Welcome to Anthropology 4320: Human Evolution Schedule!
This is a work in progress. Feel free to 'work ahead' as much as you like but some of the last days might change slightly as the class evolves.I still need to format some things but otherwise this is mostly what we have so far!
_________________________________________________________________________________
Tuesday, May 26 (day 1)
- Create an account on Perusall (make sure to use the class code sent via email when you sign up so you get access to our site )
- Join the class Slack. You can click here to sign up for our class Slack
- (see email or AsULearn for links)
- post a message on the #say-hello channel
- Create your blog: Click here for more information and for an overview of how to set this up.
- When you have done this send me a link
- Check out the more interactive course calendar here
- It lets you see this as a calendar and all see 'due date'
Wednesday, May 27 - Decolonizing Human Evolution (day 2)
Today we are focusing on a issue that isn't always addressed but is of critical importance: Who gets to tell the story of human origins. All 3 of these papers discuss important aspects about how feminist and anti-racist scholars have re-framed the discussions of human evolution. Athreya and Ackermann look at the role colonialism played in the founding of the discipline. Dunsworth asks us to think about how we teach these topics in class. And Sterling look as how Black feminist theory can address the
sociopolitics of archaeological practice.
Today we are focusing on a issue that isn't always addressed but is of critical importance: Who gets to tell the story of human origins. All 3 of these papers discuss important aspects about how feminist and anti-racist scholars have re-framed the discussions of human evolution. Athreya and Ackermann look at the role colonialism played in the founding of the discipline. Dunsworth asks us to think about how we teach these topics in class. And Sterling look as how Black feminist theory can address the sociopolitics of archaeological practice.
First, read these papers on the Perusall site:
- Athreya and Ackermann 2018 Colonialism Narratives Human Origins Asia Africa
- Dunsworth_2018_It is unethical to teach evolution without confronting racism and sexism
- Sterling_2015_Black Feminist Theory in Prehistory [note: not open-access]
Then,
prepare first blog post (see calendar for info and due date)
Thursday, May 28 - Evolutionary theory (day 3)
Today we want to think about what we know about evolutionary theory. There is only one reading but it is both fairly long and a classic of evolutionary thought. Think about what Gould & Lewontin are saying and how their framing the processes of evolution. To give some context, this paper has been cited over 8900 times!First, read this paper:
Gould and Lewontin 1979 The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm-A Critique of the Adaptationist Programmeand watch this video
Species Concepts in PalaeoanthropologyNow....
Make annotations on the Gould and Lewontin article on the Persuall site. You could ask for clarification on these ideas or just explore your thoughtsOptional meeting
We can meet on Zoom if you want to chat about the papers live. As of now, this will be 1:00 PM today but may update if we need to! (check email for link!)To prepare for the next week
- Pick a fossil from the list online and begin to learn about it. Jot down notes etc
- Follow the directions here to start with Aris... and work though the tutorial.
Monday, June 1 - Primates (day 4)
This class day is set to remind us what we learned in previous Bioanth classes! Some background on primates and early hominin evolution. Feel free to skim the chpt on Early Hominins if you remember the details but it is a great overview of early hominin evolution written by some of the top names in the fieldFirst, read these papers:
Primate CognitionEarly Hominins
Now....
being to work on your second blog post (details here)
Tuesday, June 2 - Bipedalism (day 5)
Today we are focusing on bipedalism. Remember that one of the ways we define a hominin is by it walking upright on two legs. The piece by Lovejoy is sort of a classic in paleoanthropology. This doesn't mean it is correct. It has however generated a lot of discussion. The second piece is a bit long but it has a nice section that talks about different theories of the origins of bipedality, so make sure to at least look at the section on "Models of human bipedal acquisition"First, read these papers:
Lovejoy 1981-The origin of manKimura_2019_How did humans acquire erect bipedal walking
more background if you want it...
Ward et al 2019 A Late Miocene Hominid Partial Pelvis From HungaryNow, watch this video
When We First WalkedNow....
