Transitioning to Middle School
In the Middle School, the fifth grade is a transitional year when students acclimate to departmentalized learning while enjoying the comfort and familiarity of a single classroom environment. Our program enables students to learn from content specialists as we ease students into a departmentalized structure, which is the norm of the Middle School program. Students in the fifth grade remain in a “home base” classroom throughout the day, but they enjoy the departmentalized experience of Middle School as different teachers who are content specialists visit their classroom to teach them throughout the day. Language Arts and Social Studies meet under an umbrella Humanities program, which enables the teachers of the two subjects to foster cross-curricular development goals. Similarly, for Hebrew, Science, and Chumash, students learn from subject specialists who come to the students in their home base classrooms. The math program is leveled based on skill, as determined by fourth grade teachers and results from the fourth grade Terra Nova standardized tests.
General Studies Academic Programs
In Middle School Language Arts, reading and writing are critical tools for understanding a wide range of experiences. An introduction to various literary genres and styles helps to cultivate curiosity, empathy, and understanding among our students. By delving into the disparate worlds reflected in our literary choices, our students safely explore the world of the “other” while gaining key skills related to comprehension, self-expression, grammar, and critical thinking. High interest reading along with classical literature selections help to develop a lifelong love of reading and learning among Middle School students.
Throughout the grades, a scaffolded writing curriculum is embedded in each unit with the goal of cultivating increased independence and sophistication. Writing, paired with a targeted vocabulary program, allows students to hone their literary voice through various writing styles. In each grade, grammar topics are taught and reinforced in concert with writing instruction as well as through concentrated units to introduce new skills.
In fifth grade, the overarching theme of assigned literature is empathy. As students transition to middle school, there are many social and emotional changes that take place. By putting themselves in the shoes of another, students learn to have an understanding of, and sensitivity towards, the feelings of others. Through the use of high-interest fiction and nonfiction selections, students begin to discover the pleasure of reading for enjoyment. Each unit focuses on specific grammar skills and uses vocabulary words directly from the literature. As the year progresses, students work towards gaining independence in the writing process, with a strong focus on outlining. Each unit culminates in a writing assignment that focuses on gaining an understanding of specific writing tools.
The sixth grade Language Arts curriculum focuses on character development and features literary selections with similarly aged main characters. Despite the wide range of diverse experiences and challenges reflected in each piece of literature, for the students, each character moves from being remote to relatable through the identification of shared realities and perspectives. By noting these similarities, students gain a deep sense of empathy for the “other” as well as an ability to recognize point of view.
Each unit includes both expository and creative writing focused on including explicit details, citing examples, choosing vivid vocabulary, and ultimately using textual evidence. Throughout the year, students work on both the form and function of their sentences and paragraphs, moving from single paragraph responses to multi-paragraph essays. Students practice self-expression and increase writing stamina through myriad writing assignments.
Previously learned grammar topics, including parts of speech and types of sentences, are reviewed and new topics are introduced to shepherd the development of more sophisticated writing.
The seventh grade Language Arts curriculum focuses on identifying theme and author’s purpose in literature. Through encounters with the challenging situations faced by the characters in each of the literary selections, the students evaluate the author’s perspective, the characters’ varied perspectives, and the student’s own unique assessment of the messages gleaned from the text. With an emphasis on integrating textual evidence and weaving direct citations into expository writing, the students draw on their mastery of outlining skills to organize well-articulated arguments and substantiate claims.
Each unit includes both expository and creative writing focused on increasing sophistication and complexity of sentences, using quotations correctly and effectively, and adding smooth transitions between ideas to establish flow in the writing. Students continue to practice self-expression and develop writing stamina through myriad writing assignments. Previously learned grammar topics are reviewed and new topics are introduced to shepherd the development of more sophisticated writing. Throughout the year, students work on evaluating their own writing to check for effectiveness, improving their self-editing skills, and increasing independence in writing.
The eighth grade Language Arts curriculum explores the human condition and the plight of "The Other"-- which is coupled with daily class discussions created specifically to inspire critical thinking and encourage positive methods of communication. As each student crafts increasingly complex written pieces throughout the year, his or her growing writer's portfolio becomes a testament to the immense intellectual, psychological, and emotional growth sustained in the eighth grade school year. Throughout the course of the year, students compose multiple, literature-based expository essays; engage in varied creative writing and project-based learning assignments; and receive individualized writing advice and feedback from their teacher as they continue to grow their skills as thinkers and writers.
JKHA Middle School teachers seek to foster students’ appreciation of mathematics by building on previous concepts to ensure an in-depth understanding of all new material. We strive for our students to gain mastery of each topic, enabling them to model real-world applications and problem-solve by incorporating all previously acquired knowledge and skills.
Upon advancement from middle school, students will have developed a strong foundation of their general math skills, as well as competence in using a variety of problem-solving techniques, determining the best strategies for solving word problems, estimating the reasonableness and effectiveness of solutions, and the skills needed to perform successfully on different types of formal and informal assessments.
The fifth grade math curriculum lends itself to having students make sense of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems and persevere in solving them. After solving the problems, students are required to explain their reasoning. Real-world applications of problems are introduced throughout every lesson. They are taught that there are numerous ways to solve math problems and that they can use different tools to come to an answer. Estimation is introduced at the beginning of every chapter to infuse the sense that student’s actual answers can be compared to their estimated answer to check for reasonableness.
Overall, students begin the year by understanding the place value system. They learn how to write and interpret numerical expressions and analyze patterns and relationships. Towards the middle of the year, students apply and extend their previous understanding of multiplication, division and fractions.
In sixth grade, the curriculum focuses on encouraging persistence, critical thinking, and applying what is learned in the classroom to real-life problems. Specifically, the year begins with the properties of whole numbers and decimals, the order of operations, and all operations with decimals. Following this, are the very crucial components of number theory, including such topics as divisibility, prime factorization, least common multiple, and greatest common factor. These are the building blocks to all operations involving fractions, including simplifying, comparing, and converting fractions and decimals and vice versa. Pre-algebra is incorporated into the sixth-grade curriculum, with such topics as evaluating expressions, solving one/two-step equations, and simplifying algebraic expressions using the distributive property and combining like terms. Integers are also studied, to provide the framework for 7th grade, including comparing and ordering, opposites, absolute value, and the coordinate plane. The study of ratios and unit rates is followed by solving proportions. This leads to the concept of percent and many real-world applications such as discounts, tax, tip, and interest. Geometric concepts are also included in the curriculum. Topics covered are area and perimeter of triangles and parallelograms, the volume of three-dimensional figures such as prisms, cones are pyramids, measuring and creating angles, similarity, and congruence of figures.
Throughout the year, in addition to simply computing solutions, we seek to encourage students to justify, explain, and defend their reasoning. Our goal is to promote number sense and build the ability to see the reasonableness of their results. Lastly, we model an environment where all mistakes are valued and just viewed as another experience in the learning process.
