Anthropology Notes

What is Anthropology?

Anthropology is the study of the human species and its immediate ancestors (i.e., the study of humanity).
The goal of anthropology is to learn and understand the similarities and differences between human groups.

Anthropology is both scientific (universal and objective) and humanistic (particular and subjective) in its orientation.
Anthropology is related to other disciplines such as sociology, political science, economics, psychology (aka, the major social sciences) and also associated with history, geography, and biology.
Holistic: Anthropology studies all aspects of the human condition: past, present, and future; biology, society, language, and culture
Comparative: Anthropology compares the customs of one society to another to ascertain similarities and differences and why they occur.

Biological Anthropology: The study of the biological, physiological, anatomical, and genetic characteristics of both ancient and modern human populations.
Biological anthropology also is concerned with the evolutionary development of the human species (the origins of humanity) by a comparative analysis of both fossil and living primates.
Three Subfields:
- Primatology
- Paleoanthropology
- The Study of Human Biological Variation

Archaeology: The study of human societies and cultures through the analysis of material remains such as bones, pottery, tools, and architecture.
Archaeology studies both prehistoric (without written word) and historic peoples (with written word).
- Example of prehistoric: Bantu people 2000 years ago
- Example of historic: Ancient Egypt 5000 years ago
Archaeology has two subfields:
- Pre-Historic Archaeology
- Historical Archaeology

Linguistics: The descriptive, comparative, and historical study of language, including its similarities and differences in time, space, and society.
Language is important to anthropologists because it provides the vehicle in which culture is learned, transmitted, and understood.
Three subfields:
- Historical Linguistics
- Descriptive Linguistics
- Sociolinguistics

Cultural Anthropology: The field of anthropology that studies (describes, analyzes, interprets, and explains) the social and cultural similarities and differences among ethnic groups.
Cultural anthropology studies specific social institutions such as economics, education, family, politics, religion, etc.

Culture: The sum of learned and shared beliefs and behaviors of a group.
Ethnic Group: A group of people who share the same culture (way of life) and history (a far better concept than the outdated and derogatory concept of tribe).
The concepts of culture and society are often incorrectly interchanged.
Society: A group of people who share a common habitat and who are dependent on one another for their survival and well-being.
Thus, a society refers to a group of people while culture refers to beliefs and behaviors of a people.

Ethnography: The systematic description of a culture; usually based on fieldwork that takes at least a year to accomplish.
Ethnography often results in the production of a highly descriptive text on the culture of a specific ethnic group (see Joanna Davidson’s, Sacred Rice - the text for your book review assignment).
Given the vastness of human activity, cultural anthropologists typically specialize in one geographic area and often specialize in a couple of specific aspects of a culture such as religion, politics, art, medicine, etc.
For example, the professor specializes in language, religion and medical issues in West Africa (The Gambia and Nigeria to be precise).

Ethnocentrism: The belief that one’s own culture is better than other peoples’ cultures (examples: religious practices, food choices, beauty standards, etc.).
Cultural Relativism: The belief that a culture should be evaluated by its own standards (i.e., non-judgmental and open-mindedness).

Diffusion: The spread or borrowing of items, beliefs, and practices between cultures.
Globalization: The integration of cultures and economies.
Globalization is attributed primarily to technological advancements in communications and transportation and is the major reason for cultural change today.