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Table of contents

Introduction 0 Why Write for the Public? 1 What to Expect, from Pitch to Publication 2 How to Write a Pitch 3 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 1: Structure 4 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 2: Style 5 Navigating Ethics and Reducing Harms 6 Habits of Thriving Public Anthropologists 7 Cultivating the Craft of Writing 8

Table of contents

Introduction 0 Why Write for the Public? 1 What to Expect, from Pitch to Publication 2 How to Write a Pitch 3 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 1: Structure 4 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 2: Style 5 Navigating Ethics and Reducing Harms 6 Habits of Thriving Public Anthropologists 7 Cultivating the Craft of Writing 8

Teaching

Biological Anthropology

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Unit 4

Human Genetic Variation

is race real

Scientific explanations for and appreciations of human genetic variation often remain at odds with social views on human diversity. In this unit, students will learn how biological anthropologists address genetic variation. They also can consider anthropologists’ ongoing struggle to address the discipline’s historical role in perpetuating scientific racism.

Sapiens articles

a computer generate images features a double helix shape in purple and green.

essay / Decoded

Race Is Real, But It’s Not Genetic

For over 300 years, socially defined notions of “race” have shaped human lives around the globe—but the category has no biological foundation.

Symptoms of schizophrenia and related disorders likely arise from a perplexing interplay of social, environmental, psychological, and biological factors.

essay / Crossroads

Schizophrenia’s Tangled Roots

As an increasingly complex picture of schizophrenia emerges, researchers are recognizing that a more individualized and humane approach is needed to better understand and treat the condition.

Keywords

View All in Biology

A vibrant, abstract scene features blurred blue and orange lights glowing outward from a central area, with silhouetted figures in the foreground.

essay / Letters

Best of SAPIENS 2024

Anthropologists from around the globe brought dazzling insights and deeply reported concerns to the digital pages of SAPIENS magazine.

On a quiet street at night, a small, glowing rectangular device rests on the sill of a stall window shuttered with a corrugated metal cover.

essay / Phenomenon

Phantom Vibrations of a Lost Smartphone

Alberto Navarro 

An anthropologist who studies human-computer interactions explores how and why losing one’s smartphone feels so unsettling.

A black squirrel sits atop a trash can in a busy urban setting, with a crowd of people out-of-focus in the background.

essay / Mindsets

Are People Projecting Racist Stereotypes Onto Squirrels?

Lee Cronk and Ryne Palombit

Researchers refute a popular idea that black-furred squirrels behave more aggressively than gray ones—and suggest the myth stems from some people’s racist attitudes.

A stream of clear water pours into an orange bucket. Behind it, two slightly out-of-focus women and a child look on.

essay / Human Rights

How Water Insecurity Impacts Women’s Health

Paula Skye Tallman, Stroma Cole, Gabriela Salmón-Mulanovich, and Binahayati Rusyidi

Anthropologists and local activists in Indonesia and Peru uncover links between water scarcity and gendered violence, and work together to lessen the harms of gender inequality.

A bearded man in a vest and red scarf holds up his two hands in loose blue gloves, with a small tooth in each hand.

essay / Unearthed

Unraveling a “Ghost” Neanderthal Lineage

Remains in France found by archaeologists and geneticists suggest at least two lineages—not just one—of late Neanderthals in Europe.

A person wearing a black robe crouches beside a white building to tend to a bed of pea plants.

op-ed / Mindsets

People Are Not Peas—Why Genetics Education Needs an Overhaul

The decades out-of-date genetics taught in most U.S. schools stokes misconceptions about race and human diversity. A biological anthropologist calls for change.

View All in post_tag|food

Uma imagem mostra a cabeça e o tronco de uma lhama marrom clara em um chão bege e arenoso.

essay / Unearthed

Escavar passados culinários – com a ajuda do cocô de lhama

Katherine L. Chiou

Uma arqueóloga da alimentação pesquisa a comida cotidiana e os tempos de escassez no antigo povo Moche do Peru através da descoberta notável de milhares de “feijões” de lhama.

View All in Race

A gray-haired woman sits on an exam table in a light-filled doctor’s office and looks out a window.

op-ed / Lost in Translation

Doctors Are Taught to Lie About Race

Decades ago, anthropologists dispelled the myth of biological race. Lagging behind in scientific understandings of human diversity, the medical profession is failing its oath to “do no harm.”

A black squirrel sits atop a trash can in a busy urban setting, with a crowd of people out-of-focus in the background.

essay / Mindsets

Are People Projecting Racist Stereotypes Onto Squirrels?

