HOMINID PALEOBIOLOGY

Committee on Hominid Paleobiology

B. Wood (Chair), K. Behrensmeyer, R. Bernstein, A. Brooks, S. McFarlin, D. Piperno, R. Potts, B. Richmond, C. Sherwood, M. Zeder

Columbian College of Arts and Sciences offers an interdisciplinary program leading to the Doctor of Philosophy in the field of hominid paleobiology. Participating faculty are drawn from the Departments of Anthropology, Biological Sciences, and Anatomy and Regenerative Biology at GW; the Departments of Anthropology and Paleobiology at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution; the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at Howard University; and the National Institutes of Health.

A bachelor's degree in anthropology, biological sciences, geological sciences, or psychology from this University, or an equivalent degree from another accredited institution of higher learning, is required for admission into the program. Prerequisites include the following.

1) Advanced undergraduate course work in biology, including courses in evolution and any two of the following: genetics, developmental biology/embryology, anatomy, physiology, ethology, ecology, and paleontology. GW courses that correspond to these subjects are BiSc 2207, 2208, 2214, 2322, 2323, 2332, 2450, 2451, 2452, 2454, 3456.

2) Advanced undergraduate course work in anthropology, including courses in any two of the following: osteology, human biology, paleoanthropology, primatology, and Paleolithic archaeology corresponding to Anth 3832, 3401, 3402, 3403, 3404, 3411, 3412, 3491, 3801, 3802; course work in statistics corresponding to Stat 1127; course work in mathematics, including precalculus, corresponding to Math 1220-21.

In addition, advanced undergraduate course work in one or more of the following subjects is desirable: chemistry, biochemistry, physics, geoscience, and calculus.

Exceptional applicants who lack some of the prerequisites may be admitted to the program on a provisional basis, but formal admission will be conditional on the satisfactory completion of appropriate deficiency courses in the first year.

Doctor of Philosophy in the field of hominid paleobiology-Required: the general requirements stated under Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. The program includes a minimum of 48 credit hours of course work, plus a dissertation (equivalent to 24 credit hours). Required courses are HomP 6201, 8301, 8302, 8303; Anth 6801; and a course in each of the following: genetics, geoscience or vertebrate paleontology, animal behavior or ecology, research methods, and statistical methods. The remainder of the course work is to be distributed among various interdisciplinary courses, including but not limited to the following: Anth 3402, 6401, 6404, 6405, 6412, 6413; Anat 6210, 6212; BiSc 2214, 2332, 6210, 6216, 6228, 6230, 6249; Geol 3126, 3140.

Three of the chosen courses must include a substantial independent research project. These research components must involve at least two different disciplines and may include approved field courses. Electives are to be selected as for the master's degree. For detailed requirements, consult the chair of the doctoral program committee.

Research fields: Any subdiscipline of anatomy, anthropology, biology, ecology, or geoscience that pertains to research in the field of hominid paleobiology. At least one of the student's research fields must be in a discipline other than anthropology.