STANDARD SYLLABUS

							                                        STANDARD SYLLABUS

                          Sex, Science and Anthropological Inquiry
                                         ANTH 106


         Anthropology 106 is core course focusing on developing scientific literacy. It provides
the student with an introduction to the study of issues of sex and gender within
physical/biological anthropology. Recent anthropological theories concerning the role of
sex/gender in human adaptation, human evolution, human biology, and human behavior are
evaluated. In the process, this course examines the role that society plays in the formulation of
scientific processes and conclusions, examines bias within and concerning science, and
encourages students to formulate their own well-reasoned argued conclusions. Students will
become familiar with human genetics, patterns of human heredity, the mechanisms of biological
evolution, the nature/nurture debate, primate taxonomy and behavior, and early human fossil
evidence and interpretation.

    Knowledge Area(s) satisfied: Scientific Literacy
             Skill(s) Developed: Critical Thinking Skills and Dispositions
 Values Requirement(s) satisfied: Understanding Diversity in the United States or the
                                  World


                                      Learning Objectives:

Knowledge Area (Scientific Literacy):

Students will be introduced to and expected to understand the following learning goals:

1. How scientific conclusions and theories are developed. What constitutes reasonable data,
multiple types of analyses, the role of interpretation, and the requisite need for reproducibility,
testability, verification.

2. How a scientific understanding of the world differs from religious understandings. What
defines the scientific process. What defines a religious experience? How the two can co-exist.
The differences in approaches, goals, and questions posed by the two understandings.

3. The history of scientific inquiry. How questions regarding the world change over time. How
techniques to answer questions change over time. How social constructs influence questions,
techniques, conclusions.

4. The role and implications of women s participation and contribution to science. How social,
political, and economic ideas concerning women s roles has impacted and continues to impact the
scientific processes. How exclusion of women from education impacts science. Arguments
involving how science is an engendered process.

5. Biological determinism. How historical arguments concluding that women do not biologically
have the intellectual capacity to be scientists impacts modern perception of women and men.
6. The genetic basis of human biology. An introduction to chromosomes and genes. How they
function. Their contribution to sex differences. How heritable traits can be based upon a person s
sex. The complicating roles of sex-linked, sex-influenced, and sex-limited traits in understanding
the biological differences between females and males.

7. Biological mechanisms of evolution. How evolution occurs on the genetic level. How
evolutionary mechanisms influence the physical appearance of human groups.

8. Fundamental hypotheses in behavioral ecology/sociobiology. Arguments concerning the role
that our biology plays in our behavior vs. the role of environment. How behavioral differences
between the sexes might have a biological bases. How behavioral differences between the sexes
might be socially influenced.

9. Primatology and human behavioral differences. What does the taxonomic classification of
Primate include, assert, and assume. What studies using primates as models have contributed to
closer examination of human sex differences.

10. Paleoanthropology and human sex differences. What skeletal and material evidence has been
recovered and used to infer the behavior of human s earliest ancestors. Multiple hypotheses based
upon these data.

This course will focus on the following Competencies expected within Scientific Literacy:

a. Perceive the basic philosophical and historical foundations of contemporary science.
This course exposes students to the foundations of modern scientific thought. Questions asked by
early civilizations are introduced and discussed. The philosophical underpinnings of modern
science such as questions concerning ontology, introduced during the Golden Age of Greece, are
proposed. The growth of mathematical knowledge, technological ability, and specialized
institutions for education is discussed, along with the important role and influence that social
understandings, social concepts, and belief systems play. These topics are particularly addressed
in Learning Goals 2 and 3. For instance, students will learn about the benefits and limitations of
education in the Greek world, in the centers for learning during the medieval period, and in
universities and scientific associations in more modern times. Particular focus will be placed upon
the role that women were allowed to play, the contributions that they were allowed to make, the
changing accessibility to knowledge and intellectual support. These topics are addressed in
Learning Goals 4 and 5.

b. Demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental principles, concepts, and knowledge of the
sciences.
Students will be introduced to the mechanics of the scientific process itself. This includes
discussion on what are data, what makes data reasonable, what constitutes analysis, how data can
be analyzed in different ways, the critical role of interpretation in the scientific process, and the
requisite need for a conclusion to be testable, repeatable, and potentially disproven. These topics
are addressed in Learning Goals 1 and 2. Particular scientific knowledge is achieved through the
introduction of basic cell biology and human genetics. Students are introduced to the structure
and function of genes, the processes of cell division, and the confounding role that the sex
chromosomes play in contributing to human phenotypes. These topics are addressed in Learning
Goal 7. Students are introduced to the biological mechanisms of evolution, and are expected to
understand the differences, complexities, and potential contributions of each mechanism. This is
addressed in Learning Goal 8. Combining an understanding of evolutionary mechanisms and
genetics, students are then exposed to scientific theories which tackle the issue of whether
differences in behavior between the sexes is biologically based or environmentally produced.
This is addressed in Learning Goal 8. Students are also introduced to human taxonomy, the
theoretical premises which place humans within the Order Primates, and the premises upon which
human are placed in relation to the Great Apes. Specific scientific studies focusing on primate
behavior are introduced as a means of tackling the question of whether human sex differences are
biologically based. These topics are addressed by Learning Goal 9. Lastly, students are
introduced to the paleoanthropological data both skeletal and material, in order to assess whether
differences in behavior between the sexes has roots in prehistory. Students will be introduced to
details (data) and guided through multiple hypotheses developed on this subject. This topic is
addressed in Learning Goal 10.

c. Participates in a direct experience of scientific inquiry using methodologies and tools of
science.
Although this course does not have a laboratory component, students are exposed to the scientific
process in class. For instance, students are shown two films focusing on similar primate groups.
They are asked to use the images in the films as data, develop ways to analyze the data, develop
multiple interpretations, and propose conclusions based upon this process and their critical
evaluation of bias, confounding factors, and social constraints. This exercise addresses Learning
Goals 1, 2, and 9. Students also participate in an in-class experiment using peas, where small
groups of students record the genotypic results representing a small interbreeding population in
order to understand and document the theoretical presence of the evolutionary mechanism of gene
drift. This exercise addresses Learning Goal 7.

d. Use cognitive and mathematical skills employed by scientists.
This course rarely focuses on memorization of facts. Rather, emphasis is placed on understanding
science through process and critical evaluation. Hence, regardless of the topic being discussed or
introduced, cognitive skills are exercised. Students must employ basic mathematical skills in two
segments of this course. First, they are taught to calculate mathematically genetic change
(evolution) within and between simulated populations. They are introduced and must employ
mathematical calculations to determine genetic relatedness between family members.

e. Demonstrate the capacity to make sound and ethical judgments about the impact of science
and technology on the individual, community, and society.
Much time and attention is focused in this course on the critical evaluation of scientific
hypotheses. This leaves the student with an ability to assess the applicability of hypotheses to
their lives, the reliability of a particular hypothesis, and the robustness of the hypothesis. The
course also introduces students to many instances, both in the past and today, where scientific
understanding is and was faulty, biased, and flawed. Where individuals, based on their sex, were
victims of scientific thought, excluded from scientific thought, or narrowly defined by scientific
hypotheses. The course highlights current hypotheses that might, with further critical evaluation
and review, display similar shortcomings and have similar impact.

f. Demonstrate the capacity to utilize scientific knowledge to promote health and well-being of
the individual, community, and society.
The emphasis of this course on the influence that society plays in our understanding the world,
and the role that science plays in this understanding, allows students to explore the impact of
scientific thought on individuals, the impact it has on communities, and the impact that it has on
the greater society within which the student exists. In particular, Learning Goals 5 and 8, which
focus on theories that explore the role that biology and/or environment play in human sex
differences allow the students to evaluate whether the scientific knowledge holds promise and
merit to the individual, community and society.
g. Demonstrate an understanding of the interconnection among the various components of the
Earth s biosphere and the impact of human activity.
This course emphasizes human connectedness with other living creatures. It focuses on biological
processes that affect all living organisms, allowing the student to appreciate complexity and
similarity. The exploration of the role that environment plays in human behavior, and the impact
of environmental change on human behavior, highlights the impact of human life on Earth.


