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195 Top Anthropology Topics For Great Thesis

Anthropology is one of the most interesting disciplines that you can pursue at the university level. The whole idea of exploring everything known about human beings, from their origins to evolution, is pretty exciting.

However, the study requires preparing multiple assignments, which can be pretty challenging because you need a deep understanding of biology, history, and culture. The first step, which is even more stressful when preparing an anthropology paper, is selecting the right topic. So, we are here to help.

In this post, we have a list of the best anthropology topics that you can use to get good grades. To help you increase the chances of scoring the best grade in your paper, we have also included a comprehensive guide on how to write your paper like a pro.

What Is Anthropology?

Anthropology is the study of humanity, and it is concerned about human biology, behavior, societies, cultures and linguistics in the past and present. The discipline stretches back to the study of past human species. Because of its broad nature, it is broken down into a number of units, with each focusing on a specific area:

Social anthropology: Focuses on patterns of human behavior. Cultural anthropology: This branch mainly focuses on culture, including values and norms in the society. Linguistic anthropology: Unlike the other two, this branch of anthropology targets determining how language impacts people’s lives. Biological anthropology: This branch focuses on studying the biological development of humans. Archaeological anthropology: This branch of anthropology is concerned with investigating humans in the past. In some jurisdictions, such as Europe, it is considered a full discipline like geography or history.

How To Write Best Quality Anthropology Research Paper

When your professors issue anthropology research paper prompts, one of the questions that you might have is, “how do I write a high level paper?” Here are the main steps that you can use to write a great college paper.

Step One: Understand the Assignment The biggest mistake that you can make is starting an assignment without understanding what it entails. So, read the prompt carefully and grasp what is needed. For example, does your teacher want a qualitative or quantitative research paper? For masters and graduate students, it might be a quantitative anthropology dissertation. Step Two: Select the Preferred Research Paper Topic The topic that you select is very important, and it is advisable to go for the title that is interesting to you. Furthermore, the topic should have ample resources to help you complete the paper smoothly. If there are no books, journals, and other important resources to prepare the paper, there is a risk of getting stuck midway. Once you select the topic, carry preliminary research to gather key points that you will use to prepare the paper. However, these points are not final and will need to get updated along the way. Step Three: Develop Your Research Paper Outline An outline defines the structure of the paper. It makes further research and preparing the paper pretty straightforward. Also, it eliminates the risk of forgetting important bits of the research paper. To make the paper more informative, make sure to add supportive information progressively. Step Four: Write the Thesis Statement of Your Paper The thesis statement of a paper is your stand about the topic that you are writing about. The statement comes in the introduction but will further be restated in conclusion. The information you present on the research paper will approve or disapprove your thesis statement. Step Five: Write the Draft Paper After gathering the information about the topic, it is time to get down and prepare the first draft. So, strictly follow the prepared outline to craft a good paper, starting with the introduction to the conclusion. If you are writing a dissertation, it might be good to tell your supervisor about the progress. Remember that a dissertation is more comprehensive than a research paper. To write a dissertation, you should start with the introduction, followed by the literature review, research methods, results, discussion, and finally, conclusion. Step Six: Write the Final Paper After finishing the draft, it is time to refine it further and make the work exceptional. Therefore, you might want to go through more resources to establish if there is anything more helpful to add. Finally, edit your paper and proofread the paper. You might also want to ask a friend to help with proofreading to identify mistakes that might have skipped your eye.

Next, we will highlight the leading anthropology topics that you should consider. So, pick the preferred one or tweak it a little to suit your needs.

Interesting Anthropology Topics

Investigating how religious beliefs impact the Hispanic cultures.
A review of the evolution of sexual discrimination.
The impact of culture on same sex marriages: A case study of LGBT community in France.
A closer look at racism in modern societies.
Causes of homelessness among the Hispanic communities.
Causes and effects of homelessness among the Indian people in Asia.
Comparing the strategies adopted to deal with homelessness in the US and India.
Cultural anthropology and political science: How are they related?
Identify and review two most important organizations when it comes to advancing anthropology.
Peru’s Quechua people.
Contemporary policy and environmental anthropology.
What influences human social patterns?
A review of the impact of western culture on indigenous people in North America.
Analyzing the caste systems and ranking in societies.
A review of ancient Roman culture.
The evolution of the human ear.
Comparing the evolution of man to the evolution of birds.
What is the origin of modern humans?
A closer look at the main issues in female circumcision.

Biological Anthropology Research Paper Topics

Exploring the meaning of biological anthropology and its application in different fields.
Analyzing how primatologists use primates to understand human evolution.
How paleontologists use fossil records for anthropological comparisons.
Biological anthropology: How does it explain human behavior development?
Identify and review top geographical locations where anthropologists do their work: Why are these locations so important?
Define the connection between social sciences and biological anthropology.
The evolution of the primate diet.
Analyzing the evolution of tapetum lucidum.
A closer look at the extinction of giant lemurs in Madagascar.
Human resistance to drugs: Human pathogen coevolution.
How to determine the age of an animal using its bones.
How does syphilis impact bones?
Poaching and habitat destruction.
The application of natural selection in the animal kingdom.

Good Cultural Anthropology Research Paper Topics

Religious beliefs in the Asian cultures.
Comparing religious beliefs in African and Aboriginal cultures.
A review of the key cultural concepts in a culture of choice in Europe.
Comparing the idea of worldview from the perspectives of two societies.
Marriage in a traditional society of your choice.
A review of early development of economic organizations.
The role of women in Indian society.
A closer look at the process of language acquisition in African culture.
Missionary and anthropology: What is the relationship?
What strategies would you propose to minimize ethnocentrism?
How can society minimize the notion of cultural baggage?
Culture shock: Insights on how to address it.
Belief in magic in different societies.
A review of the impacts of globalization on nutritional anthropology.

Anthropological Research Questions

Should anthropology be merged fully with biology?
Is DNA evidence accurate in criminology applications?
How does the practice of anthropology application in China compare to that of the US?
Use of radiological tools in anthropology: What is their level of effectiveness?
What are the main hazards and risks of forensic anthropology?
What effect do mythologies have in modern society?
How does language acquisition impact the culture of a society?
Body project change projects: What are the valued attributes?
Halloween celebrations: How have they evolved over the years?
What are the impacts of adaptive mutation?
How did WWI and WWII impact human societies?
What are the impacts of climate change on animal evolution?
Location of crime: What can you learn about it?
What are the impacts of long-term alcohol addiction on the human body?
Magic and science: Are they related?

Easy Anthropological Ideas

Development of anthropology in the 21st century.
Important lessons about humans that can be drawn from anthropological studies.
Anthropological issues in pre-capitalist societies.
A closer look at folk roles and primitive society.
Urban centers and modern man.
How is automation impacting human behavior?
How does biology impact human culture?
Reviewing racial identity and stereotypes in society.
Comparing ancient Aztec to Maya civilizations.
Analyzing religious diversity in the United States.
Comparing religious diversity in the UK and Italy.
Why is studying anthropology important?
Comparing different death rituals in different cultures on the globe.
What is the relationship between literature and human development?
Analyzing the influence of anthropology on modern art.
How has social media impacted different cultures on the globe?

Linguistic Anthropology Research Topics

What led to the emergence of linguistics anthropology?
A review of the main theories in linguistic anthropology.
Linguistics used by different communities in the same nation.
Comparing sign and verbal communication.
How did Dell Hymes contribute to linguistic anthropology?
Language is the most important component among Bengal immigrants.
Language endangerment: What is it?
Comparing different categories of arts from an anthropological context for an Asian and Western country.
The impact of colonization on the language of a specific society of your choice.
Explore three different indigenous languages in America.

Controversial Anthropology Topics

Social anthropology is not worth studying because it is very general.
Human societies are cultural constructs.
The past should be considered a foreign nation.
What are your views of petro behavior in chimps?
Man is natural killer
Infant killing is an important evolutionary strategy.
The war on infanticides: Which side do you support?
Evaluating the concept of human morality.
Should all the political leaders be required to undertake training in cultural anthropology?
Human cleansing: Evaluating the driving factors in different societies.
Analyzing the concept of political correctness in the 21st century.
What are the earliest life forms to exist on the planet?

Medical Anthropology Research Topics List

Comparing and contrasting physical and medical anthropology studies.
Do we have evidence of evolution over the last 2000 years?
Exploring the importance of anthropology in modern medicine.
The health implications of adapting to ecology.
Domestic health culture practices in two societies of choice.
A review of clinical anthropology applications.
Political ecology of infectious diseases.
What is the relationship between violence, diseases and malnutrition?
The economic aspect of political health in a country of choice.
Perception of risk, vulnerability and illnesses: A case study of the United States.
What are the main factors that drive good nutrition and health transition?
The adoption of preventive health practices in society.
Important cultural conditions that help shape medical practices.
Comparing the medical practices during the colonial and post-colonial eras in a county of choice.
Use of mitochondria in forensic and anthropology.
Commercialization of health and medicine: What are the implications in society?
Analyzing health disparity in a society of your choice.

Current Topics In Anthropology

Using anthropology studies to determine the impact of political systems on different societies.
Human rights of people who are convicted of crimes.
What are the most important organizations when studying anthropology?
A closer look at the dialect of a modern feminist.
A study of current queer life in Germany.
Implications of Barack Obama as the African American President.
Reviewing the Pagan rituals and their impacts.
Comparing aging in the west and growing old in the African setting.
Cultural implications of deviant behavior in society.
The new concept of childhood in the emerging economies.

Physical Anthropology Research Topics

What does genetic hitchhiking mean?
Analyzing the cephalization process.
What is adaptive mutation?
Altruism: Is it learnt or a natural trait?
What is abiogenesis in human development?
A study of Australian marsupial’s convergent evolution.
Comparing stability of animals in stability and those in the wild.
Evolution of different animals in different parts of the globe. What drives the differences?
A review of physical anthropology trends.
The future evolution of human beings.
Physical anthropology: The human and digital culture.
What really makes people human?

Special Anthropology Topics to Write About

Enlightenment and Victorian Anthropological Theory.
Race and ethnicity: The anthropologist’s viewpoint.
A closer look at reciprocity in the native aboriginal communities in Australia.
What is the relationship between Neanderthal and modern humans?
Cultural anthropology versus sociology.
Anthropology of Mormonism.
What is the biggest change since WWI?
What is reflexive anthropology?
What is the main purpose of rituals in society?
Comparing rituals around childbirth in Asia.
Evaluating the connection between religion and myths in different societies.
Comparing the 20th and 21st century’s method of collecting anthropological data.
Why is medical anthropology so important today?
The importance of Benin artifacts in the history of the world.
The sociology theory: A review of its structure and shortcomings.
Christian believes in anthropology.
Comparing Anthropology of Europe to Anthropology of Africa.
Evaluate the effectiveness of reflexivity use in ethnographic studies.

Forensic Anthropology Paper Topics

What are the primary agents that cause biological changes in the human body?
Are the biological change agents in a human being similar to those of other animals?
Assessing the accuracy of carbon dating technology.
Analyzing the latest improvements in crime detection technology.
Analyzing evidence that supports evolution views of human beings.
How does radioactivity impact different animals?
The main signs of asphyxiation.
A review of the latest archaeological dating methods: Are they effective?
Mummification: How effective was the process as applied in Egypt?
Importance of crime scenes in forensic anthropology.
Analyzing the effectiveness of Buccal Swabs when profiling insides of cheeks.
Criminal profiling: How effective is it in deterring a criminal’s traits?
Footprint in the crime scene: What can they tell you?
Soil comparison in forensic anthropology.
Insect as important agents of body decomposition.
How do you identify blunt force trauma?
Comparing and contrasting penetrating and perforating trauma.
Analyzing the Rigor Mortis method of establishing a person’s death.

Use Online Help To Prepare Exceptional Papers

This post has demonstrated how you should go about preparing a quality anthropology paper. However, many still find it challenging to prepare even after selecting interesting anthropology research topics. Well, there is no need to worry because you can use experts in research paper and dissertation writers. Using our resources when you buy dissertation with us, you will get exceptional results.

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Anthropology Research Topics And Writing Ideas For Students

Writing an anthropology research paper is in a lot of ways similar to writing an argumentative essay in other disciplines. Usually, the significant difference between these essays is how you support your idea. While you may use only literature to prove your point in an argumentative essay, you may need to employ textual proofs from artifacts, ethnographies, etc., in an anthropology essay.

Research in anthropology could be thrilling, particularly if you have many anthropology project ideas. Anthropology studies the evolution of human culture and therefore provides a wide range of anthropology essay topics that spill into history, biology, sociology, etc. Many anthropological research projects borrow from other social sciences. It is easy to feel that overwhelming grip on your chest if you’re unable to choose an anthropology research topic.

How to Write an Anthropology Research Paper

Guide how to write an anthropology research paper, the excellent list of 110 anthropology research paper topics, physical anthropology research paper topics, medical anthropology research paper topics, cultural anthropology research paper ideas, best cultural anthropology essay topics, biological anthropology research paper topics.

Forensic Anthropology Research Paper Topics

Are you worried because you don’t know how to write an anthropology paper? Writing an anthropology paper could be so much fun if you can nail the basics. It is not as bad as people paint it to be, especially if you get writing help from our professional writers . With the right anthropology paper format, anthropology research topics, and anthropology research paper examples, you’re set to go!

If you’re a big fan of doing lots of things in a short time and with fewer efforts, then you’re in the right place. This guide is full of the tips and skills you need to arrange your ideas properly. It also contains anthropology paper examples, anthropology paper topics, and other life-saving tips you may need. Ready to know how to start an anthropology research paper? Let’s delve right in!

How do you get started on an anthropology research paper? Below is the most comprehensive list on the internet to get you home and dry in record time!

Review the Assignment Guidelines
Develop a Topic
Outline your Paper
Do some Library Research
Write a Rough Draft
Write the Paper
Edit the Paper

We shall shortly expound on this list to help you better understand them.

Review the Assignment Guidelines: your professor may give you some guidelines to follow. To avoid deviating from the instructor’s expectations, spend some time reviewing your assignment guidelines so that you know the exact things you need to accomplish. For example, confirm if there are any stated anthropology research methods and the likes. It is beneficial to have a writing schedule. If you have a lot of time in your hands before the submission time, spreading out the workload will help to ease some of the stress. If you’re naturally a binge writer, sit at your computer early and bleed!
Develop a Topic: search for some anthropology research paper ideas and choose from the vast array of anthropology research topics available. Select a topic that revolves around a guiding question. This topic should connect on a deeper level to the theme of the course. The length requirement for the paper will help you know if your topic is too big, too small, or just good enough. For a short paper, you may want to focus on a particular culture or event in the context of a broader topic. Ensure that your thesis focuses on anthropology and that it draws from anthropological theories or ideas. Now, do a quick search to confirm if there are scholarly materials available for this topic. It is easier to write a paper with some available references.
Introduction/Abstract
Library Research: now, start the research on your topic, preferably from course materials. A bibliography at the end of a relevant course reading is also a great way to get other related materials. Depending on the requirement of the assignment, feel free to search for other books or articles.
Write a Rough Draft: during your research, endeavor to make proper jottings and references, which will form the rough draft of your essay. A rough draft will help you create dots that you will be able to connect later on.
Title: Usually on a separate page and contains the abstract.
Introduction/Abstract : A short paragraph showing the road map of your thesis.
Body: Leverages your thesis and presenting your research in a detailed and logical structure.
Conclusion: The conclusion is a short paragraph that summarizes your fundamental theme and substantiates your thesis.
References: A citation of the resources you used in your paper. Follow the referencing style which your instructor chooses.
Edit the Paper: you may engage any of your friends to help you go through your essay. Make some final checks such as the length requirement, the format and citation style, spelling and grammatical errors, logical flow of ideas and clarity, substantial support of the claim, etc. Once you edit your paper, turn it in and accept an A+!

Without further ado, here are 110 anthropology research paper topics for free! With 18 topics each from the six main subcategories of anthropology, you can’t get it wrong!

Eugenics — its merits and demerits in the 21st-century world.
Human Origin: Comparing the creationist versus evolutionist views on the origin of man.
Ancient Egypt: The preservation of their dead and underlying beliefs.
Homo habilis: Investigating Contemporary facts supporting their past existence.
Drowning: Clarifying the cause of drowning by examining the physical and anatomical evidence.
Smoking and its effects on the physical appearance of humans over decades of indulgence.
Physical labor: Exploring its long-term impact on the physical appearance of humans.
The relationship of Kyphosis with human senescence.
Aging in Western Culture.
Skin color: Exploring the influence of the environment on human skin color across continents.
Species and language: Focus on ways species evolve across the world and ways language acquisition affects and influences culture.
Abiogenesis: Research about abiogenesis and how it affects human development
Animal stability: How captive animals are different from those that live in the wild.
Henry Walter: The ways Henry Walter contributed to the field of physical anthropology.
Cephalization: The process of cephalization and what it entails.
Genotype: The environment correlation study.
Genetics: What does genetic hijacking mean?
Altruism: Do people learn altruism or it is an acquired state.
Applying the Concepts of Ethnozoology in medicine.
Critically Assessing the fundamental posits of critical medical anthropology (CMA).
The 2014 Ebola virus outbreak in Africa: Evaluating the success of control interventions.
Exploring the applications of Ethnobotany in medicine.
Nuclear disaster: A research into the life of survivors of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986.
HIV/AIDS: The reasons for prevalent societal infamy and the way forward.
HIV/AIDS epidemic in Europe: Exploring the roles of commercial sex workers in the spread of the disease.
Alternative medicine in China: A comparative review of its weaknesses and possible strengths in the light of Orthodox medicine.
HIV/AIDS in Africa: A critical assessment of extensively troubled nations and populations.
Depression in South-East Asia: Sheer social noise or severe threat?
Adult’s onset diabetes: Research on how diabetes is a major health issue in aboriginal populations in The U.S and Canada.
ARV rollout: The role of the ARV rollout and campaigns in Africa.
Sexual diversity in Africa: Research on whether sexual diversity in Africa is being taken into account to help fight against AIDS.
Chemicals and radiation waste: How the radiation waste and chemicals in the air are affecting people.
Mercury poisoning: The effects of Mercury poisoning in Minamata, Japan, and the measures to help put the situation under control.
Health: The health ramifications of adapting to ecology and maladaptation.
Health: Domestic healthcare and health culture practices
Clinic: Clinical interactions in social organizations.
Growth: Difference between growth and development.
Engineering: Genetic engineering and what it entails.
Marriage: Marriage rituals in different cultures.
Magic: Belief in magic and the supernatural.
Mythologies: The effects it has on modern culture.
Anthropology: How to use anthropology as forensic science.
Heroes: Studies of heroes in different societies.
Education: How education differs around the world.

Cultural anthropology discusses human societies and their cultural origin, vacation, history, and development. Here is a look at cultural Anthropology topics:

Women in Africa: The various challenging roles that women in Modern Africa play and how they handle it.
Homelessness: How homelessness affects and influences the culture and social landscapes.
India: Methods and measures that India is taking to deal with the issue of homelessness and measures they have put in place to deal with social landscapers.
Political science: Highlight and discuss the link between cultural anthropology and political science.
Superstition: Research ways that superstition affects the way of life.
Sexual discrimination: The evolution of sexual discrimination and its effects in modern times.
African cultures: Investigating how different religions and beliefs impact African culture.
Northern Nigeria: How the basic religious beliefs that influence forced nuptials among the children in North Nigeria.
Gay marriage: The background on gay marriage and how it influences the cultural and social backgrounds.
Racism: Explain racism and its existence in modern times.
Religious practices: Ways how religious practices and beliefs affect culture.
Culture shock: What it is and ways that people can work through it.
Ethnocentrism: Ways that you can use to minimize it.
Ancestors: A view of ancestors in African culture.
Religion: Religious practices in a particular society.
Culture: About the Rabari culture in India
Definition of culture
How culture anthropology links to political science
Alcoholism: Looking into the socio-economic and cultural history in Eastern Europe.
Assessing the effects of radioactivity on populations affected by the nuclear disaster of 2011 in Fukushima Daiichi.
Gay marriage: Exploring the biological aspects of same-sex weddings in North America.
Minamata disease: A critical look into the origin, populations affected, and transgenerational impact of this disease on Japan.
Asthma disease in Yokkaichi: A critical look into the cause, people affected, and transgenerational effect on Japan.
Itai-Itai disease: A critical look into the cause, populations affected, and transgenerational effect on Japan.
Nuclear bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki: An investigation of the transgenerational effects on the health of affected victims to this present time.
Cocaine use in America: A critical look into the health impact on American cocaine users.
Making Marijuana use legal in America: Possible woes and beneficial outcomes.
Cystic fibrosis: Justifications for its preponderance in white populations in America.
Biological Anthropology: Research on the meaning and definition of biological Anthropology and how it influences different fields.
Paleoanthropology: Explore ways Paleoanthropology uses fossil records to draw biological anthropology compassion and conclusions regarding human evolution.
Human social structures: Explain the development of human social structures using biological anthropology.
Biological anthropologies: Research on some primary geographical locations where biological anthropologies used to research their work.
Human language: Research how biological anthropology helped in the development of human language and communication.
Body projects: The changes and the valued attributes.
Political ecology: The Vector-borne and infectious disease.
Clinical Interactions: What are clinical interaction and social organization?

Forensic Anthropology Research Paper Ideas

Radioactive Carbon dating: A critical assessment of the accuracy of this dating technique.
Human Origin: Pieces of evidential support for Creationist and Evolutionist views on the origin of man.
Assessing the accuracy of DNA evidence testing and matching on criminology.
Neanderthals: Exploring environmental influences and migratory paths on their survival and appearance.
Dating Techniques: A critical review of current archaeological dating techniques.
Ancient Egypt Mummification: A critical look at the effectiveness of the methods used.
Nuclear disaster: A research into the impact of radioactivity on life forms due to the atomic catastrophe Chernobyl in 1986.
A critical look into recent evidence supporting the existence of Homo habilis in the past.
Crime Scene Forensics: Recent advances in the detection of crime.
Postmortem Changes: Investigating the primary agents responsible for biological changes in humans.
Criminal procedure: Research a case with a confession scenario and highlight unique features of the case.
Criminal procedure: Do your research on the criminal proceedings in a given area and what makes them effective.
Computer forensic: Ways that the computer forensic help in preserving electronic evidence.
Digital forensic: Research about the history and features of digital forensic.
History: Ways that Israel presents itself as a leader in computer forensics.
Oncology: The latest archaeological dating methods.
DNA: How accurate is DNA evidence in the matching and testing criminology?
Crime detention: The recent improvements of crime detection.

