ANT 275

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Dr. Bindon     Anthropology     Arts & Sciences    University of Alabama

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pdf version of the syllabus

Most lecture notes are available in pdf format

Jan 11 Race—the power of an illusion, Episode 1: The Differences Between Us

1. Do the "Sorting People" Exercise on the PBS site for this video series.  (While you're there check out other parts of the site, especially the "10 facts" and the "Race Timeline".  We'll check out other sections later in the course.

Jan 16, 18     History of the concept of human variation up to 1700

1. Graves: Intro, Ch 1, 2
2. Bernier François. 1684. "A New Division of the Earth" From Journal des Scavans, April 24. Translated by T Bendyshe in Memoirs Read Before the Anthropological Society of London, vol. 1, 1863-64, pp. 360-64. (WebCT)

Jan 23, 25    Pre-Darwinian 18th and 19th Century views on variation

1. Graves: Ch 3
2. Blumenbach Johann Friedrich. 1795. The anthropological treatises of Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, translated by Thomas Bendyshe, 1865.  (WebCT)
3. de Gobineau Arthur. 1853-55.The Inequality of Human Races. Translated by A. Collins, 1915.  (WebCT)

Jan 30, Feb 1    Race—the power of an illusion, Episode 2: The Story We Tell

1. Graves: Ch 4 - 6

Feb 6, 8    Concepts of human variation from Darwin to World War II     

1. Graves: Ch 7, 8
2. Darwin, CR. 1871.  Chapter VII. On the races of man, abridged from The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex.  New York, D. Appleton and company.  (WebCT)
3. Galton Francis. 1909. "Eugenics: Its Definition, Scope and Aims." From Essays in Eugenics, Read before the Sociological Society at a Meeting in the School of Economics and Political Science (London university), on May 16th, 1904.  (WebCT)

Feb 13, 15    Post-World War II views on human variation

1. Graves: Ch 9
2. Montagu Ashley 1962. The Concept of Race. American Anthropologist, 64(5):919-928. (WebCT)

Feb 20, 22 Makeup, review. Midterm exam (2/22), return and discuss exam (Click here to see a sample exam)

Feb 27, Mar 1      Biological basis of human differences: DNA, genes, and chromosomes, populations, natural selection, and genetic change

1. Wells: Preface, Ch 1, 2

March 6, 8   Diversity and human evolution, part I

1. Wells: 3, 4

March 13, 15  SPRING BREAK

March 20, 22    Diversity and human evolution, part II

1. Wells: 5, 6

March 27, 29   “The Journey of Man, Part I”, “The Journey of Man, Part II ”

1. Wells: 7

April 3, 5    Distribution of Human Differences

1. Wells: 8,9

April 10, 12  Distribution of human differences: races versus clines versus populations

1. Brown, Ryan A. and Armelagos, George J. (2001) Apportionment of Racial Diversity: A Review. Evolutionary Anthropology, 10:34-40. (WebCT)
2. Brace C.L. 1995 Region does not mean “race”—reality versus convention in forensic anthropology. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 40:171-175. (WebCT)
3. Crews DE, Bindon JR. 1991. Ethnicity as a taxonomic category in biomedical and biosocial research. Ethnicity and Disease 1:42-49. (WebCT)

April 17, 19       Human diversity and health: race and disease

1. Graves: Ch 11
2. Goodman, Alan H. 2000. Why Genes Don't Count (for Racial Differences in Health). American Journal of Public Health, 90:1699-1702. (WebCT)
3. Written Assignment due on April 19
4. No journal entry this week

April 24, 26       Race and IQ

1. Graves: Ch 10, Conclusion
2. Cohen, Mark N. 1998. Culture, not race, explains human diversity. Education Digest, 64:30-34. (WebCT)

May 1, 3      Race: the Power of an illusion, Part III: The House We Live In

1. Lopez, IFH. 2006. Colorblind to the Reality of Race in America. Chronicle of HIgher Education, Nov. 3, 2006:6. (WebCT)

May 7              Monday, 8:00 – 9:15 a.m. Second Exam.  Second Exam (See sample questions here)

Readings

1. Wells Spencer. 2003. The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
2. Graves Joseph L., Jr. 2001. The Emperor's New Clothes: Biological Theories of Race at the Millenium. Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers University Press.