The seventh grade math program concentrates on analyzing proportional relationships and further developing problem-solving skills in order to solve real-world situations. The application and extension of previous understandings of operations with fractions and rational numbers along with the recognition of relationships between fractions, decimals, and percents are covered as well. Students are instructed on how to draw, construct, and describe geometrical figures in addition to exploring the relationships between them. Measurement skills in the US Customary and Metric systems are advanced. Emphasis is given to working collaboratively in group situations as well as independently, taking responsibility and ownership of assignments in both cases. Specific concepts covered include integers, rational numbers, equations, inequalities, ratios, rates, proportions, percents, geometry, area including surface and volume, analysis of data, and probability.
In Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1, the overarching goals are to recognize, interpret, communicate, and use different strategies when solving multi-step problems. Students continue to develop the necessary skills to employ the perseverance and patience necessary to solve these more complex problems and recognize how these situations can be applied to solving real-world situations. The skills taught in Pre-Algebra continue through Algebra 1, where students gain a deeper understanding of the following concepts. Throughout the course, students use algebraic transformations to solve multi-step equations and word problems involving integers and rational numbers, apply their understanding of ratios and proportions to solve percent problems, simplify algebraic expressions with positive, negative and zero exponents and simplify and solve square roots. In pre-algebra, students develop the skills needed to graph linear equations, including solving equations to graph points on a line and finding slope. Then in Algebra 1, students use these skills to solve systems of linear equations. Additionally, students discover how to add, subtract, multiply and factor polynomials.
In terms of math enrichment at JKHA, we are proud of our students’ participation in many math competitions, including Mathematical Olympiads, New Jersey Math League Contest and Kushner's own, Math Masters Tournament.
The fifth graders are learning science this year following a curriculum known as STC- Science and Technology Concepts, designed by Carolina Biological Company. The curriculum is designed to enhance critical thinking and scientific inquiry by conducting many experiments to reinforce the scientific knowledge students learn. They begin the year by covering a unit on Matter. This unit covers concepts such as density, chemistry and the water cycle. Students experiment with different objects to understand the relationship between mass and volume. Students conclude the unit with learning how matter can be changed by physical or chemical means.
The next module covered is known as Ecology, which is when students get to build their own self-sustaining ecosystem with plants and living organisms. They then conduct experiments demonstrating the negative effects of pollution on their ecosystems. Students learn how one organism can directly impact the ecosystem in which it lives. Students complete the unit with extensive exposure to all the different types of ecosystems around the world, known as biomes. As a concluding assessment, students research and create a diorama depicting the specific biome which interests them.
The last part of the year is spent on discovering the dark depths of space. Students learn the planets of our solar system, along with meteoroids, comets and stars. This unit bridges the scientific curriculum from fifth to sixth grade.
The sixth-grade science curriculum focuses on space science, environmental science and Earth science. Students are introduced to the physics and the chemistry connected with space science. They explore Newton’s three laws of motion to figure out how things move. Students investigate small and large changes in different layers of Earth and discover how the disruptions affect the environment where we live. Specifically, students learn about plate tectonics, understanding how the shape and position of continents, earthquakes, and volcanoes explain the changes that are found in the Earth. As they learn about environmental science, they investigate the impact of humans on the environment and figure out solutions that could be applied at various levels that would impact individuals, homes and schools. Throughout each unit, students develop the following critical thinking and processing skills: making inferences, communicating using written expression, classification of information, experimenting, collecting and recording data, note taking, as well as problem solving.
In the seventh grade, students begin the study of biology by learning about cells, the fundamental building blocks of unicellular and multicellular life. They discover just how incredible the cell is by studying many of its important functions including transport, respiration, photosynthesis, and cell division. Students become familiar with the microscope as they view onion, cheek cells, and unicellular organisms in pond water. Students are also introduced into the world of nutrition by studying just how the body uses organic compounds including carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. Students gain an understanding of how cells use all different processes and work together to form tissues and organ systems, creating a complex living organism.
Eighth-grade science focuses on the worlds of physics and chemistry. Students explore electricity, simple machines, mechanical advantage, work, hydraulics, atomic structure, chemical bonding, and solutions. Each unit culminates with a capstone project, which requires students to apply their learning in a real-life context. Eighth graders complete their year preparing for a science fair, through which they get to design their problem and solution using a “Design Thinking” approach.
Middle Schoolers are endlessly fascinated by every aspect of identity. Our Social Studies program is designed to illuminate the connections between personal identity and the history of humankind, focusing on the developments have shaped and continue to influence people and civilizations.
The goals of the Middle School Social Studies program include fostering a connection between past and present that is personally meaningful to the students, teaching students to recognize the influence of past civilizations, events, and leaders upon our modern lives, and encouraging students to analyze how decisions made today, like those of the past, may affect the generations to come. As the school’s mission emphasizes empowering students to “analyze, create, and seek out new intellectual challenges,” the Social Studies program provides students with the opportunity to analyze the past and its influence, create meaningful connections to the material, and seek new intellectual challenges in the form of research, projects, and formal assessments.
The Social Studies curriculum for fifth grade is the first half of a two-year academic program that culminates in sixth grade. In fifth grade, the students embark upon a journey through Ancient Civilizations, in which they explore the beginning and legacies of the Fertile Crescent civilizations, Egypt, and Greece. Additionally, students examine geography, chronology, and the foundation of civilization dating back to the Prehistoric era. Using project-based learning, students engage deeply in the units covered. Additionally, there is a heavy emphasis upon skill development in the course, especially in the areas of writing, organization, test taking, listening, note-taking, and critical thinking. The year culminates in the Legacy Project where students embark upon a multifaceted research project.
In sixth grade, students continue to study ancient civilizations, picking up on where they left off in fifth grade as they explore the civilizations of India, China, Greece and Rome over the course of their study. Wherever possible, Jewish history is incorporated into units to illustrate the simultaneity of Jewish history parallel to the ancient civilizations covered. Additionally, during the study of Rome, students learn about Christianity and the way in which it specifically impacted Judaea and the fall of the Second Temple. Over the course of the year, students complete multiple independent research projects and bi-monthly current events assignments to foster their growth as critical and analytical historians. Students are assessed based on written evaluations, class participation, homework assignments, and both individual and group projects. As the students embark on their middle school journey through history, so too do they begin to determine the role of geography on the progress of a civilization’s development as well as how to analyze critical events and people in a given ancient civilization and determine the extent of their legacy within and beyond that civilization.
The seventh grade Social Studies curriculum encompasses the period of American colonization through the Civil War in American history, from 1591-1865. In this course, in addition to learning the factual information about the historical events, pivotal leaders, and accompanying terminology of the time periods covered, students learn to analyze the historical significance of individual events, people, and terms both contextually and in the present day. In addition, students draw connections between their work in sixth grade ancient civilizations and the seventh grade American history class. Students are assessed on their notes, written evaluations, group and individual projects, and research-based historical fiction papers. In seventh grade, students explore and sharpen their research skills, using both library databases and texts. Additionally, students examine critical events in American history and evaluate their broader historical significance over the course of American history, internationally, and currently.