So here we are! Fifty juicy topics that are all eager to wear some flesh! Ready to have an A+? Let’s do it!

Are you stuck with writing your thesis? Just enter promo “ mythesis ” – that’s all you need to get a 20% discount for any anthropology writing assignment you might have!

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Digital Commons @ USF > College of Arts and Sciences > Anthropology > Theses and Dissertations

Anthropology Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

Entanglements of Teenage Food Security Within High School Pantries in Pinellas County, Florida , Karen T. Díaz Serrano

The Applicability of the Postmortem Submersion Interval Estimation Formula for Human Remains Found in Subtropical Aquatic Environments , Kara L. DiComo

Early Agricultural Lives: Bioarchaeological Inferences from Neolithic and Early Copper Age Tombs in the Central Po Valley, Italy , Christopher J. Eck Jr.

The Process of Government in Clearwater, Florida , Picot deBoisfeuillet Floyd

“I Was Doing the Best with What I Had”: Exploring Student Veterans’ Experiences with Community Reintegration, Food Insecurity, and Health Challenges , Jacquelyn N. Heuer

Transformative Psychedelic Experiences at Music Events: Using Subjective Experience to Explore Chemosocial Assemblages of Culture , Gabrielle R. Lehigh

“We Need to Have a Place to Vent and Get Our Frustrations Out”: Addressing the Needs of Mothering Students in Higher Education using a Positive Deviance Framework , Melissa León

“They’re Still Trying to Wrap Their Head Around Forever”: An Anatomy of Hope for Spinal Cord Injury Patients , William A. Lucas

Foodways of the Florida Frontier: Zooarchaeological Analysis of Gamble Plantation Historic State Park (8MA100) , Mary S. Maisel

The Impacts of Disability Policy and its Implementation on Deaf University Students: An Applied Anthropological Approach , Tailyn Marie Osorio

“I’m Still Suffering”: Mental Health Care Among Central African Refugee Populations in the Tampa Bay Area , C. Danee Ruszczyk

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Immigration-Related Stressors, Pregnancy, Birth, and Post-Partum Experiences of Women Living Along the US-Mexico Border , Isabela Solis

Clinically Applied Anthropology: A Syndemic Intervention. , Jason W. Wilson

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

An Assessment of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Individuals Gender Affirming Health Care Practices in the Greater Tampa Bay , Sara J. Berumen

Mound-Summit Practices at Cockroach Key (8HI2) Through the Lens of Practice Theory , Chandler O. Burchfield

Crafting a Scene: The Nexus of Production and Consumption of Tampa Bay Craft Beer , Russell L. Edwards

Applied Anthropology of Addiction in Clinical Spaces: co-Developing and Assessing a Novel Opioid Treatment Pathway , Heather Diane Henderson

Japan’s COVID 19 Infection Rate: A Focus on Tokyo Neighborhoods , Lauren Koerner

Farmers’ Organizations and Development Actors in a Pandemic: Responses to Covid-19 and the Food-Energy-Water Nexus , Atte Penttilä

An Ideology of Racism: Community Representation, Segregation, and the Historical Cemeteries of Panama City, Florida , Ethan David Mauldin Putman

“Even If You Have Food in Your House, It Will Not Taste Sweet”: Central African Refugees’ Experiences of Cultural Food Insecurity and Other Overlapping Insecurities in Tampa, Florida , Shaye Soifoine

Afro-Latinx and Afro-Latin Americans in the United States: Examining Ethnic and Racial Experiences in Higher Education , Glenda Maria Vaillant Cruz

Black Cemeteries Matter: The Erasure of Historic Black Cemeteries in Polk County, Florida , Juliana C. Waters

An Anthropology with Human Waste Management: Non-Humans, The State, and Matters of Care on the Placencia Peninsula, Belize , William Alex Webb

An Edgefield Ceramic Assemblage from the Lost Town of St. Joseph, Northwest Florida , Crystal R. Wright

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Aspiring to “Make it Work”: Defining Resilience and Agency Amongst Hispanic Youth Living in Low-Income Neighborhoods , Sara Arias-Steele

“I Wish Somebody Called Me, Told Me Not to Worry”: Evaluating a Non-Profit’s Use of Social Support to Address Refugee Women’s Resettlement Challenges , Brandylyn L. Arredondo

Of Body and Mind: Bioarchaeological Analysis of Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Anatomization and Institutionalization in Siena, Italy , Jacqueline M. Berger

Cannabis Capitalism in Colorado: An Ethnography of Il/legal Production and Consumption , Lia Berman

Analyses Of Woodland Check-Stamped Ceramics In Northwest Florida , John D. Blackburn

“Here Come the Crackers!”: An Ethnohistorical Case Study of Local Heritage Discourses and Cultural Reproduction at a Florida Living History Museum , Blair Bordelon

Privies as Portals: A Ceramic and Glass Bottle Analysis of a Late 19th Century Household Privy in Ellenton, FL , Shana Boyer

Making Change in the Nickel City: Food Banking and Food Insecurity in Buffalo, NY During the COVID-19 Pandemic , Sarah E. Bradley

Ware and Tear in Ancient Tampa Bay: Ceramic Elemental Analyses from Pinellas County Sites , McKenna Loren Douglass

Rethinking Settlement Patterns at the Weeden Island Site (8PI1) on Florida’s Central Gulf Coast , Heather E. Draskovich

Listening to Women: Using a Mixed-Methods Approach to Understanding Women’s Desires and Experience During Childbirth , Nicole Loraine Falk Smith

Archaeology and Seasonality of Stock Island (8Mo2), a Glades-Tradition Village on Key West , Ryan M. Harke

How Culture and Storytelling Can Influence Urban Development: An Ethnographic Look at the Community-Driven Revitalization of Newtown in Sarasota, Florida , Michala Head

Educational Experiences of Congolese Refugees in West-Central Florida High Schools , Michaela J. Inks

Constructing 'Child Safety': Policy, Practice, and Marginalized Families in Florida's Child Welfare System , Melissa Hope Johnson

"We're the Lucky Ones": A Social Network Analysis of Recovery After the Iowa Derecho , Kayla C. Jones

How Race is Made in Everyday Life: Food, Eating, and Dietary Acculturation among Black and White Migrants in Florida, U.S. , Laura Kihlstrom

Tourism, Education, and Identity Making: Agency and Representation of Indigenous Communities in Public Sites within Florida. , Timothy R. Lomberk II

Pregnancy and Fertility Amongst Women with the MTHFR C677T Polymorphism: An Anthropological Review , Caroline A. MacLean

A Biocultural Analysis of the Impacts of Interactions Between West Africans and Europeans During the Trans-Atlantic Trade at Elmina, Ghana , Heidi Ellen Miller

The Distribution in Native Populations from Mexico and Central America of the C677T Variant in the MTHFR Gene , Lucio A. Reyes

Politics vs. The Environment: The Spatial Distributions of Mississippian Mound Centers in Tampa Bay , Adam J. Sax

Seasonality, Labor Organization, and Monumental Constructions: An Otolith Study from Florida’s Crystal River Site (8CI1) and Roberts Island Shell Mound Complex (8CI40 and 41) , Elizabeth Anne Southard

Eating and Body Image Disorders in the Time of COVID19: An Anthropological Inquiry into the Pandemic’s Effects on the Bodies , Theresa A. Stoddard

The Early Medieval Transition: Diet Reconstruction, Mobility, and Culture Contact in the Ravenna Countryside, Northern Italy , Anastasia Temkina

The Science of Guessing: Critiquing Ancestral Estimation Through Computer Generated Statistical Analysis Within Forensic Anthropology in a Real-World Setting , Christopher J. Turner

Listening to Queens: Ghana's Women Traditional Leaders as a Model for Gender Parity , Kristen M. Vogel

Site Suitability Modeling in the Sand Pine Scrub of the Ocala National Forest , Jelane M. Wallace

Our Story, Our Homeland, Our Legacy: Settlement Patterns of The Geechee at Sapelo Island Georgia, From 1860 To 1950 , Colette D. Witcher

Identifying Skeletal Puberty Stages in a Modern Sample from the United States , Jordan T. Wright

Pollen-Vegetation Relationships in Upper Tampa Bay , Jaime E. Zolik

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Maternal Social Status, Offspring 2D:4D Ratio and Postnatal Growth, in Macaca mulatta (Rhesus Macaques) , Juan Pablo Arroyo

Social Exclusion of Older Mossi Women Accused of Witchcraft in Burkina Faso, West Africa , Clarisse Barbier

Fields Brook Superfund Site: Race, Class, and Environmental Justice in a Blasted Landscape , Richard C. Bargielski

The Effects of Feudalism on Medieval English Mobility: A Biological Distance Study Using Nonmetric Cranial Traits. , Jonathan H. Barkmeier

Before the Storm: Water and Energy Utilities, Human Vulnerability and Disaster Risk , Cori D. Bender

Recipes for the Living and the Dead: Technological Investigation of Ceramics from prehistoric Sicily. The case studies of Sant’Angelo Muxaro and Polizzello , Gianpiero Caso

Save Water Drink Wine: Challenges of Implementing the Ethnography of the Temecula Valley Wine Industry into Food-Energy-Water Nexus Decision-Making , Zaida E. Darley

İYo luché! : Uncovering and Interrupting Silencing in an Indigenous and Afro-descendant Community , Eileen Cecelia Deluca

Unwritten Records: Crime and Punishment in Early Virginia , Jessica L. Gantzert

‘It’s Been a Huge Stress’: An In-Depth, Exploratory Study of Vaccine Hesitant Parents in Southern California , Mika Kadono

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for Elemental Analysis in Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology , Kelsi N. Kuehn

Middle Woodland Mounds of the Lower Chattahoochee, Lower Flint, and Apalachicola River Basin , Michael H. Lockman

Overturning the Turnbull Settlement: Artifact Analysis of the Old Stone Wharf in New Smyrna Beach, Florida , Tracy R. Lovingood

“They will think we are the Cancer Family”: Studying Patterns of Cancer Disclosure and Communication among Indian Immigrants in the United States , Kanan Mehta

Museum Kura Hulanda: Representations of Transatlantic Slavery and African and Dutch Heritage in Post-Colonial Curaçao , April Min

Nurses and Needlesticks: Perceptions of Stigma and HIV Risk , Bethany Sharon Moore

Circadian Rhythms and the Embodiment of Social Zeitgebers: Linking the Bio and Social , Tiffany R. Moore

Civic Engagement amid Civil Unrest: Haitian Social Scientists Working at Home , Nadège Nau

“Placing our breasts on a hot kerosene lantern”: A Critical Study of Microfinancialization in the Lives of Women Entrepreneurs in the Informal Economic Sector in Ibadan, Nigeria , Olubukola Olayiwola

Domestic Life during the Late Intermediate Period at El Campanario Site, Huarmey Valley, Peru , Jose Luis Peña

Archaeology and the Philosopher's Stance: An Advance in Ethics and Information Accessibility , Dina Rivera

A South Florida Ethnography of Mobile Home Park Residents Organizing Against Neoliberal Crony Capitalist Displacement , Juan Guillermo Ruiz

From Colonial Legacy to Difficult Heritage: Responding to and Remembering An Gorta Mór , Ireland’s Great Hunger , Katherine Elizabeth Shakour

The Role of Financial Insecurity and Expectations on Perspectives of Mental Health Services among Refugees , Jacqueline M. Siven

A Multidisciplinary Approach to Trauma Analysis in Cases of Child Fatality , Jaime D. Sykes

Governmentality, Biopower, and Sexual Citizenship: A Feminist Examination of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare Experiences of 18-24 Year-Olds in the U.S. Southeast , Melina K. Taylor

Characterizing Childhood and Diet in Migration Period Hungary , Kirsten A. Verostick

An Ethnography of WaSH Infrastructures and Governance in Sulphur Springs, Florida , Mathews Jackon Wakhungu

A Plan for Progress, Preservation, and Presentation at the Safety Harbor Museum and Cultural Center , Amanda L. Ward

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Pathways to Parenthood: Attitudes and Preferences of Eight Self-Identified Queer Women Living in Tampa Bay, FL , Emily Noelle Baker

"It's Not Addiction Until You Graduate": Natural Recovery in the College Context , Breanne I. Casper

Tales of Trafficking: Performing Women's Narratives in a Sex Trafficking Rehabilitation Program in Florida , Jaine E. Danlag

Perceptions of Infrastructure, Flood Management, and Environmental Redevelopment in the University Area, Hillsborough County, Florida , Kris-An K. Hinds

Eating in America: Easing the Transition for Resettled Refugees through an Applied Anthropological Intervention , Emily A. Holbrook

Genetic Testing and the Power of the Provider: Women’s Experiences with Cancer Genetic Testing , Dana Erin Ketcher

An Archaeological Investigation of Enslavement at Gamble Plantation , S. Matthew Litteral

“Right in the Trenches with Them”: Caregiving, Advocacy, and the Political Economy of Community Health Workers , Ryan I. Logan

Exploring Variations in Diet and Migration from Late Antiquity to the Early Medieval Period in the Veneto, Italy: A Biochemical Analysis , Ashley B. Maxwell

Least of My Worries: Food Security, Diet Quality, and Antiretroviral Adherence among People Living with HIV , Charlotte Ann Noble

The Tampa Gym Study: An Ethnographic Exploration of Gyms, Female Gym-Goers and The Quest for Fitness in Tampa, FL , Danielle Reneé Rosen

Environmental Legacies of Pre-Contact and Historic Land Use in Antigua, West Indies , Anthony Richard Tricarico

“What I Hadn’t Realized is How Difficult it is, You Know?”: Examining the Protective Factors and Barriers to Breastfeeding in the UK , Cheyenne R. Wagi

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

“I Want Ketchup on my Rice”: The Role of Child Agency on Arab Migrant Families Food and Foodways , Faisal Kh. Alkhuzaim

Exploring Explicit Fanfiction as a Vehicle for Sex Education among Adolescents and Young Adults , Donna Jeanne Barth

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Biological Anthropology Research Paper Topics

Writing an anthropology research paper? This list of biological anthropology research paper topics provides some ideas for narrowing down your topic to a successful and manageable one. This page also explores the subject of biological anthropology. Browse other anthropology research paper topics for more inspiration.

Acheulean culture Altamira cave Anatomy and physiology of speech Anthropometry Ape agression Ape biogeography Ape cognition Ape communication Ape intelligence Aquatic ape hypothesis Arboreal hypothesis Artificial life Atapuerca Aurignacian culture Australopithecines Baboons Biological adaptation Biological anthropology and neo-Darwinism Biomedicine Biometrics Bipedal locomotion Blood groups Bonobos Bonobos in captivity Brachiation Cebids Cercopithecines Chimpanzees Chimpanzees and bonobos Chimpanzees in captivity Colobines Craniometry Dinosaurian hominid Diseases DNA molecule DNA recombinant DNA testing Dryopithecus El Ceren Eugenics Evolution of primate brain Forensic anthropology Fossil apes Gibbons Gigantopithecus Gorillas Gorillas in captivity Graves Greater apes Groooming Hand axes History of anthropology HIV/AIDS Hominid taxonomy Hominization Hominoids Homo antecessor Homo erectus Homo ergaster Homo habilis Homo sapiens Howling monkeys Human brain Human canopy evolution Human diversity Human evolution Human genetics Human Genome Project Human mutants Human osteology Human paleontology Human variation Humans and dinosaurs Hylobates Iceman Java man Kanzi Kennewick man Kenyanthropus platyops Kenyapithecus wickeri Koko (lowland gorilla) Lascaux cave Lazaret cave Lemurs Lesser apes Lorises Lucy reconstruction models Macaques Marmosets Meganthropus Mitochrondrial Eve Mummies and mummification Mungo lady/man Museums Narmada man Neandertal burials Neandertal evidence Neandertal sites Neandertals New World monkeys Ngandong Old World monkeys Oldowan culture Olduvai Gorge Orangutan-human evolution Orangutans Orangutans in captivity Oreopithecus Origin of bipedality Paleoanthropology Pongids Population explosion Primate behavioral ecology Primate brain Primate conservation Primate extinction Primate genetics Primate locomotion Primate morphology and evolution Primate taxonomy Primatology Prosimians Quadrupedalism in primates RNA molecule Sahelanthropus tchadensis Sambungmachan Sangiran Sasquatch Saving chimpanzees Saving gorillas Shanidar cave Siamangs Sickle-cell anemia Siwalik Hills Sociobiology Spider monkeys Tamarins Tarsiers Territoriality in primates Threats to orangutan survival Tools and evolution Treeshrews Twin studies Washoe Yeti Zinjanthropus boisei Zoos

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Get 10% off with 24start discount code, biological anthropology definition.

Biological anthropology is concerned with the origin, evolution and diversity of humankind. The field was called physical anthropology until the late twentieth century, reflecting the field’s primary concern with cataloging anatomical differences among human and primate groups. Biological anthropology is one of the four subfields of anthropology, together with archaeology, linguistic anthropology, and social/cultural anthropology. Under the name of biological anthropology, it is an ever-broadening field that encompasses the study of: human biological variation; evolutionary theory; human origins and evolution; early human migration; human ecology; the evolution of human behavior; paleoanthropology; anatomy; locomotion; osteology (the study of skeletal material); dental anthropology; forensics; medical anthropology, including the patterns and history of disease; primatology (the study of non-human primates); growth, development and nutrition; and other related fields.

Introduction

Anthropology is the scientific study of humankind (Birx, 2006a). It strives for a comprehensive understanding of and proper appreciation for our species within the earth’s history. As such, anthropology is grounded in the empirical facts of the special sciences and the logical argumentation of critical thought. Furthermore, scientific evidence is supplemented with rational speculation, especially when facts are lacking. Ongoing advances in science and technology continuously add new information to the growing discipline of anthropology, thereby strengthening some concepts and hypotheses, while modifying or dismissing others.

Besides incorporating the scientific method, anthropologists view the natural history of humankind within an evolutionary framework (Fortey, 1998; Hublin, 2006; Mayr, 2001). Our species is seen as a product of organic evolution in general, and primate history in particular. The human species is related to apes, monkeys, and prosimians. Both fossils and genes substantiate the biological and historical unity of primates in terms of the factual theory of organic evolution (Coyne, 2009; Ridley, 2004).

Biological anthropologists (Kennedy, 2009) use the comparative method in order to understand and appreciate the evolutionary relationships among primate fossils, as well as living species. They compare and contrast fossil skeletons (especially jaws and teeth), DNA molecules, and morphologies (both anatomy and physiology), as well as psychological and behavioral patterns. A convergence of facts and concepts clearly shows that the human animal is closely related to the four great apes, or pongids (orangutan, gorilla, chimpanzee, and bonobo).

This anthropological quest is both intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary. Specialists in the discipline work together to achieve a comprehensive and coherent view of our human species; for example, biological anthropologists work closely with prehistoric archaeologists at a fossil hominid site, while sociocultural anthropologists work closely with anthropological linguists in studying other societies with different cultures (particularly nonliterate peoples with a “primitive” technology). One goal is to derive meaningful concepts and generalizations from the vast range of empirical evidence (Fuentes, 2007).

More and more, as naturalists and humanists, anthropologists are multidisciplinary in their approach. They strive to be relevant in the modern world. Consequently, one speaks of applied anthropology (e.g., forensic anthropology and biomedical anthropology). Anthropological knowledge adds to human enlightenment, particularly in terms of increasing tolerance for human biological and sociocultural differences. In the discipline of anthropology, teaching and research go hand in hand; that is, biological anthropologists aim for a clearer view of humankind that concerns its evolutionary past, present convergence on the earth, and future possibilities (perhaps its migration beyond our planet and even outside this solar system).

Biological anthropologists focus on the organic evidence of primates (e.g., their fossils, skeletons, teeth, genetic makeup, and physical characteristics, as well as psychological and social behavior patterns). They present this evidence in a comprehensive and intelligible manner, while searching for meaningful concepts and generalizations about primate evolution in general, and our species in particular.

The German naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752–1840) is considered to be the father of biological anthropology (previously known as physical anthropology) because he focused on studying the human variations in those biological characteristics that manifest themselves within a population and among populations. Although the academic discipline of anthropology did not yet exist, his pioneering research paved the way for the later, intensive studies of our species and the other primates—from comparative paleoanthropology to comparative genetics.

Charles Darwin (1809–1882) was a major influence on the emergence of biological anthropology. As presented in his two major works, On the Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871), his theory of evolution suggested that much light would be shed on the history of lifeforms and the nature of our own species (Darwin, 1859, 1871). The origin and development of humankind, as well as its evolutionary relationships to the other primates, now became the subject matter for scientific inquiry. No longer was our species viewed as being isolated from other lifeforms or organic history. As such, the discipline of anthropology dedicated itself to rigorously studying humankind in terms of science and reason (Bollt, 2009).

As biological anthropologists, early naturalists worked alone in their search for fossil hominid specimens. Usually, outside funding was not available and significant findings were often dismissed by the scientific community. However, as more evidence was discovered, the theory of human evolution was taken seriously. Since the middle of the 20th century, paleoanthropologists have stressed a multidisciplinary approach (both intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary) in their research (Wolpoff, 1999). As a result, at a fossil hominid site, a scientific team of international specialists may include chemists, geologists, paleobotanists, paleozoologists, prehistoric archaeologists, photographers, and artists. Specialists also work with paleoanthropologists in museums and laboratories. Some biological anthropologists specialize in primate-behavior studies or primategenetics research (including twin studies, as well as growth and development research). Today, thanks in part to anthropologists, there is a growing awareness of the critical relationship between our species and the natural environment, both inorganic and organic. Academic books (Angeloni, Parker, & Arenson, 2009; Haviland, Walrath, Prins, & McBridge, 2008; Park, 2010; Relethford, 2010; Stanford, Allen, & Antón, 2009), professional journals, museum exhibits, college and university courses, and educational programs in the mass media are making the scientific evidence in biological anthropology available to a widening audience of teachers and students, as well as the interested public. The presentation of facts, concepts, hypotheses, and perspectives is very helpful in discrediting racism and promoting evolution.

Evolutionary Framework

The idea of evolution neither originated with the thoughts of Charles Darwin nor had its final formulation in his scientific writings; as such, one may speak of the evolution of evolution from an early concept in antiquity to its present status as a brute fact of the modern worldview (Birx, 1984, 1991b).

