I regularly teach the following courses:

 

Evolution and Human Emergence

This course is an introduction to the field of biological anthropology.  We examine the processes of evolution, primate diversity and socioecology, human evolution, and modern human variation and adaptations.  The emphasis throughout this course is to understand the processes that have shaped human evolution and to understand why humans behave in the manner that they do.

 

Human Origins

How did humans become socially complex, cultured, cooperative, egalitarian, big-brained apes that eat meat and walk on two legs?  These transformations are explored through lectures and laboratory exercises. This course offers a survey of human evolution, with principles of evolutionary theory, primate behavioral ecology, and functional morphology used to interpret the fossil record.  Species reconstructions include the following: habitat; brain size, body size and shape, and sexual dimorphism; positional behavior; diet, feeding, and subsistence behavior; life history patterns; social organization and reproductive behavior; and tools and technology.  We use fossil cast and skeletal collections extensively.

 

Paleoanthropology 

This course offers an advanced survey of primary literature in human evolution, with principles of evolutionary theory, primate and human behavioral ecology, and functional morphology used to interpret the fossil record.

 

Human Behavioral Evolution

This course incorporates primary literature from the fields of paleontology, primatology, and human behavioral ecology to address behavioral transitions that characterize the origin of hominins, the transition from ape-like to human-like hominin, and the origin of our own species.  Topics include the evolution of hunting, cooking, pair-bonds, provisioning, cooperation, and life history transitions.

 

Primate Evolution

This course reviews primary literature covering issues in primate taxonomy, functional and behavioral reconstructions, inferring phylogenetic relationships, and macroevolutionary patterns. The intent of this course is to put primates into a broader evolutionary perspective. 

 

Paleoecology Laboratory

This course explores topics such as reconstructing past diets, habitats, climates, and ecosystems through hands-on laboratory experience.  Students learn techniques such as dental microwear and isotopic analyses as well as estimating body size, and they gain experience working with faunal collections at UNM’s Museum of Southwestern Biology.