Father Franz Boas--Father of American Anthropology
Franz Boas is often referred to as the father of
American anthropology because of the great influence he had
in the lives and the careers of the next great generation of
anthropologists in America. He came at a time when
anthropology was not considered a true science or even a
meaningful discipline and brought an air of respectability
to the profession, giving those who followed a passion and
an example of how to approach anthropology. Boas directed
the field studies and trained such prominent anthropologists
as Alfred Louis Kroeber, Robert Lowie, Margaret Mead, as
well as others. Although he did not leave as his legacy any
specific line of thought, he left a pattern that was
followed by numerous scientists in the next generation.
Franz Boas studied physics and geography in Germany and
left to pursue his hypothesis on was born and raised in
Germany and studied physics and geography. After receiving
his doctorate in geography he left Germany and went to
Baffin Island to test his hypothesis on Arctic geography.
While he was there he became fascinated with the Eskimos and
how they lived. From then on he was no longer a geographer
but an Anthropologist.
Boas was Jewish and was criticized all his life about
being Jewish. His work showed his resentment of
Anti-Semitism, reflecting the belief that all men are
created equal. At the time anthropology was based on the
beliefs of men like Tylor and Spencer who believed in
evolutionary theories that stated that some people are more
evolved than others. They believed in categorizing
different cultures depending on how evolved they were.
These men also did not do any field work, they received
their information from missionaries, government officials,
and other people who traveled the world. They categorized
cultures by putting them into a line starting with
barbarians and ending with white people. Anthropologists
then ranked them depending on how civilized they thought
they were. They also felt that people at the high end of
the line(whites) had one time been where these other
cultures are and feel this sort of a “psychic unity”
towards them.
Boas was the first anthropologist to do field work. He
believed it was essential to live with certain cultures to
get the real feel of what they were like. He be...
... middle of paper ...
...tists who were trying to get the larger picture. Boas
was interested in studying a very small and specific window
of time, which came from the data that he collected while
performing the field work he deemed necessary to analyze a
culture.
There is no question that anthropology as a discipline
and as a science took on a new life after the arrival of
Frank Boas. Not only did anthropology gain respect in the
scientific and the “civilian” world, but also it gained
respect in the anthropological field as well. The work that
Boas performed, both in studies and in organization skills,
were testaments to a man who has given so much to the
discipline. He was able to profoundly influence a number of
thinkers and scientists in his own field the validity of his
methods of work and get them to institute them across the
board for use by all anthropologists.
Boas was able to do this not only for himself, but more
importantly, for the generations of American anthropologists
after him. The influence that he had on Mead, Radin, et. al.
is quite remarkable and needs to be noted. Boas’ role and
honor as the head of American anthropology is well
documented and most deserved.
In studying the Jewish elderly members of the Center, Myerhoff attempted to understand the people there as an isolated society with a distinct culture. Through participant observation, as well as carefully recorded interviews and conversations, Myerhoff aimed to document this culture and understand it as a basis for unity among the Center members. Her immersion in this culture along with her anthropological perspective made her successful in representing the people of the Center. In her book, Number the Days, Myerhoff provides readers with an ethnographic analysis of the existence of a culture. After reading the book, I feel that I have a comprehensive understanding of the Center people. Through her descriptions, based on observation, and her recorded dialogues Myerhoff actually offers readers an illustration of this `society.' "She uses this material to show us the very processes through which her subjects weave meaning and identity out of their memories and experiences," thus not only presenting the culture itself, but defining the context in which it emerged (Turner (in Myerhoff), xv).
Robbins, R. H. (2014). Cultural anthropology: a problem-based approach (Second Canadian ed.). Itasca: F.E. Peacock.
It should be said that Christopher Columbus was responsible for the discovery of what he thought the new lands could provide rather than the discovery of the ‘New World’. Since most of his ventures landed him and his followers to lands that were inhabited by people, who were favorable to trade, where culture, politics, and religion had been established, his discoveries were really a way of supporting his model for self-good. I will analyze the paper by Beatriz Bodmer “Christopher Columbus and the Definition of America as Booty”, to argue that despite Columbus’s quest for discovery, he did so with preconceived ideas that he would use to his benefit of convincing others of what he discovered and how these discoveries would benefit him.