Pre-Socratic Speculations

During the pre-Socratic Age, several early philosophers as natural cosmologists anticipated the evolutionary framework in their rational speculations on the nature of things. Rejecting legends and myths, as well as personal opinions and religious beliefs, these critical thinkers emphasized deriving explanatory concepts by rigorously reflecting on their own experiences within nature and the use of reason. Although they were neither scientists nor evolutionists, their answers to general questions about this universe did establish a dynamic worldview that paved the way for further discoveries in the future development of the special sciences, from geology and paleontology to biology and anthropology.

Among the pre-Socratic thinkers, Thales claimed that life first appeared in water; for him, water is the fundamental substance of this cosmos. He argued that, over time, aquatic organisms changed and eventually there were lifeforms that could adapt to and survive on dry land. It is reassuring that Thales, as the first Western philosopher, had glimpsed the biological significance of change throughout planetary time. In his rational speculations, he had grasped both the fluidity of life and the unity of this universe.

Extending this vision, Thales’s student Anaximander held that, in the development of life-forms from water to land, lineage leading to the human animal had once passed through a fishlike stage of development. It is tempting to refer to this pre-Socratic thinker as the father of comparative morphology; one may imagine Anaximander comparing the innards of a dead fish with those of a human corpse, and consequently being very impressed with the similarities (rather than with the differences).

Reflecting on the flux of reality, the naturalist metaphysician Heraclitus argued that change is the quintessential characteristic of this universe. Looking for order in this dynamic world, he further claimed that all changes in nature are cyclical. As a result, for Heraclitus, there is the endless repetition of day and night, life and death, the four seasons of the year, and even the cosmos itself. For later naturalists to accept the evolutionary framework, it was necessary for them to take both time and change seriously.

Of particular importance was Xenophanes, who recognized both the organic and historical significance of fossils as the remains of once-living but often different organisms related to the living life-forms of today. The fossil record is crucial, in that it provides empirical evidence to substantiate the fact of organic evolution. Despite our present knowledge of genetic variations, it would be difficult to convince many people of the truth of organic evolution if no fossil evidence had ever been discovered. However, the more paleontologists search, the more fossils they find (including paleoanthropologists discovering fossil hominid specimens).

Lastly, Empedocles even offered an explanation (although a bizarre one) for the origin of organisms. He speculated that in the past, the surface of the earth had been covered by free-floating organs of different sizes and shapes; they haphazardly came together, forming organisms (some, of course, were monstrosities). Those organisms that could adapt to the environment survived and reproduced, while the monstrosities perished. What is implicit in this explanation are the basic ideas that constituted the evolutionary framework of both Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace: multiplicity, variation, adaptation, survival, and reproduction or extinction. Unfortunately, with irony, the proto-evolutionary ideas of these five pre-Socratic thinkers were squelched by the greatest thinker of ancient Greece—Aristotle.

Aristotle was the “father of biology,” including comparative studies in embryology, morphology, and taxonomy. His encyclopedic interests ranged from cosmology and meteorology to botany and zoology. Aristotle assumed that the human mind is capable of discerning a natural design within the mixed species on this planet. He referred to this terrestrial order as the great chain of being, or ladder of nature. For him, each species is eternally fixed in nature, each type of organism occupying a special place in the great chain of nature depending upon its degree of complexity and sensitivity or intelligence. This hierarchical ladder ranged from the simplest mineral at its bottom to the rational human at its apex. Since Aristotle dismissed both the creation and extinction of species, as well as the appearance of new ones, he was not an evolutionist (although he was interested in the development of individual organisms). Because many thinkers gave priority to the fixed Aristotelian worldview, a serious evolutionary framework did not emerge until the scientific writings of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace over 2,000 years later.

Before Darwin

Challenging the fixed Aristotelian worldview, the Roman philosopher and poet Lucretius presented a dynamic interpretation of both the earth’s history and the material universe. In his groundbreaking work On the Nature of Things, he argued that our planet itself has created plants and animals, and even outlined the sociocultural development of our own species from cave-inhabiting early creatures to the citizens of the Roman empire. Furthermore, Lucretius boldly held that life-forms (including intelligent beings) inhabit planets elsewhere in the cosmos. His ideas paved the way for a naturalistic study of humans within nature.

During the Italian Renaissance, the artist and visionary Leonardo da Vinci recognized the biological and historical significance of fossils as the remains of once-living but usually different species—in fact, he had found these fossils in the top rock strata of the Alps. Moreover, his dynamic view of the earth’s history in terms of geology argued that the age of our planet must be at least 200,000 years (an astonishing claim in the eyes of his contemporaries). Furthermore, Leonardo’s study of the human body foreshadowed serious comparative-anatomy research.

In 1735, Carolus Linnaeus fathered modern taxonomy. He recognized the close similarities among the human animal and the apes, monkeys, and lemurs. Consequently, he placed all of these forms in the primate order. Although he was not an evolutionist, Linnaeus discovered that species are capable of producing varieties of themselves (an example of microevolution).

Decades later, as a result of taking the implications of geology and paleontology seriously, Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck wrote the first serious book on organic evolution. In his Philosophy of Zoology (1809), he argued that species are mutable and have changed throughout organic history. Without a testable explanatory mechanism or sufficient empirical evidence, Lamarck was unable to convince other naturalists that life-forms had evolved throughout geological time. Ironically, however, Lamarck’s book appeared exactly 50 years before the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859).

With its emphasis on science, reason, and a historical perspective that took both time and change seriously, the Age of Enlightenment established an intellectual atmosphere that allowed for the emergence of three important earth sciences: historical geology, comparative paleontology, and prehistoric archaeology. Ongoing advances in biology (especially embryology, morphology, and taxonomy) and extensive travels by curious naturalists (e.g., Haeckel, Humboldt, Huxley, and Lyell) provided overwhelming scientific evidence and convincing rational argumentation for the vast age of this planet, the evolution of life-forms, and the great antiquity of our own species. Clearly, rocks and fossils and artifacts did not support a strict and literal interpretation of the biblical story of creation as presented in the book of Genesis in the Holy Bible. It was now necessary for some ingenious naturalist to bring all of these facts and concepts together in a comprehensive and intelligible view of life on earth in terms of biological evolution. Unintentionally, this task fell to the young geobiologist Charles Darwin (Birx, 2009).

Charles Darwin

Three major events contributed to Darwin’s developing his scientific theory of organic evolution: his unique experiences as a naturalist aboard the HMS Beagle during its 5-year circumnavigation of the world in the Southern Hemisphere (1831–1836), his reading Charles Lyell’s three-volume work Principles of Geology (1830–1833), and his later fortuitous reading in 1837 of Thomas Robert Malthus’s An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798).

For Darwin, the convergence of evidence from geology, paleontology, and biology (as well as the implications of both biogeography and variations in organisms) argued for the pervasive mutability of species throughout immense periods of the earth’s history within a naturalist framework. Of particular significance, he offered natural selection as the primary mechanism to explain biological evolution. Darwin’s scientific facts and rational arguments for his evolution theory were first presented in On the Origin of Species (1859). However, at that time, the sensitive naturalist did not yet extend his theory of evolution to include the human animal.

In his The Descent of Man (1871), Darwin now seriously considered the evolutionary implications for understanding and appreciating the place of our own species within natural history. He argued that, biologically, the human animal is closest to the three great apes known to science at that time (orangutan, gorilla, and chimpanzee), with which it shares a common ancestral group whose fossils would be found in Africa. Furthermore, as had Huxley in England and Haeckel in Germany, Darwin even claimed that our species differs merely in degree, rather than in kind, from these three great apes. As such, his ideas were a major contribution to the emergence of biological anthropology. Even so, the resultant creation-evolution controversy still continued as an ongoing debate between biblical fundamentalists and scientific evolutionists. Today, the religious position is grounded in the alleged argument for intelligent design.

Although convinced of the veracity of his evolution theory, Darwin was still perplexed by four questions (among others): What is the true age of planet earth? Why is the fossil record so incomplete? How are organic variations inherited from generation to generation? Can slow biological evolution account for the emergence of the complex human eye? Throughout the following decades, ongoing advances in science and technology (especially in dating techniques and computers) would help to answer these four questions in favor of the evolution theory and a naturalist viewpoint.

After Darwin

The discipline of anthropology emerged during the middle of the 19th century. Greatly inspired by the writings of Charles Darwin, several naturalists were very interested in extending the evolutionary framework to include our own species. In general, early biological anthropologists were eager both to find fossil evidence to substantiate human evolution and to compare the morphology of living primates in order to demonstrate the remarkable similarities among lemurs, monkeys, apes, and the human animal. In particular, some biological anthropologists extended taxonomy to include a racial classification of human groups in terms of different physical characteristics. (Rigorous primate behavior studies and primate-genetics research would not appear until the middle of the 20th century.) Although conflicting interpretations of evolution were offered by naturalists, and even though anthropologists could not agree on the number of human races, there was no doubt that our species was both the product of organic evolution and closely related to the great apes, especially the chimpanzee.

During the succeeding decades, biological anthropologists would specialize in areas ranging from paleoanthropology and primatology to forensic anthropology and biomedical anthropology. The theory of evolution offers a comprehensive and intelligible framework in which both the physical characteristics of the human animal and its place within natural history made sense in terms of science and reason. Today, one may speak of the biological unity of Homo sapiens sapiens in terms of the DNA molecule.

Science of Genetics

As the father of biology, Aristotle was interested in the embryological and morphological development of organisms. He held that a female contributes the matter and a male contributes the form to an embryo, which then develops according to an innate, preestablished goal within the embryo itself (a movement from potentiality to actuality). However, Aristotle was not an evolutionist, since he held to the eternal fixity of all species within his assumed static hierarchy of planetary existence that ranged from simple minerals to complex animals. This worldview dominated Western thought until the persuasive scientific theory of evolutionist Charles Darwin.

The monk Johann Gregor Mendel discovered the basic principles of inheritance as a result of his rigorous, long-term experiments with the common garden pea plant Pisum. A particulate theory of inheritance was presented in his monograph Experiments in Plant Hybridization (1866), in which he not only distinguished between dominant and recessive characteristics for the same trait, but also presented the principles of segregation and independent assortment. Unknown to himself and the scientific community, which did not understand or appreciate the far-reaching significance of his pioneering discoveries, Mendel had established an empirical foundation for the science of genetics.

In 1900, building upon Mendel’s findings, Hugo DeVries both discovered the phenomenon of incomplete dominance and presented his mutation theory. Within several decades, evolutionists realized that, taken together, genetic variation and natural selection form the explanatory foundation of organic evolution. Thus emerged neo-Darwinism, or the so-called synthetic theory of biological evolution, with its focus on dynamic populations or gene pools.

If naturalist Charles Darwin had given to biological anthropology the factual theory of organic evolution, then James Watson and Francis Crick (along with Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin) gave to it a genetic foundation by discovering a working model for the DNA molecule, the so-called code of life or language of heredity (Watson, 2003). Since 1953, this groundbreaking discovery has had awesome consequences for understanding and appreciating life-forms, from a bacterium to the human animal. The DNA molecule gives undeniable evidence for the historical continuity and chemical unity of all lifeforms on planet earth. In particular, it now clearly links our species with the four great apes or pongids: orangutan, gorilla, chimpanzee, and bonobo.

The DNA molecule has the structure of a double helix with six parts: a phosphate group, the sugar deoxyribose, and four bases (adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine). Changes to the sequence of bases, or nucleotides, in the genome may result in changes in the phenotype or biological expressions of an organism. Mutations may be major or minor, and of positive, neutral, or negative value for the organism in terms of its adaptation to and survival in a dynamic environment. Successful reproduction will pass on the altered hereditary information to the gene pool of the next generation. Therefore, one may hold that the members of a population represent differential reproduction. Over time, a species may produce a variety of itself, and this variety may eventually become a new species; further evolution may result in the emergence of higher taxonomic groups, such as new families, orders, or classes of organisms. Nevertheless, within the sweep of organic evolution, a very sobering fact is that the extinction of species is the rule rather than the exception.

The next step for naturalists and biological anthropologists was to extend the science of genetics to comprehend the evolution of populations (gene pools) in terms of both changes in gene frequencies and the appearances of mutations within dynamic environments, as well as natural and social selection (Hartl & Clark, 2006; Wells, 2002). Such studies shed significant light on biological variations in human populations, consequently challenging earlier anthropological views on race and racism (Mielke, Konigsberg, & Relethford, 2006).

In the early decades of the 20th century, anthropologists could not agree on either the number of alleged distinct races that comprise our human species or the criterion or criteria to be used in determining the assumed number of human races; the number of races ranged from 3 to over 200 (obviously, the methodology was faulty). Unfortunately, however, the concept of human race was extended by some anthropologists to justify racism, resulting in a racial hierarchy from inferior groups to superior groups (Birx, 2003; Wolpoff & Caspari, 1997). Nevertheless, as a result of understanding and appreciating human variations in terms of the DNA molecule and dynamic populations, modern biological anthropologists now speak of the genetic unity of Homo sapiens sapiens, with organic differences being scientifically meaningful only below the subspecies level of classification. Human differences in blood groups, skin pigmentations, and morphological types are significant only in terms of adaptive genetic variations from gene pool to gene pool. The biological anthropologist Ashley Montagu (1905–1999) was instrumental in discrediting race and racism, while advocating the evolutionary framework (Montagu, 1997). Today, it is stressed that humans manifest cultural differences that are far greater than their biological differences. Of particular interest are ongoing twin studies, which are hoped to shed more light on the influences that both biology and culture have on determining the physical and social differences among human beings.

The mapping of the human genome, in order to discover which gene or genes determine specific characteristics or traits, has made possible the genetic engineering of the DNA molecule (Ridley, 2000; Scherer, 2008). Of course, such research holds both awesome promises and foreboding perils for the future existence and evolution of our species. In particular, ongoing stem cell research may eliminate hereditary diseases and even improve the human organism. As with any new science, there is (at first) widespread apprehension and the possible abuse of such powers. Even so, one may argue that the long-range benefits of genetic engineering and stem cell research far outweigh any short-range problems, given common ethical guidelines and rational value judgments to prevent the misuse of scientific research and its application.

Today, one may even speak of emerging teleology. As the use of and advances in both nanotechnology and genetic engineering increase, our species will more and more be able to guide the once-random process of organic evolution, including directing human evolution for chosen goals on planet earth and elsewhere. If the human gene pool departs significantly from its present makeup, then one may anticipate (in the remote future) the emergence of a new species, Homo futurensis.

Hominid Evolution

Biological anthropologists as paleoanthropologists compare and contrast fossil bones and teeth in order to discern whether a specimen is pongid-like or hominid-like, and where it most likely should be placed within the long and complex evolutionary history of hominoids (Anderson, 2005; Arsuga & Martínez, 2006; Birx, 1988; Cela-Conde & Ayala, 2007; Tattersall, 1993). Dental features, as well as the cranium and innominate bone, greatly help to determine how close an apelike specimen is to the emergence of our own species. Modern computers and improved dating techniques significantly aid paleoanthropologists in constructing viable models depicting human evolution in light of the growing fossil record, as well as genetic research information when it is available. Furthermore, fossil and genetic evidence sets limits to probable models for human evolution in particular, and primate evolution in general.

For early biological anthropologists, the theory of evolution implied that our own species has an evolutionary past that links it to the fossil apes of about 7 to 5 million years ago. Thus, it is not surprising that some early naturalists wanted to discover the so-called “missing link” among those fossil hominoid specimens that are ancestral to both the living apes and the human animal of today. However, a debate emerged as to whether this evolutionary link would be found in Africa or in Asia. Inspired by the writings of Charles Darwin in England and Ernst Haeckel in Germany, the Dutch naturalist Eugene Dubois decided to leave Europe for Indonesia, where he was convinced that his research would unearth a fossil form midway between apes and humans. In the early 1890s, with incredible luck, Dubois actually did find a hominid specimen that he classified as Pithecanthropus erectus or erect ape-man (now relegated to the long Homo erectus stage of hominid evolution); it was found at the Trinil site on the island of Java. Skeletal features revealed that this fossil specimen was an early hominid dated from at least 500,000 years ago. Darwin would have been delighted with this discovery, but he himself had favored Africa as the cradle of human evolution, since the gorillas and chimpanzees (two of our closest evolutionary cousins) still inhabit this continent.

Eugene Dubois’s success inspired other naturalists to search for more fossil hominid evidence in Java. Subsequently, several decades later, G. H. R. von Koenigswald found an even earlier fossil hominid at the Djetis site, which he referred to as Pithecanthropus robustus (now also relegated to Homo erectus).

In 1924, anatomist Raymond A. Dart analyzed a fossil skull that had been fortuitously found at the Taung site in the Transvaal area of South Africa. He correctly determined that it was a hominid child over 1 million years old. It represented the australopithecine group of fossil hominids that existed for several million years. This discovery of Australopithecus africanus from Taung suggested that Darwin had been correct in maintaining that fossil apelike forms in Africa (not in Asia) had given rise to those hominids that are ancestral to our species. This incredible discovery inspired other naturalists to continue the search for fossil apes and fossil hominids in Africa. Even so, more evidence for human evolution was next found at the Zhoukoudian site near Beijing, China, due to the ongoing research of Davidson Black and Franz Weidenrich (including Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, among others). The specimens represented Sinanthropus pekinensis, a form of Homo erectus that lived about 350,000 years ago.

Later, with steadfast determination, the anthropologist Louis S. B. Leakey was convinced that the earliest fossil hominids would, in fact, be found in central East Africa. In 1959, after searching for 30 years, his second wife Mary found the cranium of Zinjanthropus boisei at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania—a 1.75-million-year-old specimen. Although the cranium was that of the first fossil hominid ever found in central East Africa, it nevertheless represents a side branch that became extinct (as several other forms did) during the early evolution of hominid species.

In 1961, Louis S. B. Leakey himself found the skull of Homo habilis at Olduvai Gorge. This specimen was 1.9 million years old, and associated with the Oldowan pebble-tool culture. Homo habilis not only stood erect and walked upright with a bipedal gait, but also made simple stone implements. Unlike other hominid forms that became extinct, this bigger-brained and culture-making species gave rise to Homo erectus, the next phase of hominization. The astonishing success of the Leakey family, including both Richard E. F. Leakey (who also found a Homo habilis skull, but at Koobi Fora) and later Meave Leakey in Kenya, encouraged other biological anthropologists to search for hominid fossil specimens elsewhere in central East Africa (Morell, 1995).

During the 1970s and 1980s, three other major discoveries were made: the Lucy skeleton found by Donald C. Johanson and his team at the Hadar site in the Afar Triangle of Ethiopia (Johanson & Edey, 1981; Johanson & Shreeve, 1989; Johanson & Wong, 2009), the human Laetoli footprints found at a site in Tanzania by Mary Leakey and her team, and the Homo erectus skeleton found by Richard Leakey and his team on the western shore of Lake Turkana in Kenya. By the 1990s, there was no doubt that Africa had played the major role in the origin and early evolution of hominid species (Leakey & Lewin, 1992). More recent fossil specimens make it clear that many different hominid forms once occupied Africa during the past 4.5 million years. To date, the fossil australopithecine complex is represented by at least eight hominid species: aethiopicus, afarensis, africanus, anamensis, boisei, garhi, robustus, and sediba. No doubt, in the coming years, more incredible fossil hominid specimens will be discovered in both Africa and Asia.

One remaining puzzle in human evolution is the “sudden” extinction of the Neanderthal people and the remarkable success of their contemporaries, the Cro-Magnon people (Sauer & Deak, 2007; Tattersall & Schwartz, 2000). A probable explanation for the Neanderthal extinction is that they could not compete with the far more intelligent Cro-Magnon people, who most likely had a more complex language and certainly an advanced material culture (including stone and bone carvings, as well as exquisite cave murals). New findings and ongoing research may answer questions concerning the biosocial relationship between these two groups of early Homo sapiens. For now, one fact is certain: The Cro-Magnon people gave rise to the modern human being as Homo sapiens sapiens.

Actually, there is no common consensus among paleoanthropologists concerning the classification of fossil hominid specimens. Some paleoanthropologists argue that skeletal differences represent numerous species, and perhaps even distinct genera. Other paleoanthropologists place different skeletons into the same species, or maintain that they merely represent sexual dimorphism. Nevertheless, three generalizations seem true: (1) Hominid evolution has taken place over 4 million years; (2) fossil hominid specimens represent many species that became extinct; and (3) evidence shows that sustained bipedality preceded Paleolithic culture, which preceded the modern cranial capacity. No doubt, present models for and interpretations of hominid evolution will be modified in light of future discoveries.

Primate Taxonomy

In the footsteps of Aristotle and Linnaeus, modern taxonomists are interested in classifying living primates into groups that reflect both their similarities and evolutionary relationships. However, besides relying upon comparative studies in embryology and morphology, modern taxonomists also use computer technology and research information from comparative genetics. In general, primates are characterized by a large brain, great intelligence and memory, an emphasis on vision (rather than smell), grasping hands and remarkable motor-sensory coordination, and complex psychosocial behavior. These special features were slowly acquired over millions of years as adaptive characteristics to enhance survival—and therefore reproduction— in the trees. Only the human species spends its entire lifetime on the ground.

There is no common consensus among modern taxonomists concerning the classification of the primates. However, most biological anthropologists agree that six major groups comprise the living primates of today: prosimians, New World monkeys, Old World monkeys, lesser apes, great apes, and our own species (Campbell, Fuentes, Mackinnon, Panger, & Bearder, 2007; Rowe, 1996).

The earliest group of primates to emerge was the diversified, arboreal prosimians. Living representatives include the tree shrews, lorises, tarsiers, and lemurs. Although they once inhabited the trees in both hemispheres, all prosimians are now found only in Africa and Asia. The classification of tree shrews as primates is debatable, but this is to be expected since they represent an evolutionary link between the earlier ground-dwelling insectivores and the later tree-dwelling prosimians. Nevertheless, the tree shrews show an emphasis on vision and motor-sensory coordination, as well as grasping digits and a comparatively large brain.

Monkeys evolved out of the prosimians in both hemispheres. Thus, a distinction is made between the New World monkeys of the Western Hemisphere and the Old World monkeys of the Eastern Hemisphere.

New World monkeys are arboreal and divided into two groups: one group consists of the small marmosets and tamarins, while the other group includes the larger monkeys, such as the spider monkey and the howler monkey. Old World monkeys are very diversified, with some representatives spending considerable time on the ground, such as the baboons. Biological anthropologists are particularly interested in studying the behavior patterns of the terrestrial baboons, since these largest of the monkeys inhabit open woodlands and grassy savannahs when on the ground. Consequently, baboon behavior may shed light on the social behavior of our earliest ancestors, the protohominids, who became successful in adapting to life on the ground in terms of biological characteristics and behavior patterns. Other Old World monkeys include the mandrill, drill, gelada, colobus, and vervet of Africa; the langurs of India; and the macaques of Asia (e.g., the rhesus monkey). Larger, more intelligent, and far better adapted to arboreal habitats, the monkeys dominated the trees in both hemispheres and nearly brought the prosimians to extinction.

