Catalog Course Search Details

 Department:    ANTH&

 Course #:    205

 Credits:    5

 Variable:     No

 IUs:    5

 CIP:    450201

 EPC:    n/a

 REV:    2024

 Course Description  

The study of human and non-human primates from a biological perspective, including the evolution of the human species over time and the biological processes involved in human adaptation. The focus is on biological principles involved in evolutionary processes, hereditary differences in human populations, the geological time scale, various forms of primates (from earliest to contemporary), the sequence of development of various fossil forms culminating in modern humans, the significance of humankind's animal heritage, and the strategic aspects in the consideration of what is distinctly human about human nature.

 Prerequisite  

Prerequisite: ENGL& 101 with a "C" or higher.

Contact Hours (based on 11 week quarter)

Lecture: 55

Lab: 0

Other: 0

Systems: 0

Clinical: 0

Intent: Distribution Requirement(s) Status:  

Academic Social Sciences  

Equivalencies At Other Institutions

Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, the student will be able to:

1. Appreciate the ongoing development of physical anthropology as a contribution to the study of humankind.
2. Understand the basic structure and chemical properties of the cell, the mechanisms of cell division (Mitosis and Meiosis), the main concepts of Mendel's laws, and how these fundamental principles of biology contribute to an understanding of the process of evolution.
3. Appreciate the vastness of geological time.
4. Comprehend the impact of humankind's animal heritage.
5. Understand the stages of ongoing development of animals from the earliest forms to primitive primates to modern-day humans.

General Education Learning Values & Outcomes

Revised August 2008 and affects outlines for 2008 year 1 and later.

Course Contents

1. The growth of evolutionary science: divine purposes vs. natural selection.
2. Small Pox, Tay-Sach Disease, and Emerging Viruses: What they tell us about the link between genetics and natural selection.
3. Biological principles: the nature of the cell, its structure, chemical properties, cell division, Mitosis, and Meiosis.
4. Linnaeus' system of taxonomy by which plant and animal worlds are meaningfully divided into interrelated categories.
5. Biology and Genetics: Key ideas of Gregor Mendel on basic principles of genetic transmission and inheritance of physical features.
6. Ideas of Charles Darwin and others who contributed to the idea tha tall living forms have progressively developed from simple, primitive origins.
7. Social Relationships in the non-human primate world and how they mirror human society.
8. The Hominid Transition: the enigma of human evolution from the ape.
9. The fossil evidence and late hominid evolution: the sequences of humanity's development.
10. The search for Eve: evolution and mitochondrial DNA.
11. Living with the past: how genetic heritage impacts on our present and future.
12. Is there Danger in being too smart? How intelligence as an adaptive specialty may contribute to our extinction as well as our success as a species.