What Does it Mean to be Human?

Group: Entire class

Purpose:

"Anthropology" means the study of humans. Physical or Biological Anthropology is the study of the physical human body, its diversity, and its evolution. But what makes us human? What is the definition (physically, mentally) of a human being? This exercise brings our assumptions about human nature to the open, so we can examine and analyze them.

Goals:

    • Define the unifying theme of the course (What does it mean to be human?)

    • Survey the current level of knowledge about human characteristics among students in the class

    • "Shake the Frame": help us recognize our own assumptions about the nature of humanity, so we can be open to other possibilities

Procedure:

    1. Take two minutes to reflect upon the following question, and list as many answers as possible on a sheet of paper: What makes us human? (That is, what characteristics, traits, behaviors, etc., define us as a species?) Don't forget to put your name on the paper!

    2. Be prepared to share with the class. When we have a list of answers on the whiteboard, we will discuss them as a group.

Take-Home Messages:

    1. As a species, we are defined by a number of different traits, but our shared humanity is a reflection of our shared evolutionary history.

    2. Humans, like all organisms, are "naturenurtural". That is, our genes ("nature") is expressed through our environment ("nurture"). We must understand both to understand what is fundamental human nature, and what is specific to particular environments.

    3. For humans, culture is the ultimate adaptation. Culture is the environment through which our genes are expressed.

Reflection:

Read the goals and take-home messages of this activity. Take 5 minutes to write a reflection on the activity. You may write this reflection on the bottom or back of the paper on which you wrote your answer to the earlier question. If you don't know where to start, answer one or more of these questions: How do you feel about this activity? What struck you as interesting or new? After the activity, what are you most interested in studying in this class?