The apes are placed into two groups: the lesser apes or hylobates, and the great apes or pongids. They are larger and more intelligent than the monkeys. The hylobates include the gibbon and siamang. The pongids include the orangutan, gorilla, chimpanzee, and bonobo. Fossil and living apes are found only in the Eastern Hemisphere, where they evolved from some earlier Old World monkeys. Evolutionary relationships among the fossil and living primates are determined by genotypic and phenotypic similarities. However, interpretations of the evidence vary among paleoanthropologists and primatologists. One intriguing question remains: Which of the four pongids is closest to our own species? Many biological anthropologists maintain that the human animal is closest to the chimpanzee (Diamond, 1992) and bonobo. Yet, there are a few naturalists who argue that Homo sapiens is actually closest to the orangutan (Schwartz, 2005). Although fossil ape specimens are rare, future discoveries may shed more light on the evolution of early hominids from even earlier fossil pongids.

Primate Behavior

Since the writings of Huxley, Haeckel, and Darwin himself, evolutionary naturalists recognize the biological similarities among the primates: They all have large eyes, flexible digits, a complex brain, and great motor-sensory coordination. Over millions of years, primates adapted successfully to life in the trees. They not only adapted to their arboreal habitats in terms of physical characteristics, but also in terms of social behaviors (Fleagle, 1998; Jolly, 1985; Strier, 2007). Our own species is particularly similar to the four great apes: orangutan, gorilla, chimpanzee, and bonobo (McGrew, Marchant, &Toshisada, 1996). With the acceptance of evolution, it is not surprising that in the middle of the 20th century, some biological anthropologists began to study wild primates in their natural habitats. In general, the more complex the physical features of a primate species, the more complex is its behavior patterns. The prosimians exhibit simpler social structures than the monkeys, while the six apes (especially the four pongids) manifest the most complex behavior patterns outside our own species.

In the Eastern Hemisphere, prosimian behavior is reflected in the solitary tree shrews, pair-bonded adult lorises and tarsiers, and the lemurs of Madagascar that are monogamous or live in small social groups with female dominance. The ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) communicate through sounds, smells, and body movements (e.g., social grooming). Their behavior patterns are social adaptations to life on the ground, enhancing survival and therefore reproduction.

New World monkeys are arboreal and live in small social groups. The red howler monkey (Alouatta seniculus) eats fruits and leaves, defends a home range, and communicates through loud howls. Also important is cebid behavior research on the spider monkey and woolly monkey of South America.

Among the Old World monkeys, of particular importance is the common baboon (Papio anubis) in Africa (Smuts, 1985; Strum, 1987). On the ground, a baboon troupe is headed by the dominant adult alpha male. Since these baboons are often terrestrial during the day, in the open woodlands and on the grassy savannahs, their social behavior may give biological anthropologists a glimpse into the group behavior of the early hominids, who adapted to and evolved in similar environments. However, there are some primatologists who speculate that early hominid behavior may have been closer to the social behavior of living chimpanzees and bonobos. Significant behavior research continues on the terrestrial langurs and macaques of Asia.

The two lesser apes, or hylobates, are the gibbon (e.g., Hylobates lar) and the larger siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus). They are found only in the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia, where they have adapted very successfully to life in the trees. Gibbon behavior varies from adult male/female pair bonding to small social groups. Gibbons actively defend a territory through loud sounds and aggressive displays, which warn off intruding groups.

It was to be expected that some primatologists would focus their research on studying the behavior of the great apes. Most important are past and ongoing close-range, long-term observations of the pongids in their natural environments.

Inspired by paleoanthropologist Louis S. B. Leakey, three female primatologists established the rigorous study of wild apes in their natural habitats: Biruté Galdikas, Dian Fossey, and Jane Goodall. Their steadfast and pioneering observations resulted in remarkable discoveries concerning the behavior patterns of the three pongids. These social findings supplemented the biological evidence that already supported the close evolutionary link between the great apes and our species.

In their natural habitats, wild orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) live only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra in Indonesia. Galdikas devoted her research to observing the orangutans on the island of Borneo (Galdikas, 1996, 2005). Her close-range, long-term observations of this pongid have added greatly to understanding and appreciating this great ape of Asia. She not only focused on their behavior patterns, but also prepared orphaned infants for their return to the tropical rainforests. In doing so, her devotion to studying and caring for orangutans has helped to ensure their survival, while also informing the world that this great ape needs to be protected from both human harm and the threat of extinction. Unfortunately, orangutans are now facing extinction due to the encroachment of human civilization, especially because it causes the deforestation of their environment and disrupts their behavior. Furthermore, adult orangutans are killed in order to capture their infants; subsequently, these young orangutans often die in captivity.

Adult orangutans are primarily loners, living in trees and surviving primarily on fruits and leaves. There is no complex social behavior. Nevertheless, orangutans are intelligent. Unfortunately, in captivity, where they are removed from an active life in the trees, orangutans are prone to boredom and obesity; placing them in natural settings therefore improves their health and extends their longevity. Fortunately, for biological anthropology, Galdikas continues her efforts to understand and appreciate this “red ape” of the primate world. Following in her footsteps, other primatologists will devote their efforts to studying this pongid in order to save this endangered great ape from vanishing completely.

The largest ape ever discovered is Gigantopithecus from fossil sites in China, India, and Vietnam. It existed from the Miocene epoch to about 500,000 years ago, but is now known only from its massive jaws and huge teeth (especially its premolars and molars). In part, the extinction of Gigantopithecus may have been due to the evolutionary success of a competitor, Homo erectus. Evidence suggests that, astonishingly, this fossil pongid might have stood over 9 feet tall and could have weighed at least 500 pounds. Future research may discover a skeleton of this astonishingly huge ape, which is related to the living orangutan through primate evolution.

The gorilla is the largest of the four great apes, and the two isolated subspecies are found living only in the forested areas of equatorial Africa. In the footsteps of zoologist George B. Schaller, Dian Fossey dedicated her research to studying the wild mountain gorilla (Gorilla gorilla beringei) on the slopes of the Virunga volcanoes in central East Africa (Fossey, 1983). Not content with merely observing them from the safety of trees, she was the first primatologist to actually make contact with this large pongid. Her efforts were rewarded with surprising findings that demolished the traditional view of the gorilla as a dangerous and ferocious ape. In fact, Fossey discovered that the gorilla is actually a shy, gentle, intelligent but introverted pongid.

Gorillas are very intelligent and live in small social groups, each dominated by an adult silverback male who determines when the group members will move, eat, or rest. There are also loner adult males. Gorillas eat fruits and leaves, and fear few predators (except human poachers with weapons). Unfortunately, the natural range and population of wild gorillas are diminishing due to the ongoing encroachment of human settlements.

For about 50 years, Jane Goodall has devoted her efforts to studying the wild chimpanzee or common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) at the Gombe Stream National Park near Lake Tanganyika in central Africa (Goodall, 1986, 2000). She has made significant discoveries about the social behavior of this very humanlike great ape. Chimpanzees are very intelligent, are both arboreal and terrestrial, systematically make and use simple tools, and are capable of learning and communicating through symbols. They exhibit both intriguing and disturbing behavior patterns. Chimpanzees are aggressive, promiscuous, live in loosely structured and constantly changing social groups, and are capable of killing both their own infants and adults.

Chimpanzees communicate through distinct sounds, body movements, facial expressions, and social grooming. One remarkable discovery is that they modify twigs in order to “fish” ants and termites from their mounds, adding these insects to their diet. Chimpanzees crack open nuts using rocks or branches, and also use a bone pick to extract bone marrow. They also hunt and kill monkeys, adding meat to their otherwise usual diet of fruits, nuts, seeds, and leaves. One particular activity is especially interesting: adult males will participate in a so-called “rain dance” during a thunderstorm.

Since 1929, scientists have known about the chimpanzeelike bonobo (Pan paniscus) or the so-called pygmy chimpanzee. Nevertheless, only during the past two decades have a few biological anthropologists studied the wild bonobos in the forests of Zaire in central Africa (de Waal & Lanting, 1997). Although they frequently walk on their knuckles, bonobos are capable of walking upright for short distances; they are taller and thinner than the common chimpanzee. Bonobos eat fruits, plants, and monkeys. There is strong bonding among adult females, and social groups may even be dominated by them. The social behavior of this peaceful pongid is grounded in “make love, not war” (in sharp contrast to the sometimes vicious behavior of the common chimpanzee). Sexual activity is pervasive among bonobos, strengthening group interactions and diminishing social tensions. Like chimpanzees, bonobos share about 98% of their DNA with the human animal.

Several primatologists have focused their research on ape communication studies; for example, Francine Patterson has taught two lowland gorillas American Sign Language. However, her success and similar work by other biological anthropologists have come under sharp criticism by scientists who claim that the great apes are merely mimicking the behavior of their teachers. Even so, anthropological research has revealed that pongids have greater mental ability than is suggested by merely observing their social behavior in natural habitats.

Forensic Anthropology

Since the middle of the 20th century, the discipline of anthropology has striven to be relevant in terms of solving problems in the modern world. One area of applied anthropology is forensic anthropology (Birx, 2002; Komar & Buikstra, 2008), which has increased greatly in its popularity during the last 10 years. An outgrowth of biological anthropology, forensic anthropology focuses on the skeleton of our own species. As such, forensic anthropologists analyze and describe a human skeleton in order to determine the biological characteristics of a human corpse and, ideally, to make a positive identification of the deceased individual.

All human beings belong to the same genus, the same species, and the same subspecies: Homo sapiens sapiens. Consequently, each human individual is a biological variation on a common theme, that common theme being the genetic unity of humankind. Biological anthropologists specialize in understanding and appreciating our species in terms of primate evolution and human variation. The detailed study of a skeleton is crucial to forensic inquiry (Schwartz, 2007). The human skeleton has 206 bones, ranging from the large femur to the three small ear bones or ossicles (Birx, 1991a); the glaring similarity among the hominid and pongid skeletons, of both living and fossil species, is convincing evidence for human evolution and our common ancestry with the great apes. Osteological and dental remains help the forensic anthropologist determine the age, gender, height, weight, health, and ethnic background of an individual. Such studies may also reveal anomalies, mutations, and the results of past diseases and injuries. However, when present, other biological evidence may also determine the cause or manner of death, as well as help to identify suspects. Yet, in some cases, a positive identification is never achieved.

Furthermore, forensic anthropologists help to reconstruct a death scene. Forensic inquiry may determine that the death of an individual is due to murder, accident, suicide, or a natural cause; in some cases, the cause of death may remain unknown.

Forensic anthropologists use methods that have emerged in the history of biological anthropology and prehistoric archaeology (e.g., in the methods they use for the careful investigation of a death scene). Today, data banks of human bones and genetic fingerprints are now available for comparative studies, as well as the use of modern computers. Additional information comes from the DNA molecule, serology, entomology, toxicology, and ballistics (among other areas of specialty).

Forensic anthropologists may study such diverse subjects as Neanderthal fossil remains, the 5,200-year-old Iceman (named Ötiz) from the Alps, mummies from ancient Egypt (e.g., the remains of King Tut) and the Incas of Peru, and individuals from bogs, war grave sites, and recent catastrophes. Likewise, forensic scientists help to reconstruct both a death scene and the face of a human corpse. However, only human remains from the past 50 years have legal significance; in these cases, the forensic anthropologist may be an expert witness at a trial.

The discipline of biological anthropology continues to shed light on the origin, evolution, and diversity of our own species, as well as its relationship to other primates (both fossil and living forms). Each year, new discoveries in paleoanthropology add more empirical evidence that enhances our understanding of and appreciation for hominid evolution. No doubt, over the coming decades, other exciting findings will be made in both Africa and Asia. Ongoing discoveries of fossil specimens will likely help to explain the emergence of both bipedality and our modern cranial capacity. As such, the present model of hominid evolution will be modified in order to accommodate all the new facts and concepts. Likewise, more nonhominid fossil specimens will be found, shedding new light on the evolution of primates throughout the Cenozoic era.

Ongoing advances in genetics and psychology will clarify the biological, social, and evolutionary relationships among the primates. Findings from continued primate behavior studies, both in captivity and in the wild, will help to narrow the gap between the human animal and the great apes, especially in terms of language acquisition (Bickerton, 2010) and the making of stone implements. One urgent need is to protect the nonhuman primates from the threat of extinction. It is deeply regrettable that the four pongids (orangutan, gorilla, chimpanzee, and bonobo) are now vanishing animals primarily because of the encroachment of human civilization. It would be a tragedy if these wonderful species became extinct. Of course, there is a need to protect all the primates. It is also important that future biological anthropologists continue to research the relationship between humans and apes in terms of the origin and transmission of infectious diseases within ever-changing environments.

Human growth and development research, especially twin studies, will help clarify the dynamic relationship between biology and culture, discrediting unfounded racial classification systems and overcoming their resultant entrenched racism. And there is also a need to examine the influence of culture and the environment on the human gene pool and the biological variations that emerge from external changes in the natural world.

Of course, the ongoing teaching of both biological anthropology and the evolutionary framework is quintessential for the spread of rational thought and scientific evidence necessary for a proper interpretation of our human species within natural history. Consequently, research in biological anthropology needs to remain open to new facts, concepts, hypotheses, and perspectives.

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McGrew,W. C., Marchant, L. F.,&Toshisada,N. (Eds.). (1996). Great ape societies. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Mielke, J. H., Konigsberg, L. W., & Relethford, J. H. (2006). Human biological variation. New York: Oxford University Press.
Montagu, A. (1997). Man’s most dangerous myth: The fallacy of race. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira.
Morell, V. (1995). Ancestral passions: The Leakey family and the quest for humankind’s beginnings. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Park, M. A. (2010). Biological anthropology (6th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Relethford, J. H. (2010). The human species: An introduction to biological anthropology (8th ed.). NewYork: McGraw-Hill.
Ridley, M. (2000). Genome. New York: HarperCollins.
Ridley, M. (2004). Evolution (3rd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Rowe, N. (1996). The pictorial guide to the living primates. East Hampton, NY: Pogonius.
Sauer, G. J., & Deak, V. (2007). The last human: A guide to twenty-two species of extinct humans. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Scherer, S. (2008). A short guide to the human genome. Woodbury, NY: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
Schwartz, J. H. (2005). The red ape: Orangutans and human origins (2nd ed.). New York: Basic Books.
Schwartz, J. H. (2007). Skeleton keys: An introduction to human skeletal morphology, development, and analysis (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Smuts, B. (1985). Sex and friendship in baboons. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.
Stanford, C. B., Allen, J. S., & Antón, S. C. (2009). Biological anthropology (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/ Prentice Hall.
Strier, K. (2007). Primate behavior ecology (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Strum, S. (1987). Almost human. New York: Random House.
Tattersall, I. (1993). The human odyssey: Four million years of human evolution. New York: Prentice Hall.
Tattersall, I., & Schwartz, J. H. (2000). Extinct humans. Boulder, CO: Westview Press/Peter V. Vevraumont.
Watson, J. D. (2003). DNA: The secret of life. New York: Alfred H. Knopf.
Wells, S. (2002). The journey of man: A genetic odyssey. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Wolpoff, M. H. (1999). Paleoanthropology (2nd ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Wolpoff, M. H., & Caspari, R. (1997). Race and human evolution. New York: Simon & Schuster.

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biological anthropology dissertation ideas

Here we will get you covered. The most incredible ideas are scrupulously selected by our professionals to make your research smooth and productive. Check them out!

Biology Anthropology Topics on Human Behavior

The mating pattern of ancient human primates
Is homosexuality as old as humanity?
What are the gender differences between males and female primates?
The similarities between human and nonhuman primates
How nonhuman primates handle the death of a loved one?
What were the primary causes of death among premodern primates?
Why male dominance and strength is important among primates?
The differences between the ancient and modern societal organization
Primitive parenthood
Comparing ancient primates’ genes to modern genes
Why do humans evolve faster than nonhuman primates?
War as a significant part of ancient primates

Interesting Biological Anthropological Topics on Human Evolution

The skin's adaptation to harsh whether
Did humans become less tough when life became easier?
The human system and its interaction with eating raw food
Hunting as a primary ancient occupation
The differences between primitive and modern technology
Human adaptive self-defense against predators
How humans survived natural disasters like tsunamis
Did the human immune system also adapt to the environment?
Different ways that man develops means for comfortable living

Some Anthropology Topics on Primates

The reproductive system of animal primates
The features and characteristics of primates
Why are humans classified under primates?
How human primates evolved over the years?
The survival techniques of primates
Is the immune system of primates stronger?
What did the food primates consist of?
Why were human primates more reproductive?
Primate species that have gone extinct
What are the distinctions between primates and other mammals?
Do all primates have a social structural organization?
Evaluating the intelligence of apes
Comparing the evolution of human and nonhuman primates
How primates battled infection
What was the mortality rate of primates?
The physical similarities between monkeys and apes
What are the different species of primates that exist?
How did languages evolve?

Biology Anthropology Topics on Human Development

The evolution of humans according to Darwin's theory
Unique features of the iron age
The differences between the iron age and the age of technology
The racial distinction between humans
How fossils determine the age of species?
The features of the stone age
The characteristics of human foraging
The relationship between humans and caves
The growth cycle of humans
Why DNA is a significant part of humans?
The history of racism amongst people
Did ancient primes suffer from cancer?
The human cycle of aging
The evolution of human cosmetology
The pace of human development beyond other primates
How genes determine the offspring of humans?
The science of human adaptation to her environment her environment
The significant use of pyramids as an ancient tomb

Human Biology Research Topics for You

The characteristics of the black death
How man and medicine have evolved over the years?
What are the differences between herbs and tablets?
Analyzing the evidence of the transatlantic slave trade
How infections become adaptive to antibiotics
Difficult surgical procedures in the past
How our ancestors handled cases of sickle cell anemia?
The problem of leprosy
Comparing Covid19 and previous outbreaks of the coronavirus
Comparison between ancient and present medical tools
Biological anthropology research topics on Paleoanthropology
What are the benefits of studying human past?
The rich culture of Egyptian mummification
What are the differences between the earliest fossils and the present human skeletal system?
What are the types of equipment used in excavation sites?
The Asian practice of cremation and its significance
The evidence that dinosaurs walked the earth
What is the dating technique in Paleoanthropology?
Are there fossils of species that have gone extinct?
What are the skeletal structural differences between nonhuman and human primates?
How are fossils preserved?
The importance of dating in human history
The differences between BC and AD in dating history

Conclusive notes

Biological anthropological topics are interesting and exciting to research. To begin, you should pick a topic from the list of topics here and enjoy your research.

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Potential Topics
Primary sources? where?
Citations and Bibliographies

Potential topics-- some suggestions

How to (build a presentation, etc.)
Plagiarism/Academic dishonesty

Genetics Cystic Fibrosis Progeria Albinism Down’s syndrome Edward’s syndrome Cat Eye Syndrome Achrondroplasia Human genome project Sickle cell anemia Tay Sachs Antibiotic resistance: human and pathogen co-evolution CCR5 gene, AIDS, and potential previous disease exposure and selection Founders effect Old Order Amish the Eugenics Movement

Primate and Hominid Paleontology Ida – Darwinius masillae Evolution of Language Human Life Cycle Gigantopithecus Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis) Neandertals Extinction of giant lemurs on Madagascar

Primate Adaptations Comparing bones of bipeds and quadrupeds Primate Diet Evolution Evolution of the tapetum lucidum

Other Topics in Human Evolution Exercise impacts on bone Hair—theories on loss in humans High altitude adaptation Tool use -humans/hominids -primates Evolution of the brain Evolution of language

Forensic Anthropology and Pathology Determining Age from Bones Forensic identification of genocide victims Effect of Syphilis on bones Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva Scoliosis NAGPRA Spina bifida The Body Farm and the University of Tennessee

Primatology Chimp/Bonobo comparison Lemurs Tarsiers Gibbons Orangutans Gorillas Kanzi Koko Macaque Monkeys Black and White Colobus Monkey Aye-Aye Capuchins Proboscis monkeys Pygmy marmoset Slow loris Poaching, habitat destruction, and primates Bush babies Ape cognition and language abilities Baboons Howler monkeys

Biographical Jane Goodall Thomas Malthus and Populations Charles Darwin Profile Dian Fossey Birute Galdikas Harry Harlow and his experiments on monkey bonding Alfred Russell Wallace

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Biological anthropology articles from across Nature Portfolio

Biological anthropology is the subdiscipline of anthropology that investigates the origins and evolution of hominins. Techniques include both the analysis of fossils and the behaviour, morphology and genetics of living humans.

Language evolution in China

The impetus behind the development of various Chinese dialects is as yet unknown. In a comprehensive quantitative coanalysis of linguistic and genetic data across China, Yang et al. find evidence to suggest that demographic diffusion, cultural diffusion and linguistic assimilation all contributed to the expansive diversity of Chinese dialects.

Chuan-Chao Wang

Ethnohistorical analysis suggests that endurance running evolved with persistence hunting

Humans are unusually adept at endurance running, due in part to specialized muscle fibres and heat elimination by sweating. Cost–benefit analyses and an ethnohistorical survey of hunting methods suggest that these features could have evolved through the pursuit of evasive species until they are overcome with exhaustion and easily dispatched.

Latest Research and Reviews

Ethnography and ethnohistory support the efficiency of hunting through endurance running in humans

Using foraging theory and ethnohistoric data, the authors’ analysis supports the hypothesis that the human ability to sweat while running long distances evolved in the context of persistent, endurance-based pursuits of game.

Eugène Morin
Bruce Winterhalder

Large-scale lexical and genetic alignment supports a hybrid model of Han Chinese demic and cultural diffusions

By digitizing a large lexical dataset of Chinese dialects and comparing it to genetic profiles, Yang et al. reveal a hybrid model of language diffusion, consisting of both population migrations and social learning across different regions of China.

Chengkun Yang
Xiaoxi Zhang
Menghan Zhang

Understanding the genomic heterogeneity of North African Imazighen: from broad to microgeographical perspectives

Laura Vilà-Valls
Amine Abdeli
David Comas

New Late Pleistocene age for the Homo sapiens skeleton from Liujiang southern China

Here the authors provide new radiocarbon, U-series, and OSL dates for Homo sapiens fossils from Tongtianyan cave, southern China, placing them at 33-23 thousand years ago and indicating widespread presence of Homo sapiens across eastern Asia in the Late Pleistocene.

