ANT-HC-5016

Human Population Genetics

Credit 6 (Theory: 4; Practical: 2)


COURSE OBJECTIVE: Provide an understanding of measuring changes in humanpopulation.

COURSE OUTCOME:

• Students will learn about mechanisms which create variation in gene frequencies.

• Students will learn the method of assessing gene frequency variation.

• Students will learn how ecological factors which help maintain gene frequencies.

Theory

Unit I: Essentials of Genetics

Landmarks in the history of genetics, principles in human genetics, single locus (Mendelian) versus multilocus (quantitative/complex) inheritance, chromosome theory of inheritance (segregation and independent assortment)Mendelian inheritance (single factor and multifactorial inheritance), Non- Mendelian inheritance (multiple allelism, Co-dominance; sex linked, sex limited, sex controlled, epistasis; penetrance and expressivity; Cytoplasmicinheritance)


Unit II. Ecological Genetics and Polymorphism

Phenotypic & genotypic polymorphisms, transient polymorphism, balanced polymorphisms, models explaining the maintenance of genetic polymorphism (Relationship between sickle cell and malaria, X-linked polymorphism, selection due to infectious diseases and its association with blood groups and other)


Unit III: Hardy-Weinberg principle: Concept, Assumptions of Hardy Weinberg equilibrium, its applications and exceptions


Unit IV: Mechanism for dynamics in Gene Frequency:

Mutation, selection (pattern and mechanism), Genetic drift (bottle neck and founder effect), Gene flow/migration, inbreeding and its consequences.


Unit V: Population structure and admixture in human populations. Random & non-random mating (positive and negative assortative mating), heritability.

Practical

1. ABO and Rh (D) Blood groupings: Student should be trained in determining ABO and Rh blood groups of at least 5 individuals by following standard procedure.

2. Testing of Colour Vision (Color Blindnes): Ishihara’s Chart should be used to determine the colour blindness. Inferences should be recorded on at least 5 subjects.

3. PTC test: Student should be trained to test PTC testing ability in at least 5 individuals following standard procedure.

**********************

ANT-HC-5026

Anthropology in Practice

Credit 6 (Theory: 4; Practical: 2)

COURSE OBJECTIVE: To impart knowledge about the applied aspects of Anthropology.

COURSE OUTCOME:

• The knowledge of Applied Anthropology, Action Anthropology and Role of Anthropology in Development 

• Student will gain knowledge of recent trend of Anthropology.

Theory

Unit I: Academic Anthropology

Academics and Practitioners: Differences, Structure, Activities, Controversies and Issues: Applied Anthropology, Action Anthropology and Development Anthropology.


Unit II: Role of Anthropology in Development

Anthropology and Public Policy, Need Assessment and Community Development, Anthropology of NGO’s, Management Anthropology, Environment and Community Health, Social and economic sustainability, Cultural resource management.


Unit III: Future Dynamics in Anthropology

Trends in Anthropology: Anthropology of Tourism, Anthropology In Census; Designing and Fashion, Visual Anthropology


Unit IV: Constitutional Perspective and Human Rights

Constitutional Provisions, Evaluation, Planning and Development of Indian Populations; Human Rights, National and State Human Rights Commission and other Grievance Redressal Mechanism.

Practical

1. The students will visit a NGO, corporate office, panchayat office or census office and write principal observations on the same.

2. Write a project on constitutional provisions or evaluation of any development project / report.

3. Write a project on Religious Tourism / Tribal Tourism / Health Tourism / Fashion / Human Rights / Ecotourism.

4. Collection of demographic data from secondary sources and write a project on demographic profile.

************************

ANT-HE-5016

Indian Archaeology

Credit 6 (Theory: 4; Practical: 2)

COURSE OBJECTIVE: The broad objective of the course is to acquaint the students with the prehistoric background of the country both from theoretical and practical perspective.

COURSE OUTCOME:

• The students will be familiar with the rich prehistoric past of the country.

• The students will understand the prehistoric foundation on which the later course of history in the country developed.

Theory

Unit I: Prehistoric India: Pleistocene chronology of India: A critical assessment


Unit II: Character, distribution and interpretation of habitat and economy of the following cultures of India:

    i. Lower palaeolithic

    ii. Middle palaeolithic

    iii. Upper palaeolithic

    iv. Mesolithic culture

    v. Neolithic Culture


Unit III: Bronze Age culture in Indus Basin:

Harappan Civilization: Sites, Artifacts,Town planning and Architecture, Trade and Commerce and Causes of declination.


