BA in Anthropology (General) - Biological Physical Anthropology in Waterloo Canada | University of Waterloo

Waterloo's Anthropology program encompasses three of the discipline's traditional major sub-fields: sociocultural anthropology, archaeological anthropology, and biological (physical) anthropology.

Students in the program are required to take both theoretical and practical courses in all three of these sub-fields. This broad approach introduces the student to the whole field of anthropology in order to emphasize the holistic theory which underlies all these ways of studying human development and culture.

Anthropology students explore our cultural practices and biological complexities in the past and present, and in globally specific contexts.

In the University of Waterloo’s anthropology program, students gain an 'anthropological sensibility' that builds knowledge and skills for life and work beyond the University. In a rapidly changing, increasingly globalized world, it is critical to understand the unions, disjunctures, and discursive changes over time, between species, and among cultural practices.

UWaterloo anthropology students learn techniques of research design, field methods, and have fieldwork opportunities that bring classroom learning to life.

Biological Anthropology is one of the major areas providing data about the early development of the human species. Combined with studies of the genetics and adaptations of modern populations, this sub-field provides an understanding of the biological background of humans which forms the basis for their intellectual and cultural development.

This field covers the evolution of primates, primate behaviour, the evolution of hominids, modern adaptation and some aspects of genetics and population studies. The focus of Biological evolution is on the process of adaptation in response to the stresses of selection. Genetic and evolutionary theory provide the background paradigm for this field.

Theoretical aspects of Biological anthropology are not stressed at the undergraduate level, to allow for students to gain a clear understanding of the background and methods of anthropology as a whole. Lab periods and films are utilized to familiarize students with the objects of study: bones, fossil casts, blood testing and genetics problems. Some techniques of anthropometric measurement are also learned by hands-on practice in lab sessions.