In the eighth grade, students investigate United States history from Reconstruction to the Cold War era and beyond. A thematic approach to the history of that century includes the study of industrialization, the Progressive Era, World War I and the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression and the New Deal, World War ll, and the Cold War and post-Cold War eras. The curriculum focuses heavily on academic writing skills in the form of Document Based Questions (DBQ) and analytical historical writing.The eighth grade academic year ends with a rigorous student-driven research project, through which students examine a current political issue, with their research focusing on how that issue impacts the contemporary American landscape.
At JKHA Middle School, we believe that every student should understand technology and become adept at using it properly. To that end, teachers in both General and Judaic Studies alike strive to incorporate technology into at least one project each semester, encouraging students to master and use computer skills in real-life situations. Students working on papers for Language Arts or Social Studies, for example, must master Microsoft Word. As students explore research topics in their Social Studies classes, they learn how to utilize online databases as they embark on academic research. Assignments in math call for competency in Microsoft Excel, while projects in science require a keen understanding of PowerPoint. Keyboarding skills are essential in all classes, and especially to the composition of a Hebrew text for the eighth grade yearbook.
Students graduate from eighth grade knowing how to use—and when to use—appropriate technology, as well as how to evaluate Internet sources and safely surf the Internet. In addition, the eighth grade students participate in a twelve-week computer applications module. The course asks students to own, operate, and market their own professional teams. Students create logos, design t-shirts, produce advertisements and more, using the Microsoft Office package including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher and Access, as they start up their new “teams.” As they create and market their teams, students use, improve and grow their computer skills and proficiency.
Judaic Studies Academic Programs
In Middle School, students divide their Tanach studies between Chumash and Navi. The goal of the overall program is for students to develop independent reading and comprehension skills while learning to value and appreciate the subject matter. To this end, the curriculum places a heavy emphasis on mastery of key vocabulary words and grammar skills, partnered with life lessons that emerge from the text. Students are encouraged to ask questions and think analytically, focusing on a multitude of classic commentaries with different literary styles. They do this as individuals, working on project creations and personal skill-building, and as learning teams, engaging in the text, asking each other questions and considering multiple perspectives.
The Chumash curriculum builds on the skills and knowledge accumulated in Lower School. Starting with the study of Sefer Shemot in 5th grade, students embrace intensive study of the peshat, the simple meaning of the text, and build upon this understanding with multiple levels of commentary. The 6th grade curriculum introduces students to the first half of Sefer Bamidbar, inviting them to consider the challenges the Jewish people faced in the desert. The second half of Bamidbar and Sefer Devarim are the focus of the 7th and 8th grades.
Each year, Middle School students focus on the study of a new book of Navi. The 5th grade studies Sefer Shoftim, considering the challenges of establishing a holy society. The 6th grade encounters the many models of Jewish leadership presented in Sefer Shmuel Aleph. Shmuel Bet and Melachim Aleph complete the 7th and 8th grade study, inviting students to study the infancy of the Jewish monarchy.
• Students engage in a Middah K’neged Middah study of the Makkot, allowing them to research plagues on an in-depth level, to value the consequences of offenders’ actions, and to teach life lessons to peers.
• Students prepare a Pesach Haggadah throughout the year as they learn Shemot to enhance their study of the Exodus story.
• In Navi, students learn to study moments of history as Hashem’s responses to human action. Students ask the questions that our forefathers asked: How should our actions and attitudes change because of what happens in the world around us?
• Fifth graders strengthen their connection to Eretz Yisrael through the Eretz Chemda Distance Learning Program. This interactive course teaches the mitzvot of the Land of Israel in a way that brings their theory and practice to life in an exciting, user-friendly and experiential format.
• Like their ancestors in Sefer Bamidbar, students physically practice “traveling through the desert” in groups, utilizing the same commands that the Jews followed in the desert.
• Students participate in class debates revolving around controversies that arise from the text. After researching multiple commentaries and considering different points of view, students master debate skills for in-class projects.
• After learning about the mitzvah, 6th graders engage in a Hafrashat Challah project, learning how to bake their own challot and to make mitzvot meaningful at home.
• Students act as on-site reporters, retelling the story of the death of Goliat from a personal perspective, offering students the chance to consider the lives of Navi characters in an up-close manner.
Seventh and Eighth Grades
• Students engage in debates and trials, closely evaluating Biblical characters and examining their personalities from multiple perspectives.
• In an Aseret HaDibrot Self-Study, students research individual commandments, studying both the text of the Chumash as well as classic commentaries. After mastering their topics, students become the teachers of that commandment to the rest of their class.
• Bilaam Project- Students work in groups to learn the passukim and commentaries describing Bilaam’s journey to curse Bnei Yisrael while thinking critically about Billam's motives and Hashem’s reaction.
• Students create digital Navi Portfolios where they record and personalize the life lessons that can be gleaned from the Navi.
• Students participated in a Mikdash Me’at program, through which they used the building of the Beit Hamikdash as a model for creating their own ideal shuls while considering the purpose of a shul and how we can make our shuls places that reflect that purpose.
• The Chumash Vocabulary League presents vocabulary acquisition in a fun and engaging manner with competitive play throughout the grades.
Middle School study of Torah She’be’al Peh seeks to enhance students’ Jewish identities as they study texts that are crucial to our heritage. As with Tanach, the Talmud curriculum places great focus on mastery of skills so that students can grow to become independent learners. In addition, the curriculum emphasizes comprehension of practical Jewish law found in the Talmud. Torah She’be’al Peh study often incorporates chavruta (partner) learning, in which students work in cooperative pairs to analyze the material during the first stages of a unit, answering questions, defining terms, and learning the content of the unit. In this form of cooperative learning, students are encouraged to attempt to parse texts independently; differences of opinion amongst the partners require students to present the viability of their respective opinions, leading to either a stronger understanding of the position or the abandonment of a failed approach. Considering and accepting new ideas is a key student skill.
Study of Torah She’be’al Peh in the Middle School is divided into two parts. In the 5th and 6th grades, students focus on the study of the Mishnayot of Masechet Brachot. The Mishna curriculum places an emphasis on mastery of practical Jewish law that students encounter on a regular basis, while learning the style of Rabbinic writing and frequently-used terminology. This study is coupled with the historical background of the time period in which the Mishna was created.
With Mishna skills fully developed, students then move on to the study of Gemara in 7th and 8th Grades. The Middle School curriculum offers students a glimpse into different areas of the vast Talmud corpus, alternating between the study of Masechet Berachot and Masechet Bava Metzia. These first years of Talmud study emphasize the mastery of key phrases and words, building a strong foundation for future independent learning. The curriculum also creates opportunities for students to explore greater religious issues and questions that arise from the text.
• “From Mikra to Mishna” - Students track Jewish laws from the text of the Torah to practical application in modern times.
