Anthropology Full Set

Anthropology

The study of the full scope of human diversity, past and present, and the application of that knowledge to help people of different backgrounds better understand another

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one

s own culture or way of life is normal and natural; using one’s own culture to evaluate and judge the practices and ideals of others

Ethnographic Fieldwork

Living and interacting with a community of people over an extended period to better understand their lives

Cross-Cultural and Comparative Approach

Anthropologists compare practices across cultures to explore human similarities, differences, and the potential for human cultural expression

Biological Anthropology

The study of humans from a biological perspective, particularly how they have evolved over time and adapted to their environments

Archaeology

The investigation of the human past by means of excavating and analyzing artifacts

Linguistic Anthropology

The study of human language in the past and the present

Cultural/Socio-Cultural Anthropology

The study of people’s communities, behaviors, beliefs, and institutions, including how people make meaning as they live, work, and play together

Holism

The anthropological commitment to look at the whole picture of human life—culture, biology, history, and language—across space and time

Participant Observation

A key anthropological research strategy involving participation and observation of the daily life of the people being studied

Ethnology

The analysis and comparison of ethnographic data across cultures

Globalization

The worldwide intensification of interactions and increased movement of money, people, goods, and ideas within and across national borders

Time-Space Compression

The rapid innovation of communication and transportation technologies associated with globalization that transforms the way people think about space (distances) and time

Flexible Accumulation

The flexible strategies that corporations use to accumulate profits in an eta of globalization, enabled by innovative communication and transportation technologies

Transnationalism

The intermixing of cultures

Multi-Sited Ethnography

A standard practice for anthropologists to trace cultural processes across time and space

Anthropocene

The current historical era in which human activity is reshaping the planet in permanent ways

Climate Change

Changes to earth’s climate, including global warming, produced primarily by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases created by the burning of fossil fuels

Four-Field Approach

Biological, archaeological, linguistic, and cultural anthropology