• Offered by School of Archaeology and Anthropology
  • ANU College ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
  • Course subject Biological Anthropology
  • Areas of interest Anthropology, Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Biology
  • Academic career UGRD
  • Course convener
    • Prof Alison Behie
  • Mode of delivery In Person
  • Co-taught Course
  • Offered in First Semester 2025
    See Future Offerings

All primates (non-human and human) have the capacity for flexible biological responses to environmental change. Due to the wide range of environments in which primate species are found this flexibility often results in extreme adaptability in diet and food intake. This course looks at this dietary flexibility and how it may impact or limit nutritional intake across time and space and in turn how this may impact issues of health and population viability. Using both cross-species and cross-cultural comparative approaches this course will specifically explore how nutrition relates to disease dynamics and health in various physical environments across all primates, both extinct and extant. In the first part of the course, we will look at nutrition and disease through the lens of human behavioural ecology. Topics include evolutionary medicine, foraging models, parental investment and parent-offspring conflict, and host-pathogen coevolution. In the second part, we will consider evidence from the fossil record to understand the evolution of extinct hominin diets over the last 4 million years, physical and behavioural adaptations to different environments, and the relationship between nutrition and brain size increases in our extinct hominin ancestors and relatives; In the third part we will think about models of food selection from a primatology perspective and how data from non-human primates can be used to better understand patterns of over and undernutrition in humans along with how patterns of change in nutritional intake can impact pregnancy outcomes and child development.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

  1. demonstrate the ability to identify key facts and theories and methods relating to nutrition and disease across areas of Biological Anthropology;
  2. use cross species and cross cultural comparisons to show a critical understanding of how nutrition and disease impact all primates (human and non-human);
  3. understand basic principles from current research papers in subjects relevant to nutrition and disease and evaluate the effectiveness of the methods and theories used along with ethical implications; and
  4. draw together material from a range of scholarly sources relevant to a topic in the field, to form a unified text which sets out an independent and, where appropriate, critical assessment of that material.

Indicative Assessment

  1. 3 x quizzes (10% each) (30) [LO 1,2]
  2. 3 x tutorial exercises (10% each) (30) [LO 2,3]
  3. Final 3000 word essay (40) [LO 4]

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Workload

130 hours of total student learning time made up from:
a) 36 hours of contact over 12 weeks: 24 hours of lectures and 12 hours of tutorials and tutorial-like activities; and
b) 94 hours of independent student research, reading, and writing.

Requisite and Incompatibility

To enrol in this course you must have completed 12 units of 1000 level Anthropology (ANTH), Archaeology (ARCH), BIAN (Biological Anthropology) or Biology (BIOL) courses. You are not able to enrol in this course if you have previously completed BIAN6119.

Prescribed Texts

None

Fees

Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.  

Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees

Student Contribution Band:
2
Unit value:
6 units

If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.

Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.

Units EFTSL
6.00 0.12500
Note: Please note that fee information is for current year only.

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links

ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.

The list of offerings for future years is indicative only.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.

First Semester

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
3691 17 Feb 2025 24 Feb 2025 31 Mar 2025 23 May 2025 In Person N/A

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