© 2013 E.P. Sharaykina, L.V. Sindeeva, M.V. Peshkov
2013 – № 2 (6)
Key words: anthropology, educational program, students, clinical psychology, innovational educational technologies, state educational standards.
Abstract: This review gives details of the educational program ‘Anthropology’ taught to students of clinical psychology. The program is aimed at providing information on morphological and social evolution of humans, age- and constitution-related anthropology, anthropogenesis. It informs students on the species relatedness of humans using morphological, physiological and genetic data. It also gives comparative analysis of physical (biological), social and cultural characteristics of
individuals. The course on anthropology is a part ‘Mathematic and natural science’ course, so its contents are mostly related to biological anthropology, covering such areas as paleo-anthopological findings, evolution of homo species, individual, age- and constitution-related characteristics of humans, as well as racial and ethnic (biological) differences between human populations. It also touches on the topic of evolution of brain and consciousness, explicating existent theories. The last part of the course is devoted to cultural and linguistic diversity of humans, mythical, religious and
social dimensions of human life.
Studying Anthropology as a part of the educational program of clinical psychologists is aimed at shaping cultural and professional competences of students. The goal of the program is to prepare a qualified clinical psychologist as a specialist who has valuable anthropological knowledge of humans as biological, psychological, social and cultural beings.
The course consists of the following parts:
Part 1. ‘Introduction to anthropology. Subject field and goals, emergence of anthropology in Russia’. This part explores works of Carl Linnaeus, Charles Darwin, Paul Broca, as well as history of Russian anthropology.
Part 2. ‘Evolutionary Anthropology. The place of humans in animal world. Original homeland of humankind. Factors, criteria and social aspects of hominization’. This part explores, among other things, the data of molecular biology, DNA as a carrier of genetic background, theories of the Mitochondrial Eve and Y-Chromosomal Adam.
Part 3. ‘The human as a product of phylogenetic and ontogenetic development’.
Part 4. ‘Age-related and constitution-related anthropology’. This part address issues of age-related periodization, biological and chronological age, theories of aging, as well as types of individual constitution, methods of anthropometric studies, relation of constitution and personality.
Part 5. Racial, ethnic and populational studies in anthropology. Anthropological description of contemporary population of the Earth. UNESCO Declaration on races and scientific inadequacy of racism. Polymorphism and polytypism. Intra- and inter-group variability. Mutagenesis. Types of selection, adaptation. Number of populations and genetic drift. Miscegenation and migrations. Zones of integration.
Part 6. Evolution of brain and psyche. Phenomenon of consciousness, hypotheses of its origins. Neurobiological approach to the issue of consciousness. Conscious and unconscious. The issue of animal consciousness. Paleo-psychology. Neurobiological approach to the issues of consciousness.
Part 7. Evolution of psyche, emergence of culture, civilization. Language and anthropogenesis, hypotheses of language appearance. Phylogenetic grounds of human behavior, social issues of gender. Ecological crisis. Cultural anthropology as science. Mythology, religion, art. Phylogenetic grounds of human behavior. Emotions, abilities and talents, memory, imagination, cognition and intelligence. Aggression and altruism.
The goal of the course is to learn stages of evolution of psyche and consciousness of hominids and homo sapiens, neurobiological grounds of consciousness, structure of consciousness (conscious and unconscious); to be able to characterize peculiarities of paleopsychology of rational activities of animals, instincts and hypotheses of origins of consciousness.
The article is available in full version in Russian.