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Recommended: Anthropology Basics
Anthropology is the study of human beings, this includes their customs, behavior, clothing, language, and religion. The study has been divided into four different areas; Sociocultural, Linguistic, Archeology, and Biological. These four different cultures all study different areas but they all share the meaning of what it means to be a human. The field of Anthropology is very diverse and covers a large amount of other fields of study and can prepare you for many areas in the work force.
The four subdivisions of Anthropology are diverse and cover a lot of area. Sociocultural, the first subdivision of Anthropology, is the study of people in different cultures or sub-cultures. In this field of study you interview people in different cultures or sub-cultures and compare and develop an understanding. In the subdivision Linguistic, they examine evolution and structures of languages around the world. The next subdivision, Archeology, is the study of artifacts. In Archeology they study material evidence from past cultures, these include; ruins, tools, and pottery. The last subdivision, Bio...
To start with anthropology, and outlining the timelines of mankind, one can start cumulating the facts around how humans have evolved throughout hundreds and thousands of years. Using anthropology as a theory of history is the ability to understand the social and cultural behaviors that connect the concept of human culture. As historians there are many benefits from using anthropology, studying the behaviors of human kind and all of its variations is a true...
Not only this, but anthropologists will also employ Ethnography, writing down a description and analysis, based upon the fieldwork. This helps keep a record of what was learned, while also keeping the culture being studied under its own viewpoint. These factors help impact the analysis of a culture, while still being observed under a cultural relativism outlook.
Anthropology is the study of humans through the ages. It aims to understand different cultures and practices that have existed from the origins of mankind as well. It differs from sociology in that it takes into account humans and cultures that no longer exist.
Cultural anthropology involves exploring social and cultural variations of humans. Linguistic anthropology studies how language shapes communication. Archaeology is the study of earlier cultures by analyzing and interpreting material remains. Biological anthropology includes topics such as genetics, evolution, and growth and development. Cultural anthropology can give a more in depth perspective on how different cultures, religions, and nations interact with their children.
Cultural Anthropology is a term that is in everyday lives and topics. When one thinks of anthropology they think of the study of old remnants commonly referred to as archaeology. This, however, is not the only form of anthropology. There are four types of anthropology and they are archaeology, biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, and linguistic anthropology. However, Cultural anthropologists are every where and study people of all walks of life. One can find a topic and find some type of study that an anthropologist has conducted on the matter. The following are five articles that explain how anthropologists are every where.
As Kluckhohn describes, the technical term of culture has a broader meaning to the anthropologist than the "humble cooking pot", and the "people of culture." He implies that the anthropologist needs to be concerned with all aspects and biological conditions involved that have shaped a society. Humans can be easily understood just by studying their surroundings, and as Kluckhohn has stated, "they can also be easily predicted by knowing a people's design for living."
Physical anthropology “is in large part, human biology seen from an evolutionary perspective” (Jurmaln, Kilgore & Trevathan, 2011). By this statement, I believe the authors mean that physical anthropology studies human biology from an evolutionary viewpoint rather than a scientific or medical viewpoint. Anthropology, as a broader science, is concerned with and studies human culture and the evolutionary aspects of human biology. Since culture affects human beings and human beings affect culture, the two are intertwined, and it therefore, makes sense to study them together.
Embarking on a journey of anthropological fieldwork will undoubtedly include a plethora of setbacks. At its foundation, fieldwork requires developing rapport with the native people in order to gain access of genuine knowledge pertaining to the specific culture being studied. Subsequently, social communication between the researcher and the native people is a key component to the entire process; yet simultaneously it is a root of the many problems a researcher can encounter while in the field. It is no secret that the cultural background of the researcher can often highly contrast the culture he or she enters during fieldwork. This initial cultural adaptation one must undergo while doing anthropological fieldwork is what many in the realm describe as culture shock.
Clifford Geertz once said: “Cultural analysis is intrinsically incomplete. And, worse than that, the more deeply it goes the less complete it is.” I recently spent a short amount of time at a busy 5-way traffic circle near my residence. While sitting in one spot for about 25 minutes, I observed many people doing many different things (mainly driving). Observing the various people made me think of what their particular cultures may have been, and from there, I began thinking of culture in and of itself. What is culture? Culture is defined as: Ideas and behaviors that are learned and transmitted. Nongenetic means of adaptation (Park, 2008). Culture plays a vital role in anthropology. After all, anthropology is the holistic, scientific study of humankind (Park, 2008). One cannot study humans as a whole without studying and understanding their cultures as well.
Perhaps the most ubiquitous subset in anthropology is the socio-cultural subfield of sociocultural anthropology. This branch analyzes social patterns and customs across cultures. Focusing in particular on how people from different cultures live and their respective societal organization. Sociocultural anthropologists observe societies as a whole entity but break it down into smaller subsections including nationality, race, sexuality, gender and class then look at how these sections work in conjunction to create the entire society. These are the anthropologists which come to my mind when I conjure up a mental image of anthropology, the researcher who “goes-native” immersing themself into a society to gain firsthand knowledge of a distant culture. They learn how a society handles their everyday problems and what is of importance. Some of the areas which this branch of anthropology is concerned with are health, education, agriculture and work.
Ethnographic fieldwork defines cultural anthropology to be holism. It stresses that cultural anthropology embraces a holistic perspective for the study of human behaviour. The study of cultural anthropology deals with the entire characteristics of humans. It then focuses on the relationship between the different facets of human
Anthropology encompasses four main aspects in the field: archaeology, linguistics, physical anthropology, and cultural anthropology. All four areas must collect data and find a way to interpret the data collected. Data is then interpreted with the use of theories. The data would be useless to any anthropologist without any meaning. Theory helps an anthropologist choose what data to collect and how to interpret the results. Authors McGee and Warms assert that theory “helps us think about who and what we are as human beings,” (2). Basic understanding of different anthropological theories enlightens anthropologist about different cultures by attempting to understand and learn from each other. Overtime some theories have been disregarded due to
It analyzes similarities and differences in various cultures and societies. Culture is learned and affects our perception of the world throughout our life. Overtime, a sense of cultural superiority is formed amongst individuals who are constantly exposed to their own culture. Anthropology can help eliminate culturally based biases, also known as ethnocentrism. It is a common practice we all in engage in when evaluating other cultures, however, by practicing anthropology this allows us to learn about other cultures by placing themselves into the cultural environment allows us to learn the traditions and customs by experience. Marjorie Shostak`s study of the !Kung people revealed that they organized themselves differently than Western cultures, which included solving conflicts with discussion, communal behavior, and basic living traditions. Moreover, by interviewing and living in this cultural environment, Shostak was able to empathize with the !Kung people and she also considered that all humans share an emotional life, which is important when studying the history of our human
Since humans have come together, there has been culture, and while we continue to live there will continue to be culture. Culture is a thing that we as humans all have in common, but our culture is also what keeps us apart. Anthropology is the study of humans, how we work, what are our rituals, the study of our past. The anthropological perspective is how one must look at culture or at another society to observe it without bias and without judgement. There are four important parts to observing through the anthropological perspective the first being the concept of culture, holistic perspective, comparative perspective, and culture relativism. Through the study of cultural anthropology one, will understand how societies as people are the same and how they are different. The same things that make societies different make them the same. It is also important to understand why and how societies work. The anthological perspective is an important part of viewing cultures.
Cultural anthropology has gave us a better understanding of world affairs and world problems, because it studies the way people think and do things differently. One of the