• Students study biographies of the Mishnaic luminaries, focusing on what makes an upstanding Jewish individual.
•Students apply their learning of the laws of Shema along with studying the meaning of the prayer to give extra meaning to their 5th-grade specific minyan.
• At the conclusion of 6th grade, students participate in their first major siyum (celebration of completion), honoring two years of intensive study.
Seventh and Eighth Grades
• Students participate in a Shark Tank competition, devising ways to present answers to modern-day halachic questions based on the text of the Talmud.
• Learning comes to life with the use of Torah Live, providing a digital visualization of the halachot students encounter.
• The Gemara Vocabulary League invites seventh and eighth graders to compete with one another using key words and phrases from their Talmud study.
• Through the use of visuals from Gemara Academy, students diagram the flow of the Gemara and use a concrete, organized method for encountering the abstract thinking of Gemara logic.
• Use of the new and innovative Bright Beginnings Workbooks gives teachers multiple ways to express the ideas of the gemara in a "user friendly" and "kid friendly" manner.
One of the goals of the JKHA Middle School is to create a community of Hebrew speakers who are able to converse in Ivrit, read Ivrit books, understand articles written in Israeli newspapers, develop a better understanding of Tanach and learn the culture of Israel. The NETA program, a curriculum initiative in Hebrew language and culture is helping students to attain these goals.
JKHA Middle School has been working with the NETA program, established at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to implement this innovative whole-language approach to instruction. The program enables students to enhance their reading, writing and conversational skills. Unlike more traditional programs that require memorizing grammar or “tachbier” rules, NETA focuses on conversational Hebrew as well as Hebrew literature and grammar.
The NETA program is driven by the belief that the mastery of Hebrew will promote students’ understanding of their history, culture, and tradition. Every book in the scope of sequence presents a different theme of interest to middle school students. Topics range from computers and sports to friendship and dreams. Each theme is presented from the perspective of modern Israeli culture, Jewish tradition and general world knowledge. The curriculum includes art, science, mathematics, literature, Midrash, and philosophy. NETA is always intellectually challenging, engaging the students’ thought processes.
NETA provides intensive on-going professional development, program assessment and teacher mentoring. Teachers participate in different seminars and workshops throughout the school year and every summer. The NETA program is very carefully monitored and assessed.
Assignments, tests, and class work indicate that the program is working and that our students are learning and retaining more Ivrit language skills than ever before. Student evaluations show that they feel more confident replying to teachers in Ivrit and are able to converse with others. Students of NETA retain vocabulary words more readily and comprehend and respond appropriately to instructions given to them in Ivrit. And, test student writing skills have shown their improvement in mastering the language.
The evidence of improvement is reflected in student scores on NETA tests. As we continue our work with the NETA program, we expect continued progress and success.
Enrichment in Middle School
In addition to a full day of engaging learning, students at the JKHA Middle School have many opportunities to engage in extracurricular activities, both during the school day and after hours.
Extracurricular enrichment activities offer JKHA students the chance to explore new passions, to deepen their love for learning, to expand social groups and to promote school pride.
The 5th Grade learns about artists and the elements of art through projects based lessons. They engage with projects by planning and sketching, and then have the opportunity to work with different types of materials. Students then begin creating their original work, implementing the directions and skills covered through the art program.
JKHA Middle School participates in many local Yeshiva Day School leagues and tournaments throughout the year. In addition to sports clinics offered, Middle School teams include:
-6th Grade Boys Basketball
- 6th Grade Girls Basketball
-5th/6th Grade Basketball Clinic
Names Not Numbers
Creative Writing Club
Math Enrichment Program
8th Grade Yearbook
NJ Math League
JKHA Math Masters Tournament
7th grade E2K Enrichment
5th & 6th Grades Math Enrichment
Math Lunch & Learn
Parsha and Popcorn
Lomdus and Lollipops
Pirkei Avot Club


John Jeavon’s How to Grow More Vegetables is not just a detailed manual for gardeners but an exposition of a style of gardening which breaks the norm from organized gardening. Jeavons uses soil science to explain how plants can benefit from being grown in closer proximity than is usually accepted. He points out that by growing plants close together you can reduce the amount of water and soil lost by evaporation and wind as well as being able to use less land for agriculture. Jeavons acknowledges that some soil and nutrients will always be lost though while gardening and thus a gardener must be constantly building up his soil by composting items which are grown in the garden (as well as compost from outside). In this way a plant which drew up nutrients from the soil will be broken down during composting and it’s nutrients released back into the soil for other plants to absorb.
The book contains many easy to replicate methods for different types of composting for different environments. He also provides information on compost makeup as well as dos and don’ts of composting. In the back of the book are extensive lists of pant rotation charts, plants which benefit each other when grown near each other and other companion planting advice.
Jeavons calls his methods Grow Biointenstive, and claims that they are more sustainable than most current gardening practices. One of the methods he claims to have invented is a method of double digging in compost to soil. In this method the compost is easily interspersed into the soil by use of a shovel with the least amount of digging necessary, something that anyone who has dug holes can appreciate. I recieved this book a few months ago and have very much appreciated looking through it and have learned a lot of useful information.
by Ellen Bastrmadjian
“Black Rice” is a poignant retelling of the origins of one of the most critical crops in America today. Contrary to popular belief, rice was not introduced to the Americas by European settlers and slave traders, but by the slaves from West Africa. On the African continent “The Rice Coast,” which spans from Senegal in the north to Liberia in the south and east to Mali, is where rice has traditionally been grown for over two millennia. Carney begins by presenting historical evidence that cites rice cultivation in Africa through documents written by European explorers. She then delves into the history of rice cultivation in Africa, detailing landscape and climate conditions, specialized tools, and traditional gender roles. Carney switches gears and begins to discuss the introduction of Oryza glaberrima, or African rice, into the Americas – namely what is today South Carolina, where rice production was highest. She attributes this production to the indigenous African knowledge system, possessed by women in particular, that was transferred through the Middle Passage. She discusses the similarities in rice cultivation between the Rice Coast and South Carolina, such as similar gender divisions and climate/landscape conditions. Lastly, she presents her main argument, which is that rice was introduced by African slaves and discusses the legacy of that cultivation in the Americas of returning to Africa after slavery was abolished.
Judith Carney is a distinguished professor of Geography at UCLA. Her interest in the agricultural exchanges during the Columbian period and beyond influenced “Black Rice” – expanded from several published articles.
Carney has substantial evidence to back her claims with a range of information from primary documents to scientific and technical information. The wide range of evidence definitely legitimizes and makes the information interesting. She presents additional evidence and information through photographs, diagrams and maps. The unexpected visual aspect compliments the text perfectly and piques the reader’s interest in the subject. Carney’s emphasis on women’s role in the history of rice cultivation is refreshing in a field where contributions made by members of the female sex are typically overlooked in a historical context.
