“The anthropology department sort of functioned for quite some time as a loose federation of social anthropology, biological anthropology, and archeology,” Haig said. “So I think in some sense [the proposal] is just a recognition of the defect that exists in the Department of Anthropology.”

According to the report, the new department would use research in genetics and the evolution of humans, and their close relatives, to help explain “the genetic versus environmental underpinnings” of how people look, act, and function. The department would also study “what selective forces operated at different times in human evolution.”

Discussion of the structure of the HEB concentration is still ongoing, the report says, but it would combine the existing biological anthropology concentration with a series of courses in biology and other sciences. The new concentration would require 12 half-courses, rather than the 10 currently needed for a non-honors anthropology concentration.

The professor at yesterday’s meeting stressed the preliminary nature of the report.

“It’s a very real proposal,” the professor said, “but it’s nowhere near a fait accompli.”

—Staff writer Anton S. Troianovski can be reached at atroian@fas.harvard.edu.