Unit IV: Megalithic Cultures in India with special reference to Northeast India.


Unit V: Important Excavated Archaeological Sites of North East India 

    Daojali Hading

    Selbalgre 

    Ambari 

    Sarutaru 

    Parsi Parlo 

Practical

1. Identification of tools:

    (a) Handaxe varieties, chopper/chopping tools     (f) End scrapers

    (b) Cleaver varieties                                              (g) Borers

    (c) Side scraper varieties                                       (h) Microlithic tools

    (d) Knives                                                              (i) Bone tools

    (e) Burins

3. Application of Remote Sensing and GIS in Prehistoric Archaeology.

• Visual Interpretation Techniques/Keys

• Visual Interpretation of Aerial Photograph: Identification and mapping of cultural features rom aerial photographs.

• Identification and Drawing of Physical and Cultural features from satellite imagery

*****************************

ANT-HE-5026

Anthropology of Religion, Politics and Economy

Credit:6 (Theory: 4; Practical:2)

COURSE OBJECTIVE: To impart the knowledge of anthropological theories of religion, the economies and political institutions, along with their interrelationship.

COURSE OUTCOME:

• The knowledge on the anthropological theories of religion, economies and political institutions will be gained.

• The knowledge on the interrelationship between religion, economies and political institutions will be achieved.

Theory

UNIT I: Anthropological approaches to understand religion- magic, animism, 

animatism, totemism, naturism; witchcraft and sorcery; Religious specialists: shaman, priests, mystics; Overview of Anthropological Theories of Religion; Religion as the sacrality of ecological adaptation and socialness


Unit II: Economic institutions: principles of production, distribution, and 

consumption in simple and complex societies; critical examination of relationship between economy and society through neo-classical, substantivist, and neo-marxist approaches, various forms of exchange: barter, trade and market; Forms of currencies; reciprocities: generalized, balanced and negative.


Unit III: Political institutions: concepts of power and authority; types of 

authority; state and stateless societies; law and justice in simple and complex societies; the prospects for democracy and tolerance among and within the world’s diverse civilizations; the meaning and sources of identity in complex contemporary societies; the origins of modern politics, its institutions, and cultures, both Western and nonWestern


Unit IV: Interrelationship between religion, politics and economy; religious conversion and movements, emergence of new religious sects in the global order.


Practical

Case study of any of the social institute (religion, economic, political) with respect to culture perspective

***************************

ANT-HE-5036

PALEOANTHROPOLOGY

Credit: 4

COURSE OBJECTIVE: To provide an understanding of the paleontological and archaeological background of evolution. 

COURSE OUTCOME:

• Student will be acquainted with archaeologicaland paleontological background of prehistoric period. 

• Students will have understanding of evolutionary biology and culture through fossilized evidences and bio-archeological approach.

Unit I: Dating methods, geological time scale, taphonomy and interpretation of the paleontological and archaeological records, taxonomic and chronological problems of fossils records.


Unit II: Primate speciation and extinctions: a geological perspective, adaptive primate radiation, differential rate of somatic evolution.


Unit III: Evolutionary biology: Origins and evolution of stone age technology (Human origins: Development, distribution and fossilized evidence of Australopithecines, Paranthropus (Zinjanthropus), Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Archaic H. sapiens, prehistoric hunter-gatherers, modern pastoral communities, emergence of prehistoric people in Africa). 


Unit IV: Primate and Non-Primate Models for Early Hominid Behaviour; hominization process- Evolution of hominid-human bipedalism


Unit V: Palaeodemography- reconstruction of population patterns from skeletal analysis, 

determination of demographic variables in prehistoric populations and post-neolithic population growth, theory and techniques in paleodemography, methodological issues for reconstructing demographic structure, demographic models of mortality and theirinterpretation


Unit VI. Palaeopathology- bioarchaeological approach of disease; effects of agriculture, urbanization and slavery on health and disease; colonization and disease with special emphasis on the New World; dispersion of modern humans - molecular and morphological patterns of relationship


Practical

1. Comparative primate osteology

2. Description and identification of the disarticulated skeleton of non-human primates

3. Identification and description of fossil casts

4. Excursion to any archeological site and writing a report

**************************