Evolutionary Anthropology Program
Evolutionary anthropology may be defined as the comparative and historical study of the culture, genes, morphology, and behavior of humans and other primates conducted within an evolutionary framework. Evolutionary anthropologists use the conceptual and analytical tools of evolutionary biology to address questions such as:
- Why do diurnal primates live in groups, and why has the size of human groups tended to expand through time?
- How has climate change affected human biological and cultural evolution?
- What impact has culture had on human biological evolution? In what ways does culture extend the properties of biology?
- Why do male hunters share the meat they obtain; how do sharing arrangements for other goods and services evolve; and how are they maintained?
- Why are some people able to drink milk while others get sick if they consume dairy products?
- How can models of culture change be simulated?
A number of WSU faculty in archaeology, cultural anthropology and biological anthropology are nationally and internationally recognized for their contributions to evolutionary anthropology:
Jessica Lynch Alfaro is a biological anthropologist who specializes in primatology. Her research interests include reproductive endocrinology, behavioral ecology, and population genetics and phylogeography. At present, she is working on the phylogenetics of the Cebus-Saimiri-Aotus clade (capuchin monkeys, squirrel monkeys and owl monkeys) in the Neotropics, and mapping behavioral and morphological traits onto the phylogenetic and ecological patterns of these primates. This project is in collaboration with Mike Alfaro of the School of Biological Sciences, WSU, and Horacio Schneider of the University of Para, Brazil. She is also conducting research on mating behavior and population genetics on white-faced capuchin monkeys in the Quepos region of Costa Rica, in collaboration with Gustavo Gutierrez Espeleta of the University of Costa Rica. In a broad sense, she is interested in the evolution of social learning, social systems and mating strategies across primates.
John Bodley is a cultural anthropologist currently examining the process of growth and change in the scale of societies and economies and its impact on the distribution of social power and household well-being. He draws on scale and complexity theory, as well as evolutionary theory, to explore the power-concentrating and cost-diffusing effects of elite-directed growth and its implications for long-term human sustainability. He compares the personal power networks that individuals can construct in small-scale, domestic societies, in larger-scale, politically-organized pre-capitalist societies, and in globally-organized, commercial societies. His other research interests include general anthropology, cultural ecology, and indigenous peoples. Dr. Bodley conducted field research with the Ashaninka, Conibo, and Shipibo indigenous groups in the Peruvian Amazon throughout his early career. Since then he has spent time with other indigenous groups in Alaska, Australia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and the Philippines.
Barry Hewlett is interested in evolutionary cultural anthropology (e.g., evolutionary properties of mechanisms of cultural transmission, gene-culture interactions) and integrated evolutionary approaches to infant development and infectious and parasitic diseases, such as Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever.
Tim Kohler is an archaeologist studying change through time in Neolithic societies with special emphasis on the U.S. Southwest, using methods that are drawn from both human behavioral ecology and cultural transmission theory. He is currently collaborating with Robert Reynolds (Wayne State University, Department of Computer Science) on an agent-based modeling project that targets societies in southwestern Colorado between A.D. 600 and 1300, employing a variant of genetic algorithms called cultural algorithms that provides a computational framework within which norms and behaviors can change through time in response to selection pressures (see the Village Project). He served as editor of American Antiquity from 2000-2004.
Karen Lupo is an archaeologist with a specialization in zooarchaeology. She is interested in applications of models derived from evolutionary ecology to questions about early hominid evolution and prehistoric hunter-gatherer behavior. Her specific research interests include questions about the emergence of hunting, meat sharing and cooperation. Dr. Lupo has worked in western North America and sub-Saharan Africa. Most recently, she has been conducting ethnoarchaeological research among Bofi and Aka forest foragers in the Central African Republic. This research project focuses on how and why people share meat. It also addresses questions about human behavior under resource stress.
Courtney Meehan is a biocultural anthropologist whose research focuses on the behavorial strategies of caregivers, child health, development and behavior. The broad aim of this research is to examine the significance of multiple caregiving on parental strategies, human pairbonding, family organization, and child development throughout our evolutionary history. She has conducted field research in the Central African Republic among the Aka tropical forest foragers and the Ngandu farmers since 1999.
Rob Quinlan is a biocultural anthropologist specializing in the evolutionary ecology of family, kinship and life history "strategies." His research focuses on parental care, child development, and reproductive behavior. He is also exploring “dialogues” between quantitative and qualitative analysis in “evolutionary ethnography” and cross-cultural psychology. Since 1993 Quinlan has been involved in ongoing fieldwork in a rural community in the Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies. He also does comparative cross-cultural research.
Steve Weber received his Ph.D. in 1989 from the University of Pennsylvannia. The theme of his research deals with how and why people adopt new subsistence strategies, and how change in subsistence systems relates to change in material culture and settlement systems. With a colleague, Dr. Weber co-founded the Society of Ethnobiology and the Journal of Ethnobiology in order to promote the interdisciplinary study of human interaction with the natural environment. He continues to serve on the board of the Society of Ethnobiology, and remains committed to promoting the creative fusion of biological and anthropological approaches to the study of humans and their surroundings. Since arriving at WSU in 1994, Dr. Weber has been involved in projects in India, Pakistan and Washington. He maintains his special interest in paleoethnobotany, but regards himself first and foremost as a field-oriented archaeologist.
Several other WSU Anthropology faculty have research interests that are directly relevant to evolutionary anthropological research. These include Bob Ackerman (Upper Paleolithic, Siberia and Alaska), Bill Andrefsky (lithic technology, technological organization, Pacific Northwest), Andrew Duff (community formation, pottery, Southwestern United States), and John Jones (archaeobotany, origins of agriculture in the New World, palaeoenvironmental reconstruction).