Qingfeng Shao

Deep-time phylogenetic inference by paleoproteomic analysis of dental enamel

Ancient proteins carry genetic information from fossils that are too old or degraded for ancient DNA recovery. This protocol describes the extraction and tandem mass spectrometry sequencing of million-year-old dental enamel proteins for phylogenetic inference.

Alberto J. Taurozzi
Patrick L. Rüther
Enrico Cappellini

Diversity-dependent speciation and extinction in hominins

In an analysis of how biotic interactions regulate hominin evolutionary dynamics, the authors show that speciation is negatively related to species diversity in Australopithecus and Paranthropus , in the same way that it is in many other vertebrates, whereas the genus Homo is characterized by positive diversity-dependent speciation and negative diversity-dependent extinction.

Laura A. van Holstein
Robert A. Foley

News and Comment

The bioethics of skeletal anatomy collections from india.

Millions of skeletal remains from South Asia were exported in red markets (the underground economy of human tissues/organs) to educational institutions globally for over a century. It is time to recognize the personhood of the people who were systematically made into anatomical objects and acknowledge the scientific racism in creating and continuing to use them.

Sabrina C. Agarwal

Signalling Palaeolithic identity

The sense of belonging to a larger group is a central feature of humanity but its identification in Palaeolithic societies is challenging. Baker et al. use a pan-European dataset of personal ornaments to show that these markers of group identity form distinct clusters that cannot be explained simply by geographical proximity or shared biological descent.

Reuven Yeshurun

A broader cultural view is necessary to study the evolution of sexual orientation

The causation of sexual orientation is likely to be complex and influenced by multiple factors. We advocate incorporating a broader cultural view into evolutionary and genetic studies to account for differences in how sexual orientation is experienced, expressed and understood in both humans and nonhuman animals.

Vincent Savolainen
Nathan W. Bailey
Karin J. H. Verweij

Differences between male and female height in Early Neolithic Europe are likely to have been driven by culture

Using a large dataset of individuals from Early Neolithic Europe, we analysed DNA, diet and pathology to determine which factors most affected skeletal height. We found that the male–female height differences in north-central Europe were exceptionally large, and that the short stature of female individuals in this region possibly reflects a cultural preference to support male individuals. By contrast, in the Mediterranean, it is male individuals who were short, probably as a consequence of environmental stress.

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PhD in Anthropology: Biological Anthropology

Program overview.

Graduate students in Biological Anthropology acquire the PhD degree through mastery of a core curriculum and completion of advanced study and research in a chosen field of specialization. The curricular goal is to foster understanding of human biological adaptation and its evolutionary basis through study of ecological, demographic, genetic, developmental, paleontological, behavioral, and epidemiological dimensions of human adaptation. Comprehensive training in theory and topical research provides the base from which a student’s specialization can be developed under the direction of a Supervisory Committee .

During the first six quarters of enrollment, the student gains contact with faculty in the program and acquires the general competence and background necessary for advanced work through a series of required core courses. The comprehensive and general examinations follow this part of the program. The second part of the program involves research and completion of an acceptable dissertation project. Ideal time for completion of the entire program is five to six years.

Applicants are encouraged, but not required, to submit GRE's. An applicant for admission to the graduate program must have a BA or BS degree. An undergraduate major in anthropology is helpful, but those who have not majored in anthropology are also encouraged to apply. In the review of an application, course work in the following areas is considered especially desirable as preparatory for advanced studies: biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, archaeology, biology and zoology, mathematics, and statistics. Before applying, prospective applicants are strongly advised to consult the list of departmental biological anthropology faculty, to carefully note whether the faculty they are interested in working with are accepting new graduate students, and to get in touch with prospective faculty mentors.

The application deadline for enrollment beginning in Autumn 2025 is December 15, 2024. Applications open on September 15th. Applicants may apply for and be admitted for autumn quarter only. Offers of admission are usually mailed prior to the first of March. Those receiving offers of admission must respond by April 15. Please visit the Graduate School's Admission Requirements page for a complete list of requirements. Visit Anthropology's Graduate Admissions page for admission information specific to our department. Visit Apply Now to submit your application.

An entering student is assigned a chair (advisor) from the biological anthropology faculty. Students should stay in regular contact with their chair, bring questions to them, keep them apprised of their progress, let them know of challenges they are facing and consult with this person each quarter concerning study plans. A student may change to have another chair based on the changing interests of the student—however students should always have at least one chair.

Within one quarter after the successful completion of their comprehensive examination, the student should work with their chair to choose an associate advisor from the biological anthropology graduate faculty. The associate advisor is intended to be a resource for students to help provide them multiple perspectives and support. As with the chair (primary advisor), a student may change to have another associate advisor. The student should meet at least once a year with their associate advisor to keep them apprised of their progress, inform them of their research plans, get feedback and ask questions. Should a student have a co-chair an additional associate advisor is not necessary.

MPH/PhD Concurrent degree program

This concurrent degree program offers interdisciplinary curriculum in the fields of public health and anthropology. Students who complete this program will receive two degrees, a Master of Public Health (MPH) and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Anthropology. Students will matriculate into one of four MPH tracks and complete either the Sociocultural OR Biological Anthropology PhD track programs. For more information about this option please visit MPH/PhD Program .

Statistics Concentration

Graduate student pursuing a PhD in anthropology may also consider completing a Statistics Concentration in Anthropology .

Please visit the Department of Anthropology's main calendar and the Biological Anthropology Seminar Series (BASS) calendar for a list of upcoming events.

Program Structure

Supervisory Committee

A student should always have at least one chair (faculty advisor) throughout their entire time in the PhD program, although a student may change to another chair. Students should constitute a full committee as they begin to write their dissertation proposal. The student should discuss committee member choices with their chair and their developing projects with prospective committee members. Associate advisors may be members of the Supervisory Committee, but are not required to be.

Please refer Policy 4.2: Supervisory Committee for Graduate Students for a complete list of Supervisory Committee composition requirements. The Supervisory Committee shall consist of a chair (who is the primary the advisor) chosen from the graduate faculty in biological anthropology, a Graduate School Representative (GSR), and from two to four other members. At least half of the full committee (excluding the GSR) must be from the biological anthropology faculty. The GSR committee member must not be in the same department as the student/committee chair and must not have collaborations or other conflicts of interest with the student/committee chair.

Faculty become official members of the committee when (1) the student submits a completed form for establishing a PhD Supervisory Committee to the Graduate Program Assistant, and (2) the Graduate School responds by officially inviting all proposed committee members to serve as members of the supervisory committee. At least three members of the Supervisory Committee will also serve on the PhD dissertation Reading Committee. Students should contact the Graduate Program Assistant if they would like to change the composition of their committee after it is officially established.

To obtain a PhD, the student must:

Satisfy the Graduate School's requirements ( see the UW Graduate School ).
Complete the core curriculum.
Pass the comprehensive examination.
Submit an acceptable PhD dissertation proposal.
Present a dissertation colloquium.
Pass the general examination.
Fulfill the teaching requirement.
Submit an acceptable PhD dissertation; present a seminar based on the dissertation.
Pass the final examination.

a) A student with a limited background in biological anthropology must complete, upon entry to the program:

BIO A 502 (6 credits) Preceptorial Reading in Biological Anthropology.

b) If, in the view of the chair (advisor), a student has a limited background in other subfields of anthropology, the student must complete, as soon as possible, either or both of the following:

i) ANTH 500 (6 cr) Preceptorial Reading in Sociocultural Anthropology ii) ARCHY 501 (6 cr) Preceptorial Reading in Archaeology

c) Students must take at least five 400 or 500 level BIO A core courses (of at least 3 credits each). Among these five courses, students must complete at least one course in each of the four core competency areas. A single course can only fulfill competency requirements for one area at a time. Students should select their core courses in consultation with their advisor(s). Students who have taken graduate courses at other institutions may petition for one or more of these courses to count towards their PhD requirements. Students who want to petition for this should work with their chair to generate a written request for consideration by the biological anthropology faculty.

Core competency areas:

1) Human Biology/Health (HB) 2) Paleoanthropology/Anatomy (PA) 3) Evolution (E) 4) Primatology (P)

Core courses with competency area categories in parentheses:

BIO A 413 Human-Primate Interface: Implications for Disease, Risk, & Conservation (P) BIO A 420 Anthropological Research on Health Disparities (HB) BIO A 450 Biodemography Seminar (HB, E) BIO A 455 Reproductive Ecology Laboratory Seminar (HB) BIO A 465 Nutritional Anthropology (HB) BIO A 470 Evolution of Human Behavior (E) BIO A 471 Evolutionary Perspectives on Parenting and Childcare (HB, E) BIO A 473 Biological Adaptability of Human Populations (HB, E) BIO A 476 Sociocultural Ecology and Health (HB, E) BIO A 477 Evolutionary Perspectives on Sex and Gender Roles (E) BIO A 482 Human Population Genetics (E) BIO A 483 Human Genetics, Disease, and Culture (HB, E) BIO A 484 Human Life Cycle (HB, E) BIO A 485 Research in Growth and Development (HB, E) BIO A 486 Primate Socioecology (P, E) BIO A 487 Human and Comparative Osteology (P) BIO A 488 Primate Evolution (P, E, PA) BIO A 491 Issues in Human Paleontology (PA) BIO A 495 Growth and Development: Infancy (HB) BIO A 496 Growth and Development: Adolescence and Reproductive Maturity (HB) BIO A 520 Human Behavioral Ecology (3-5) (E) BIO A 521 Hominin Evolution (E, PA) BIO A 522 Hominin Evolution (E, PA) BIO A 523 Social Networks and Health: Biocultural Perspectives (HB) BIO A 526 Quantitative Methods and Modeling for Biocultural Anthropology (HB) BIO A 544 Applied Biomechanics of Human Movement (PA) BIO A 550 Skeletal Biology and Prehistoric Demography (PA) BIO A 559 Laboratory Methods in Anthropological Genetics BIO A 568 Human Reproductive Ecology (E, HB) BIO A 569 Behavioral Ecology and Demography (E) BIO A 584 Topics in Ecology and Adaptation (E) BIO A 588 Topics in Primate Evolution (PA, P) BIO A 591 Issues in Hominin Paleontology (PA)

d) In addition to the five core courses required above students must take BIO A 525 Biocultural Research Methods & Study Design

e) These courses provide a broad view of the theory, methods, research, and ethical concerns of biological anthropology. Training in the ethical conduct of research is woven throughout BIO A topical courses and graduate student professional development, with the goal of understanding past, present, and future ethical considerations of the discipline. These courses also provide students an opportunity to identify their primary research and theoretical and methodological expertise of the faculty. A student must complete the core courses with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0. A grade of less than 2.7 in any core course is unsatisfactory; normally, the student must repeat the course, but may, by petition to the biological anthropology faculty, seek to remedy the deficiency in another way.

f) Finally, each student must complete one of the below statistics sequences for a grade (or the equivalent as approved by the biological anthropology faculty)

BIOST 511, 512, and 513 , or BIOST 517 and 518 , or SOC 504, 505, and 506, or POL S 500, 501, and 503

g) Each student must satisfactorily complete all of the requirement listed above (except completion of BIO A 525 Biocultural Research Methods & Study Design) before taking the comprehensive examination.

h) Students may choose to take additional courses relevant to their particular research interests; these should be chosen in consultation with the student’s committee members and other advisors.

i) While in residence, PhD students are expected to attend the biological anthropology seminar series (BASS). If there are extenuating circumstances which make this difficult, the student should discuss these with their advisor. BASS is designed to be a forum for professional development and features a combination of research seminars from students and faculty at the UW and beyond as well as occasional sessions on topics such as career development. Students should reserve the BASS time slots on their calendar ( https://anthropology.washington.edu/bass-calendar ).

j) A student must register for a minimum of 27 credits of dissertation writing (ANTH 800) over a period of at least three quarters.

Comprehensive (Written) Examination

This is an examination of the student’s general knowledge of biological anthropology, as derived primarily from the contents of the core courses and as applied to current issues in the field. The examination consists of questions selected by the faculty and is designed to test a student’s ability to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate theories, concepts and data. Students are expected to work with their chair to pick an additional one or two committee members. No official paperwork needs to be submitted to create a pre-masters comprehensive written examination committee. This comprehensive written examination committee will make a recommendation to the graduate faculty in biological anthropology who will determine the final score of the exam.

Students are expected to take this examination during finals week in the spring quarter of their second year. The faculty sets the dates of the examination. S tudents must submit a Master's Degree request (non-thesis) in MyGrad prior to the exam . Please refer to the Procedural Steps to Degree page for details about how to submit requests in MyGrad. The exam comprises four questions and is scheduled for six hours. The complete examination may be taken once and leads to one of three outcomes:

Pass, with the recommendation to proceed in the PhD program – awarded when the score on each question is 3.0 or above.
Conditional Pass – awarded when the answer to one or two questions are scored at or below 2.9. The condition is satisfied when the student demonstrates competence by successfully retaking the relevant portion(s) of the examination.
Failure – awarded when the answers to three or more questions are scored at or below 2.9. Students who fail this examination may not proceed toward the PhD although they may, provided the overall score on the comprehensive examination is at least 2.7, earn a terminal MA.

Master's Degree

Upon completion of all required coursework and scoring at least 2.7 overall on the comprehensive examination the student can obtain a Master of Arts (MA) in Anthropology: Biological Anthropology. Once the Graduate Program Assistant is informed that the student has completed their Comprehensive (Written) Examination and fulfilled all related degree requirements, the degree request will be approved .

Dissertation Proposal

Students should constitute a complete Supervisory Committee as they begin to write their dissertation proposal. After completing the master’s degree, the student subsequently presents a formal written proposal of original research to the Supervisory Committee. The Supervisory Committee may require the student to complete one or more literature reviews as part of developing the dissertation proposal. Where appropriate, the proposal should be prepared in a form suitable for submission to a funding agency (e.g. NSF DDIG).

The candidate presents an overview of the proposed dissertation research in a colloquium to which all members of the Department of Anthropology are invited. The colloquium is usually held before the general exam, but also can be combined with the general examination.

General (Oral) Examination

A two-hour general examination focusing on the candidates proposed area of research and its theoretical and methodological foundation is administered by the Supervisory Committee . The general examination should be taken within five quarters (of enrollment) of taking the comprehensive examination. Students must submit a Doctoral (General Exam) request in MyGrad prior to the exam . Please refer to the Procedural Steps to Degree page for details about how to submit requests in MyGrad.

The PhC is normally conferred once the student receives a Pass on their General Examination, and all department and UW Graduate School requirements are met. Once the Graduate Program Assistant is informed that the student has completed their General Examination and fulfilled all related degree requirements, the exam request will be approved.

Teaching Requirement

Before receiving the PhD degree, the candidate is expected to serve as a teaching assistant in anthropology, or teach a course in anthropology at least once. The course must be evaluated by the students enrolled and this evaluation should be shared and discussed with the PhD student's chair.

Seminar & Final Examination

Following completion of research, the candidate prepares a dissertation which is submitted to the dissertation Reading Committee . On the recommendation of this committee, the candidate presents to the community a seminar based upon the dissertation, and then sits for the Final Examination (an oral defense of the dissertation required by the Graduate School and administered by the PhD Supervisory Committee ).

Once the date and time of the final examination have been established, the student must submit a Doctoral (Final Exam) request in MyGrad . Please refer to the Procedural Steps to Degree page for details about how to submit requests in MyGrad. For information about how to submit the dissertation, visit the Dissertation Submission page and the Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs): Overview . Please take note of any relevant deadlines on the Graduate student dates & deadlines and the Academic Calendar .

Grant Funding & Publishing

While not a formal requirement of the PhD program, students are strongly encouraged to apply for external grant funding and to begin publishing their research in peer-reviewed journals before completion of their PhDs. Peer-reviewed publications allow the broader dissemination of one’s work to benefit the scientific community and demonstrate one’s capability to so meaningfully contribute. Grant funding allows one to conduct higher quality research and demonstrates one’s ability to support their work and have an external check on the merits of their research plans. It is difficult to get post-PhD jobs in academia without a strong grant funding and publication record. For students who decide not to continue in academia, grants and publications are still likely to be helpful on the job market. Students should strategize with the chair of their Supervisory Committee and associate advisor about applying for grants and submitting their work for publication.

Please visit the Graduation Requirement page for a comprehensive list of University requirements.

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Anthropology Research Topics: 100+ Ideas

Do you want to frame an anthropology research paper that helps you stand out from the crowd? If this is the case, don’t worry because we have you covered. However, before jumping straight to the writing part, the first step is to select a great anthropology research topic.

A majority of students consider this step to be the most daunting. Choosing a topic and researching it can take time and effort. It requires a broad range of skills. However, since it is an academic compulsion, you must recognize it for a short time. Why not give this your most passionate shot once and for all and fully indulge in it once and all?

Don’t be afraid, as we’re here to navigate you through an enticing list of 100+ research topics in anthropology. These topics will help you frame the outstanding research paper you have always wanted. You can choose these topics as they are or tweak them a little according to your unique requirements.

Table of Contents

Working on Anthropology Research Paper Topics

To frame an outstanding research paper on anthropological topics, the first and foremost thing is to think anthropologically. Thinking anthropologically implies suspending their preconceived notions of how the world functions and what constitutes “normal” or “abnormal.” Anthropology urges anthropologists to be “culturally relative” and to comprehend cultural diversity on their terms. Anthropology rejects ethnocentrism and recognizes divergence without placing it in a hierarchy.

When you are writing your anthropology research paper, you need to ensure the following items are on your checklist:

Critically analyze and evaluate cultural norms (both in your own and other cultures).
Conduct comprehensive research on ethnographic data (including data and descriptions of everyday events, oral histories, and significant interviews) to understand significant patterns.
Organize all the ethnographic or other evidence to expound on a phenomenon or event or support a hypothesis or argument.
Evaluate a theoretical viewpoint critically to determine how well it explains cultural occurrences.

100+ Anthropology Research Paper Topics

There are a few subjects that intrigue the majority of students. These are anthropology, psychology, mythology, sociology, and other good ethnography topics.

Drafting a research paper on anthropology comes with a wide spectrum of special subtopics. These subtopics include linguistics, biology, current events, and cultural anthropology topics to choose from. These topics are mentioned below and can help inspire fascinating research and writing about humans and their evolution.

Read Also – Top 100 Position Paper Topics

Biology and Anthropology Topics for Research

Biological anthropologists investigate, document, and explain the evolution of morphological variations among humankind through time in the historical record. They also provide a comparative perspective on the uniqueness of the human race compared to other living primates. It is a very popular subject for students. Thus, if you’re keen to research more about such factors, then consider these biological anthropology topics that will help you get started with a specific mindset for writing:

The history of biological anthropology: understanding the natural history of humankind
A handbook on paleoanthropology: the history of our tribes
Minimizing the risk of maladaptation: a developmental perspective
Understanding the current stage of paleoanthropology in the USSR
Biological anthropology with other allied fields of science
How biological anthropology explains the genesis of human behaviour and social structures
Applying biological anthropology to interpret human evolution
How do the biotech and pharmaceutical industries influence modern medicine?
Biological anthropology and aging

Controversial Anthropology Topics for Research

Writing and researching controversial topics is always the cherry on the cake. You can easily expound on these topics by corroborating a huge spectrum of data and resources. Thus, instead of choosing drudgery research topics in anthropology, give another penny for your thoughts and choose controversial topics. Topic ideas relating to controversial topics are here.

Ancient Egyptian civilization: the culture of life and death
Validation of social anthropology
The ethnographic paradigms
The war on infanticide has a global scope and magnitude.
Cultural construction or anthropology: theory and empirical evidence
The criticism of the European monarchy over western democracy
The relationship between social anthropology and allied disciplines
Hidden voices: Unveiling women in Ancient Egypt
Understanding Italian culture: Greek culture’s influence on Italian languages and culture
The origins and natural history of human morality
Analyzing male aggression against women from an evolutionary perspective
Understanding personality, cognition, and behavioural changes in chimpanzees
Infanticide as an evolutionary strategy: reality or myth?
The myth of man as a natural hunter
Analyzing the dart and the Seville statement on war
The history of Samoan sexual conduct and the Mead-Freeman controversy
Menopause: adaptation or epiphenomenon?
Who owns the past?
The repatriation of anthropology

Read Also – 295 Sociology Research Topics

Cultural Anthropology Research Topics

Cultural anthropology is the branch of anthropology that studies human societies, patterns, cultures, and developments. Some of the contentious cultural anthropology topics are given below:

Cultural anthropology and linguistics
The evolution of sexism: a critical analysis of past problems and future possibilities
The flourishing of libertarian literary writings
The history of women’s struggles
Cultural anthropology and psychiatry
The development of sociology and social anthropology
Fundamental religious principles govern child forced marriages in northern Nigeria.
The battle of African women for equality
Patriarchy and the representation of women in Asian nations
Green and Roman mythology: a comparative analysis
African traditional beliefs and spirituality in Africa
Cultural violence and the Nigerian woman: a narrative review
The ultimate journey of widow-burning in India
Exploring cultural spaces and technologies in contemporary societies
The biological myth of human evolution: a phylogenetic approach
Erasing culture and race: practising “self-determination.”
The American Holocaust: Columbus and the Conquest of the New World
The 16th and 17th-century philosophy of India
Understanding Mexican culture from a religious point of view
Migration and cultural diversity
The native American ancestry of African-Americans
Muslim women and forced marriages
A theoretical analysis of culture clashes in American anthropology
Anthropology of religion
Christendom’s worlds and Christianity’s future

Physical Anthropology Research Paper Topics

Physical anthropology is the study of human origins, evolution, and diversity. If you’re interested in researching and writing about physical anthropology, then here are some interesting topic suggestions that you can consider:

Genotype-environment correlation study: an overview
The evolution of human beings
Genetic hitchhiking: the controversy and its implications
The altruistic personality: the heritability of individual differences
The cephalization process
Amazonian Anthropology: Henry Walter Bates
Homo sapiens and early human migration
The evolution of human history and the first man
The ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs
The issues and challenges of aging in Asia
Influence of environmental factors on skin tone
Examine five literary works that discuss the stages of drowning and dying.
Evidence of somatic acceleration from recent investigations
The relationship between psychological and physiological constitutions
A review and comparison of dissolution profiles
The advantages and disadvantages of eugenics in the 21st century
Aging across cultures: a comparative analysis
Genetic engineering and medical anthropology: ethics and challenges

Read Also – 100+ Compelling Linguistics Research Topics

Linguistic Anthropology Research Paper Topics

Linguistic anthropology is the branch of anthropology that studies the connection or relationship between languages and cultures. It study how people negotiate, think, compete, and reproduce cultural forms and relations through the medium of languages. If you’re interested in learning more about linguistic anthropology, here are a few suggestions for you:

The anatomy and physiology of speech
Language, Race, and Popular Culture
The relationship between language and culture
Understanding intercultural communication: a current perspective
Linguistics and the politics of representation
Representational barriers and issues in linguistic anthropology
Language and gender: a comprehensive research work
American-African women’s language: talking that talk
Journeys into the past: understanding different language cultures
Language endangerment and language revitalization: an active approach

Forensic Research Topics in Anthropology

Generally speaking, forensic anthropology studies the examination of human remains for law enforcement agencies to solve atrocious crimes. Have a look at some of these great forensic anthropology research topics:

Analyzing the latest perspectives on forensic anthropology
Criminal profiling and computer forensic processes: assumptions, challenges, and probable solutions
Fundamentals of forensic anthropology: current methods and practices
Forensic anthropology and medicine
Forensic anthropology and forensic pathology
A handbook on crime scene investigation
Comparison of soils in forensic anthropology: a detailed study
Reactive oxidants and human diseases
An investigation of the fundamental factors that cause biological alterations in the human body
A study on the recent advancements in forensic science
Criminal profiling: a powerful tool against criminal offences
Current tools and future concepts of forensic anthropology
Common techniques in the study of forensic anthropology
Progress and prospects of DNA testing procedures
Narratives of forensic psychology and criminal personality profiling
Moral issues in forensic anthropology
The workings of forensic anthropology: ethics and professionalism
accuracy of carbon dating technology
Asphyxiation: an autopsy study
Analyzing the methods of determining the time of death

Medical Anthropology Topics for Research

Interested in medical anthropology? If so, look at the below-provided research topics on anthropology.

