Combining Anthropology with a major in Human Biology
Human Biology and anthropology are overlapping areas
of study. A major branch of anthropology is, of course,
physical anthropology, and physical anthropologists are
interested in all the areas covered in the Human Biology
major. Physical anthropologists study human genetics and
variability, human evolution, aspects of physiology and
growth, anthropometry (the measurement of the human
body), and primatology. Therefore the physical
anthropological aspect of the anthropology minor will
allow you to extend your human biological course work.
The combination goes farther than this overlap, however.
The anthropology minor will give you a solid
introduction to other areas in anthropology, without
losing sight of the essential biological nature of the
human species. Anthropology in the United States is a
holistic discipline. Your minor will take you into areas
like the study of family and kinship, the study of
religion and ritual, and the study of the material
aspects of human societes. With respect to the latter
you will take a course that examines the adaptive
relationships brought about between human populations
and their environments through culture. The course also
examines political and economic relationships. In
essence the combination of the Human Biology major with
the Anthropology minor is a program in the study of
humankind with a particular emphasis on biological
matters understood in the context of culture.
ANTHROPOLOGY AND THE HUMAN BIOLOGY AREAS OF EMPHASIS.
Human Biology has several differentiated emphases that
students choose to follow toward differing career paths.
Anthropology fits with some of them better than others.
Combining the Anthropology minor with the HEALTH SCIENCE
EMPHASIS makes particular sense because there is an
applied field called medical anthropology that is two-pronged. First,
many physical anthropologists become involved in various aspects of medical
research. Often this involves genetics, but can also range into other human
biological areas. Second, medical anthropology also has a cultural side
that specializes in the problem of understanding ideas
about health and illness in other cultures. This is an
applied anthropological area that keeps the problem of
supplying health care across cultural boundaries in
mind. Dr. Anthony Galt teaches Anthropology 340 Medical Anthropology and has
recently done research on diabetes in one of his southern Italian field sites. Studying cultural anthropology helps potential
health care deliverers understand some of the variety of
ways people in other cultures conceive of illness, and
helps them explain treatment in terms that such people
can understand and accept. An understanding of illness
questions in other cultures also entails a more holistic
approach to well-being that considers psychological and
social conditions as well as the biomedical factors
normally considered by doctors, nurses, and public
health professionals. Sometimes people are ill, not from
diseases readily recognized by Western medical science,
but because their social relationships are maladjusted.
In such cases referral to traditional curers may be
better than just sending them home. As society becomes
increasingly multicultural, that kind of anthropological
understanding becomes more crucial to have in
combination with biomedical knowledge. Are you aware
that there are traditional curers among the Asian
refugees in this area, and that ideas about illness
among people in those populations differ a great deal
from those of the general anglo-american public?
The HUMAN BIOLOGY major also has a GENERAL EMPHASIS.
Anthropology combines well with this emphasis, and the
combination would make a fine broad background for those
contemplating graduate study in physical anthropology or
other aspects of human biology. This would be the proper
combination to take especially for students interested
in human evolution, primatology, or human variability. For more information contact:
DANIEL MEINHARDT, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR (465-2398) Teaches Evolutionary Biology.
Click here to go to Human Biology program information. Use your "back"
command to return here.
Go back to combination page