About
Integrative Biology (IB) 35AC, 'Human Biological Variation,' explores human migrations and origins covering different regions worldwide, ending in the meeting of cultures in the Americas. The course addresses several powerful questions within evolutionary biology and human genetics: What role does biology play in identity formation and racial formation; What role does human biology have in public discourse on race; How does biology affect human interactions and social structures in America; How are genomic sequencing and consumer genetics changing the discourse on race and identity in the United States?
IB 35AC provides students with a unique opportunity to engage the scientific evidence from DNA studies and archaeology and oral stories of origins and dispersal, therefore exploring the tension between scientific inquiry and indigenous ways of knowing, bringing multiple epistemologies together in the classroom learning experience. Accompanying the classroom lecture discussions are discovery-driven lab sections.