Exploring medical anthropology
Ethno zoology: applications and principles
A reflection on medical anthropology
Medical anthropology and epidemiology
Medical ethno botany: applied principles and applications
An overview of the spread of the Ebola virus in 2014
Maladaptation: The effects of adaptation to ecological conditions and improper adaptation on health
Mapping the concepts of vulnerability, risk, and responsibility for healthcare and illness
Critical and clinical engagement in anthropology
Ethno medicine modalities in a healing process

The Bottom Line

Each option in the article can help you develop an outstanding research paper in anthropology. Anthropology is indeed a complex subject. Thus, you can also consider some good ethnography topics for your research. You need to conduct extensive research on the different sections of societies and how they have evolved over the past few years. These research paper topics are meant to inspire you and help you score high marks in your academic research programs. You can use these topics as they are or modify them accordingly.

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259 Most Popular Anthropology Research Topics For Students

Anthropology is the concept that explores the culture of human societies and how these cultures have spurred development. It is the study of physiological and biological features which encompasses the evolution of humans.

The study extends to ethnography, participant observation, ethnocentrism, even cultural relativism. As a student, you may need anthropology topics for your research or forthcoming college essay. You may even need anthropology project ideas to create your idea for a paper.

These persuasive anthropology essay topics are across different fields of the course and you can choose any of these topics for your use.

Medical Anthropology Research Topics

As a part of anthropology that deals with human health, diseases, and the performance of public health institutions, you may need anthropological topics viewing humanity from the ecological lens. Consider the following:

Assess the intervention of government and NGOs following Ebola virus break in Europe
Evaluate the success of governmental and NGO intervention after the Ebola virus outbreak in Africa
Assess the role of ethnobotany in medical sciences
Nuclear disaster: evaluate how it affects people using an event of natural disaster as a case study
Assess the residue why societal infamy is linked to HIV/AIDS
Attempt an evaluation of how the spread of HIV/AIDS is improved by sex workers in Central Europe
HIV/AIDS: an Analysis of the safety measures for commercial sex workers if it exists
Assess the strength and weaknesses of orthodox and unorthodox medicine in Native Americans
Evaluate the medical threats of depression in South Asia communities
Engage in an assessment of women’s sexuality and how culture affects sexual health
Attempt a medical moral perspective of the ethics behind euthanasia and how it could be synonymous with suicide
Express in detail what transcultural nursing means
Assess the complications in the treatment of periodontal disease
Examine how nursing ethics become pragmatic in the career of professionals
Examine how South Africa gas managed to reduce the HIV infection rate
How do contraceptives address HIV/AIDS and its spread
What does positive living mean as a means of avoiding AIDS stigma?
Express what sexual diversity means in America as a way to combat AIDS
Give an account if his Environmental and political health can help the advancement of medical anthropology
Give a study on the status of cancer after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Russia
Examine the environmental health disaster of two countries of your choice
Assess the connection of income to health and analyze three pioneering literature on the study
An attempt to explain big pharma and the complications of watchdogs and whistleblowers
Give a comparative overview of the Ebola virus and HIV/AIDS in Africa
How has the outbreak of HIV/AIDS affected the gay community since its first discovery?

Ethnographic Research Topics

You already know ethnography as the study of the everyday life of a particular society. These are anthropological essay topics that you can consider for your research or forthcoming undergraduate essay. They are:

Undergo a qualitative ethnographic representation of contemporary feminism in America
Examine the role of clinical science in the pharmaceutical science of rural communities
Choose a minority group of your choice and conduct research on their mental wellbeing based on their challenges
Research why abortion is considered the first resort for sexually assaulted and domestically violated victims
Evaluate the role of Ethnography and Its studies in psychology
Elucidate how teachers can adopt the findings of Ethnography in classroom learning
Examine the function of Ethnography in software technology
Assess how Ethnography and its studies could help people with learning disabilities
Assess how music and interpersonal relationship improve cognitive behaviors
Attempt an ethnographic study of healthcare management and American nurses’ intensive care
Attempt an Ethnographic study of resource management and how it affects American doctors
Attempt an Ethnographic study on the inclusiveness of health care and the public access to it
Evaluate how journalists cope with stress and how it affects their profession
Examine the boundaries of citizens involvement in intensive healthcare
Examine the Ethnographic study of a group of domestically violated victims and how they respond to the violation
Evaluate the effects of smart homes and privacy in communal Ethnographic studies
Evaluate the status of spiritual healing through systems of pilgrimage therapy
Examine the culture existent in poor educational leadership and how it fails the society
Attempt an expository study on the role of psychologists in advancing special education
How ICT improved collaborative work routines: a study of its consequences on human relationships
Embark on a qualitative research study on diabetes studies in Southeast Asia
Use ethnographic information to assess intensive public healthcare
Attempt an ethnographic overview of patient handover in European health care
Account for the challenges in interprofessional teamwork practice amongst European nurses
Conduct an overview of how cultures affect professionalism in healthcare: a case study of an African and European country
Study traditional health beliefs and myths and how they affect contemporary society development
Express how the value of education has been improved through ethnographic discoveries
Examine the factors that facilitate cultural developments in the face of Western civilization: a case study of India or China
Conduct a study on the beliefs of Japanese students while they learn English
Examine the state of theories of racism and how the black community of America has tried to change the narrative

Anthropology Research Paper Topics

You may need topics in anthropology for your next research paper. As you already know that anthropology is generally about cultures and history, you may need ideas of topics in anthropology to direct what your research is centered on. You can consider the following topics for informative and compelling research:

Examine the greeting gestures in American and Chinese societies
Examine the greeting gestures in native African societies
Attempt a comparative analysis of greeting gestures amongst the Yoruba people in Nigeria and the Brazilians with Yoruba ancestry
Navigate the process of aging and how it exacerbates fear of old age
Examine the benefits and consequences of eugenics in today’s world
Examine how human color affects his social relationship with his environment: a case study of the UK
Examine how the physical outlook of a smoker is affected
Investigate the view that human civilization emerged from Africa
Investigate the view that homo habilis is not an evolutionary fiction
Assess how ancient Egyptians kept dead
Attempt an overview of kissing myths in the western world and how it affects the cultural meaning of a kiss
Attempt an overview of the evolving ideas to matrimony in Asia
Account for the effects of the internet and western civilization on the traditions of Japan
Account for the significance of the Greek culture on Italian languages and culture
Account for the similarity and contrast in the philosophy of ancient Greece and Italy
Assess Latin language and account for the development of other languages since their inception
Assess the Slavic groups and explore the development of the aborigines and the modern Slavophiles
Account for the significance of women in ancient Egypt
Attempt a bird’s eye documentation of women’s role in modern Egypt
Study the concepts of American culture of consumerism and the Scandinavian culture of minimalism
Account for animal and floral prints in the life and art of native American cultures
Account for the connection of animals and plants in the art of beautification amongst native American tribes
Attempt a detailed overview of how the Roman Catholic Church improved the science of sculpting and architecture
Account for the influence of the Roman Catholic Church as the center of government, religion, art, and social life
Attempt a reconstruction of migrants and immigration means in America’s 17th to 21st centuries
Defend the notion that the English political culture is a mix of the old and contemporary cultures
Attempt a criticism of the monarchy in European politics over western democracy
Attempt a critical overview of the Bollywood and Hollywood movie industry as well as the historical context explored in the products
Assess the cultural constructions of human society and how they aid evolutions
Consider the discourse that language doesn’t exist without culture and vice versa drawing opinions from at least five Literature
Account for the development of rock music and its connection to any native American tribes
Attempt an overview of how social media engages the electorate before and during elections
Explore the concept of piercing in western countries and Asia’s India
Study the contemporary psychology of traveling between teenagers and their parents
Drug: attempt a critic of it as an entertainment or a coping mechanism.

Cultural Anthropology Topics

Cultural anthropology research topics give answers to human behavior by studying patterns and distinguishing elements from other societies. If you need awesome anthropology paper topics, you may consider the following to impress your professor as your graduate thesis topic:

Explore the social and cultural revolution leading to homosexuality in Africa
Attempt the social and cultural revolution that led to contemporary sexual attitudes in any region
Assess the social and cultural revolution that has propelled feminism in the Middle East
Attempt an overview of the different nature of feminism in the west and the Middle East
Criticize the critics who believe western feminism attempts to dominate the cultural lives of women in Arab countries
Consider an in-depth analysis of the Philosophies of two societies of your choice
Attempt an in-depth analysis of the religious beliefs of two traditional groups in Europe
Assess the structure of family and marriage in two countries of your choice in Africa and Asia
Account for the concept of ancestors in native American countries and Africa
Document the significance of cultural diversity in the study of human evolution in anthropology
Account for the meaning of cultural baggage and how to address the concept of culture invasion
Explore the background, development, and public reaction to the concept of gay and lesbian narratives in Africa
Give a critical assessment of how burial practices are interwoven with religion and myth
Explore the influence of religious and cultural superstition in the development of African worldview
Account for the evolving roles of women in Asian countries
Account for the distinctions in the cultures of death rituals in any two Asian countries
Account for the fundamental influence of culture and religion in the forced marriage narratives of Northern Nigeria
Assess the function of storytelling in the promotion of native American cultures
Account for the significance of social media in the culture of the first and third world
Attempt a forensic overview of the concept of family, fraternity, and gangs
Assess the significance of gangs and fraternities in the development of modern England
Give a forensic overview of the significance of political organizations in many Middle Eastern countries
Attempt a criticism of western intervention and modernization agenda in developing countries as an attempt to encroach cultures
Explore the distinction between the level of education in an Islamic state in the Middle East and a liberal state in Asia
Study music, dance, and parties in the contemporary society
Study the cultures of rituals and festivals and how they have led to cultural identity, community development, and intercultural relationship
Assess the concept of social status in any African community
Explore the cultures of any native American tribe and how it has changed over time
Assess the role of literature in the evolution of humans ideas
Study the understanding of health and wellness in three societies across from Europe, Africa, and Asia
Study the process of migration, factors mitigating against it, and how migration promotes cultural diversity
Examine the role of literature in spreading libertarian ideas
Argue for feminism in patriarchal societies
Attempt a criticism and distinction of anthropology and art
Explore the emergence and influence of culture on tourism.

Biological Anthropology Research Topics

This discipline examines the origins and evolution of humans, notably hominins. It studies fossil behavior, genetics, and other significant concepts that makeup morphology. If you need persuasive anthropology essay topics for your college or university degree, you can wow your professor with any of these:

Explore the socio-economic and cultural history of Americans and alcohol drinkers
Account for the effects of the disaster of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings
Examine the transgenerational impact of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear explosions
Account for the results of radioactivity in the affected population of Fukushima Daiichi in 2011
Assess the biology in same-sex matrimony in North America
Account for the origin, spread, and transgenerational impact of any endemic in any society of your choice
A critical overview of COVID-19 and the battle for survival in two or more Indian cities
Cocaine use in America: health impact on addicts and the psychology for starters
Marijuana in North America: benefits, disadvantages, and woes
Maladaptation: how it affects migrants in any country of your choice
Examine how domestic health care challenges cultural health practices in any Middle Eastern country
Analyze the concept of vulnerability and risk in public health care
Analyze the possibilities of traditional institutions in preserving cultures
Explore the relationship and comparison between malnutrition, violence, and chronic disease in any society of your choice
Study the factors that drive health care transition, nutrition, and improvement of health in any European country of your choice
How do social relationships affect nutritional choices and human healthy living?
Account for the historical practices that have influenced medicinal practices and policies in the contemporary society
Examine clinical interactions in any social association of your choice
Attempt a pluralistic overview of health practices in any society of your choice
Assess the cultural revolution of medicine in any African country of your choice
Give an overview of how pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies shape contemporary medicine
Explore medical cultures in pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial India and how it functions as a part of modernity
Examine the commercialization and commodification of medicine and healthcare in the contemporary society
Account for the disparity in healthcare accessibility in any developing country
Account for the challenges of a developing nation in public access to healthcare services

Interesting Anthropology Topics

If you’d like to explore current anthropology research questions, there are compelling topics for your undergraduate research. You can attempt and rephrase any topics in anthropology below to use for your school essay or research:

Women in Afghanistan and the culture of silence
Women in Egypt and the culture of silence
The influence of western feminism and the culture of silence in the Arabic Muslim world
Examine the influence of environmental anthropology on medicine
Attempt a critical study of the global outlook of HIV/AIDS and how it concerns the LGBTQ community
Explore the impact of contemporary ideologies on native American societies
Account for the role of folklore in the defense and transgenerational retainment of cultures
Tribal, savage, barbaric: explore the culture of labeling in the contemporary world
Assess the growth of modern man and the evolution of civilization
Account for different race theories and the systems of cultural assimilations across the world
Give an account of the overview of colonialism as expressed by the Literature of Franz Fanon
Assess the connection of political science with cultural anthropology
Explain the psychology behind genocide and its effects on human relationship
Attempt an anthropological analysis of human behavior in Lord of the Flies
Account for the nature of matrimony in Islamic societies
Express the racial identities particular to native American tribes and any Asian country of your choice
Compare and contrast American and Asian music
Express the psychological implications of Barack Obama’s emergence as a colored president
Explore the origin, factor for development, and spread of biological aggression during warfare
Give a critical account of the hunter-gatherer society in South Africa
Give an overview of fishermen and their knowledge of the society in any country of your choice
Explore how the internet promoted westernization
Examine the influence of cross-cultural experiences in the modern world
Evaluate the history and significance of the festivities of Halloween
Evaluate the factors that promote the culture of bullying in America
Evaluate the concept of aging in African and Europe
Express the spiritual cultures of any African and European country
Assess the religious beliefs of Catholicism and Its Influence on contemporary faith
Assess how sexuality is affected by religiosity
Evaluate the defiant behavior of contemporary sexuality
Examine the factors that propel religious aggressions
Expatiate on the factors that promote cultural hatred in a diverse society
Explore the cultural distinctions between European and American societies
Account for the role of TV reality shows in the social life of any society of your choice
How does TV reality show the reality of any society?

Physical Anthropology Research Paper Topics

This is a field of anthropology interested in the history, evolution, and distinguishing features of humans. The field impacts, most importantly, human behavior and anatomical transformations. You can consider these Anthropology research paper topics for your class or personal research study:

What are the advantages and consequences of eugenics in today’s society?
Why has the origin of man been different societies of civilization
Have western ideas of superiority affected the acknowledgment of Egypt as the cradle of civilization?
What are the contemporary facts that support past research and experiences of homo habilis?
What are the consequences of smoking on human physical appearance
What is the underlying Egyptian belief in preserving the dead
Examine the Influence of the environment on skin color
Explore aging in Asian countries and what it means for them
Analyze the physical concept of re-adjusting newborn babies by nursing mothers
Analyze five pieces of Literature on the stages of drowning till death

List of Ethnography Topics

If you need topics regarding the scientific understanding of cultures, humans, their customs, and collective distinctive features, you need ethnographic research topics. You can consider the following:

Is homelessness a function of ethnic affiliation in the United States?
Examine the factors contributing to migration from Latin America to other parts of the world
Examine the concept of drug trafficking in Africa
Examine the violence and concept of human trafficking in Africa
Analyze the Psychology of victims of human trafficking and how it affects their human relationships
Attempt to examine how cultures of patriarchy adapt to American liberalism
Analyze the factors that propel violence through drug trade in South America
Examine the difference between the treatment of black and white Americans in the prison system
Attempt to respond to the division of fraternities along the lines of ethnic groups
Discuss the way of life of homeless persons in Europe
Examine the domestic policies of Europe and how it affects day to day living
Examine how the migration policies of Poland affect migrants
Examine how US veterans are integrated into the society
Criticize the policies of Poland and express its fear of terrorism
Give an overview of Sharia law in the UK and what it means for the culture
Examine the conceit of migration between Africa and Europe
Examine how unemployment has fueled the migration of Nigerian culture to Saudi Arabia and the potential effect of cultural diversity
Examine how Muslim parents dominate their children’s choices
Examine how parents in Asian societies dominate their children’s choices
Analyze how parents in European societies dominate their children’s choices
Discuss the advantages of western socialization with Islamic countries
Assess the politics of Arab countries
Account for the Arab spring and the link to human revolutions
Account for the means of socializing with kids in India
Examine the link between terrorism and human trafficking
Explore the success and failure levels of people with different backgrounds
Examine the trend of marriage and the changes in any society of your choice
Account for how globalization has affected any group of people
Account for the values of European countries
Assess the eating habits of European homeless persons
Account for how the street is sometimes space for talent shows
Discuss the concept of adulthood amongst Brazilians and Indians
Examine any social organization and share their striking features
What is the traditional and contemporary definition of beauty
Examine the culture of transgenderism in Arab countries.

Current Topics in Anthropology

You could also want to consider straightforward anthropology topics for your thesis. You can set your research study on:

Oral traditions and culture
Human evolution
Forensic anthropology
Physical Anthropology
Spiritual therapy
Cross-cultural diversity
Linguistics and culture
Art, beauty, and worldview
Labour and work systems
Political and economic systems
Family, kinship, and marriage systems
Social inequality
Contemporary technology
Contemporary industrialization
Immigration processes
Archaeology
Gender studies
Decomposition
Methods embalmment
Primatology
Reconstruction of skeletal systems
Homo species
Science of excavations
Human anatomy
Interpretation of archaeological researches
Early species
Westernization and tribalism
Comparative culture.

Need Help With Anthropology?

Since you have access to topics which could guide your research, you may also need thesis help for a compelling research study. There are many online research writing assistance websites who can help create the best and most informative study. You can get a high quality essay at a fast pace to pass your undergraduate degree at a cheap price. You can even get your class colleagues on board for the awesome opportunity to get an excellent essay.

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PhD in Biological Anthropology

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How To Apply

The PhD in Biological Anthropology is an opportunity for original research leading to a thesis within a structured research environment that encourages both independence and collaboration. The PhD is normally obtained after three years of study (five years part-time) on an approved topic within the field of Biological Anthropology, and includes an oral examination on the thesis and the general field of knowledge in which it falls.

The thesis topic is normally proposed by the student and then decided between the student and the supervisor, and assistance is provided on elements of methodology and analysis, as well as with the written presentation. The thesis must satisfy the examiners that the candidate can design and carry out investigations, assess and interpret the results obtained, and place the work in the wider perspective of the subject. The PhD is assessed solely on the basis of the thesis.

A PhD thesis in Biological Anthropology must represent a significant contribution to knowledge, with a word count of not more than 80,000 words. The work may be in the format of a thesis, or as a collection of at least three research articles first-authored by the student. In the case of the latter, the submission should include an in-depth discussion of the topic on which the work falls, an overall discussion of the results obtained and insights gained, and a single combined bibliography. Students may be required to complete courses in research design, statistical analysis, interpretation, communication and safety during their first Michaelmas term at Cambridge, and attend such lectures and courses as are considered appropriate by their supervisor.

Learning Outcomes

A PhD thesis in Biological Anthropology is expected to be a lucid, scholarly and substantial research contribution to knowledge on its topic, and to demonstrate a good understanding of the wider context of the chosen topic.

Students at the University of Cambridge taking an MPhil course that includes taught and research components, such as the MPhil in Human Evolutionary Studies, who wish to continue to the PhD in Biological Anthropology are required to achieve a mark of at least 68 overall in Biological Anthropology or a related subject and at least 68 in the dissertation.

Students who are taking an MPhil course by research, such as the MPhil in Biological Anthropological Science, need to have passed the MPhil to have their admission to the PhD programme confirmed.

Students must submit a PhD research proposal and obtain the support of an appropriate supervisor prior to submitting an application. Funding deadlines concentrate around October-December, so students who wish to apply for a PhD should approach potential supervisors with project ideas early in the academic year.

The Postgraduate Virtual Open Day usually takes place at the end of October. It’s a great opportunity to ask questions to admissions staff and academics, explore the Colleges virtually, and to find out more about courses, the application process and funding opportunities. Visit the Postgraduate Open Day page for more details.

See further the Postgraduate Admissions Events pages for other events relating to Postgraduate study, including study fairs, visits and international events.

Key Information

3-4 years full-time, 4-7 years part-time, study mode : research, doctor of philosophy, department of archaeology, course - related enquiries, application - related enquiries, course on department website, dates and deadlines:, lent 2024 (closed).

Some courses can close early. See the Deadlines page for guidance on when to apply.

Easter 2024 (Closed)

Michaelmas 2024 (closed), easter 2025, funding deadlines.

These deadlines apply to applications for courses starting in Michaelmas 2024, Lent 2025 and Easter 2025.

