Why use a blog in this class

Why we are using blogs?

ONE THING THAT I learned from last semester is that the discussion boards didn't seem to work very well. They are somewhat old school anyway and don't really emulate how modern discussions go. Plus, the idea that you need to do X number of posts and Y number of responses just seems to produce quantity rather than quality.

Instead, we are going to try something different. Each of you will make a blog and use that to post notes, thoughts, reflections, etc (feel free to make it anonymous). My hope is that you will use this blog to not only respond to questions, but to reflect about class themes and ideas. I hope it would allow for a more critical, problem-posing learning.


While we are doing this in the open, i know that some might not want to have their name attached. The 4th link here talks about how to be anonymous. If you would rather do that, that is totally fine. I'll have to know which blog is yours but I'll delete all info i have after class ends. You could even setup a separate email account when you log into Blogger if you prefer (that is what i did when i had a blog in grad school that i have since forgotten how to log into..)

Steps to create a blog* from Laura Gibbs

- [Starting a Blog: Your First Post]

- [Blog URLs: Homepage and Posts]
- [Online Identity and Pseudonyms]
- [Configuring Your Blog for Comments]
- [Other Basic Blog Settings]

Posts

In the course calendar you will find the times that I ask you to respond to writings and ideas. But you don't have to only post then. Use the blog however you see fit. If one of the posts doesn't seem useful to you just let me know. I want these posts to not seem like busy work

Lists of blog posts

- post on decolonizing human origins (aim by Friday May 29 at 11:59 PM)
- post on If humans came from chimps, why are there still chimps? (aim for Friday June 5th at 11:59 PM)
- post on skeletal evidence of bipedalism  (aim for  Monday June 8 at 11:59 PM)
- post on Ardipithecus (aim for  Friday June 12th at 11:59 PM)
- post on "when two hominins meet" (aim for Monday, June 22 by 11:59 PM)
- last post on "why this all matters" (aim for  Wendesday June 24th at 11:59 PM)

Comments

As you can read here it is pretty easy to configure your blog for comments. Once you have all set up a blog I will post links on my blog (the main site for this class!) and as a list I will share. You can also use Slack to let us know when you have a new post!

You should check often to see if there are any new blog posts by your fellow classmates (One way to do this is to use Inoreader to set up a feed. For help on this see this post by Laura Gibbs

There is no 'set number of comments' that you must make. But I hope that you interact and leave comments when you feel motivated to do so

Class projects

Here are the course projects we will be doing

Your blog 

This is the main writing project for the course. You will use your blog to interact virtually  with other class members and to share your thoughts on the readings, videos, and concepts. 

[click here for more information, for an overview of how to set this all up and for details on blog posts]

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Readings and annotations

We will be using the Perusall site to make annotations on our reading list.  All of the class articles are there (see the calendar for a list of when to be reading them) . You don't have to comment  on all of them but I ask that you do so a few times during the week at least. You can also answer or respond to other comments. This is sort of taking the place of the standard discussion board which seems to never work very well 

To use this site, go here https://app.perusall.com  **Make sure to use the class code XXXXX when you sign up so you get access to our site**. Also, the interactive course calendar has links to the articles on the Perusall site

The readings are posted on AsULearn as well in case you want to batch download them

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Slack

This is the way we will communicate about class ideas etc informally (kinda like a group chat).

You can create and join our Slack using this link

More on slack here

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Your presentation on a fossil hominin

We will be using Sutori to create an interactive presentation on a fossil. You can pick one from the Google sheet HERE or choose your own and add it to the list. [See here for more info on using this site and creating a good presentation]

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Our game

This is the major group project. I admit that it might not work out perfectly but i think it will be fun to try. Find out more here

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Capstone

If you are in the capstone let me know and we will make a separate group for that. 

Overview of class

How this class will run (in theory....)

Like many of you I am just getting done with the Spring semester and in denial that class starts soon

I'm playing around with various ideas of how this class will work. Since class starts on the 26th there isn't much time for this to all come together but I am excited about how we can learn online. I sent a survey to students about what they wanted to do in the class. 

