Anthropology as a Discipline

Anthropology

“the study of humankind”

• the study, analysis, and description of humanity’s past and present.

• Questions about the past include prehistoric origins and human evolution.

• Questions about the past include prehistoric origins and human evolution.

• ANTROPOS

• human

• LOGOS

• study

KEY INFORMANTS

are individuals in a society who have significant knowledge of the topic being studied by the anthropologist.

• Levi – Strauss & Bougois

• both anthropologists stayed in the field for more than two years and lived in the communities that they were documenting.

CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

• Focuses on the human culture with respect to social structure, language, law, politics, religion, and technology.

BIOLOGICAL (or Physical) ANTHROPOLOGY

• Deals with understanding the causes of present human diversity.

ARCHAEOLOGY

• Examines past cultures through tangible remains.

LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY

• Is the anthropological study of languages.

APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY

• Attempts to solve contemporary problems through the application of theories and approaches of the discipline.

GOALS OF ANTHROPOLOGY

• to comprehend the fossil record of early people and their precursors just as the archeological record of later ancient social orders.

• to understand how we adapt to different environmental conditions and how we vary as a species.

• to comprehend the conduct of monkeys and gorillas in their regular settings

• to find out about both the natural and social parts of humankind all throughout the planet and all through time.

• to apply anthropological information to help forestall or take care of issues of living people groups, including destitution, substance addiction, and HIV/AIDS

Holism

• Anthropologists are keen all in all of mankind, in how different parts of life connect. One can't completely see the value in being human by contemplating a solitary part of our mind-boggling narratives, dialects, bodies, or social orders.

• By utilizing a comprehensive methodology, anthropologists request how various angles from human existence impact each other.

Cultural Relativism

• the possibility that we should try to comprehend someone else's convictions and practices according to the viewpoint of their way of life as opposed to our own. Anthropologists don't pass judgment on different societies dependent on their qualities nor do they see alternate methods of getting things done as second-rate.

• All things being equal, anthropologists try to comprehend individuals' convictions inside the framework they have for clarifying things.

Comparison

• In cultural anthropology, we compare ideas, morals, practices, and systems within or between cultures. We might compare the roles of men and women in different societies, or contrast how different religious groups conflict within a given society.

Fieldwork

• In Cultural Anthropology, fieldwork is alluded to as ethnography, which is both the interaction and aftereffect of social anthropological examination. The Greek expression "ethno" alludes to individuals, and "graphy" alludes to composing.

• The ethnographic interaction includes the exploration technique for member perception hands on work: you partake in individuals' lives, while noticing them and taking field takes note of that, alongside interviews and reviews, establish the examination information.