Anthropology

• CAS AN 551: Anthropology and Human Heredity
  Surveys the theory and methods of evolutionary genetics as applied to human evolution and human diversity. Emphasizes human evolution as illuminated by genetics, as well as the intersection of human genetics with social issues such as racism, bioethics, and eugenics.
• CAS AN 552: Primate Evolution and Anatomy
  The evolutionary history of the primate radiation--particularly that of monkeys, apes, and humans--is examined through investigation of the musculoskeletal anatomy of living and fossil primates. Comparative and biomechanical approaches are used to reconstruct the behavior of extinct species.
• CAS AN 555: Evolutionary Medicine
  Why do we get sick? Evolutionary medicine seeks to answer this question by applying modern evolutionary theory to understanding health and disease among contemporary human populations. Topics include chronic and infectious disease, mental illness, allergies, autoimmunity, and drug addiction.
• CAS AN 556: The Evolution of the Human Diet
  An investigation of human dietary evolution including primate and human dietary adaptations, nutritional requirements, optimal foraging, digestive physiology, maternal and infant nutrition, hunting and cooking in human evolution, and impacts of food processing and agriculture on modern diets and health.
• CAS AN 563: Public Religion and Politics Across Cultures
  The contested role of religion in modern politics and its implications for civil life. Begins with the West and includes Islam in the Middle East and SE Asia. Evangelicalism in Latin American and Africa, Hindu nationalism, and Buddhism in China. Also offered as CAS IR 563.
• CAS AN 568: Symbol, Myth, and Rite
  Historical overview of ritual behavior, the role of symbolism in the study of culture, and the narrative quality of worldview and belief. Emphasis on verbal performance and public display events in specific cultural contexts.
• CAS AN 573: The Ethnography of China and Taiwan (area)
  Reading of major ethnographies and modern histories as a basis for examining changing Taiwanese and Chinese culture and society. Attention to ethnography as a genre, as well as to the dramatic changes of the past century. (Counts towards the East Asian Studies minor.)
• CAS AN 590: Seminar: Theory, Method, and Techniques in Fieldwork
  Traditional and modern methods of ethnographic field research: data collection, research design, and analyses.
• CAS AN 594: Seminar: Topics in Cultural Anthropology
  Selected issues and debates in current anthropology.
• CAS AN 595: Methods in Biological Anthropology
  An exploration of field and laboratory methods used in biological anthropology, with students participating in hands-on exercises. Topics include health assessment, body composition, diet, energetics, morphological adaptations, reproductive status, habitat composition, spatial movements, and conservation. Professional skills are also developed.
• CAS AN 597: Seminar: Special Topics in Biological Anthropology
  Special issues and debates in current biological anthropology. Topic for Fall 2014: Human Grown and Development. An analysis of human growth and development from an evolutionary and cross-cultural perspective. Other topics include brain evolution, fetal programming, sexual dimorphism, senescence, immunity, and obesity.
• CAS AN 598: Seminar: Special Issues in Biological Anthropology
  Special issues and debates in current biological anthropology.

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