Physical Anthropology

In this program real teenagers describe the world of alcohol and drugs that surrounds them and the hard choices they have to make. Viewers hear from teens that have actually experienced the physical, emotional, social, and academic consequences of abusing alcohol and drugs. Many have opted to choose a drug-free life, and their “success” stories clearly demonstrate the benefits of that choice. Teens focus on the “anti-drugs” in their lives: sports, music, family, achieving academic excellence, and setting goals for the future. After viewing this program students will acknowledge that a drug-free lifestyle is a positive choice, realize that drug-use interferes with achieving goals, identify ways to resist the peer and internal pressure to try drugs, and understand that being drug-free promotes better relationships. Expert commentary throughout supports and expands information.

The modern consequences of an ancient human obsession, the fear of inheriting bad genes, are explored in this program. In Hiroshima, Steve Jones speaks with hibakusha-children of atom bomb survivors, shunned as dangerous mates-and assesses the genetic risk that their children will be mutants. The royal blood disease, hemophilia, is traced through the genes, but Jones scientifically disproves the theory that Queen Victoria, whose son carried the disease, was its genetic source. A genetic dating service tests applicants for defective genes. A mutant gene that causes restricted growth is studied in combination with other causal factors, such as age and sex. Original BBC broadcast title: Rules of Engagement. (50 minutes)

These programs form a well-organized minicourse in evolution. They can also be used individually. The programs serve to supplement textbooks and lectures and are ideal for reconstituting biology textbooks expurgated on the entire subject of evolution. 11-part series, 20 minutes each.

Where did Homo sapiens come from? How did they interpret their world? And what did they think and feel? This program seeks to profile modern humankind's distant forerunners through the research of ethnologists Bernard Saladin D'Anglure and Valentina Gorbatcheva, archaeologist Sergei Vassiliev, historian Jean Clottes, linguist Merritt Ruhlen, anthropologist Bernard Vandermeersch, geneticist Michael Hammer, and ethnoarchaeologist Polly Wiessner. Prehistoric caves in southern France; the oldest-known human tombs, in Israel; fossil words"; the genealogy of the Y-chromosome; and other topics serve as portals to the past. Not available in French-speaking Canada. (53 minutes)"

In this six-part series from the BBC, Professor Steve Jones of University College, London-one of the world's leading geneticists-uses genetic investigation to study a variety of intriguing questions related to anthropology, sociology, and the evolution of humankind. 6-part series, 50 minutes each.

This program follows in the footsteps of the traders who introduced Islam into Southeast Asia. From the Thai, Cambodian, and Vietnamese mainland to the islands of Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, the program acquaints viewers with Islamic culture, representative architecture, historical monuments, and the Muslim way of life in the region. (47 minutes)

DNA testing has become a standard tool in genealogical research, but it takes more than saliva swabs and lab reports to truly understand one's ancestry. In this program, two young New Zealanders of Polynesian descent undergo DNA sampling, wrestle with the surprising results, and then embark on a journey of discovery, searching for their roots across the Pacific and into Asia. Their voyage-by land, sea, and air-traces in reverse the steps their ancestors would have taken thousands of years ago, passing through the Cook Islands, Samoa, Vanuatu, and ending eventually in Taiwan. For studying the overlap between genomic research and the cultural aspects of human migration, this is a moving and highly relevant odyssey. (46 minutes)

This ABC News program spotlights the work of Doug Owsley, curator at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, who is a keen interpreter of the silent yet expressive language of bones. Owsley and his biographer, Jeff Benedict, give examples of how he has used bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology to unravel mysteries ranging from identifying an exhumed Civil War cavalryman to determining the true cause of death of Branch Davidian leader David Koresh. Owsley's career-risking suit against the government for the right to study the Kennewick skeleton is also discussed. (14 minutes)

In this program, genetic teams in England and Finland study how defective genes can be altered to halt transmission of disease through the generations. In England, geneticist John Burn discovers a woman's lethal cancer gene, inherited from her father. She undergoes early treatment that saves her life. Thirty genetic diseases exist in Finland. Steve Jones traces a defective gene in one family, which has caused brain damage in their child, to the couple's paternal ancestors. In an insular Pakistani immigrant group, another gene is identified that causes a life-threatening blood disorder. Both the Finns and the Pakistanis are beginning to marry outside of their own groups in order to weaken the offending genes. A BBC Production. (50 minutes)