ANTH 324: A Biocultural Approach to War

This course takes a biocultural approach to the study of warfare by taking a broad view of humans as evolved biological organisms and as cultural beings with complex behavior. This course will critically examine a variety of proposed causes for human warfare (evolutionary, materialism, historical contingency), looking at the evidence for conflict and cooperation in humans (and other species) in the archeological and ethnographic records. Second, this course will explore the epidemiological evidence for the effects of war on human health across the globe, including case studies on its effects on psychological health, nutrition, child growth, infection and other sequelae.