The evolutionary anthropology graduate program at WSU organizes and builds upon the strengths of the faculty to provide graduate students with cutting-edge training and coursework that combines theoretical sophistication with analytical rigor. Unlike other programs in evolutionary anthropology, the interests and expertise of the WSU faculty offer a uniquely broad range of courses, covering some of the most important strains of evolutionary anthropological research. These include: behavioral ecology, evolutionary cultural anthropology, and evolutionary archaeology. Current faculty research examines important questions about the phylogenetics and reproductive endocrinology of primates, the evolution of human behaviors such as cooperation and food-sharing, hunting, parental strategies and investment, and the development of material culture. Faculty and graduate student research interests span several continents including the Americas and Africa.
As with other graduate programs in the Department of Anthropology, the evolutionary anthropology program is committed to fostering and strengthening intellectual interactions between students and faculty. Once a week we hold a journal club meeting, which provides a forum for graduate students and faculty to interact in an informal setting and exchange ideas about current articles and issues in evolutionary anthropology. In addition, we also hold brownbag meetings where students and faculty discuss their current research. Participation in both groups is voluntary, but students are strongly encouraged to become involved.
The M.A. and Ph.D. programs train professional anthropologists and archaeologists with a strong sense of how evolutionary theory articulates with different questions about human genes, anatomy and behavior. Core and topical course requirements emphasize providing students with a strong theoretical platform that can be applied to more specific research in biological and cultural anthropology and archaeology. Both M.A. and Ph.D. students can select from a range of elective courses to develop a more individualized and specific program of study. Depending on their research interests, students can design an interdisciplinary degree and select elective courses from a variety of allied fields including biology, zoology, geology, psychology, medical and veterinary science and mathematics. Both programs stress the importance of fieldwork to generate original research and the use of a hypothetico-deductive framework to analyze data. Incoming students with appropriate prior coursework and/or training may be allowed to waive specific courses on a petition basis. All students are asked to identify a principal advisor during their first semester in the program and file a program of study during their second semester.
The M.A. degree is appropriate for students who anticipate pursuing a doctoral degree in anthropology or an appropriate allied field. The M.A. degree requires a minimum of 32 credit hours. Graduation requires a written thesis based on original research, as well as a successful oral defense. The Ph.D. degree prepares students for a professional academic or research career. Incoming Ph.D. candidates are expected to have completed a M.A. (or equivalent degree) in anthropology or an appropriate allied field. The Ph.D. degree requires a minimum of 72 credit hours. Candidates are required to successfully pass preliminary exams. Graduation requires a written dissertation based on original research, as well as a successful oral defense. Students wishing to defend a thesis or dissertation must submit a complete draft to the committee on or before March 10 to defend in the spring semester or October 20 to defend in the fall semester. The complete draft is reviewed by the student's committee chair. If approved the thesis or dissertation is then reviewed by the other members of the student's committee. Theses or dissertations not submitted on or before these dates are not guaranteed consideration for a defense during the desired semester.
Requirements for the M.A. Program in Evolutionary Anthropology
Required Core Courses
Students must take all of the following:
- ANTH 510 Fundamentals of Cultural Anthropology [3 units]
- ANTH 530 Introduction to Archaeological Method and Theory [3 units]
- ANTH 537 Quantitative Methods in Anthropology [4 units]
- ANTH 562 Evolutionary Method and Theory in Anthropology and Archaeology [3 units]
Evolutionary Topic Courses
Any three of the following:
- ANTH 547 Models and Simulation [3 units]
- ANTH 548 Hunter and Gatherers Past and Present [3 units]
- ANTH 561 Current Trends in Physical Anthropology [3 units]
- ANTH 563 Anthropology of Life and Death [3 units]
- ANTH 564 Advances in Evolution & Human Behavior [3 units]
- ANTH 565 Human Evolution [3 units]
- ANTH 569 Evolutionary Cultural Anthropology [3 units]
Thesis Research Hours
- ANTH 700 Master's Research, Thesis and/or Examination [minimum 4 units]
Electives
- Electives emphasizing research methods and skills [to be agreed on with the graduate committee, minimum 6 units]
Requirements for the Ph.D. program in Evolutionary Anthropology
Required Core Courses
Students must take all of the following:
- ANTH 510 Fundamentals of Cultural Anthropology [3 units]
- ANTH 530 Introduction to Archaeological Method and Theory [3 units]
- ANTH 537 Quantitative Methods in Anthropology [4 units]
- ANTH 562 Evolutionary Method and Theory in Anthropology and Archaeology [3 units]
Evolutionary Topic Courses
Six of the following:
- ANTH 547 Models and Simulation [3 units]
- ANTH 548 Hunter and Gatherers Past and Present [3 units]
- ANTH 561 Current Trends in Physical Anthropology [3 units]
- ANTH 563 Anthropology of Life and Death [3 units]
- ANTH 564 Advances in Evolutionary and Human Behavior [3 units]
- ANTH 565 Human Evolution [3 units]
- ANTH 569 Evolutionary Cultural Anthropology [3 units]
Electives
- Electives, including at least six hours emphasizing research methods and skills [to be agreed on with the graduate committee, minimum 21 units]
Dissertation Research Hours
- ANTH 800 Doctoral Research, Dissertation and/or Examination [minimum 20 units]
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Course Requirements
for M.A & Ph.D. degrees
Evolutionary
Anthropology
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