While taking the class of Early Modern European History there was two states that really stuck out and peaked my interest the most. They were the Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe. If you compare and contrast both the Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe during the 16th Century through the 18th Century, you will see that there are a number of similarities as well as differences when you look at the expansion of the states. You will also see many of these contrasts as well when you look in terms of each states military and commerce. Although the Ottoman Empire existed before the 16th century and continued to exist past the 18th century and in great decline until the early 20th century, when looking at the state as a whole the time period of 1500’s through the 1700’s is a period of growth and strength. It is perhaps even known as a golden era for the state, when taking in to comparison the Early Modern Europeans where the same time period marks a change in how society thought and how people were treated.
The government of the Ottoman Empire was an absolute monarchy for a majority of the empire’s time period. During the last fifty years, change in government occurred frequently, due to the decline and lack of good leadership. The state was organized into two parts; military and civil administration, where the sultan, otherwise known as the caliphate held the highest position in the state. Though the sultan had complete and absolute control over the empire, most did not exercise complete control, usually leaving the work to the grand vizier who would lead and move forward with reforms and laws as the sultan asked (“Ottoman Empire”). Many of the sultans were men lacked ability, training or experience in leading an empire (Chambers).
By the year 1840 the concept of Independence had been forever embedded in American tradition and American government. The value of freedom had yet to be accepted nor granted peacefully. The Revolution released America from the grasp of Britain and it would take yet another war to release the black man from the shackles of slavery. America was still in its infancy; the West was not yet settled, the South was still a confederacy and unity was just a dream. The country was torn by slavery. And some men began to question the integrity of their government. Henry David Thoreau was one such man.
Spencer, R., Collins, M. E., Ward, R., & Smashnaya, S. (2010). Mentoring for young people
Charles Eastman made great strides to bridge the gap between the Native Americans and the white man. Born a Santee Sioux, Eastman excelled in his assimilated life, thereby gaining the respect of the white man, which he used to assist the Native American. He was able to give a voice to the culture and its people, which was quickly being silenced by a Eurocentric government. Eastman exemplified the abilities of the Native American through his accomplishments as an author, lecturer, physician, and activist. His capacity to live between two diverse cultures furthered his unprecedented endeavors.
Christopher Columbus is the father of globalization. This claim is true because of the changes Christopher Columbus brought to the world and the cultures he brought together. Christopher Columbus made discoveries to the world that made others think differently.
When it comes to sociology there are many different theories that need a critical in-depth analysis. The anthropologists that study the subjective and objective sides of culture and societies accomplish this. They break down these topics and inspect them from every aspect. They study, interpret, and criticize every part of their subject in order to completely understand it. Whether it’s diversity or the economy, Benedict, Williams, and Geertz analyze the major and subtler ideologies to their cores.
The political plus military factors of fall, it is often hard to isolate one exact element as the main reason of decline. But as the Ottoman Empire’s system was so reliant on the sultan for stimulating and guide it as well as keep it as one and since collapse was, indeed, accompanied with serious elements of corruption within the organization of the sultanate and the persons holding the sultanate office, one can suppose that this was, certainly, the key to fall. Even during the glorious days of the rule of Suleyman there was decline. Maybe it was a lot to expect that the Ottoman Empire or any empire could maintain a constant series of able sultans such as the sultans who had made the empire. Conversely, because so much reliant on the personality of the sultan, a single weak sultan was enough for opening the doors to a sequence of nonentities and incompetents. The majority members of the feudal Sipahis and the Kapikulu corps married, left the garrisons, became estate owners, artisans, or merchants, abandoned military training jointly, and kept their groups memberships just for the pri...
