ANTH 1911W is also offered in Fall 2023
ANTH 1911W is also offered in Fall 2022
ANTH 1911W is also offered in Spring 2022
Spring 2022 | ANTH 1911W Section 001: Changing Human Adaptations (66239)
- Instructor(s)
- Class Component:
- Discussion
- Credits:
- 3 Credits
- Grading Basis:
- A-F only
- Instructor Consent:
- No Special Consent Required
- Instruction Mode:
- In Person Term Based
- Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Freshman Seminar
- Enrollment Requirements:
- Freshman and FRFY
- Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
Tue,
Thu 11:15AM - 12:30PM
UMTC, West Bank
Hubert H Humphrey Center 50A
- Enrollment Status:
Open (18 of 19 seats filled)
- Also Offered:
- Course Catalog Description:
- Humans, like other species, are integral to the ecology of the earth. We display a series of adaptations that allow us to eat, grow, find mates, and raise offspring. Do humans have a fundamental ecological niche? How have humans adapted to climate change over time and space, for example, as we spread out of Africa, into Eurasia and then into the Americas? We consider how climate, environmental, and habitat reconstructions are made by scientists; and how diets, food acquisition strategies, geographic distribution, and social structure are known to paleoanthropologists. We consider changes in the human gut, tooth size, body size, and social behaviors. We also explore how long humans have made a significant impact on the environment, via hunting and overhunting, planting food, population growth and greenhouse gas emissions. When did the "Anthropocene" begin?
- Class Description:
- Humans, like all species, are an integral part of the ecology of the earth. We display a series of adaptations that allow us to eat, grow, find mates, and raise offspring. We will study adaptation and the scientific methods for reconstructing climate and environments inhabited by humans and our ancestors over the last few million years. How have human habitats and adaptations changed over time? We study methods of paleoenvironmental reconstruction, and the spread of humans around the globe. Are humans the ultimate invasive species? How do our adaptations change even as we change our own environment? For humans, our interactions with the environment include a high dependence on sociality, technology, agriculture, trade, and today, fossil fuels. We consider changes in human diets, methods of food acquisition, geographic distribution, and social structure, from the earliest ape-like humans through the Stone Age on into the present day to explore how long humans have made a significant impact on the environment. Counts as LE Environment requirement.
- Class Format:
- The core of this class is discussion of readings. Some Film clips. Field trip to the Lac Core Facility.
- Workload:
- Students read about 3 articles a week, in class participation in discussions of these readings is required. 1 page active reading assignment due weekly. There are short in class writing assignments. One take-home essay 2-3 pages long. Research paper of about 8 pages with references.
- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/66239/1223
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 17 October 2017
ClassInfo Links - Spring 2022 Anthropology Classes