| Unit name | Anthropological Hypotheses |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ARCH20047 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Mwenza Blell |
| Open unit status | Open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Anthropology and Archaeology |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This course provides an exciting overview of a broad range of hypotheses that have been investigated by anthropologists, some recent and some older. Some of the hypotheses have been discredited and others are now widely accepted. Students will explore both types equally to help understand both the scientific method and the history of anthropology.
Each session will be devoted to exploration of a hypothesis and will consist of combination of a lecture and a seminar designed to answer four key questions.
1. Where did the hypothesis come from? (Who? When? Where? Why?)
2. What happened next? (What debates have there been? What key evidence has been collected?)
3. What do we know now? (Recent perspectives and evidence)
4. What next? (Where do we go from here? What research is needed?)
The lecture will roughly cover the first two questions. The lecture will introduce the hypothesis and present it in context and will cover some of the debates surrounding it. In the seminar, students will discuss the readings which will shed light on what we now think/know about this topic. Students and the lecturer will then discuss together what research is still needed to resolve the remaining questions on the subject.
The aims of the unit are
• To demonstrate the scientific method within this discipline of anthropology
• To review the history of the discipline through case studies
• To provide opportunity for students to think like researchers about ideas in anthropology
• To enable students to explore the process of designing research that can answer questions that are important to anthropologists.
• To improve oral presentation skills
• To improved debating skills
• To improve written communication skills
At the end of the unit, a successful student will be able to:
1. Read and independently appraise scientific evidence relating to hypotheses relevant to anthropology
2. Relate hypotheses relevant to anthropology to the socio-historical context in which they have arisen
3. Give a short presentation in the style appropriate to a major academic conference
4. Write a scientific literature review
5. Describe the characteristics of future research projects that would logically be able to answer important questions which remain in anthropology
One two-hour block each week that includes a one-hour lecture and a one-hour interactive seminar. The seminars will include discussion, debate and mock conference panels.
• Formative - online test (ILO 1)
• Summative essay/project (50%) - 2500 word written project on a hypothesis chosen by the student including a literature review and critical analysis of evidence (ILOs 1, 2, 4, and 5)
• Oral presentation (25%) - 15 minute oral presentation on ways of testing the student's chosen hypothesis in the style of a conference paper (ILOs 3 and 5)
• 60 min exam (25%) - essay based written exam (ILOs 1, 2, and 5)
Schnettler S 2013 Revisiting a Sample of U.S. Billionaires: How Sample Selection and Timing of Maternal Condition Influence Findings on the Trivers-Willard Effect. PLoS ONE 8(2): e57446. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057446
Paul L. Vasey, Doug P. VanderLaan 2012 Sexual Orientation in Men and Avuncularity in Japan: Implications for the Kin Selection Hypothesis. Archives of Sexual Behavior 41(1): 209-215
Atkinson J, Pipitone RN, Sorokowska A, Sorokowski P, Mberira M, et al. 2012) Voice and Handgrip Strength Predict Reproductive Success in a Group of Indigenous African Females. PLoS ONE 7(8): e41811. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0041811
Thomas N. 2012 Beyond the Barker hypothesis and the thrifty genotype - The womb, ethnicity, genes and the environment - Recent perspectives on the evolution of diabetes and the metabolic syndrome in India. Indian J Endocr Metab 16:142-6
L. Madrigal, M. Blell, E. Ruiz, F. Otárola 2008 The Slavery Hypothesis: An Evaluation of a Genetic-Deterministic Explanation for Hypertension Prevalence Rate (HPR) Inequalities. p236-255. In Health, Risk, and Adversity: A Contextual View From Biological Anthropology. Panter-Brick, C & Fuentes, A (eds). London: Berghahn Books
Frank W. Marlowe and J. Colette Berbesque 2012 The human operational sex ratio: Effects of marriage, concealed ovulation, and menopause on mate competition. Journal of Human Evolution 63(6): 834–842.
Eran Shor and Dalit Simchai 2009 Incest Avoidance, the Incest Taboo, and Social Cohesion: Revisiting Westermarck and the Case of the Israeli Kibbutzim. American Journal of Sociology 114 (6): 1803-1842