- Make comments on Persual on these papers. No set number of comments needed but engage at the level you feel is needed. Feel free to use info from the videos or other readings to inform your post
- Work on the Sutori site for your fossil. If you want comments send me a message and i will take a look at it ASAP
- Think about how you want your section of the Aris game to look. Plan it out on paper so you have a game plan and share any concerns on the Slack channel
Wednesday, June 3 - The first hominins (day 6)
One of the most contentious issues in human evolution is who the first hominid was. Today we are going to look at 2 plausible candidates, Orrorin tugenensis and Sahelanthropus tchadensis. These papers are very technical but they give a good understanding of what we know about the species. Feel free to explore more and see what else you can findif you want a refresher on these fossils here is a short post i wrote on each:
Sahelanthropus tchadensis
Orrorin tugenensis
First, read these papers:
Brunet et al 2002 - A new hominid from the Upper Miocene of Chad, Central AfricaPickford et al - Bipedalism in Orrorin tugenensis revealed by its femora (n.b: feel free to skip the French translation :) )
if you want more info:
this piece on the Orroin femur could helpand here is a fascinating discussion of the femur of Sahelanthropus
Now
begin to work on blog post #3Thursday, June 4 - Early hominin behavior (day 7)
Taking a break from reading (yay!) we are going to watch some lectures from leaders in the field. The first, by Carol Ward, talks about early hominin body form. The second looks at the role scavenging and hunting played in human history. And the third asks about how aggression and warfare may have been important pressures in human origins.We can jump on Slack to watch together at a certain time [will post time soon] or watch them by yourself and comment on slack afterwards. The readings from the previous class should help inform on these videos.
Video links:
Early Hominin Body FormThe Ecology of Hominin Scavenging
The Parallel Evolution of Humanity and Savagery
Now
To prepare for the next week
- [ ] Continue on planning out your part of the game. You already have a fossil chosen so begin to find articles on it and read them.
- [ ] If you have time, finish your Sutori site
Monday, June 8 - Ardipithecus (day 8)
The story about Ardipithecus is sort of almost mythical in human evolution. Today we are trying something different. We are all going to watch a short video and then read one overview piece about the species. Then, you are going to choose one of the more in-depth articles and read that carefully. Use that paper to write up a short blog post.Watch this short video
The Analysis of Ardipithecus ramidus -- One of the Earliest Known HominidsRead the following articles:
White et al. 2009 Ardipithecus ramidus and the Paleobiology of EarlyNow...
pick one of the Ardipithecus readings listed here and write a blog post about it. Find directions hereTuesday, June 9 - Australopithecus! (day 9)
While traditionally known as "bipedal apes" Australopithecines are now seen in a different light. Some scholars think they even may have made and used stone tools! The piece by Ward and Hammond covers a lot of useful ground and is a good starting point. The Ward et al. 1999 is more technical and you can skim that if you wish (but full of interesting stuff!). The Halie-Selassie et al. paper is a newer article that talks about the face of anamensis (I also included a news article that covers the main points of that paper)There is also an optional Zoom hangout today at 1 (time may change!). Stop by to chat about the class, the papers, or to see how my kids love to interrupt me while I'm working
Watch this short video
Visiting the Taung Child at Wits UniversityRead the following articles:
Ward and Hammond 2016 Australopithecus and KinWard et al. 1999 The new hominid species Australopithecus anamensis
Halie-Selassie et al 2019. A 3.8-million-year-old hominin cranium from Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia
(Here is a news article that summarizes the last article)
Now...
- Continue work on the blog post from yesterday. Incorporate, if possible, information from these papers that link Arid to the first australopiths
- Optional Zoom meeting:
Wednesday, June 10 - Australopithecus continued (day 10)
Since we can't cover all the info on Australopiths(i took a grad seminar that solely focused on them and even then we ran out of time!) today we are going to learn about one of the more recently discovered one, Australopithecus sediba. The first paper by Berger and colleagues introduces the species and the second one gives a more skeptical look. Then watch the video for a new take on a different Australopith and its behavior!Watch this short video
Thumb can tell if Paranthropus boisei made stone toolsRead the following articles:
Berger et al. 2010. Australopithecus sediba: A New Species of Homo-Like Australopith from South Africa Kimble 2013 Hesitation on hominin historyIf you want more information, check out some of the papers in this special volume devoted to Au. sediba
Now...
-
Post thoughts/comments on Perusall
-
Work on Aris game
Thursday, June 11 - work catch up (day 11)
Today we are taking a break (phew!) and catching up on class projects. Work on all the things. I'll be on Zoom for most of the day if you want to chat!
