By Miriam Belmaker, Associate Professor of Anthropology
It was a great privilege to instruct TPS teachers in a TIFT Seminar. Teaching biological anthropology presents significant challenges, as it necessitates substantial groundwork. I was not on firm footing, beginning with the basics prior to engaging with the more enjoyable aspects of the subject; however, the fellows demonstrated exceptional dedication, transforming the experience into a collaborative learning environment rather than a traditional teacher-student dynamic. Instructing on evolution, particularly human evolution, poses difficulties in a state where acceptance of these concepts is less prevalent than in other regions. I take pride in integrating these units into classrooms, changing minds one student at a time. The students will directly benefit from these units by acquiring a deeper understanding of the natural world, enhancing their critical thinking skills, and being better prepared for advanced studies in biology and related disciplines.
Evolution is not solely a retrospective science; it encompasses the present, future, and applied aspects. Remarkably, without any instruction or directed planning, the units developed during this seminar addressed all these fundamental questions through the lens of evolution.
Donovan Spotz designed a unit titled “Fossil Record: Unearthing the Past: How Fossils Tell the Story of Life on Earth,” which emphasizes the various lines of evidence that illustrate the occurrence of evolution and elucidate the historiography of life on Earth.
Lucia Tomas Grau created a unit entitled “Epigenetics: Beginning of Life on Earth. Development and Evolution of Human Beings.” Epigenetics, a field investigating how our environment and experiences can influence gene expression throughout our lifetimes, is now recognized as one of the four pillars of evolution. This understanding has significantly transformed our perceptions of inheritance, genetic-environment interactions, and the biological repercussions of social environments, enlightening us in ways we had not previously considered.
Tina Berry, who developed the unit “Making Faces: Anthropological Identification and Re-creation,” and Serina Fields, who designed the unit “A French-Language Perspective of Human Skeletal and Social Evolution,” both adopted a more applied perspective, demonstrating how an in-depth understanding of evolution and its implications can permeate all our activities, both theoretical and practical. Indeed, these units enhance students’ knowledge of genetics, human proportions, and evolution through art and language while addressing the question, “Why do we look so different if we are the same?”
Finally, Sally Cannizzaro adopted a distinct approach with her unit, “Predictive Biological Anthropology: Looking Around to Look Forward,” which utilizes evolution as a foundation to discuss our future adaptations, considering potential climate change scenarios and exoplanet exploration.
Evolution is not just a theoretical exploration of the ivory tower; it has tangible, practical, and critical implications for our everyday lives. The fellow successfully captured this salient aspect of teaching human evolution, and I am encouraged by the bright future these fellows bring back to their classrooms. This practical aspect of evolution keeps the students engaged and interested, and it’s a crucial part of our teaching strategy.