Here are some of the results!

One thing i think we will do is avoid using AsULearn as much as possible. While I get that a lot of us are used to it, I don't think the LMS works well for what we want to do (and I HATE the gradebook portion). 

Instead, we will each be making a blog (like this one!) that we will use to write and share ideas. 

I'll share details soon but this can be done with a pseudonym and it should allow for more engagement. Its also ridiculously easy to do

We will also being using an annotation software program  that allows you to make and share comments on PDFs and webpages for the rest of the class to see.

Instead of asking questions in class on the readings, you can just annotate the readings as you might on your own copy and then others can comment etc. (we will either use Hypothesis or Perusall)

Finally, we will have a few longer projects.


These are still up-in-the-air and we will chat about them over the first few days

• One is to create a 'game' of sorts. Using Aris, we will make a game that lets the player discover the location of various hominin fossils (will this work out? i honestly don't know but we shall see).
• The second will follow up on a project i did last Fall, which will create a sort of repository of information on different fossils.
• Create a shared online document that discusses some current controversies and debates in human origins 
• Finally, for anyone who wants to do a more in-depth project, we will work with primary info to analyze data and use it to form the basis of a paper we will eventually submit as a team!

I'm working on putting together the class Slack channel and that will roll out the first day of class. We will use this to watch some online documentaries together and do live comments (think Mystery Science Theater, but even more snark about the people i know in the videos...). This will be optional and you can always come in later and comment afterwards, but we will try to find a time that works for everybody.

Finally, I know a lot of you are at home in non-ideal learning environments (I, for one, now do all my Zoom meetings from my daughter's closet. It works well, but she makes me ask permission first in order to use it so that's fun....). Let me know how i can help and if anything becomes difficult to do. I strive to make this course free of busy work so reach out if there is a project that you think isn't helping you in this class.

Class overview

Welcome to Anthropology 4320: Human Evolution!

About me:

I'm an assistant professor in the dept of anthropology at Appalachian State University (i.e. the real ASU!). This is the end of my first year on the tenure-track and really happy to be working here. When not teaching or doing research I spend time with my family (my wife Jenna,;my two kids Harper and Sutton; and our new rescue dog, Roxie).

Like everyone else, the last few months have been difficult but I hope that we can use this course as way to better understand how our common humanity and our ability to work well in groups can be part of the way we can respond to the global pandemic.

My research is about how hominins (primates more closely related to us than to any other living primate) became human. I've studied aspects such as some of the earliest hominin mandibles, the role of warfare in our past, and how semiotics can help us better understand how our ancestors became modern humans. I also spend time intersecting and working with theologians to help build connections between different communities.

One of my passions is thinking deeply about teaching. I've been lucky to learn from some great thinkers in critical pedagogy.  If you want an idea of my teaching philosophy, Paulo Freire, bell hooks, and Alfie Kohn probably influenced me the most along with the work of Jesse Stommel, Audrey Watters, Susan Blum, Laura Gibbs (whose instrumental in me using Blogger this term!), and Cathy Davidson. If you really want, you can read my post here (update coming soon) on why I don't grade


If you want to know more about my research and or teaching stuff check out my site here:

Sadly, most of my knowledge of pop culture begins and ends with the Simpsons and 80s/90s movies, but thanks to my kids I can go head-to-head with anyone on My Little Pony!

About our class:

 The goal of this class is to teach us to think deeply on what it means to be human and how we became human. This class is designed to provide you with the tools & techniques necessary to evaluate, engage, and debate ideas of human history and behavior. It is also a collaboration between all of us. You bring a unique and important perspective to the materials that I don’t have. Please share your voice and your thoughts with the class.

We will be using a mixture of Blogger, Slack, and other social media tools to discuss all these things.

What are **your** course goals? Think about what you would like to get out of this class

Student Hours

These are times that you can come and chat about class topics of other issues of interest to you. If you feel lost or have any questions this is a great time to stop by. You can use this link (Coming soon) to setup a time or just drop in.

more soon....