Similar Courses

Human Evolutionary Studies MPhil
Biological Anthropological Science MPhil
Biological Science (Veterinary Medicine) by thesis MPhil
Archaeology MPhil
Biological Sciences (Crop Science) by advanced study MPhil

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Anthropology Department Dissertations Collection

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Dissertations from 2024 2024

Behavior and Ecology of the Kinda baboon , Anna H. Weyher, Anthropology

THE POSSIBILITIES OF PROTOCOLS: PATHWAYS TO RELATIONAL KNOWLEDGE SHARING IN A SETTLER COLONIAL CONTEXT , Julie Woods, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2023 2023

The Abolition of Care: An Engaged Ethnography of the Progressive Jail Assemblage , Justin Helepololei, Anthropology

PUBLIC HEALTH, INDUSTRIALIZATION AND TUBERCULOSIS OUTCOMES AMONGST WOMEN IN 19th-20th CENTURY CLEVELAND , Sarah Mathena, Anthropology

Sociocultural and familial factors associated with symptom experience at midlife among women in Nagaland, India , Peteneinuo Rulu, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2022 2022

Reclaiming the future through Small-Scale Agriculture: Autonomy and Sustainability in the Caribbean , Dana M. Conzo, Anthropology

Violence and Indigenous Women in Mexico: Towards an Unsettled Feminist Ethnography of (in)Security , Ana Del Conde, Anthropology

BALL OR DIE: UNDERSTANDING BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE COUNTERSTORIES AT AN HWCU , Derek J. Doughty, Anthropology

Beyond Revolutionaries, Victims, and Heroic Mothers. Reproductive Politics in War and Peace in Colombia , Vanesa Giraldo Gartner, Anthropology

Rules of Recognition: Indigenous Encounters with Society and the State , Erica Kowsz, Anthropology

“ETHNICITY IN THE CLOUDS:” HERITAGE GOVERNANCE IN POST-DISASTER QIANG COMMUNITIES IN SICHUAN PROVINCE, CHINA , Ying Li, Anthropology

Digital Indigeneity: Digital Media's Uses for Identity Formation, Education, and Activism by Indigenous People in the Northeastern United States , Virginia A. McLaurin, Anthropology

NAHUATL DISCOURSES AND POLITICAL SPEECHES AS WAYS TO NEGOTIATE THE RACIAL MONOLINGUAL IDEOLOGY OF THE MEXICAN STATE IN HIDALGO, MEXICO , Vanessa Miranda Juárez, Anthropology

Blood for Bread: Kurdish Kolbers, State Violence, and Another Call for Militant Anthropology. (A Dissertation Portfolio) , Ahmad Mohammadpour, Anthropology

The survivors of the train: disability, testimonio, and activism in migrants with disabilities , claudia j. morales, Anthropology

Making the Old City: Life Projects and State Heritage in Rhodes and Acre , Evan Taylor, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2021 2021

Diversity and Evolution of Human Eccrine Sweat Gland Density , Andrew W. Best, Anthropology

Liberation and Gravy: An Engaged Ethnography of Queer and Trans Power in Georgia , Elias Capello, Anthropology

THE PROMISE OF EMPOWERMENT: REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE, DECOLONIAL FEMINISMS, AND THE CASES OF FORCED STERILZIATION IN PERU , Julie Chaparro, Anthropology

A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE SYMPTOMS AND CAREGIVING IN THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO , Eric Erastus Griffith, Anthropology

Above the Oxbow: The Construction of Place on Mount Holyoke , Danielle R. Raad, Anthropology

The Boundaries of Safety: The Sanctuary Movement in the Inland Empire , Cecilia I. Vasquez, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2020 2020

Monitored Reproduction: Surveillance, Labor, and Care in Pro-Natalist Turkey , Seda Saluk, Anthropology

PARALLEL POLITICS: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF THE 2013 MEXICAN EDUCATION REFORM , Ashley Sherry, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2019 2019

Production and Power at Idalion, Cyprus in the First Millennium BCE , Rebecca Bartusewich, Anthropology

Modeling the Local Political Economy of Adulis: 1000 BCE-700 ACE , Daniel Habtemichael, Anthropology

What Will You Do Here? Dignified Work and the Politics of Mobility in Serbia , Dana N. Johnson, Anthropology

RECOLLECTIONS: MEMORY, MATERIALITY, AND MERITOCRACY AT THE DR. JAMES STILL HISTORIC OFFICE AND HOMESTEAD , Marc Lorenc, Anthropology

The Political Work of Memory in Collaborative Caribbean Archaeology , Elena Sesma, Anthropology

The Politics of Return: Migration, Race, and Belonging in the Russian Far East , Lauren Woodard, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2018 2018

Embodied Heritage: Obesity, Cultural Identity, and Food Distribution Programs in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma , Kasey Aliene Jernigan, Anthropology

LABOR MIGRATION AND INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE IN POSTSOCIALIST RURAL ROMANIA , Alin Rus, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2017 2017

Can Long Bone Structural Variability Detect Among-Population Relationships? , Gina Agostini, Anthropology

On the Landscape for a Very, Very Long Time: African American Resistance and Resilience in 19th and Early 20th Century Massachusetts , Anthony Martin, Anthropology

Who Ate the Subfossil Lemurs? A Taphonomic and Community Study of Raptor, Crocodylian and Carnivoran Predation of the Extinct Quaternary Lemurs of Madagascar. , Lindsay Meador, Anthropology

POTTERS ON THE PENOBSCOT: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL CASE STUDY EXPLORING HUMAN AGENCY, IDENTITY, AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHOICE , Bonnie D. Newsom, Anthropology

The effects of industrialization and urbanization on growth and development: A comparison of boys and girls from three Industrial European skeletal collections , Sarah Reedy, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2016 2016

A Conflict of Interest? Negotiating Agendas, Ethics, and Consequences Regarding the Heritage Value of Human Remains , Heidi J. Bauer-Clapp, Anthropology

Change of Sight, Sites of Creativity: The Visual Arts in Albania after Socialism , Sofia Kalo, Anthropology

Clay Pot Cookery: Dairy, Diet and Class during the South Levantine Iron Age II Period , Mary K. Larkum, Anthropology

Ideological Conflict Embedded in Anthropology and the Road to Restructuring the Discipline , Donna L. Moody, Anthropology

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep: An Ethnographic Analysis of the Development, Implementation, and Sustainability of a Safe Infant Sleep Education Campaign in Springfield, MA , Julie Skogsbergh, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2015 2015

Uncovering and Recovering Cleared Galloway: The Lowland Clearances and Improvement in Scotland , Christine B. Anderson, Anthropology

Illegal Hunting on the Masoala Peninsula of Madagascar: Its Extent, Causes, and Impact on Lemurs and Humans , Cortni Borgerson, Anthropology

Ts'msyen Revolution: The Poetics and Politics of Reclaiming , Robin R. R. Gray, Anthropology

The Political Ecology of Early Childhood Lead Exposure at the New York African Burial Ground , Joseph Jones, Anthropology

An Ethnography of African Diasporic Affiliation and Disaffiliation in Carriacou: How Anglo-Caribbean Preadolescent Girls Express Attachments to Africa , Valerie Joseph, Anthropology

From Green Economies to Community Economies: Economic Possibility in Massachusetts , Boone W. Shear, Anthropology

On Belonging, Difference and Whiteness: Italy's Problem with Immigration , Flavia Stanley, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2014 2014

Palm Trees y Nopales: The Commodification and Hybridization of the South Texas Borderlands , Andriana M. Foiles Sifuentes, Anthropology

Searching for a Praxis of Possibility: Civic Engagement and the Corporatized University , Deborah Keisch, Anthropology

Curious Monuments of the Simplest Kind: Shell Midden Archaeology in Massachusetts , Katharine Vickers Kirakosian, Anthropology

CONVERSATIONS WITH THE COMMUNITY: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF TWO CASE STUDIES HIGHLIGHTING COMMUNITY-RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS IN SPRINGFIELD, MA , Vanessa Martinez, Anthropology

Loss of Cell Surface aGal during Catarrhine Evolution: Possible Implications for the Evolution of Resistance to Viral Infections and for Oligocene Lineage Divergence , Idalia Aracely Rodriguez, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2013 2013

Framed: Native American Represtations in Contempoary Visual Mediums , Marta Carlson, Anthropology

Mind The Gap: Materiality of Gendered Landscapes in Deerfield, Massachusetts, ca. 1870 - ca. 1920 , Elizabeth Ann Harlow, Anthropology

Continuity in the Face of Change: Mashantucket Pequot Plant Use From 1675-1800 A.D. , Kimberly Carol Kasper, Anthropology

An Archaeology Of Improvement In Rural New England: Capitalism, Landscape Change, and Rural Life In The Early 19th Century , Quentin Lewis, Anthropology

Contested Subjects: Biopolitics & the Moral Stakes of Social Cohesion in Post-Welfare Italy , Milena Marchesi, Anthropology

Knuckle-Walking Signal in the Manual Phalanges and Metacarpals of the Great Apes (Pan and Gorilla) , Stacey Ann Matarazzo, Anthropology

Inhabiting Spaces, Making Places: Creating a Spatial and Material Biography of David Ruggles , Linda M Ziegenbein, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2012 2012

Biocultural Perspectives on Gender, Transitions, Stress, and Immune Function , Leo Zachary DuBois, Anthropology

Orientations of the heart: Exploring hope & diversity in undergraduate citizenship education , Mary Hannah Henderson

Virtual Black Spaces: An Anthropological Exploration of African American Online Communities' Racial and Political Agency Amidst Virtual Universalism , Kamela S Heyward, Anthropology

Remaking the Political in Fortress Europe: Political Practice and Cultural Citizenship in Italian Social Centers , Angelina Ione Zontine, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2011 2011

A Question of Comfort: Race, Whiteness, and the Creation of Diverse, Inclusive, and Engaged Learning Environments , H. Elizabeth Braun, Anthropology

Politics by Other Means: Rhizomes of Power in Argentina's Social Movements , Graciela G. Monteagudo, Anthropology

The Human Factor In Mouse Lemur (Microcebus Griseorufus) Conservation: Local Resource Utilization And Habitat Disturbance At Beza Mahafaly, SW Madagascar , Emilienne Rasoazanabary, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2010 2010

Reproductive Biology of Mouse and Dwarf Lemurs of Eastern Madagascar, With an Emphasis on Brown Mouse Lemurs (Microcebus rufus) at Ranomafana National Park, A Southeastern Rainforest , Marina Beatriz Blanco, Anthropology

Increasing the scale of inquiry: A GIS approach to archaeology, environment and landscape during the early Holocene in Central Massachusetts , Kathryn Curran

That Which Is Not What It Seems: Queer Youth, Rurality, Class and the Architecture of Assistance , Kaila Gabrielle Kuban, Anthropology

New England Terrestrial Settlement in a Submerged Context: Moving Pre-Contact Archaeology into the Twenty First Century , Kerry J. Lynch, Anthropology

Making Peace On The Island Of Love: An Ethnographic Exploration Of Peacebuilding In Cyprus. , Lisa Modenos, Anthropology

Breastfeeding and the Individual: The Impact of Everyday Stressful Experience and Hormonal Change on Breastfeeding Duration Among Women in São Paulo, Brazil , Alanna Emilia Frances Rudzik, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2009 2009

High Stakes: A Poly-Communal Archaeology Of The Pocumtuck Fort, Deerfield, Massachusetts , Siobhan M Hart, Anthropology

Cold Spring, Hot Foundry: An Archaeological Exploration of the West Point Foundry’s Paternal Influence Upon the Village of Cold Spring and its Residents , Elizabeth M. Norris, Anthropology

From “Spanish choices” to Latina /o voices: Interrogating technologies of language, race, and identity in a self -serving American moment , Ramon Solorzano

The Adoption of Shamanic Healing into the Biomedical Health Care System in the United States , Lori L. Thayer, Anthropology

“To Promote, Encourage Or Condone:” Science, Activism And The Political Role Of Moralism In The Formation Of Needle Exchange Policy In Springfield, Massachusetts, 1998–2005 , Jon E Zibbell, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2008 2008

Unwrapping the anatomical gift: Donors, cadavers, students , Carol N Coan

“Driven” women: Gendered moral economies of women's migrant labor in postsocialist Europe's peripheries , Leyla J Keough

From infancy to death? An examination of the African burial ground in relation to Christian eighteenth century beliefs , Ruth Annette Mathis

Dissertations from 2007 2007

Towards the within: Visual culture, performance, and aesthetics of acupuncture , Kevin Taylor Anderson

Historical erasure and cultural recovery: Indigenous people in the Connecticut River Valley , Margaret M Bruchac

Musculoskeletal attachment site markers and skeletal pathology of the forearm and carpal bones from Tell Abraq, United Arab Emirates, c. 2300 BC , Janet M Cope

Localization of central vasopressin V1A receptors in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) , Diane M Toloczko

The Croatian public sphere and the journalistic milieu , Richard Wallace

Dissertations from 2006 2006

Chronic pain and working women in Berkshire County: Towards a critical physical therapy , James R Brennan

An integrative analysis of how zinc in teeth reflects maternal environments and predicts infant function in a rural Mexican community , Alexis E Dolphin

Breastfeeding and bone density change , Karen L Pearce

The house of the jaguar: The engaged anthropology of Gertrude Duby Blom at Museo Na Bolom , Mary L Robison

Good Fridays, Celtic Tigers and the Drumcree Church Parade: Media, politics and the state in Northern Ireland , Thomas H Taaffe

Archaeology and normalcy: Disciplining a discipline , Joannah L Whitney

Dissertations from 2005 2005

Negotiating power: A new discourse of the maquiladora industry in Ciudad Juarez , James H Hamm

From scientific risk to paysan savoir -faire: Divergent rationalities of science and society in the French debate over GM crops , Chaia L Heller

The formulation of Turkish immigrant subjectivities in the German region of Swabia , Tilman Lanz

American Indian identity: The Menominee experience , Carol N Nepton

Dissertations from 2004 2004

Confronting the tribal zone: Toward a critical ethnohistory of colonial state formation in San Juan through the system of encomiendas, 1509–1520 , Gabriel De La Luz-Rodriguez

Of visions and sorrows: Manuel Quintín Lame's Indian thought and the violences of Colombia , Monica Espinosa Arango

Contested place, nature, and sustainability: A critical anthropo -geography of biodiversity conservation in the “Zona Maya” of Quintana Roo, Mexico , Jose Eduardo Martinez-Reyes

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The Best Anthropology Topics For Your Research

Do you have an upcoming anthropology research paper that you have to write? If so, you need to craft an excellent research paper that follows all the examiners’ specifications to score the best grade. However, that is not always easy, and you need to put in the effort to find the best anthropology research topics.

If you write an interesting paper, there is no doubt that the reader will appreciate it. Are you wondering what makes good anthropology paper topics and how you can make your paper enjoyable? We have a list of intriguing and aggressive anthropology topics to write about.

Pick any of the anthropology essay topics and do additional research on it. Our topics are free to help as many anthropology students as we can pass their research assignments. But first, what should you write?

What You Should Write About In Your Anthropology Topics

The history of past and present societies, cultures, behaviors, and trends in various cultures constitutes the study of anthropology. Though this is one of the underestimated fields of science, anthropology offers data on different cultures, societies, beliefs, cultures, and behavior. It covers each aspect of human life and their culture.

By studying anthropology, you will clearly understand how people of different cultures live and behave. It will also help you learn how they build relationships. Anthropology is fascinating and broad, and at times, it can be challenging for students to research the best topic they can use for their thesis or dissertation.

This subject covers almost all aspects of human life. If you are writing a thesis, you need to consider the cultural, medical, biological, physical, linguistics, and other exciting aspects that revolve around anthropology. Here are exciting anthropology paper topics for you; read on.

Interesting Anthropology Topics

Anthropology is one of the fascinating subjects in universities. It is easy to get exciting anthropology research paper topics to use. Check out these topics and choose what excites you.

Is there a link between Eastern healers and western medicine?
What is the impact of social media on cultures?
What is the similarity between African and Asian Hip-hop?
What is the religious diversity in Africa?
How race and racism has evolved for the past ten years.
What is the link between rituals and pagan festivals?
How did migration around the world take place?
A look at complicated culture marriage rituals that continue to distinguish societies.
The challenges that interracial couples face in Islamic society?
How modernization has impacted hunter-gatherer societies.

Cultural Anthropology Topics

The different cultures in different societies are what make people unique. You should make your cultural anthropology essay topics for cultural anthropology unique and captivating. Here is a list of the best cultural anthropology topics list for you.

What roles are played by the modern South African woman?
Research on how religion has influenced the various African cultures.
The similarities and differences of kissing traditions in Western and Eastern societies.
What is the main link between political science and cultural anthropology?
Culture baggage in the Asian communities that have been passed across generations.
What are the critical points of western culture?
The reasons people have a hard time accepting cultures that are different from theirs.
The difference between gender differences in Africa and Eastern societies.
A global perspective of HIV for the past decade.
A look at heroes in various societies of the world and their roles.

Biological Anthropology Topics

If you are interested in doing research and writing about the evolution of humans and origin diversity, then here is a list of interesting biological anthropology research topics to use.

How biological anthropology helps us to understand the evolutionary development of primates.
What are the main geographical areas that anthropology explores?
The difference between biological anthropology and other science fields.
Why do biological anthropologists study modern humans?
What is the limitation of biological anthropology research?
How does biological anthropology attempt to explain the development in primates?
How do fossil records help scientists learn about the origin of man?
Can fossil records be used to determine what is to come in the future?
A look at different human evolution theories: Knowing the facts and demystifying lies.
How does biological anthropology impacts modern medicine?

Medical Anthropology Topics

One way of making sure your research paper stands out is to settle on medical anthropology research topics that you enjoy writing about. Here is a medical anthropology research topics list that will transform the narrative about medical anthropology.

Is there a link between cultural practices and domestic home care?
A look at the effects of biotechnology on human anthropology.
How do pharmaceuticals affect the overall well-being of humans in society today?
Do cultural conditions affect the shape of current medical policies and practices?
A look at the political ecology of infectious disease and the vector-borne transmissions.
What is the relationship between violence, chronic disease, and malnutrition?
The evaluation of medical anthropology?
What role do medical anthropology play in the health sector and society at large?
What are the benefits of biomedicine in reproduction?
How has medicine anthropology impacted women’s health?

Physical Anthropology Topics

Do you want to write about the human body? If so, we have combined the best topics in physical anthropology for you. They include the following:

How does technology impact physical anthropology?
What are the essentials of physical anthropology?
Compare the animal stability variation of the animals in captivity and those in the wild.
What is the human development of abiogenesis all about?
Define and explain adaptive mutation.
Is altruism a trait that most people are willing to learn?
A look at the different evaluation theories around the globe.
How does animal captivity affect animal stability?
How does human development abiogenesis affect the traits you see in humans today?
How does adaptive mutation come about?

Forensic Anthropology Research Topics

Forensic anthropology is highly recognized due to the ability to solve criminal cases. Luckily, there’s a lot to write in this category. Here are some of the anthropology research paper topics you can’t go wrong with:

How has technology impacted crime detection?
What evidence supports the existence of Homo habilis?
Is DNA evidence accurate when matching and testing on criminology?
What are the limitations of archaeological dating methods used today?
A look at the primary agent that causes biological changes in the human body
Is the use of radioactive carbon dating valid?
What is the primary agent that causes a biological change in the bodies of humans?
Difference and similarities on creationist views and evolution.
What influenced different cultures to choose different migration paths?
How did migration influence the Neanderthal’s appearance and survival?

Topics in Biological Anthropology

Do you want to write about the origin, diversity, and evolution of humankind? Get the best biological anthropology research topics from the list below.

A look at human biological variability
Research on biological anthropology and how it impacts human warfare.
How does biological anthropology impact human social patterns?
What is the impact of human biological anthropology on social interactions?
What are the differences and similarities between biological contrast and physical anthropology?
How has technology impacted the study of Biological Anthropology?
How has Africa impacted Biological Anthropologies studies?
What evidence is there that the primates rafted from Africa to America?
What are the tools that we can use to study rare and endangered species?
The changes made due to biological Anthropology.

Current Topics in Anthropology

Times are changing, and now scientists have modern tools to help them with their research. If you are looking for the best current topics in anthropology, here is a look at ideas you can use.

How has technology impacted storytelling in different cultures?
How do facial expressions and hand gestures play a role in overcoming cultural barriers?
A review of the evolution of Anthropology in modern history
How has anthropology impacted the globalization era?
The difference between cultural development and cultural growth.
How has social media impacted culture?
What is the impact of religion on anthropology?
How did terrorism get into human society?
Challenges that people face to adapting to different cultures.
Research on anthropology and genetics.

Linguistic Anthropology Research Topics

If you are searching for the most interesting linguistic anthropology topics on the internet, you are likely to find many options. Here are some of the best topics you can find.

What led to the emergence of linguistic anthropology?
What discoveries impacted the development of linguistic anthropology?
How has linguistic anthropology changed over time?
What contributions did Dell Hymes make to linguistic evolution?
How has linguistic Anthropology changed over time?
Language rediscovery and culture reassurance.
Definition of language endangerment and how it came into action.
Is language an abstract concept?
A look at the different indigenous languages in Africa.
How societies now feel about language classification.

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Biological Anthropology Program - Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants (BA-DDRIG)

View guidelines, important information for proposers.

All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in this funding opportunity and in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) that is in effect for the relevant due date to which the proposal is being submitted. It is the responsibility of the proposer to ensure that the proposal meets these requirements. Submitting a proposal prior to a specified deadline does not negate this requirement.

Supports doctoral research including field, laboratory and computational research on human and nonhuman primate adaptation, variation and evolution to advance knowledge about human origins and the dynamics between biology and culture.

The Biological Anthropology Program seeks to advance scientific knowledge about the processes that have shaped biological diversity in living and fossil humans and their primate relatives through support of basic research on human and primate evolution, biological variation, and interactions between biology, behavior and culture. The program supports a portfolio of research that demonstrates engagement with biological anthropological and evolutionary theory; includes diverse and interdisciplinary methods in field, laboratory and computational settings; encompasses multiple levels of analysis (e.g., molecular, organismal, population, ecosystem) and time scales from the short-term to evolutionary; and considers the ethical implications and societal impacts of the research. The program also supports a wide range of broader impact activities as part of research grants, including research outcomes with inherent benefit to society, efforts to broaden participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) training, research and outreach activities and other evidence-based activities developed within the context of the mission, goals and resources of the organizations and people involved.