Carney recognizes the significance of food, which according to her, is not merely a form of sustenance but a form of cultural expression and identity. For example, she argues that the proper preparation of rice was created by African women. It is a history that is very much entwined with several other histories – slavery, the New World discovery, white supremacy, etc. Carney effectively contextualizes all of these aspects and turns something as simple as the introduction of a species on a new continent into a compelling tale.
The book is well-written and contains interesting and novel information, however, it becomes repetitive as the same information is stated several times. Facts such as slaves being able to barter a shorter work day by offering cultivation knowledge of rice and the conditions of rice cultivation are mentioned several times, using identical wording. If you are deeply interested in the exchange of rice from one part of the world to the other and all of the social, cultural and economic implications of that exchange I would recommend this book. If not, it might be easier to read the several published articles Carney has written about the topic for a more concise overview of the topic.
Carney, Judith Ann. Black rice: the African origins of rice cultivation in the Americas. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001. Print.
Spring break is right around the corner, a time for many to get away from campus, leaving us in a need of volunteers the week of March 24th-29th to water the fast growing plants at the Student Garden at Sunset Recreation Center. Mornings are best to water, though we would be appreciative for any time as long as it gets watered. *1-2 volunteers per day needed*. Water sufficiently, but avoid puddles! Please visit the sign up sheet or email Alyssa at email@example.com if you are available and would like to volunteer. Email for any questions! Thank you!
In their book The Urban Homestead: your guide to self-sufficient living in the heart of the city, authors Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen challenge your concepts of the urban household. The book is a how-to guide on living in a self-reliant and resource-conscious manner, suggesting ways to live sustainably, ranging from fermenting one’s own beer to keeping chickens as pets to pooping in a bucket for compost. Not only is it a practical guide, providing projects that one can take on, but it also instills a sense of excitement in the reader about reconnecting with the natural world. Urban homesteading involves appreciating the beauty of natural processes, such as the creation of nutrient rich soil from food waste via decomposition, and the appreciation of the quality, such as that of one’s home-grown fruits and vegetables that isn’t afforded by supermarket varieties. “Urban homesteading is an affirmation of the simplest pleasures of life,” Coyne and Knutzen write. “Homesteading hooks us into the natural world and the passing of the seasons, and reminds us of our place within the greater cycle of life.” (pp 17)
The book’s main sections provide background and information on how to farm, forage, raise livestock, transform and preserve food, sustainable manage water and power use, and sustainably use transportation. A number of themes run throughout these sections, most notably sustainability and self-sufficiency, biomimicry, and utility.
The authors strongly advocate for sustainability and self-sufficiency in this book, breaking away from the traditional capitalistic material consumption and resource overuse. Coyne and Knutzen put forth the idea of a “new urban economy” where individuals are conscious of resource consumption and the environmental impact of their lifestyle, and there is an interchange of goods and services within a community that understands that “there is more power in creating than spending.” (pp 16) The section on water and power also provides how to’s on water harvesting and reuse, and power generation and conservation. The section makes readers rethink how they use and value these resources, and gives them a way to efficiently use them.
Biomimicry, or modeling something based on natural systems, also has a strong presence. These systems often involve natural symbioses, interdependencies, cycles, and closed loops. The gardening section introduces permaculture, which is agriculture designed based on a sustainable human environment. The process involves engineering agricultural practices based on natural interdependent systems processes, such as crop rotation based on the nitrogen fixing or consuming nature of plants, or the physical protection from harsh sun or rain afforded by larger plants to smaller plants, or one plant’s attraction of beneficial insects which prey on pests that infect other plants. Mulching is another exemplary case of biomimicry suggested in the farming section. This process involves the layering of leaves and compost which imitates the natural deposition of material that occurs in an ecosystem, such as a tree shedding its leaves, a dying plant decomposing, and a native animal pooping. These, and a number of other processes that the authors describe use natural processes to help the urban homesteader create sustainable, symbiotic systems. It is a stark contrast to today’s industrial agriculture which refutes natural principles, intensively extracting soil nutrients to create produce which is transported across the country and results as waste in landfills where rather than returning to the soil it came from to replenish the soil health.
Lastly, utility is a huge component of the book. The first of Coyne and Knutzen’s principles is “grow only useful things.” “Water is a resource. Time is a resource. Space is a resource. We no longer squander these resources on merely decorative plants.” (pp 34) Though this may be a point of contention with some, particularly the urban resident whose ideal garden consists of a yard of grass lined with roses and a white picket fence, it is a sensible rule nonetheless. Not only do Coyne and Knutzen describe the productivity of plants, but they elaborate on the productivity of owning livestock. “Your household produces food waste. Farm animals eat this waste and make fertilizer out of it, accomplishing overnight what would otherwise take weeks of decomposition in a compost pile.” (pp 132) The couple also challenges our idea of raising animals for slaughter ourselves, pointing out that we are so disconnected with our food sources that the slaughter of animals is shocking, yet chickens you raised yourself are the most sustainable and humane meat you can get.
The guide concludes by expressing a hope for a “consciousness shift” in the public, where city dwellers become more connected and aware of their resource use, and embrace urban agriculture and sustainable homesteading. The fascinating and innovative how-to’s that the authors provide are not only practical, but they push our boundaries of what we consider a “normal” household. This couple truly is pioneering a consciousness shift, and the reinvention of the urban dweller as a resource-conscious and self-sufficient urban homesteader.
A Place at the Table. Dir. Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush. Perf. Jeff Bridges, Tom Colicchio, Ken Cook. Participant Media, 2012. Film.
Made by Participant Media, the same company that produced 2008 film Food, Inc., A Place at the Table creates a clear picture of hunger and food insecurity as it exists today in America. It investigates a handful of today’s 50 million incidents of food insecurity, working to dispel the myth that hunger is reserved for those who are literally starving, and proposes solutions which center around government and policy changes.
The film is similar to Food, Inc. in that its main drive is in-depth storytelling of individuals and families. Unlike Food Inc., however, it is not broken up into themed chapters. Instead, these individuals and families reappear in a non-linear fashion, contributing to each others’ stories in order to add to themes which weave throughout. These characters include Barbie Izquierdo, Philadelphia single mother of two (one of whom has various health problems) who depends on SNAP and struggles to find a job, only to lose her benefits when she finally finds a job; Colorado 5th grader Rosie, who cannot focus in school because she often goes hungry, relies on community resources, and hopes her kids will have a better life than she; and Tremonica, an obese, asthmatic, and diabetic Mississippi child who embodies the effects of her state’s notoriously calorie-dense, nutrient-deficient diet. The film follows these characters throughout the country to reveal food insecurity’s main causes (lack of access, lack of money, lack of education and prohibitive or counterproductive government policies) and effects (hunger, malnutrition, stress, depression, humiliation, obesity, learning disabilities, diabetes).
