Instructor
Dr. Karin E. Jaffe
Course Description and Objectives
This course is an introduction to the evolutionary biology of birth, childhood, marriage, the family, old age, and death in human societies as we examine who we are and where we came from. This course has five primary goals: 1) to show you how various aspects of human life cycles and human behavior can be interpreted biologically, 2) to give you an idea about how other societies function and how other peoples live, 3) to introduce you to scientific methodology as it applies to interpreting human behavior, 4) to stimulate discussion about the relevance of biology to understanding your own and other’s behavior, and 5) to help you gain competence in presenting material orally. This course fulfills General Education area E (The Integrated Person) requirement. Please go to http://www.sonoma.edu/aa/ap/generaleducation.shtml for more information on the Mission, Goals and Objectives of General Education at SSU.
University Policies
There are important University policies that you should be aware of, such as the add/drop policy, cheating and plagiarism policy, grade appeal procedures, accommodations for students with disabilities, and the diversity vision statement. These and other policies can be found at: http://www.sonoma.edu/UAffairs/policies/. To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact the disabled student services office at (707) 664-2677 (voice), or (707) 664-2958 (TDD for hearing and voice impaired). If you have a letter from their office indicating that you have a disability that requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to me so we can discuss the accommodations that you might need in this class.
Student Athletes/Student Government: It is up to students who might miss class due to a univeristy-sanctioned event to inform the instructor of this possibility during the first 2 days of class so that alternate arrangements can be made. Students who fail to notify the instructor of competition schedules, etc., at the beginning of intersession may not be accomodated.
Please note: I will hold all unclaimed assignments in my office until the end of Fall semester, 2009, at which time they will be shredded.
Email and Phone Number
karin.jaffe@sonoma.edu; (707) 664-2944
Office and Office Hours
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for 30 minutes immediately after class in Stevenson 2054D
Lectures
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday (July 27-August 14) 9am-12pm in Stevenson 2065
Required Texts
Available at SSU Bookstore:
Potts, M. and Short, R. (1999) Ever Since Adam and Eve. Cambridge University Press. (“P&S” in syllabus)
Neese, R.M., and Williams, G.C. (1994) Why We Get Sick. Vintage Books, New York.
Available as reader from Copy, Mail & More, 8282 Old Redwood Hwy, Cotati, 285-3400:
Readings in Course Reader (noted on syllabus)
What I Exect of You
What You Can Expect of Me
Components of this Course (200 points, total)
Explanation of Course Grading: Here is a detailed description of the components of the course, and how grades are deteremined.
Grades: Final Grades will NOT be posted on this site; they will be emailed to your SSU email address. Check your SSU email beginning the afternoon of Monday, August 17.
Syllabus: The schedule fo events for the course.
Practice Exams: Practice exams are available for each exam.
Take-home Assignments: Take-home assignment prompts. Take-home assignments are based on the three films shown in class.
Essay: Here are detailed instructions for writing the essay.
Plagiarism Examples : Please see these examples of how to avoid plagiarism when writing your essay.
Presentation: Here are detailed instructions regarding the presentation.
Return
to Dr. Jaffe's Homepage at the Department of Anthropology at Sonoma State University