The Human Biology program provides students with a holistic understanding of our species with a focus on our biology. It includes consideration of how our biology is altered by both evolutionary history and a contemporary environment that includes natural, social, and technological components, and how it is interpreted within a social and cultural context. Students explore these diverse aspects of humanity while gaining a solid knowledge of our biological foundations. In the Human Biology curriculum, students study cases from the perspectives of different disciplines, work with team members to generate and present cases, participate in experiential learning environments, conduct original research, and communicate their work to a larger community using various media.
The Human Biology program is designed around a core sequence of two interdisciplinary 4-credit courses and a senior capstone course that is 3 credits. In addition to these, students take required courses in a variety of disciplines to gain expertise in the diverse aspects of human biology, and courses in a single area of concentration, that allow for more in-depth study in their area of interest. Each area of concentration includes courses from both the life science perspective and the historical, social, arts, and humanities perspectives.
The Area Certificate in Human Biology is an interdisciplinary certificate program within the College of Arts and Sciences that is partnered with the Indiana University School of Medicine. The objective of an Area Certificate is to relate the biological sciences to the problems raised by the relationships of human beings to one another and to their environment. The Area Certificate features an electronic portfolio (e-portfolio) as the capstone project.
