2025-2026 Pitzer College Catalog
Human Biology
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The Human Biology major studies the relevance of social conditions to the biological sciences. Biology courses in such areas as genetics, evolution, animal behavior, anatomy, and physiology complement courses in sociology, psychology, anthropology and public health to create a major that explores humans and humanity from a variety of perspectives. Human Biology majors complete the biology portion of the major and choose one of two options for the social science portion of the major. Option 1 exposes students to Anthropology, Sociology and Psychology and asks the student to choose one of those three fields as a focus. Option 2 is focused on cross-cultural health and healing from a wide range of viewpoints. Please note that this major does not include all of the courses required by medical schools or other pre-health programs. Students interested in pre-health programs should consult their advisor and the Department of Natural Sciences pre-health advisor early in their college career to formulate a coherent four-year plan that meets their needs. This is a Pitzer major; Scripps students may choose this as an off-campus major.
Learning Outcomes
A Human Biology major should be able to:
- Understand foundational principles and findings in biology and the social sciences.
- Develop critical thinking and analytical skills by developing specific hypotheses, designing controlled experiments to test those hypotheses, collecting and/or evaluating data, and interpreting those data.
- Read, understand and critique original research articles in the biological and social sciences.
- A student following Option 2 of the major should also be able to:
- Understand variation in human social organizations and cultures.
- Identify and understand health and medicine in different cultural, economic and political contexts
- Critically identify micro- and macro-level issues affecting medical practices in local and global settings.
Pitzer and Department of Natural Science Advisors: Profs. Armstrong, Bonaparte, Budischak, Chandrangsu, Coleman, Finseth, E. Ferree, P. Ferree, Heers, Preest, Thomson, Solomon-Lane, and Guillermo.
Programs
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