ANTH 490: Human Biology in Comparative Perspective
This class will explore the biological and biocultural factors that shape human biology and health from the cellular to the societal levels.This course will compare human biology, health and development across arrange of international settings and students will have the opportunity to collect and analyze biological and biocultural data.
ANTH 490-078: Biocultural Perspectives on Maternal and Child Health
This course explores maternal and child health from an evolutionary, biocultural and global health perspective. It focuses on the physiological, ecological, and cultural factors shaping health. We will take a life course perspective to examine childhood development, reproductive processes such as pregnancy, birth and lactation, and menopause and aging. Throughout the class, we will draw on findings and concepts from human biology, evolutionary ecology, public health and medical anthropology to explore the multi-faceted determinants of global maternal and child health. Topics include: women’s reproductive health choices, reproductive ecology, fertility, social and biological perspectives on puberty, eating disorders and body image, and infant nutrition and growth. A series of case studies will be used to elaborate relevant biological, evolutionary and cultural issues.
ANTH 590: Anthropology of Diet and Health
An examination of human nutrition focusing on the biological, evolutionary, and cultural aspects of human dietary adaptations. The concepts to be covered include the evolution of human diet, the biology of nutrition, prehistoric and historic nutrition transitions, sociocultural aspects of dietary intake, and subsequent health impacts from variation and changes in dietary intake.
ANTH 623: Human Disease Ecology
Examination of cultural ecologies of disease by examining how social, cultural, and historical factors shape disease patterns. We examine how ecosystems are shaped by disease, how disease shapes ecosystems, and how cultural processes (e.g., population movements, transportation, economic shifts, landscape modifications, and built environments) contribute to emerging infectious disease.
ANTH 703/704: Evolution and Ecology
Development of a critical understanding of anthropological approaches to evolution and ecology in paleontological, archaeological, and present-day crosscultural contexts through the historical and comparative study of theory, method, and content. Includes an emphasis on ecological and evolutionary perspectives on contemporary human biology and behavior.
ANTH 898-067: Laboratory and Field Methods in Human Biology
Hands-on training in human biology methods including: anthropometric assessment; biomarker collection and analysis; dried blood spot collection; assays of immune and endocrine function; cardiovascular risk; diet intake and physical activity.
ANTH 898 078: Human Biology and Population Health
This class explores the biological and behavioral characteristics of human populations from a biocultural and evolutionary perspective. We will examine the environmental and social factors that shape human biology and health from the cellular to the societal levels, from conception to old age, and across a range of comparative settings. Topics will include: epigenetics, nutrition and metabolism, growth and development, fertility and reproduction, immunology, cardiovascular health, and aging. Throughout the class, we will draw on classic studies and modern approaches from human biology, public health and medical anthropology to explore the multi-faceted determinants of human biology and health.