Lee Cronk and Ryne Palombit

Researchers refute a popular idea that black-furred squirrels behave more aggressively than gray ones—and suggest the myth stems from some people’s racist attitudes.

Two pairs of scissors, two rocks, and two slips of paper rest on a pale-yellow surface.

essay / Field Notes

Playing Rock, Paper, Scissors Across the Red-Blue Divide

As toxic polarization deepens in the U.S., some global conflict prevention experts are now addressing political violence at home. An anthropologist shares three key insights from a community action program in Wisconsin.

A man with long, dark hair tied in a braid holds up a small child to a mirror, which reflects the child’s pensive face.

essay / Creative Nonfiction

Finding Our Way Forward—by Remembering

In a personal essay, a mixed-race and Native anthropologist draws strength from his ancestors.

A stylized painting of a person’s head—with wide eyes, red lips, and a headscarf—is covered in various numbers and symbols, and set against a black background.

essay / Wayfinding

Grappling With Guilt Inside a System of Structural Violence

Criminals and Gangmembers Anonymous, a 12-step recovery program, has proliferated in California’s carceral system. An anthropologist investigates the program, which sees criminality as a chronic addiction that can be treated through intervention.

A silhouetted woman sits in a chair in the center of a dark room looking directly at the camera. Close-up images of another woman are projected onto screens on the three walls surrounding her.

interview / Expressions

Spotlighting Black Women’s Mental Health Struggles

Marlaina Martin

An anthropologist discusses her film that honors and grieves the loss of Kime, a friend who passed away after experiencing physical and state violence.

View All in post_tag|science

Envolta em escuridão, uma estrutura de pedra redonda no lado direito da foto é iluminada por uma luz instalada no lado esquerdo.

essay / Material World

Solucionando o quebra-cabeça das torres antigas de Omã

Nos últimos anos, o governo de Omã investiu em arqueologia e turismo patrimonial para impulsionar sua economia —renovando o interesse em misteriosas torres de 4.000 anos que se encontram na paisagem do sudeste da Arábia.

Professor Talking Points

Genes are proteins that make up our DNA and are responsible for many of the traits that we possess: for example, aspects of our physical appearance such as skin, eye, and hair color; physiological traits such as tolerance of lactose, sickle cell anemia, and color blindness; and diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
Biological anthropologists study human genetic variation from an evolutionary standpoint.
They study the many traits that modern humans have as a result of genetic mutations and in response to environmental and social change.
The discipline of anthropology often played a central role in creating, sustaining, and spreading scientific racism in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Scientific racism relies on pseudoscientific measures (initially, measurements of skulls and other body parts) to propagate the concept of the existence of distinct races and promote ideologies about the genetic and/or biological superiority and inferiority of socially constructed groups.

Academic Articles

Auton, Adam, Gonçalo R. Abecasis, David M. Altshuler, et al. “A Global Reference for Human Genetic Variation.” Nature 526: 68–74.
Marks, Jonathan. 2012. “The Origins of Anthropological Genetics.” Current Anthropology 53 (S5): S161–S172.
Reardon, Jenny, and Kim TallBear. 2012. “’Your DNA Is Our History’: Genomics, Anthropology, and the Construction of Whiteness as Property.” Current Anthropology 53 (S5): S233–S245.

Student Discussion Questions

What does the 2017 SAPIENS piece by Michael Balter tell us about studying genetics and culture together?
How can we prove that race is not genetically real?
According to Marks (2012), what is the legacy of racism and eugenics in studies of genetics?
List the merits of the 1000 Genomes Project (Auton, Adam, Gonçalo R. Abecasis, David M. Altshuler, et al. 2015). What does it tell us about shared genetic variations among different populations?

Activities

Direct students to the 1000 Genomes Project website and have them write a one-page summary of the project’s scientific and ethical merits, potential, and limitations.
Set up a class debate to explore the concept of “nature versus nurture.”

Additional Resources

Article: Anthropology Newsletter’s “Origin of the Idea of Race”
Article: NPR’s “Why You Should Think Twice About Those DNA-By-Mail Results”
Podcast: Code Switch’s “Is ‘Race Science’ Making A Comeback?”
Podcast: The University of Alabama’s Speaking of Race
TED Talk: Spencer Wells’ “A Family Tree for Humanity”
TED Talk: Nina Jablonski’s “Skin Color Is an Illusion”
Video: PBS’ “Power of an Illusion: The Difference Between Us”
Website: The American Anthropological Association’s RACE: Are We So Different?

Unit By

Eshe Lewis (2020)

Biological Anthropology

Human Behavior

An illustration shows silhouettes of people fighting in front of a background of black silhouetted hands holding up their index and middle fingers.