1. How do we understand race today? Are race and ethnicity the same thing? What is ethnicity? Why does racism occur? Why does racism continue to be a problem even in societies where “race” is widely recognized to be a cultural construction?
2. Why is it important to consider our own biases when studying the living primates?
a. How might our own cultural values around animals versus humans shape how we interpret primate behaviour and the significance of anatomical differences between various primate groups?
b. What is the importance of a biocultural approach to understanding non-human primate variation?
3. Compare and contrast Neanderthals with anatomically modern humans. How are they both the same and different in terms of anatomy and culture? How has these similarities and differences influenced the depiction of Neanderthals in popular culture? How might the anthropological perspective assist us in understanding the Neanderthals?
4. Write a response to a question that is commonly asked by individuals who attempt to debunk evolutionary theory: “If humans evolved from apes, why are there still apes?”
a. How the theory of evolution by natural selection was developed,
b. How the theory of evolution by natural selection explains the variation present within species and how new species develop,
c. The primate and human fossil record that is used to support the theory of evolution,
d. What we’ve learned through studying living non-human primates, and
e. What we’ve learned through studying variation in contemporary humans.
Evolution, Genetics, Human Biological Variation, & Race
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCZwKowOMzk&ab_channel=KatieBiittner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NdMnlt2keE&ab_channel=TED-Ed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq9TgQpW1Io&ab_channel=KatieBiittner
The Living Primates & Primate Evolution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTIXc1dTh9k&ab_channel=KatieBiittner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkdOD3xiT0U&ab_channel=KatieBiittner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkdOD3xiT0U&ab_channel=KatieBiittner
Human Evolution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbnDBVJ7Ruk&ab_channel=KatieBiittner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0HtBx_y4zA&ab_channel=KatieBiittner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_o9QFWSTbA&ab_channel=KatieBiittner
(Focus on the broad changes in the skeleton and don’t get too caught up in the terminology. Think about what changed in our skeleton to permit habitual bipedalism.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqDHzCj90co&ab_channel=KatieBiittner
(Focus on the sections relating to stratigraphy and radiocarbon dating as they are two critical methods used in anthropology)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KYYsknr2Ko&list=PLfpP1vMOJhHWPyPUkHiXlCbnbFQY3IGiY&index=10
(radioactive decay info)