The program contributes to the integration of education and basic research through support of dissertation projects conducted by doctoral students enrolled in U.S. universities. This solicitation specifically addresses the preparation and evaluation of proposals for Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants (DDRIG). Dissertation research projects in all of the subareas of biological anthropology are eligible for support through these grants. These awards are intended to enhance and improve the conduct of dissertation research by doctoral students who are pursuing research in biological anthropology that enhances basic scientific knowledge.

Updates and announcements

Proposal guidelines updated for biological anthropology, program contacts, program events.

December 1, 2022 - Biological Anthropology Program Office Hours

Additional program resources

NSF programs to stop accepting proposals via FastLane website

Awards made through this program

Related programs.

Biological Anthropology Program Senior Research Awards (BA-SR)
High-Risk Research in Biological Anthropology and Archaeology (HRRBAA)

Organization(s)

Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE)
Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (SBE/BCS)

How it works

Published by Robert Bruce at August 29th, 2023 , Revised On September 5, 2023

Biology Research Topics

Are you in need of captivating and achievable research topics within the field of biology? Your quest for the best biology topics ends right here as this article furnishes you with 100 distinctive and original concepts for biology research, laying the groundwork for your research endeavor.

Table of Contents

Our proficient researchers have thoughtfully curated these biology research themes, considering the substantial body of literature accessible and the prevailing gaps in research.

Should none of these topics elicit enthusiasm, our specialists are equally capable of proposing tailor-made research ideas in biology, finely tuned to cater to your requirements.

Thus, without further delay, we present our compilation of biology research topics crafted to accommodate students and researchers.

Research Topics in Marine Biology

Impact of climate change on coral reef ecosystems.
Biodiversity and adaptation of deep-sea organisms.
Effects of pollution on marine life and ecosystems.
Role of marine protected areas in conserving biodiversity.
Microplastics in marine environments: sources, impacts, and mitigation.

Biological Anthropology Research Topics

Evolutionary implications of early human migration patterns.
Genetic and environmental factors influencing human height variation.
Cultural evolution and its impact on human societies.
Paleoanthropological insights into human dietary adaptations.
Genetic diversity and population history of indigenous communities.

Biological Psychology Research Topics

Neurobiological basis of addiction and its treatment.
Impact of stress on brain structure and function.
Genetic and environmental influences on mental health disorders.
Neural mechanisms underlying emotions and emotional regulation.
Role of the gut-brain axis in psychological well-being.

Cancer Biology Research Topics

Targeted therapies in precision cancer medicine.
Tumor microenvironment and its influence on cancer progression.
Epigenetic modifications in cancer development and therapy.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors and their role in cancer immunotherapy.
Early detection and diagnosis strategies for various types of cancer.

Cell Biology Research Topics

Mechanisms of autophagy and its implications in health and disease.
Intracellular transport and organelle dynamics in cell function.
Role of cell signaling pathways in cellular response to external stimuli.
Cell cycle regulation and its relevance to cancer development.
Cellular mechanisms of apoptosis and programmed cell death.

Developmental Biology Research Topics

Genetic and molecular basis of limb development in vertebrates.
Evolution of embryonic development and its impact on morphological diversity.
Stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine approaches.
Mechanisms of organogenesis and tissue regeneration in animals.
Role of non-coding RNAs in developmental processes.

Human Biology Research Topics

Genetic factors influencing susceptibility to infectious diseases.
Human microbiome and its impact on health and disease.
Genetic basis of rare and common human diseases.
Genetic and environmental factors contributing to aging.
Impact of lifestyle and diet on human health and longevity.

Molecular Biology Research Topics

CRISPR-Cas gene editing technology and its applications.
Non-coding RNAs as regulators of gene expression.
Role of epigenetics in gene regulation and disease.
Mechanisms of DNA repair and genome stability.
Molecular basis of cellular metabolism and energy production.

Research Topics in Biology for Undergraduates

41. Investigating the effects of pollutants on local plant species.
Microbial diversity and ecosystem functioning in a specific habitat.
Understanding the genetics of antibiotic resistance in bacteria.
Impact of urbanization on bird populations and biodiversity.
Investigating the role of pheromones in insect communication.

Synthetic Biology Research Topics

Design and construction of synthetic biological circuits.
Synthetic biology applications in biofuel production.
Ethical considerations in synthetic biology research and applications.
Synthetic biology approaches to engineering novel enzymes.
Creating synthetic organisms with modified functions and capabilities.

Animal Biology Research Topics

Evolution of mating behaviors in animal species.
Genetic basis of color variation in butterfly wings.
Impact of habitat fragmentation on amphibian populations.
Behavior and communication in social insect colonies.
Adaptations of marine mammals to aquatic environments.

Best Biology Research Topics

Unraveling the mysteries of circadian rhythms in organisms.
Investigating the ecological significance of cryptic coloration.
Evolution of venomous animals and their prey.
The role of endosymbiosis in the evolution of eukaryotic cells.
Exploring the potential of extremophiles in biotechnology.

Biological Psychology Research Paper Topics

Neurobiological mechanisms underlying memory formation.
Impact of sleep disorders on cognitive function and mental health.
Biological basis of personality traits and behavior.
Neural correlates of emotions and emotional disorders.
Role of neuroplasticity in brain recovery after injury.

Biological Science Research Topics:

Role of gut microbiota in immune system development.
Molecular mechanisms of gene regulation during development.
Impact of climate change on insect population dynamics.
Genetic basis of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Evolutionary relationships among vertebrate species based on DNA analysis.

Biology Education Research Topics

Effectiveness of inquiry-based learning in biology classrooms.
Assessing the impact of virtual labs on student understanding of biology concepts.
Gender disparities in science education and strategies for closing the gap.
Role of outdoor education in enhancing students’ ecological awareness.
Integrating technology in biology education: challenges and opportunities.

Biology-Related Research Topics

The intersection of ecology and economics in conservation planning.
Molecular basis of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria.
Implications of genetic modification of crops for food security.
Evolutionary perspectives on cooperation and altruism in animal behavior.
Environmental impacts of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Biology Research Proposal Topics

Investigating the role of microRNAs in cancer progression.
Exploring the effects of pollution on aquatic biodiversity.
Developing a gene therapy approach for a genetic disorder.
Assessing the potential of natural compounds as anti-inflammatory agents.
Studying the molecular basis of cellular senescence and aging.

Biology Research Topic Ideas

Role of pheromones in insect mate selection and behavior.
Investigating the molecular basis of neurodevelopmental disorders.
Impact of climate change on plant-pollinator interactions.
Genetic diversity and conservation of endangered species.
Evolutionary patterns in mimicry and camouflage in organisms.

Biology Research Topics for Undergraduates

Effects of different fertilizers on plant growth and soil health.
Investigating the biodiversity of a local freshwater ecosystem.
Evolutionary origins of a specific animal adaptation.
Genetic diversity and disease susceptibility in human populations.
Role of specific genes in regulating the immune response.

Cell and Molecular Biology Research Topics

Molecular mechanisms of DNA replication and repair.
Role of microRNAs in post-transcriptional gene regulation.
Investigating the cell cycle and its control mechanisms.
Molecular basis of mitochondrial diseases and therapies.
Cellular responses to oxidative stress and their implications in ageing.

These topics cover a broad range of subjects within biology, offering plenty of options for research projects. Remember that you can further refine these topics based on your specific interests and research goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some good research topics in biology?

A good research topic in biology will address a specific problem in any of the several areas of biology, such as marine biology, molecular biology, cellular biology, animal biology, or cancer biology.

A topic that enables you to investigate a problem in any area of biology will help you make a meaningful contribution.

How to choose a research topic in biology?

Choosing a research topic in biology is simple.

Follow the steps:

Generate potential topics.
Consider your areas of knowledge and personal passions.
Conduct a thorough review of existing literature.
Evaluate the practicality and viability.
Narrow down and refine your research query.
Remain receptive to new ideas and suggestions.

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For several years, Research Prospect has been offering students around the globe complimentary research topic suggestions. We aim to assist students in choosing a research topic that is both suitable and feasible for their project, leading to the attainment of their desired grades. Explore how our services, including research proposal writing , dissertation outline creation, and comprehensive thesis writing , can contribute to your college’s success.

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A List Of Interesting Dissertation Ideas In Anthropology

Anthropology is the scientific study involving the origin, varieties and development of human beings and their societies. Anthropology has four major areas of study:

Biological/physical anthropology- This is the systematic study of the non-cultural and near-human aspects. By near human, we mean the likes of monkeys and apes. The main area of focus is human evolution.
Cultural or social-cultural anthropology- It focuses on learning the cultural aspects of the human societies globally. They focus on issues such as religious beliefs, social and political organizations among others.
Linguistic anthropology- Focuses on the human communication process. Specific issues they focus on may include non-verbal communication and the structure and function of language.
Archeology-The major interest is in recovering prehistory and the life led by early societies and their cultures.

A list of interesting dissertation ideas

Social changes in reference to housing and health care-This is an aspect of the socio-cultural branch of anthropology.
How language influences social life
Same-sex relationships, violence, and desires
Forests as a source of power and fuel
The rediscovery of a language and the renaissance of culture: A comparative study
The changing social structure and perception of escort work
Career woman in the contemporary world: pursuing identities and fashioning lives
Infected kin: AIDS, Orphan care, and family
Livelihood and social- environment changes
Anthropology and human security
Religion, nationalism, and ethnicity
Camouflaged identities and army wives
The gendered dimensions of local foreign interactions
The production and reproduction of tribal identity
Gender violence, human rights, and state NGO community relations
Unequal partners: Sex, power, money, HIV and relationships
Gayism and child adoption and fostering
Effects of mother’s schooling on the health of the child
Gay men and cultural politics
Changing ideals of fatness, nourishment, and health
Internal displacement: Violence, resettlement, and resistance
Migration, work, and masculinity
Exploring models of economic inequality and the impact of mental and physical health outcomes
Gender, ethnicity, infrastructure and use of financial institutions
Opportunistic infections
Activism, sex workers and womanhood
Negotiating public health and pregnancy
Negotiating culture as refugees
Household diversification and children’s economic socialization
Reproductive politics, religion and state governance
The political economy of gender, sex and family among immigrants
Gender and schooling in the contemporary societies
Climate change perceptions and institutional responses
The changing structure of independent education and aspiration desires

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The UMass Amherst Department of Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of people and cultures of the past and present in their cultural, biological, and material contexts. From human evolution to endangered languages, cultural diversity to health disparities, we seek answers to some of today's most complex questions. Explore what the UMass Department of Anthropology has to offer.

Major in anthropology

Anthropology majors work closely with our nationally recognized faculty to explore cultural, linguistic, archaeological, and physical anthropology in all its intricacies while developing the ability to think critically and to develop research methods.

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Our graduate program offers both MA and PhD degrees in anthropology. Students can choose from a broad range of graduate-level courses in anthropology and pursue interdisciplinary approaches within related departments.

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Forensic Science Dissertation Topics

Published by Carmen Troy at January 4th, 2023 , Revised On May 3, 2024

Forensic science is a branch of science or an application that enables using scientific tools, techniques, and principles to solve a criminal act. The application of Forensic science lies in the criminal justice system, whereby scientists probe an event to disclose the actual occurrences of a crime event.

Choosing forensic science as a career is valuable in terms of its novelty, progression, and demand. It is a fairly new field that has a lot of room for progress and advancement, with advancing technology and is in demand to dig out the ground realities of a crime. When you practice forensic science, no two days will be the same, unlike other professions. One day, you may be testing samples and making assessments of the results other days.

But before you start practising, you are required to complete your degree which is conditioned by conditioned with writing a dissertation in the final year. If you are clueless about where to start your dissertation, you are not alone. Go through some of the dissertation topics related to forensic science given below, along with their research aim, and get an idea of how to begin your dissertation.

You may also want to start your dissertation by requesting a brief research proposal from our writers on any of these topics, which includes an introduction to the problem, research question , aim and objectives, literature review , along the proposed methodology of research to be conducted. Let us know if you need any help in getting started.

Check our example dissertation to get an idea of how to structure your dissertation .

You can review step by step guide on how to write your dissertation here .

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Latest Forensic Science Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: investigating the challenges associated with pattern and impression evidence for recommending scientific foundations for accuracy, reliability and validity of forensic analysis.

Research Aim: The research aims to investigate the challenges associated with pattern and impression evidence to recommend scientific foundations for the accuracy, reliability, and validity of forensic analysis.

Objectives:

To critically analyse the challenges of pattern and impression evidence in forensics.
To evaluate the use of qualitative comparisons in forensic analysis of pattern evidence and impression to detect any scope of examiner bias.
To recommend measures for increasing the accuracy, reliability and validity of forensic analysis based on scientific foundations.

Topic 2: Investigating the impact of medical imaging technologies for determining the cause of and manner of sudden death to potentially interpret evidence of foul play

Research Aim: The research aims to investigate the impact of medical imaging technologies for determining the cause of and manner of sudden death to potentially interpret evidence of foul play

To analyse the forensic sciences used in the determination of sudden death.
To determine the role of medical imaging technologies in determining sudden death and foul play.
To evaluate the impact of medical imaging technologies in determining the cause and manner of sudden infant death.

Topic 3: An evaluation of the impact of forensic odontology on solving crimes and legal ethics.

Research Aim: The research aims to evaluate the impact of forensic odontology on solving crimes and the associated legal ethics.

To analyse the role of forensic odontology in the identification of unknown diseased individuals.
To analyse the impact of forensic odontology in solving medicolegal problems and providing expert testimony in criminal cases.
To investigate the efficacy with which forensic odontologists identify human remains from crime scenes and detect signs of abuse or neglect among children and the elderly.

Topic 4: Evaluation of the impact of forensic anthropology on the identification of age, gender and size of crime victims.

Research Aim: The research aims to evaluate the impact of forensic anthropology on the identification of age, gender and size of crime victims.

To contextualise the role application of forensic anthropology in solving criminal cases.
To analyse the work of forensic anthropologists and determine their role in crime scenes.
To investigate the role of forensic anthropology in identifying the age, gender and size of crime victims.

Topic 5: Determining the effectiveness of blood spatter studies in identifying the nature and timing of crime at crime scenes

Research Aim: The research aims to determine the effectiveness of blood spatter studies in identifying the nature and timing of crime at crime scenes

To determine the applications of blood spatter studies in forensic sciences.
To analyse the methods of detecting the nature and timing of crime at the crime scenes.
To investigate the effectiveness of blood spatter studies and the scientific basis in identifying the nature and timing of crime at crime scenes

Topic. 1: Forensic science in the 20th century and today

Research Aim: The research aim of the paper will be to find and analyse the differences between the forensic science that existed in the 20 th century and the forensic science that exists today. The research will also identify the basis for forensic science and identify the progress it has made in the time span.

Different methods can be employed to study the difference such as qualitative and quantitative analysis. In one way, forensic science’s conventional and modern methods and principles can be tested for accuracy and precision. In addition, forensic scientists can be interviewed about the differences that they have experienced in the testing methodologies.

Topic. 2: Case Study of the criminal cases and convictions resolved through forensic science

Research Aim: The aim of the research will be to study a couple or more cases that are resolved through forensic science. The research will identify in which capacity the forensic science was eminent in finding significant results, identifying the indicators, and thus disclosing the facts to resolve a complicated criminal case easily.

For more value, the researcher can study high-profile cases to identify the role of forensic science in resolving the most emphatic cases.

Topic. 3: Role of botany and entomology in the forensic science

Research Aim: Botany is the study of plants, and it is significantly related to forensic science. In forensic science, botany can be used to investigate a suspicious plant material at the crime scene. On the other hand, entomology is the study of insects. This study helps in finding the time since death and the source of the dead body.

The research will aim to find the wide importance of botany and entomology in forensic science. The researcher can examine the methods and principles of entomology and botany and identify their application in botany and entomology.

Topic. 4: The impact of swift changes and innovation in technology on the forensic science

Research Aim: Forensic science has improved and changed a lot from what it was twenty to thirty years ago. As innovations and advancements occur in the field of science, methods, techniques, tools, and principles are being modified and simplifie .

The main aim of the research will be to identify the changes and innovations in technology and find their significant impact on forensic science.

Topic. 5: Future of forensic science

Research Aim: The aim of the research will be to speculate on the future of forensic science while considering current aspects and trends. The researcher can study the opinions of forensic science researchers, examine trends, and reach a finding.

Topic. 6: Forensic science and ethical dilemmas

Research Aim: The application of forensic science is very vast, yet when it comes to ethical and moral ideologies, it has to stumble in some societies.

The aim of the research will be to identify the ethical dilemmas around forensic science in different regions of the world. The study may incorporate the assessment of cultural and religious values and examine the factors lying at the heart of the dilemmas.

Topic 7: Process of victim identification through skeletal remains

Research Aim: The research will find and discuss how a victim can be identified through skeletal remains and what steps they have to go through to find results. The research can also discuss the scope, significance, and progress made in the techniques and tools used for identification.

Topic 8: The future of forensic anthropology

Research Aim: Forensics is very useful in studying anthropology, which incorporates the scientific study of humans. The aim of the research will be to identify the future of forensic anthropology, considering to what extent forensics is applicable in anthropology today and how it will advance the study in the future if it does.

Topic 9: Value of crime scene photography in forensics

Research Aim: The research will carry out a scientific analysis of why crime scene photography is important in forensics. It will examine the cases with and without crime scene photography and their impact on forensics and, therefore on the results.

Topic. 10: Drugs and Forensics

Research Aim: The main aim of the research will be to identify the effects of opioids and other drugs on forensics and examine how they can halt or boost the examination process.

Topic. 11: Reliability of fingerprint and pattern impression evidence

Research Aim: The roots of forensics lie in the heart of fingerprint and pattern impressions.

The research will identify how reliable a fingerprint or other impression evidence is. It will find if it is easy to reach conclusive results with this evidence. And how wrong evidence can devastate the credibility of forensics.

Topic 12: The downsides of forensic science

Research Aim: While the scope of forensics is immense, we also need to identify the downside to it. The aim of the research will be to find the downsides of forensic science, its potential, and how it may affect the criminal justice system as a whole.

Topic. 13: Geographic forensic science

Research Aim: The research will aim to study and deeply analyse forensic geology. It will thoroughly study all four types of Geographic forensics: pedology, mineralogy and petrology; geophysics; natural geography and geoscience; remote sensing, location data and Geographic Information systems (GIS).

Topic. 14: Nuclear forensic science

Research Aim: Nuclear forensic science is the investigation and study of nuclear material to investigate the origin and history of the material.

The research will study and analyse Nuclear forensic science, its scope, implications, and future.

Topic. 15: Role of RNA in forensic science

Research Aim: Ribonucleic acid is a molecule in our body that is similar to DNA. While DNA plays a significant role in forensics, RNA also holds immense value.

The research will study the role of RNA in forensic science, its scope, and its principles for investigation.

Topic. 16: Role of Blood spatters in solving crimes

Research Aim: The research will aim to analyse and figure out the role of the blood spatters of the victim or culprit in investigating the time of death, the source that caused the blood spatters, and the identity of the victim or culprit.

Topic. 17: Forensic frauds and their penalties

Research Aim: Oftentimes, forensic reports are doctored to mislead the judiciary and save the real culprit. The research will find out if there are laws around handling forensic investigations and penalties for fraud around the world. The researcher can study the laws in a particular context—for example, Forensic frauds and their penalties in Europe, or the United Kingdom, etc.

Topic. 18: History of Forensic Science

Research Aim: The main research aim of the research will be to study and analyse the history of forensic science. The research will make significant, useful contrasts to understand the roots of forensics and its evolution.

Topic. 19: Understanding Antemortem, Perimortem, and Postmortem

Research Aim: Experts have to differentiate between antemortem, perimortem, and postmortem bone fracture to estimate the postmortem interval. The research aim will be to understand the concepts of antemortem, perimortem, and postmortem and their scope in forensics.

Topic. 20: Forensic science and facial recognition

Research Aim: The main aim of the research is to identify and analyse the scope of financial recognition in forensics. It will also discuss the developments and prospects in the field.

Topic 21: The Role of Forensic Anthropology in Mass Disaster Victim Identification.

Research Aim: This research investigates the role of forensic anthropology in the process of mass disaster victim identification. The study focuses on its methodologies, technologies, challenges, and advancements.

Topic 22: DNA Profiling and its Application in Forensic Investigations.

Research Aim: This study explores the principles, methodologies, and applications of DNA profiling in forensic investigations. It focuses on understanding its significance, challenges, and advancements. The research further aims to provide insights into improving forensic techniques.

Topic 23: Digital Forensics and Challenges and Innovations in Cybercrime Investigations.

Research Aim: This research examines the evolving landscape of digital forensics, including its methodologies, challenges, and innovative techniques, within the context of cybercrime investigations.

Topic 24: Forensic Entomology: Advancements in Estimating Postmortem Interval.

Research Aim: This study explores the latest advancements in forensic entomology for estimating postmortem interval (PMI), encompassing methodologies, technologies, and challenges, with the objective of enhancing the accuracy and reliability of PMI determination in forensic investigations.

Topic 25: The Effectiveness of Forensic Odontology in Human Identification.

Research Aim: This research assesses the effectiveness and reliability of forensic odontology in human identification, exploring its methodologies, techniques, limitations, and advancements to elucidate its role in forensic investigations.

Topic 26: The Use of Isotopic Analysis in Forensic Investigations.

Research Aim: To investigate the use of isotopic analysis in forensic investigations, examining its methodologies, applications, limitations, and advancements to understand its efficacy in tracing geographical origins, dietary habits, and movement patterns of individuals.

Topic 27: The Use of Geographical Profiling in Serial Crime Investigations.

Research Aim: To examine the effectiveness and applications of geographical profiling in serial crime investigations, exploring its methodologies, algorithms, limitations, and advancements, to understand its role in identifying offender spatial behaviour patterns, assisting law enforcement agencies in prioritising investigative resources, and enhancing the apprehension of serial offenders.

Topic 28: The Role of Forensic Genetics in Ancestry and Kinship Analysis.

Research Aim: To investigate the role of forensic genetics in ancestry and kinship analysis, exploring methodologies, technologies, challenges, and advancements to understand its utility in tracing familial relationships and ancestral origins, contributing to the resolution of criminal cases, and informing ethical considerations surrounding genetic privacy and identity.

Topic 29: Forensic Botany: Investigating Plant Evidence in Wildlife Crime Cases.

Research Aim: To explore the application of forensic botany in wildlife crime investigations, examining methodologies, techniques, challenges, and advancements, to understand its efficacy in analysing plant evidence, identifying species, and reconstructing crime scenes.

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Explore DNA, digital forensics, etc.
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Ethnohistorical analysis suggests that endurance running evolved with persistence hunting

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