Other characters are highlighted to convince the viewer that government intervention is necessary, by highlighting that these characters can only do so much, and especially within a system that works against them. Barbie’s confidant, as well as doctor and fellow “Witnesses to Hunger” advocate, Mariana Chilton, brings Barbie to Washington, explaining “these guys are the ones who make it happen.” Rosie’s Pastor Bob Wilson runs a soup kitchen, yet sees that the need is greater than what he is able to supply. Finally, Tremonica’s teacher Odessa Cherry teaches her enthusiastic 2nd graders about fruits and vegetables, but cannot help parents who work with a limited budget and whose dollars go further when buying junk food than produce.
Narration, info-graphics, and commentary add to the film’s message that alternative aids are meant to be emergency resources, and that government and policy change are the only realistic means for ending food insecurity. Occasional narration guides and offers clarification or shocking facts when necessary (example: 23.5 Americans live in food deserts, 75% of which are urban; 70% of USDA subsidies go to 10% of its beneficiaries, and only 4% are for fruits and vegetables). Interjections by authors, activists, politicians, doctors, chef Tom Colicchio and actor Jeff Bridges offer insight on characters’ first-hand experiences, often allowing the viewer to gain greater meaning from them (Ex: One commentator explains that 85% of poor Americans have at least one job). Animated info-graphics offer a timeline of hunger in America, revealing to the viewer that hunger, obesity, and food insecurity is not a new problem, but that it was almost solved in the 1970s until Reagan’s tax cuts and military spending.
A Place at the Table creatively traces the leading causes of food insecurity, examines the health-related repercussions and emotional toll of such food insecurity, and is able to convince the viewer that food insecurity is a serious problem which can, must and should be remedied through government aid. The film does a good job of finding people throughout the country with shockingly similar stories and revealing the ubiquitous nature of food insecurity. It is not overly laden with facts, but is mainly story-based. Yet it still presents a clear and credible case.
A Place at the Table had a few shortcomings. The film had a clear focus on the effects of food insecurity on children. As a result, it mostly neglected the elderly, disabled, homeless, and unemployed. This may be because it is easiest to argue that children deserve food no matter what, especially when marketing to Americans who, as one commentator explains, “have a love-hate relationship with the poor.” It was also a fairly one-sided narrative, with most commentators sharing extremely similar opinions and merely working to seamlessly reinforce each others’ views. The film left it up for no debate that governmental action is the only solution to systemic food insecurity.
Finally, my biggest problem with the film was that while it was able to draw viewers in and convince them that consumer interest and power is necessary to get legislators to act, there were no clear action steps prescribed! After empowering viewers to be the change, the film basically says “this is wrong–do something.” The final moment of the film encapsulated this perfectly, as it revealed a screen with the words “Everyone Deserves a Place at the Table” and then a number to text in order to donate $10. There was no mention of Participant Media’s website “Take Part,” which has created advocacy and education opportunities, and no simple advocacy steps to leave with. While effective in conveying a complicated issue in a compelling and easy-to-follow manner, A Place at the Table left me sad, angry, energized, and ready to fight hunger, yet without any outlet for this inspiration.
Paul Stamets is an authority on mushrooms in the world of mycologists. He has published several books before this one, some of which define mushroom cultivation. This particular text, Mycelium Running, expands upon the practical uses of mushrooms other than as a food.
Stamets demonstrates the power of fungi in the environment through examples, many of them first-hand. Some key uses are water reclamation/filtration, land remediation, and natural pesticides.. Mushrooms provide alternatives to our current systems of caring for the environment. As water filters, fungi are inexpensive and easy to maintain. Stamets’ own farm had toxic runoff produced by his livestock. Pathogens such as bacteria and parasites entered the water supply, creating problems downstream. To solve this problem, he laid a down a bed of mushrooms in the path of the runoff. The contaminated water seeped into the bed, feeding mushrooms that preyed on the bacteria and parasites. Runoff after the mushroom filter contained far fewer contaminants than his neighbors without the mushrooms.
The use of bacteria to clean up oil spills is well known. Mushrooms are able to do the same, and more. Different species of mushrooms have different niches in the remediation department. Some consume petroleum, useful for oil spills. Others take up radioactive substances, gathering them up into their fruiting body (the mushroom). Many are able to sequester heavy metals and chemicals such as DDT in their mushroom bodies. In the last two instances, the mushrooms can be harvested and disposed of safely. This would save millions in clean-up efforts, as well as increasing the efficiency.
One of the properties Stamets once owned was infested with termites and carpenter ants. The house was falling apart, being eaten by the insects. Stamets introduced parasitic fungi selective for the termites and ants. Within weeks, the pests were gone. The insects had brought the fungal spores to their homes, infecting entire colonies.
In the book, Stamets also gives an introduction on how to start a mushroom farm. Starting from scratch, one would have to either obtain spores from the wild or spores/spawn from a commercial seller or a friend. The spores are cultivated on agar in a plate, then inoculated in a suitable substrate, such as straw or wood. Water and temperature are important factors; much like crops, different species have different ideal climates. Tender love and care result in mushrooms. Another method relies on the underground network of mycelia, the “roots” of mushrooms. They can be transferred to a garden from the wild or from another garden. After the transplant, some effort and time are rewarded with mushrooms.
Stamets devotes a large portion of the book to mushroom types and identification. This is an essential part of mushroom farming and foraging, especially when there is potential of poisonous species. Plenty of pictures help guide the reader through his or her own adventures.
I found this book to be very informative. The different ways mushrooms can be used are just amazing. With so much potential, it makes me wonder why we don’t see them used often. Stamets focuses on the uses of mushrooms on a large scale: how they can be used to mediate farms, keep pests under control, and reclaim ruined land. There is little to no mention of urban agriculture; that is a jump the reader will have to make him/herself. It was an interesting task to apply his ideas in urban agriculture. As I read his book, I had a sense that Stamets glorified the mushroom. Although I completely share his feelings, I had to take a more objective view on his work. Some of the concepts he brings up may not be feasible. For example, large farms have large wastes; how much land will it require to filter all of it using mushrooms? This is doubly true in large cities that feel cramped as is. However, part of the fun is also attempting to solve these problems.


“…for he has no right to give names to objects which he cannot define.” –Charles Darwin
Do “races” exist as meaningful biological categories? Physical anthropologists and human biologists have been studying race (i.e., blacks vs. whites, or Europeans vs. Asians) for centuries. For most of that time, they subscribed to the perspective that race was a taxonomic category, and they sought to identify the biological characteristics (such as cranial shape or skin color) that characterized and defined these different groups. This perspective assumed that each individual was a member of a single racial category, that the differences between racial categories were biological, and that these categories were predictive of other traits (such as ancestry, temperament, intelligence, or health).
But it gradually became clear that this understanding was not scientifically sound. Groupings of people by skin color did not produce the same result as groupings of people by skull shape, nor of blood type. Furthermore, as scientists began to study human variation with the tools of genetics (in the process creating my fields, anthropological genetics and human population genetics), it became apparent that human genetic variation does not divide humans into a few discrete groups. There are virtually no sharp boundaries, either with physical features or with patterns of genetic diversity, that show where one population “ends” and the next “begins”.
