Human Ecology and Adaptation

Recommended Prerequisites

The students should be able to red the bibliography in English. 

Teaching Methods

- Teaching methodologies:

- Lectures using “PowerPoints” presentations. Students are always motivated to participate with their opinions.

- Scientific movies when appropriate to a better understanding the topics under discussion.  

Learning Outcomes

This course aims to enhance student’s grasp of principles of human ecology, a core part of biological anthropology. We aim to introduce the concepts of adaptation and acclimatization; to examine the effects of environmental stressors such as climatic factors and their role in human evolution; the study of  the stages in the human life cycle; examines biological diversity across living human populations in a comparative perspective; lastly a brief overview of certain non-communicable diseases that have become common in western populations in consequences of our modernization will be examine.  

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

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1. Course introduction – origin and concepts in human ecology
2. Human adaptation to the environment

-Adaptation and acclimatization

-The nature of adaptation of responses to climatic stress factors: heat, cold, radiation and hypoxia

1. Human growth studies

-Basic concepts in growth, development and maturation

-How to define growth, how to measure and their significance

-Stages in the human life cycle

-Human biological diversity in stature and weight

1. Responses to modernization and urban environment

-Types of human subsistence patterns: foraging, agriculture and industrialization

_{-Main health problems of modern human populations: non-infectious diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes type II and cancer.}    

Head Lecturer(s)

Cristina Maria Proença Padez

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Exam: 100.0%

Bibliography

  Cameron, N.; Bogin, B. 2012. Human Growth and Development. Second Edition Academic Press.

Frisancho, A. R. 1981. Human Adaptation. A Functional Interpretation. The University of Michigan Press. Ann Arbor

Jablonski, N. 2012. Living Color: The Biological and Social Meaning of Skin Color. University of California Press.

Stinson, S.; Bogin, B.; O´Rourke, D. 2012. Human Biology. An Evolutionary and Biocultural Perspective. Wiley-Liss