Adrian Miller

ANTH1020

Final Reflection Essay

At the beginning of this semester, I approached this course with very minimal knowledge on

any of the theories or information that we have studied. I knew the very basics of evolution, and

had a minimal knowledge of many of our ancestors and predecessors. With this minimal

knowledge, I hoped to be gaining a better understanding of how we became who we are over

time, and how everything connected. At the end of this course, I feel that I have definitely come

out with a better knowledge of these things, but I still have much more to learn. This course was

fairly fast paced and interactive which allowed me to learn in a new and creative way.

I think a few of my favorite assignments or activities in this course were many of the

films, and the Labs. These assignments allowed me to visually see some of the things we had

been learning about, and it also gave me a chance to use some hands-on learning. That is one

thing I feel that this course did well, it got me to apply the information I was learning in a

creative way. Much of the knowledge I gained from those films and labs helped me to

understand how I fit into the evolutionary process, and how we as humans are still changing and

evolving over time. I have known for quite some time that we are making small adaptions and

changes as new generations come up, but it was very interesting to look at this from a different

perspective. I personally had an “Aha” moment while we were studying about or Pre-hominin

and Hominin ancestors. For the longest time I had been under the impression that there was a
missing piece of the puzzle from apes to humans, but realized that there was a lot more

information on these ancestors than I knew.

In the first part of this assignment, I shared some of my general thoughts on the process

of evolution, and my personal scientific and religious belief. Through the process of this course,

my opinions have only changed in minor ways. I still believe that Evolution was and still is a

very important and ongoing process. We are adapting and growing even still. I do also come

from a fairly religious background, where I believe that a higher being had helped to shape this

evolutionary process. This opinion has not changed, if anything I feel that through this course I

have just supplemented the things I already knew.

Another area of this course that I feel I learned the most, was the section on primates and

their origins. Although it was hard for me to remember all of the specific information about these

Primates and their differences and similarities, I learned a lot during those modules. It also

allowed me to understand more of the specific ways that we are related, both in modern times

and previously. While I still have a hard time identifying specific species and their individual

characteristics, I could at least identify some of the prominent characteristics of each species.

All of these different pieces of information and general knowledge have ultimately

created a better understanding of how I am personally affected by the process of evolution. The

beginning sections on human biology helped remind me of how our bodies work, and how the

evolutionary process began. That knowledge is important to me now, because it helps me to

remember how similar every organism is, and the similarities and differences. The knowledge of

our primate ancestors and close “cousins” as you might call them, helps us to understand how

there are really only a few differences between us and them. And finally, studying our hominin

ancestors helps me to gain a better understanding of how we evolved from the apes, and what
changes define us and make us who we are. All of these things truly do help shape my

knowledge of the world, and what my place is in the grand scheme of things. This course has

been a great benefit to me and my understanding of the world around me.