This course will examine a fundamental question in the life and social sciences: how did humans evolve? The class will address the principles of evolution, and explore what the fossil record plus the behavior and morphological characteristics of modern primates (human and non) can tell us about the evolutionary history of our species. It will also address how environmental and cultural variation interacts to produce differences between modern human populations.

Class Format:

In addition to covering information from the textbook, lectures will rely on a variety of multimedia sources (film, television, advertisements, etc.) to teach students about how human evolution research is conducted, and address common misperceptions about human evolution and biological variation.

As a DC course, all aspects of this course will be fully compatible with remote online learning. The weekly lectures will be conducted synchronously, as well as recorded and made available asynchronously. Synchronous participation is required for discussion sections. Assessment will consist of short quizzes and participation points earned in section, as well as four exams. Exams will be open book, and contain a combination of T/F, multiple choice, and short essay questions. They will be administered in Canvas during a designated 24 hour time window.