Was that noise you heard in your garbage can just a raccoon or something considerably larger? This course will examine our region’s largest omnivore. Vermont and New Hampshire have two of the nation’s densest black bear populations and we’ll look at bear-human interaction and hear from the director of NH’s Black Bear Project, Andrew Timmons, Senior Biologist for NH Fish & Game and the person who took charge of the famous “Hanover Bear” situation. We will also hear from experts on bear physiology and the animal’s unique place in Native American culture. Distinguished black bear expert Ben Kilham, Ph.D., will offer a lecture, and his book, Among The Bears, will be used as a text for the course. He will also discuss his work on a giant panda re-introduction project in China. Dartmouth Associate Professor of Anthropology, Jerry DiSilva, will discuss how he has used bipedalism in bears to answer some fascinating aspects of our own evolution. Videos and relevant articles will round out our study tools.