Students will learn a historical overview of human origin in Africa followed by a general pattern of migration by which we came to occupy the habitable parts of the Earth.

This subject is part of world history that I teach routinely to college freshmen. I have also written on the topic in two books I have published that dealt in part with the relationship of science, the Bible, and religious beliefs. They are "Talking Back to the Bible: A Historian's Approach to Bible Study" and "Values, Truth, and Spiritual Danger: Progressive Christianity in the Age of Trump."

Graphics and other illustrations from the websites of the Smithsonian Institute and National Geographic. Examples include: (1) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-great-human-migration-13561/ (2) https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/their-footsteps-human-migration-out-africa/ (3) https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/global-human-journey/. Another example is The Human Journey site,  https://humanjourney.us/discovering-our-distant-ancestors-section/out-of-africa/#.

Sources about ongoing discoveries, such as debates about the role of ice ages in settling the Americas, will be included. Examples are: (1) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/humans-colonized-americas-along-coast-not-through-ice-180960103/; and (2) https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/fossil-footprints-show-humans-north-america-21000-years-ago-rcna2169

Reference books used as background include: (1) Spencer Wells, The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey; (2) Walter Alvarez, A Most Improbable Journey; (3) Richard Klein, The Dawn of Culture; and (4) several world history textbooks I have used for teaching the subject to college freshmen.