Patterns of Variation
This item is included in the following series/curriculum: Physical Anthropology: The Evolving Human
- Grade Level: Senior High (10-12)-Adult
- Subjects: Anthropology
- Produced By: Coast Learning Systems
- Year: 2008
- Country: United States
- Language: English
- Running Time: 30m
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The video begins with comments on some instances of ethnic genocide that have occurred in the past in the Sudan, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Nazi Germany during World War II, and relates these occurrences to the concept of ?race,? a concept that is based on physical differences between groups. It defines the everyday usage of the word ?race? and includes its biological definition, which leads to the conclusion that the word and concept of ?race? cannot apply to Homo sapiens because, as is well understood, there are no subspecies of Homo sapiens. The video then briefly explains the historical context of how the concept of race emerged among European explorers during the sixteenth century. And, it explains that today anthropologists and scholars look beyond visible physical differences to explain human variation, that they analyze genetics and DNA, the cornerstone of genetic studies, to describe and understand human diversity.