Nelson Mandela was born July 18, 1918, into a royal family who spoke Xhosa and were a Thembu tribe in the South African village of Mvezo. His father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, served as chief there during his life. His mother, Nosekeni Fanny, was the third wive out of four, who gave birth to nine daughters and four sons. After the death of his father in 1927, Nelson Mandela, who was nine years old, became known by his birth name and was adopted (Mandela). He eventually became the ward of the Paramount Chief and ended up going to a local mission primary school and that was where he was given the name Nelson. He enrolled at the university of Fort Hare in 1939 (Johnson).The next year, he and other students, including Oliver Tambo a friend and business partner of his, got sent home for participating in a boycott against the university policies. Upon returning home he learned that his guardian had planned an arranged marriage for him and fled to Johannesburg. He became a law clerk while completing his bachelor’s degree (Nelson). Nelson Mandela was married three times in his life and had six children which includes four girls and two boys. His daughter, Makaziwe had died as an infant in 1948; his son, Madiba Thembekile ended up dying in a car accident in 1969; and his other son Makgatho Lewanika had died of an AIDS-related illness in 2005
From the 18th century through the beginning of the 19th century, European influence was a significant force in various aspects of the Ottoman Empire, Egypt, and Iran. Although the reforms, coined primarily by Gelvin as “defensive developmentalism,” were initially intended to centralize governmental control and strengthen the military, the actual effects were much broader. Based on varying pre-existing conditions and unique approaches to governorship, this process of modernization affected each region differently. This essay will explore the manners in which European influence shaped each territory, the primary areas of civilization, politics and culture that experienced reform, and the degree to which that influence was significant, or in the case of Iran, insignificant.
Gregor Mendel was an Austrian monk who revolutionized our understanding and perception of genetics. Mendel’s experiments in his monastery garden provided future geneticists with the basic principles of hereditary through the experimentation in both hybrid and pure bred pea plants, which he found to follow specific patterns in their offspring. The choice to use peas was because of their distinct varieties and their ability to produce offspring quickly and the ability to easily regulate fertilization simply with the use of a paintbrush. When conducting these experiments Before Mendel Pea Plant Experimentation it was commonly accepted that a child’s genetic traits were simply half from the mother and half from the father. This evidence was supported by experiments were generally conducted over a short period of time resulting in skewed and unreliable data, whereas Mendel’s experiments were conducted over an eight year period involving tens of thousands of plants. Two of Mendel’s traits that he focused on were the texture of the seed pod. E.g. smooth and round or wrinkled. In the first generation of these plants 100% of the pea plants possessed the Smooth and round texture. On the second generation of the pea plants of every 4 pea plants 3 posessed the smooth trait and a singular pea plant produced wrinkled seeds. Upon the review of his results Mendel concluded that characteristics could be expressed through dominant and recessive traits. The Dominant trait masks or completely covers the recessive, whereas a recessive gene is an allele that is only present in a homozygous genotype. Through Mendel’s experiments he proposed three principles of inheritance, whether you are looking at humans or pea plants, the apparent genetic traits t...
Since the beginning of the human species, humans have possessed an undying curiosity with their entire existence and surroundings. These curious obsessions, including that of their environments and other living organisms, have never been as strong, remarkable and lasting as the curiosity we’ve had about ourselves both collectively and individually. Two anthropologists offer the valid idea that “it is probably fair to say, wherever literate civilizations came into contact with members of different societies, something like ethnographic writing occurred” (McGee, Warms, 2012). It also seems to be plausible, even looking as far back into the human origin and history as Homo neanderthalensis, that the first glimmer of curiosity occur. Of course Homo neanderthalensis would not be writing ethnographies detailing the emic and etic perspectives within and about a culture, but since they are believed to have lived in complex groups and would occasionally pass another group or merge with another group in passing it would seem reasonable to assume that a base curiosity must have been piqued. All ideas, whether valid or not, begin with a thought. The field of anthropology is a rich transformation and amalgamation of ideas, thoughts and theories evolving throughout time. The purpose of this essay is to summarize the development of anthropological theory from the late nineteenth century to the present twenty-first century.