These observations have led the majority of physical anthropologists, human biologists, and human geneticists in recent decades to conclude that the racial groups we recognize are social categories constructed in a specific cultural and historical setting, even if we consider physical features when categorizing people. These social categories can have biological consequences (for example, someone who experiences the stress of racism may be more likely to develop high blood pressure and hypertension than someone who does not).
Racial groupings differ from culture to culture. For example, although in the United States Chinese and Japanese peoples are usually viewed as one “race” (Asian), they are seen as members of different racial groups in South Africa. Racial groupings also vary over time within a single culture, as can be seen below in the United States census classifications of race over several decades.
However, according to former New York Times science writer Nicholas Wade, we should never have stopped thinking of race as a biological taxonomic category. In his new book, “A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History”, Wade takes it upon himself to educate scientists about the errors of our interpretations of human genetic diversity.
Wade claims that the latest genomic findings actually support dividing humans into discrete races, and that the genetic makeup of different races contributes to behavioral and economic disparities. In a spectacular failure of logic, he asserts that those who disagree that races are meaningful biological categories in humans must ALSO think that human populations do not differ genetically, or have not been affected by evolution.
There is a lot to criticize in this book, particularly Wade’s imaginative storytelling in chapters 6-10 (“a much more speculative arena,” as he puts it). He explains that English populations have a “willingness to save and delay gratification”, which “seems considerably weaker in tribal societies” (pp. 184-185), and these differences must be genetically based, despite his admission that “the genetic underpinnings of human social behavior are for the most part still unknown” (p. 15), and numerous critiques of this hypothesis. In chapter 8, he asserts that Jews are adapted for capitalism in a manner analogous to the Eskimo’s adaptation to survival in an Arctic environment (p. 214) — an assertion unsupported by scientific evidence, to put it mildly. (Wade seems to be unaware of the consequences of laws prohibiting Jews from owning land and farming over much of Europe for centuries – and instead speculates that “their genes were adapted for success in capitalism”).
But others have already critiqued these aspects of his book. I’m far more interested in the central premise of Wade’s argument, which is passing unchallenged by all but a few reviews: “At least at the level of continental populations, races can be distinguished genetically, and this is sufficient to establish that they exist” (p. 122). If Wade is right and races are distinct biological categories, then we would reasonably expect that they would be unambiguously different from each other genetically and physically (as well as behaviorally, according to Wade). One should be able to define each race with a set of objective criteria, which could be used by any person to independently reach the same classifications (and number of classifications) as Wade. Furthermore, these categories should have predictive power; that is, features that define race should be in concordance with new discoveries of genetic diversity.
What is race?
To begin with, Wade can’t provide a clear definition of “race.” He tries to rely instead on loose associations rather than definitive characteristics, which forces him to conclude both that physical traits define race but that the traits can vary from person to person: “races are identified by clusters of traits, and to belong to a certain race, it’s not necessary to possess all of the identifying traits” (p. 121).
With such a shifty, casual footing, it’s no surprise that Wade’s conclusions are unsound. He can’t keep the number of races straight:
Wade can’t settle on a definite number of races because he can’t come up with a consistent, rigorous definition of what “race” means. He uses terms like “major race”, “race”, “subrace”, “group”, or “population,” but doesn’t provide any serious, objective ways to distinguish between these terms for arbitrary groupings of people arbitrary groups.
Rather than just announcing his subjective opinions about race, Wade wants to ground them in science. He tries to use genetics: “Such an arrangement, of portioning human variation into five continental races, is to some extent arbitrary. But it makes practical sense. The three major races are easy to recognize. The five-way division matches the known events of human population history. And, most significant of all, the division by continent is supported by genetics.” (p. 94)
To support his claim, Wade relies heavily on a 2002 paper (by Rosenberg et al.) that used a program called structure to group people based on similarities in markers distributed across the genome. He notes that the program identified five major clusters in this 2002 study, which corresponded to the major geographic regions (Africa, Eurasia, East Asia, Oceania, and America) of the world. Therefore, Wade argues, these results clearly show that humans are divided up into racial categories that match continents.
Charles Murray, author of The Bell Curve, who recently reviewed Wade’s book in the Wall Street Journal, agrees:
A computer given a random sampling of bits of DNA that are known to vary among humans—from among the millions of them—will cluster them into groups that correspond to the self-identified race or ethnicity of the subjects. This is not because the software assigns the computer that objective but because those are the clusters that provide the best statistical fit.
But Wade and Murray are both wrong. Structure didn’t simply identify five clusters. It also identified two, three, four, six, and seven clusters. (Rosenberg et al. 2002 actually identified up to 20 divisions, but 1-7 are the primary ones they discussed. They also divided their worldwide sample up into regions, and then ran structure within those regions, to look at more fine-scale population structure.)
Why? Researchers using structure have to define the number (K) of clusters in advance, because that’s what the program requires. The program was designed to partition individuals into whatever pre-specified number of clusters the researcher requests, regardless of whether that number of divisions really exists in nature. In other words, if the researcher tells structure to divide the sampled individuals into 4 clusters, structure will identify 4 groups no matter what–even if there is really only 1 group, or even if there are really 14 groups.
So, when Rosenberg et al. (2002) told structure to use K=6? They got six clusters, with the sixth corresponding to a northwestern Pakistani group, the Kalash. Does this make the Kalash a separate race? Wade doesn’t think so. When they told structure to use K=3? They got three clusters back, corresponding to Africa, Europe/Middle East/South Asia, and East Asia/Oceania/Americas. So are Native Americans and Australians not separate races? Rosenberg et al. never published any statistical evidence that justifies picking 5 races instead of 7, or 4, or 2 (although such methods do exist–see Bolnick et al. 2008). Wade seems to like K=5 simply because it matches his pre-conceived notions of what race should be:
“It might be reasonable to elevate the Indian and Middle Eastern groups to the level of major races, making seven in all. But then many more subpopulations could be declared races, so to keep things simple, the five-race, continent-based scheme seems the most practical for most purposes.” (p. 100)
Practical. Simple. Wade wants us to cut up human diversity into five races not because that’s what the statistical analyses show, but because thinking about it as a gradient is hard.
Wade isn’t even using the tools of genetics competently. The authors of the paper he relied on, as well as subsequent studies, showed that different runs of the program with the same data can even produce different results (Bolnick, 2008). Structure’s results are extremely sensitive to many different factors, including models, the type and number of genetic variants studied, and the number of populations included in the analysis (Rosenberg et al. 2005). When Rosenberg et al. (2005) expanded the 2002 dataset to include more genetic markers for the same population samples, they identified a somewhat different set of genetic clusters when K=6 (Native Americans were divided into two clusters and the Kalash of Central/South Asia did not form a separate cluster). In fact, Rosenberg et al. (2005) explicitly said:
“Our evidence for clustering should not be taken as evidence of our support of any particular concept of ‘biological race.’”
