolutionary scenarios
Reading/viewing
· Evolution is the only natural explanation – Dunsworth (The Mermaid’s Tale)
· The F-words of Evolution – Dunsworth (The Mermaid’s Tale)
· Another F-word of evolution – Dunsworth (The Mermaid’s Tale)
· Mutation not natural selection drives evolution – Tarlach (about Nei; Discover Magazine)
Notebook Assignment
· Drift vs. Selection worksheet - Located at end of syllabus
· Looking back at scenario building assignment - Located at end of syllabus
2.8 – Species and speciation
Reading/viewing
· Why should we care about species? – Hey (Nature Ed)
· Speciation: The origin of new species – Safran (Nature Ed)
· The maintenance of species diversity – Levine (Nature Ed)
· Macroevolution: Examples from the Primate World – Clee & Gonder (Nature Ed)
· Primate Speciation: A Case Study of African Apes – Mitchell & Gonder (Nature Ed)
http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/primate-speciation-a-case-study-of-african-96682434
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: What are some hypotheses for how or why the African apes, including humans, diverged? Why might genetic divergence and species divergence not occur in sync?
2.9 – Genomics, molecular clocks, and the LCA
Reading/viewing
· The Onion Test – Gregory (Genomicron)
· The Molecular Clock and Estimating Species Divergence – Ho (Nature Ed)
http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/the-molecular-clock-and-estimating-species-divergence-41971
· Lice and Human Evolution (video; 11 mins) http://video.pbs.org/video/1790635347/
Notebook Assignment
· Speciation and molecular clocks worksheet - Located at end of syllabus
2.10 – Quiz 2 – NOTEBOOK CHECK
Unit 3. TEST. Evolving humans, past and present. Ancient evidence for our extinct hominin relatives. Modern human origins and variation. The cultural controversy over evolution.
Big Questions: How did human traits evolve? How and why do humans vary? Should we look to our ancestors as a lifestyle guide? Are we still evolving? Why is human evolution misunderstood and why is it controversial?
3.1 – Fossils, geology, and dating methods
Reading/viewing
· Planet without apes? – Stanford (Huffington Post)
· How to Become a Primate Fossil – Dunsworth (Nature Ed)
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: What could lead to a future on Earth without apes? What kinds of evidence would such a process leave behind for future humans to use for explaining why apes went extinct?
3.2 – The primate fossil record; Origins of bipedalism
Reading/viewing
· Dating Rocks and Fossils Using Geologic Methods – Peppe (Nature Ed)
Notebook Assignment
· Geology worksheet - Located at end of syllabus
3.3 – Sahelanthropus, Orrorin, Ardipithecus - NOTEBOOK CHECK
Reading/viewing
· Desktop Diaries: Tim White (video; 7 mi– Posted on Sakai)
· Ancient Human Ancestors: Walking in the woods (video; 4 mins)
· Lucy (video; 5 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8Lkk6u-wQM
· Trowelblazers (blog): http://trowelblazers.tumblr.com/
· An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (blog): http://www.ellencurrano.me/blog/
· Overview of hominin evolution – Pontzer (Nature Ed)
· The Earliest Hominins: Sahelanthropus, Orrorin, and Ardipithecus - Su (Nature Ed):
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: Go to each of the blogs above (Trowelblazers and An Unsuitable…), choose one woman from each and briefly discuss her contribution to scientific knowledge of the world.
3.4 – Australopithecus and Paranthropus
Reading/viewing
· Lucy: A marvelous specimen – Schrein (Nature Ed)
· The "Robust" Australopiths – Constantino (Nature Ed)
http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/the-robust-australopiths-84076648Notebook Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: Describe something monumental (either for paleoanthropology or for you personally) to be learned or realized thanks to Lucy.
3.5 – The first stone tool makers and Homo habilis
Reading/viewing
· Ancient Hands, Ancient Tools (video; 5 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_ew9J8lpwo
· A Primer on Paleolithic Technology – Ferraro (Nature Ed)
· Evidence for Meat-Eating by Early Humans – Pobiner (Nature Ed)
· Archaeologists officially declare collective sigh over “Paleo Diet”
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: What are the academic criticisms of the paleo diet? Can you name something at the grocery store that could count as "paleo"? Why did I ask this question?