To prepare for the next week
- Finish the Sutori presentation
- work on your part of the Aris game
Monday, June 15 - Early Homo (day 12)
One thing we don't know well is when the genus Homo first evolved. The Anton et al paper is one of my favorite takes on this question and it covers a lot of ground. Make some annotations on it in Persuall or send a question to the group Slack if you are confused by somethingRead the following articles:
Anton et al. 2014 Evolution of early Homo: An integrated biological perspectiveNow...
Post comments on the Anton paper on the Persuall site.Tuesday, June 16 - Homo erectus (day 13)
Today we are looking at two papers that came out in April! I haven't had time to really think about them yet so excited to see what these papers have to say, but they have to do with the question of how many hominins were around at the same timeRead the following articles:
Semaw el al 2020. Co-occurrence of Acheulian and Oldowan artifacts with Homo erectus cranial fossils from Gona, Afar, EthiopiaHerries et al. 2020 Contemporaneity of Australopithecus, Paranthropus, and early Homo erectus in South Africa
Now, watch this video
One cave. Three hominin lineages. Australopithecus and Paranthropus meet Homo in Drimolenbonus reading:
Anton et al. 2016 Morphological variation in Homo erectus and the origins of developmental plasticityNow,
being work on Blog post #5Wednesday, June 17 - Middle Pleistocene (day 14)
The Middle Pleistocene (sometimes called the Muddle in the Middle) is a confusing time period. Trying to cover it is even harder. I picked two articles here that I think might be interesting. The first, by Ackermann & colleagues, is a very important paper that talks about where our species comes from. The second one is also interesting and demonstrates some of the latest ideas coming out. The third is a nice overview that just came out this week!Background
This textbook chapter by Paskey & Cisneros gives some great background if you are rusty on these speciesRead the following articles:
Ackermann et al. 2015 The Hybrid Origin of ‘‘Modern’’ HumansCommunicative capacities in Middle Pleistocene humans from the Sierra de Atapuerca in Spain STILL WAITING FOR A COPY!
Now,
- Make sure your part of Aris is ready
- Optional Zoom meeting to talk about class projects and readings
Thursday, June 18 - The First Homo sapiens (day 15)
Today we are looking at what it means to be in the species Homo sapiens. The two papers are a bit technical (though Stringer's is easier) but they cover a lot of ground. Think about how we define our species and what pushing back the date of the first appearance of our species means.Read the following articles:
Hublin et al. 2017 New fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco and the pan-African origin of Homo sapiensStringer 2016 The origin and evolution of Homo sapiens
Now,
Work on the last blog post!To prepare for the next week
- Finish your part of the Aris game
- If you can d/l the software to your phone, play around with the game to see how it looks!
Monday, June 22 Neandertals - (day 16)
Our department teaches a whole class on Neandertals so it is of course hard to cover them in a day. I posted here two new papers on the Neandertal genomeRead the following articles:
Skov et al. 2020 The nature of Neanderthal introgression revealed by 27,566 Icelandic genomesTaskent et al 2020. Analysis of Haplotypic Variation and Deletion Polymorphisms Point to Multiple Archaic Introgression Events, Including from Altai Neanderthal Lineage
Now,
continue to work on the last blog post!Tuesday, June 23 - New species, new ideas (day 17)
In the last few years our knowledge of the fossil record of human evolution has greatly expanded. These 2 articles talk about newly proposed species. Read them carefully and think about how they are both changing the landscape of human originsRead the following articles:
Berger et al 2017 Homo naledi and Pleistocene hominin evolution in subequatorial AfricaDetroit et al 2019 A new species of Homo from the Late Pleistocene of the Philippines
Now,
We are going to watch this documentary together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzLJAa5X4Fo&t=2s
Wednesday, June 24 - Modern human origins (day 18)
Ok, but why are Homo sapiens the only hominins left on the planet. This is another hot topic in paleoanthropology.Read the following articles:
Scerri et al. 2018 Did our species evolve in subdivided populations across Africa, and why does it matter?Hublin et al. 2020 Initial Upper Palaeolithic Homo sapiens from Bacho Kiro Cave, Bulgaria
News article about the last paper
Now,
Thursday, June 25 - Future (day 19)
What does the future hold?Read the following articles:
Hatala_et_al_2020_Snapshots of human anatomy, locomotion, and behavior from Late Pleistocene footprints at Engare Sero, TanzaniaDunsworth 2020 Expanding the evolutionary explanations for sex differences in the human skeleton
No comments:
Post a Comment
feel free to comment on any of this here. Over the semester we will be using the comment form a lot to leave ideas and thoughts on our work!