Finally, the creators of structure themselves caution that it will produce rather arbitrary clusters when sampled populations have been influenced by gene flow that is restricted by geographic distance (i.e. where more mating occurs between members of nearby populations than between populations that are located farther apart, a pattern we geneticists refer to as isolation by distance). As this pattern applies to the majority of human populations, it makes the results of structure problematic and difficult to interpret in many cases. These limitations are acknowledged by anthropological geneticists and population biologists, who interpret the results of structure cautiously. It’s very telling that Wade, a science reporter, chose to ignore the interpretations of the experts in favor of his own.
Human biological variation is real and important. I’ve studied it my entire professional career. We can see this variation most easily in physical traits and allele frequency differences between populations at extreme ends of a geographic continuum. Nobody is denying that. Let me repeat this: no one is denying that humans vary physically and genetically. All anthropologists and geneticists recognize that human differences exist. But Wade, and others who agree with him, have decided that certain patterns of variation—those which happen to support their predefined notions of what “races” must be—are more important than others.
Wade’s perspective fits with a larger pattern seen throughout history and around the world. Folk notions of what constitutes a race and how many races exist are extremely variable and culturally specific. For example, the Bible claims that all peoples of the world are descended from Noah’s three sons, mirroring the popular concept of three racial divisions (Caucasians, Africans, and Asians). On the other hand, the five-part division of races seems most “logical” to Wade. Anticipating confusion on this point he claims: “Those who assert that human races don’t exist like to point to the many, mutually inconsistent classification schemes that have recognized anywhere from 3 to 60 races. But the lack of agreement doesn’t mean that races don’t exist, only that it is a matter of judgment as to how to define them” (p. 92).
A matter of judgment. So, rather than being defined by empirical criteria, as Wade had asserted so confidently earlier in the book, it really is just a subjective judgment call. The differences between groups are so subtle and gradual that no objective lines can be drawn, so Wade draws his own on the basis of his own preconceptions.
How subtle is the gradient that Wade is chopping up? Humans are incredibly similar genetically. We only differ by about 0.1% of our genome. Compare that to chimpanzees, our closest relative. Individual chimps from the same population show more genetic differences than humans from different continents.
The genetic differences that exist in human populations are important, because they help us understand our evolutionary history. The most genetic diversity is found in populations in Africa, where our species originated. Subsequent migrations across the continents resulted in sampling a subset of the genetic diversity present in the ancestral populations; thousands of years of localized evolution and cultural practices have produced region-specific adaptations, such as the ability to thrive at high altitudes. These adaptations have influenced particular genes and traits, but the overall pattern of genetic variation is clinal, meaning that for the most part it varies gradually with geographic distance. Groups that live close together are more closely related to each other (and more genetically similar) than they are to groups farther away. (People marry and have children more frequently with people who live close to them than they do with people who live farther away). Other evolutionary forces (founder effects, selection, drift, and migration) have all contributed to patterns of genetic diversity that we see in populations today.
But these patterns of human diversity don’t give us a scientifically viable definition of race as a taxonomic unit. As Agustin Fuentes puts it, with emphasis added:
“when you compare people from Nigeria, Western Europe and Beijing you do get some patterned differences…but these specific groups do not reflect the entire continental areas of Africa, Europe, and Asia (the proposed “continental races” of African, Caucasian and Asian). There are no genetic patterns that link all populations in just Africa, just Asia or just Europe to one another to the exclusion of other populations in other places. If you compare geographically separated populations within the “continental” areas you get the same kind of variation as you would between them. Comparing Nigerians to Western Europeans to people from Beijing gives us the same kind of differences in variation patterns as does comparing people from Siberia, Tibet and Java, or from Finland, Wales and Yemen, or even Somalia, Liberia and South Africa— and none of these comparisons demonstrates “races.”
In fact if you use the common level of genetic differentiation between populations used by zoologists to classify biological races (which they called subspecies) in other mammals, all humans consistently show up as just one biological race.”
(Also see Templeton AR, 2013. Biological races in humans. Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2013.04.010)
Wade even seems to agree with population geneticists that there aren’t any races, just clinal distributions of genetic diversity: “Because there is no clear dividing line, there are no distinct races—that is the nature of variation within a species.” (p 92).
In other words, he can’t define distinct races. He just knows them when he sees them
I’ve focused a lot of this review on numerous technical details because I think that it’s very important that non-geneticists understand the degree to which Wade is distorting the results of recent research on genome-wide human variation. I won’t speculate whether this distortion is deliberate or a result of simple ignorance about genetics, but it is serious. There is a great deal more in this book that also needs to be critiqued, such as Wade’s assertion that the genetic differences between human groups determine behavioral differences, resurrecting the specter of “national character” and “racial temperaments”. But as I’ve shown here, Wade’s book is all pseudoscientific rubbish because he can’t justify his first and primary point: his claim that the human racial groups we recognize today culturally are scientifically meaningful, discrete biological divisions of humans. This claim provides a direct basis for the whole second half of the book where he makes those “speculative” arguments about national character. In other words, the entire book is a house of cards.
It’s also worth noting the extent to which Wade’s argument here is a variation on the Galileo fallacy: the fact that one bravely holds a minority view in science is considered to be sufficient evidence of the worth of one’s position. I’ve seen it used over and over again in responses to my criticisms of pseudoscience, and it’s no more persuasive for Wade than it is for creationists or homeopaths.
“If scientists were to make the arbitrary decision that biological race is real, can you think of a positive outcome?” –a nice piece by Holly Dunsworth: http://ecodevoevo.blogspot.com/2014/05/if-scientists-were-to-make-arbitrary.html
Agustin Fuentes’ online debate with Wade: (https://aaanetevents.webex.com/ec0606l/eventcenter/recording/recordAction.do?theAction=poprecord&AT=pb&internalRecordTicket=00000001fcaac3649dadd2c6e78a2511ed436c75acea0fcceaf7ff0731dc4216dec6996b&isurlact=true&renewticket=0&recordID=8614987&apiname=lsr.php&needFilter=false&format=short&&SP=EC&rID=8614987&RCID=e801bfd96855006077205e3d2e023699&siteurl=aaanetevents&actappname=ec0606l&actname=%2Feventcenter%2Fframe%2Fg.do&rnd=4944230866&entactname=%2FnbrRecordingURL.do&entappname=url0108l)
“The troublesome ignorance of Nicholas Wade”, also by Agustin Fuentes:
“On the origin of white power” by Eric Michael Johnson:
A critique of Structure:
Bolnick DA. Individual ancestry inference and the reification of race as a biological phenomenon. In: Koenig BA, Lee SS-J, Richardson SS, editors. Revisiting Race in a Genomic Age. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press; 2008. pp. 77–85.
Jon Marks: “The genes made us do it: The new pseudoscience of race.”
Barbujani and Colonna, 2010. Human genome diversity: frequently asked questions.
Many thanks to Deborah Bolnick, Colin McRoberts, Jay Kaufman, Jonathan Kahn, Troy Duster, and Rick Smith.
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