1. My question for you this week is which member of our genus was the first to leave Africa? Where is the evidence? Is it strong enough to change our textbook???Tell me why you believe what you do. You can find some additional material for this on the web. What do the fossils in the Republic of Georgia tell us? Does the evidence leave anything up to question?

2. We are moving quickly into Neolithic territory here...??What were some of the consequences of domestication? How do archaeologists know (what provides the evidence)???An interesting question: are cats really domesticated? How did that happen--or not???Some of those consequences led to a domino effect in terms of the development of civilization. ??What are the next steps in the organization of societies? Are we better off now? Don't forget to include issues of health and well-being.

3. Why don't egalitarian societies exist anymore? Can you imagine when circumstances that would allow for us ( U. S.) to return to an egalitarian situation? Why or why not???Is the American dream still valid? Can we all be millionaires and rise up from where we started? Why or why not? The NY Times piece is useful here.??Given the current political climate and debate over the middle class, do you think we really understand the role stratification plays in our lives? Do politicians actually understand?

4. How is social status determined from speech patterns? Give me an example from your own life. Have you ever noticed differences while the were occurring???How about gender? Is there really a difference between male and female communication? How might this affect relationships? Marriage practices? Are we really from different planets???What is the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis? Do you agree with the basic premise? How does this relate to the web link addressing lost languages and species extinction???What are the major differences between human and nonhuman communication? ??Why do we (and many others) assume by default, that English is the lingua franca?

5. Why do we have belief systems? ? ?Why is there such carryover in creation stories around the globe? ??Why do certain celebrated holidays comprise multiple origins--i.e. having roots in pagan or other belief systems. What is that called when belief systems merge? ??Why are Native American or other beliefs sometimes referred to as 'myths' while the Bible is taken as fact? Why is tolerance so difficult???What do you see in terms of the future of organized belief system? Are more or less people involved?