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This archived information is dated to the 2009-10 academic year only and may no longer be current.

For currently applicable policies and information, see the current Stanford Bulletin.

Human Biology

In this section:

Bachelor of Arts in Human Biology

Minor in Human Biology

Storey House

Overseas Studies Courses in Human Biology

Up one level:

School of Humanities and Sciences

Emeriti: (Professors) Clifford Barnett (Anthropological Sciences), Luigi Cavalli-Sforza (Genetics), Christos Constantinou (Urology), Carl Djerassi (Chemistry), Sanford Dornbusch (Sociology), Albert H. Hastorf (Psychology), Dale Kaiser (Biochemistry), Herant Katchadourian (Human Biology), Donald Kennedy (Biology), Carol Winograd (Medicine), (Associate Director) Shirley Feldman

Director: Carol Boggs (Biology)

Associate Director: Katherine Preston

Professors: Laurence Baker (Health Research & Policy), Lisa Curran (Anthropology), William H. Durham (Anthropology), Russell D. Fernald (Biology), Uta Francke (Genetics), Margaret Fuller (Developmental Biology), Lawrence H. Goulder (Economics), H. Craig Heller (Biology), Richard Klein (Biology and Anthropology), Tanya Luhrmann (Anthropology), Michael Marmor (Ophthalmology), Gordon Matheson (Orthopedic Surgery), Roeland Nusse (Developmental Biology), Amado Padilla (Education), Thomas Rando (Neurology), Natalie Rasgon (Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences), Thomas Robinson (Pediatrics, Medicine), Robert Sapolsky (Biology, Neurology and Neurological Sciences), Stephen Schneider (Biology), Matthew Scott (Developmental Biology), William Talbot (Developmental Biology), Shripad Tuljapurkar (Biology), Irving Weissman (Pathology), Jeffrey Wine (Psychology), Paul Wise (Pediatrics), Arthur B. Wolf (Anthropological Sciences)

Associate Professors: Rebecca Bird (Anthropology), Firdaus Dhabhar (Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences), Anne Fernald (Psychology), Paul Fisher (Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Pediatrics), James Fox (Anthropology), John Rick (Anthropology), Randall Stafford (Medicine)

Assistant Professors: Melissa Brown (Anthropology), David DeGusta (Anthropology), Brenda Golianu (Anesthesia), James H. Jones (Anthropology), Norman G. Miller (Medicine), Michael Ramscar (Psychology)

Professors (Research): David Katzenstein (Medicine), Marcia Stefanick (Medicine)

Associate Professors (Research): Christopher Gardner (Medicine), David Lyons (Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences)

Professors (Teaching): Carol Boggs (Biology), Ellen Porzig (Developmental Biology)

Associate Professors (Teaching): Donald Barr (Pediatrics), Catherine Heaney (Psychology, Medicine), David Magnus (Pediatrics), Eunice Rodriguez (Pediatrics), Robert Siegel (Microbiology and Immunology)

Clinical Professor: Laraine Zappert (Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences)

Clinical Assistant Professors: Daniel Garza (Orthopedic Surgery, Emergency Medicine), Mary Therese Jacobson (Obstetrics and Gynecology), Rita Popat (Epidemiology)

Other Teaching Faculty and Staff: William Abrams, Maya Adam-Seef, Wesley F. Alles (Medicine), Judy Chu, Gerda Endemann (Biology), Anne Firth-Murray, Anne Friedlander, Renu Heller (Biology), Robert Lickliter, Donald Light, Danielle Liubicich, Michael Mastrandrea (Earth Sciences), Lisa Medoff, Katherine Preston, Lynn Rothschild, Norman Ruby (Biology), Merritt Ruhlen, Daniel Salkeld (Anthropology), Darvin Scott Smith (Microbiology and Immunology), James Truncer (Anthropology), Katherine E. Williams (Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences), Jennifer Wolf (Education), Nathan Wolfe, Larry Zaroff (Anesthesiology, Biomedical Ethics)

Course Associates: Rebecca Briggs, Fiona Gispen, Grace Hunter, Tom McFadden, Lauren Smith, Rebecca Tisdale, Tanya Widmer, Peng Zhang

Honors Chair: Katherine Preston

Program Offices: Building 20

Mail Code: 94305-2160

Phone: (650) 725-0336

Email: cacciari@stanford.edu (Student Services)

Web Site: http://humbio.stanford.edu

Courses offered by the Program in Human Biology are listed under the subject code HUMBIO on the Stanford Bulletin's ExploreCourses web site.

The program offers a Bachelor of Arts in Human Biology, as well as a minor and an honors program.

Mission of the Undergraduate Program in Human Biology

The mission of the undergraduate program in Human Biology is to provide students with an interdisciplinary approach to understanding human beings from biological, behavioral, social, and cultural perspectives. Courses in the major allow students to see connections and parallels with other fields as they learn to formulate and evaluate health, environmental, and other public policies issues that influence human welfare. The program prepares majors to pursue advanced training in professional or graduate programs.

To achieve these goals, all students complete a 30-unit core sequence, normally in the sophomore year, that provides the foundation for the major. Also during the sophomore year, students consult with student advisers to choose a faculty adviser and complete the declaration process. Together they plan a road map of course work designed to help each student focus on an area of interest within Human Biology. Early planning and subsequent refining of an individualized course of study, in consultation with student and faculty advisers, is a strength and requirement of the program. The curriculum draws on faculty from across the University. To complete a B.A. in Human Biology, students must take courses from within the program and from other University departments. Most Human Biology majors go on to advanced training in professional schools, or graduate programs in the behavioral, natural, and social sciences, including coterminal master's degree programs in other University departments. Additional information about the major may be obtained from the program's offices or at http://humbio.stanford.edu.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The program expects its undergraduate majors to be able to demonstrate the following learning outcomes. These learning outcomes are used in evaluating students and the Program in Human Biology. Students are expected to demonstrate:

  1. ability to acquire and synthesize scientific information from a variety of sources.
  2. ability to apply analytical tools to evaluate policy.
  3. ability to interpret knowledge in meaningful and appropriate ways as they draw conclusions about the significance of their findings.
  4. ability to communicate their scientific ideas clearly and persuasively.

STUDENT ADVISERS

Human Biology has an advising program comprising faculty and student advisers. Before declaring Human Biology as their undergraduate major, each student must meet with one of six student advisers who assist them in developing a coherent study plan based on an individualized area of concentration, and the selection of foundation, concentration, and upper-division courses. The student advisers also assist students in selecting an appropriate faculty adviser and a suitable internship for their area of concentration and career goals. Student advisers offer drop-in services during scheduled office hours every weekday and some evenings. The student advisers also sponsor events including the Internship Faire, Beyond HumBio, and declaration workshops. To maintain high standards of advising that respond to the needs of individual students, student advisers meet weekly with the program's faculty advising chairs and the student services coordinator to review the program's policies and specific student inquiries and petitions concerning the program.

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