Skills (Critical Thinking Skills and Dispositions):

Throughout this course students will be expected to understand a number of fundamental
scientific concepts in genetics, evolution, primatology, and paleoanthropology. However, the
focus of the course is to generate discussion on the application of these concepts. This will
require students to recognize data through film, journal articles, the media, and books. It will then
require them to analyze the arguments that authors are making and to evaluate, using their
understanding of the scientific process, to assess whether the conclusions are reasonable. This
process conforms to competencies b, c, d, & e articulated for the critical thinking skill in that it
requires students analyze extensively the veracity of and connection between information and
opinions from a broad range of sources and to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these.
Furthermore, students are encouraged to develop additional connections between various sources
of information and to formulate new approaches or questions about issues under discussion.
Through discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of the scientific arguments students will
have the foundation upon which they can develop their own opinions. The course focus on the
role that social concepts and contexts play in the development of scientific interpretation will
further allow the student to evaluate the potential biases, limitations, and potential of particular
scientific studies.


Values Area (Understanding Diversity in the United States or the World):

Serving as both an Anthropology and a Women s Studies course, this course focuses on issues of
sex and gender in human existence. In particular, within Learning Goal 5 (The role and
implications of women’s participation and contribution to science), students are introduced to the
premise that the exclusion of women from the scientific process has deeply impacted our
understanding of the world and our characterization of human capacities.

Learning Goal 6 (focusing on the concept of biological determinism) highlights ways in which
social, political, and economic ideas concerning women and gender roles has impacted and
continues to impact human life. Students explore the impact of assuming that one group of people
have capabilities which are far more socially valued that capabilities of others. They explore the
validity of biological differences between the sexes and importance that environment might play.

Within Learning Goals 6-10, students are introduced to the social and biological complexity of
human sex differences and gender roles. They are introduced to theories which seek to explain
causes for female/male differences, and then are expected to evaluate the theories in light of
stereotypes, culture bias, belief systems, and available data. The result of the evaluations is
recognition that issues concerning sex and gender are tremendously complex, require close
examination, do not have definitive answers, and affect the lives of all around us.
All of the Learning Goals of Anthropology 106 speak to aspects that underlie the complexity of
human diversity (Diversity Value Competency a.) as well as those factors that impact identity
formation (Diversity Value Competency b.) and group formation (Diversity Value Competency
c.), particularly as they relate to the roles of sex and gender. Because the course takes a
comparative view of sex/gender issues across a variety of societies, Diversity Value Competency
d. is a major focus of the course material.
                                     Learning Activities:


Possible array of texts:
  E. O. Wilson, On Human Nature. Harvard Univ Press
  S. B. Hrdy, The Woman that Never Evolved. Harvard Univ Press

Note: (Instructors may vary the textbooks.)

Possible evaluation methods:
  Discussion
  Quizzes
  Examinations
  Papers
  Presentations

Note: (Instructors may vary the evaluation categories.)

Sample Semester Schedule:

Week 1:         Introduction / Scientific processes

Week 2:         History of Science and Gender

Week 3:         Chromosomes and Genes / Human Sex Differences

Week 4:         Principles of Human Heredity

Week 5:         Hormones

Week 6:         Understanding Biological Evolution

Week 7:         Does Biology Affect Behavior?

Week 8:         Biology and Behavior

Week 9:         Understanding Altruism and Aggression

Week 10:        Sex Differences

Week 11:        Intro to Primates

Week 12:        Have Women Evolved?

Week 13:        Discussion of Hrdy

Week 14:        Perspectives and Interpretation of Behavior

Week 15:        Intro to Human Fossil Record and Interpretation
Note: (Instructors may vary the presentation of topics to some degree, but the material covered
will remain the same.