Biological anthropology is the branch of anthropology that focuses on the evolutionary and biological aspects of humankind: Homo sapiens as an evolved species - human populations as varied and dynamically changing sets of biological individuals, adaptable but also vulnerable to ever-changing circumstances. It is also concerned with the non-human primates, and with current debates on the biological bases of human social behaviour. The subject thus encompasses what used to be called physical anthropology, as well as primatology, palaeoanthropology and human population biology, including human genetics and the study of human health, nutrition, growth, demography and ecological adaptation, viewed comparatively and synthetically.

Learning Outcomes

Students who complete this minor will have the skills and knowledge to:

• define the scope of biological anthropology as a discipline and      situate it in a wider anthropological context
• apply the discipline’s theoretical approaches and research      methodologies in the investigation of primate evolutionary and population      biology
• critically discuss contemporary and historical research in at least      two of the following subfields: fossil evidence for human evolution;      evolutionary primatology; behavioural primatology; human skeletal      morphology; bioarchaeology; anthropological genetics; human population      health, nutrition and environmental adaptability; human population      dynamics
• recognise and reflect on local and international perspectives on research      in biological anthropology