3.6 – Homo erectus
Reading/viewing
· Homo erectus - A Bigger, Smarter, Faster Hominin Lineage – Van Arsdale (Nature Ed)
Notebook Assignment
· In a half page or more: Make the case for Homo erectusbeing our species’ direct ancestor, as opposed to a more distant relative like the robust australopiths/Paranthropus.
3.7– Neanderthals
Reading/viewing
· Archaic Homo sapiens – Bae (Nature Ed)
· What happened to the Neanderthals? – Harvati (Nature Ed)
· Neanderthal Behavior – Monnier (Nature Ed)
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: What happened to the Neanderthals?
3.8 - Anatomically modern Homo sapiens - RESEARCH PROJECT DUE
Reading/viewing
· The Transition to Modern Behavior – Wurz (Nature Ed)
Notebook Assignment
· the printed parts of the Research Project will go here for day 3.8
3.9 – Models of human origins and geographic dispersal
Reading/viewing
· The Neanderthal Inside Us (video; 4 mins)
· Anthropological genetics: Inferring the history of our species through the analysis of DNA – Hodgson & Disotell (Evolution: Education and Outreach)
· Testing models of modern human origins with archaeology and anatomy – Tryon & Bailey (Nature Ed)
· Human Evolutionary Tree – Adams (Nature Ed)
· Paternity Testing: Blood Types and DNA – Adams (Nature Ed)
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: Choose two models for human origins and dispersal and compare and contrast them.
3.10 - Race and evolution’s P.R. problem
Reading/viewing
· From the Belgian Congo to the Bronx Zoo (NPR)
· A True and Faithful Account of Mr. Ota Benga the Pygmy, Written by M. Berman, Zookeeper – Mansbach
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: Why was Ota Benga brought to the U.S.? Why was Ota Benga brought to the Bronx Zoo? Regarding issues that Ota Benga’s story raised, what do religious and evolutionary perspectives have in common? Why doesn’t a story like Ota Benga’s take place today?
3.11 – Skin pigmentation
Reading/viewing
· Understanding Race: http://www.understandingrace.org/
· In the Name of Darwin – Kevles (PBS) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/darwin/nameof/
· Human Skin Color Variation (NMNH): http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/genetics/skin-color
· Human Races May Have Biological Meaning, But Races Mean Nothing About Humanity – Khan (Discover blogs)
· Are humans hard-wired for racial prejudice? - Sapolsky (LA Times)
Notebook Assignment
· Peruse the whole Understanding Race site then take the quiz and prove that you completed it by listing the correct answers. (just letters is fine)
· In a half-page or more: Why is evolution controversial?
3.12 – The cultural controversy over evolution
Reading/viewing
· Does Evolutionary Theory Need a Rethink? (Nature)
· You'd have to be science illiterate to think "believe in evolution" measures science literacy –Kahan (The Cultural Cognition Project)
· Even Atheists Intuitively Believe in a Creator – Jacobs (Pacific Standard)
· We are not the boss of natural selection – Dunsworth (io9)
Notebook Assignment
· In a half page or more: Why is evolution controversial?
· In a half-page or more: Are we still evolving? Why did I ask this question?
3.13 – Building evolutionary scenarios
Notebook Assignment
· Revise your research project essay to make it excellent
· In a half-page or more: After re-reading the essay you wrote in class on Day 1.1 ("What is evolution?") compose a letter to yourself highlighting what you were right about and what you were wrong about or what was incomplete about your answer based on what you learned this semester.
3.14 - Quiz 3
3.15 – Conclusion to course – NOTEBOOK CHECK
Reading/viewing
· YIF, Chapter 11: The Meaning of It All – Shubin
· IUB, The Making of Us - Roberts
· Evolution reduces the meaning of life to survival and reproduction... Is that bad? – Dunsworth (The Mermaid’s Tale)
Notebook Assignment
· In a half-page or more: Briefly describe what you learned this semester. And, reflect on what you're still left wondering and how you could find the answers to your remaining questions.
· In a half-page or more: Can an evolutionary perspective have a positive impact on someone’s life? Explain why you answered yes or no.
Final Exam Time Slot: No final exam: Instead, discuss notebook and course with Dr. Dunsworth and receive grade in person between 8 am-noon today in Chafee 132.
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