Evolutionary anthropology

Transcription

>> AMANDA KORSTJENS: MSc Biological Anthropology is all about our place in nature, how we became who we are but also about learning to understand other primates, not just humans but also non-human primates. The students learn a lot about bone identification, they learn human identification but also the skeletons of animals. They learn about human evolution and about the behaviour and ecology of humans and other primates. >> SARA MCGUIRE: The course is very practical; we're allowed to look at specimens of human skeletal remains we also have different casts of different primate species and different human ancestral species, it's very interesting to look at those and compare them. Then in the courses we review different things like skeletal anatomy and all the things pertaining to the specimens we look at in the labs. I really love the anthropology lab it's amazing the collections fantastic, we are able to look at all the different kinds of individuals from all the different periods of time, especially the different pathological specimens are amazing. To look at all the different diseases on bone it's very interesting to see that what it does to the human body as far as studies go and the implications for forensic anthropology. We have gone on I believe three or four different field trips now. We went to the royal college of surgeons in London and we looked at different specimens at their different labs, we went to the chiropractors college locally and looked at specimens as well and most recently we went to monkey world and looked at all the different primates there. >> AMANDA KORSTJENS: We have a range of different guest lecturers, students are exposed to specialists in the field. We really want to help students build up this network for future job perspectives. The career prospects are quite good for students from this course. It is a relatively broad course and it trains students in identification of not just human skeletal material but also animal skeletal material which is quite unique so they have a good chance of finding a job in an archaeological unit. A lot of students end up going to work for human identification units, so they might go to mass disasters to help with skeletal identification of individuals, otherwise there is also the academia with training students in extensive research skills. I think students should choose to come to Bournemouth because we've got a long standing reputation in Biological Anthropology. The staff here are internationally known for their experience in a wide variety of topics which makes especially this course very interesting because students will be able to link with staff from different disciplines. >> SARA MCGUIRE: When I was looking at different postgraduate programmes, I was looking specifically for research on isotope studies and having the opportunity to come to Bournemouth has been amazing because my supervisor is so experienced within that field and he's been a real help. >> AMANDA KORSTJENS: We also have staff specialised in the primatology so you learn also about behaviour and ecology of primates and you can link with excellent ecological groups. >> SARA MCGUIRE: I think students should come to Bournemouth to study because it's an amazing opportunity especially for international students; the opportunities for studies, for research, for study abroad are tremendous.