Part I: You have read and watched various content related to how skin color evolved and how our genetic history impacts the way we look. The various pieces can be difficult to put together, especially with our previous discussion of how race is not biologically "real." Yet, we look around our communities and clearly see differences based on skin color. Where do those differences come from? What can we say about these differences from a biological perspective, and what can we "not" say (i.e. the cultural perspective)?
The following assignment is designed to walk you through the logical flow of how the biological "story" of race can be understood. Using your notes and the class readings, answer the following questions.
- FIRST. How do different adaptive traits evolve?
- List each of the four forces of evolution and provide an example of each:
- SECOND. How do those different traits get distributed across geographic areas/populations?
- What is clinal variation? Provide an example of clinal variation.
- THIRD. Where did these "different" populations come from?
- Define the Replacement Model (complete and partial):
- Define the Multiregional Model:
- FOURTH. Given these migration models, how is skin color adaptive/maladaptive in different environments?
- _______________ is nature's sunscreen because it protects individuals from the harmful effects of sun exposure, i.e. UV radiation
- Darker skin in equatorial environments is adaptive because it prevents ____________ deficiencies, which cause _____________ in newborns.
- Lighter skin evolved further from the equator and was adaptive because it prevented _____________ deficiencies, which cause ___________.
- FIFTH. So skin color has a biological importance, but what are the limitations of skin color (or any phenotypic/genotypic trait) in determining how to classify people according to "races?"
- Define non concordant variation: Why does non concordant variation make creating 'race' categories difficult?
- Why does clinal variation make creating 'race' categories difficult?
- Describe how genetic variation is distributed between and within human populations: Why does this distribution make creating 'race' categories difficult?
Part II:
1. How do the three points above challenge (or reinforce) your previous (BEFORE this class) notions of race? Be explicit in showing the connection between the above three points and either how they challenge or reinforce your previous notion.
2. Thinking of admixture as a biological process that is mediated by culture, give and describe an example of a population for whom admixture is a culturally influenced process that blurs the line between genetics, ancestry and identity, and thus blurs the line between the biological and the cultural.
3. Of the topics covered in the first section of this course, which was the most surprising to you? Why? If nothing was surprising for you, where did you originally learn this information?