Transcript What is Anthropology?

What is Anthropology?
Anthropology 330
Kimberly Porter Martin
What is Anthropology?
KEY COMPONENTS
1.
DEFINITION
Anthropology is the
holistic, synthetic,
multidisciplinary
study of human
beings.
2.
3.
4.
Anthropology seeks and uses all
information about both individual
humans and groups of humans
regardless of time, geographic
location, culture or types of evidence.
Anthropology studies the biological,
psychological, social and cultural
aspects of being human in the present
and in the past.
Anthropology draws knowledge and
methods from any discipline that can
help understand humanness
Anthropology attempts to integrate
information from many disciplines
into a single whole picture of what it
means to be humans
What are the Four Sub-disciplines of
Anthropology?
1. Physical Anthropology
2. Archaeology
3. Linguistic Anthropology
4. Cultural Anthropology
What is Physical Anthropology?
DEFINITION
KEY COMPONENTS
Physical Anthropology, 1.
also called Biological
Anthropology, is the study
of the genetic, anatomical 2.
and physiological aspects
of humanness, including
our relationship to other
3.
kinds of animals in the
past and present.
Physical anthro studies human
evolution to understand when
humans first existed and how the
human body has changed through
time
Physical anthro studies how and
why human individuals and groups
differ from one another
biologically in the past and
present
Physical anthro studies how
humans are alike and different
from other animals, especially
those most like us, the non-human
primates
What Kinds of Physical
Anthropologists Are There?
Six Kinds of Biological Anthropologists

Paleoanthropologists

study human fossil remains

Human Variation
Specialists
apply anthropological knowledge
about the human body to solve
crimes

study how human anatomy and
physiology are adapted to
particular environments

Human Geneticists
study patterns of gene distribution
in human populations, as well as
the consequences of particular
genes to individuals
Forensic Anthropologists
Human Epidemiologists
study how human biology and
cultural practices affect health and
disease patterns

Primatologists
study similarities and differences
between humans and our closest
relatives, the non-human primates
What is Archaeology?
KEY COMPONENTS
DEFINITION
Archaeology is the
study of the
material remains
of human cultures
from the past and
in the present.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Archaeology studies things that
people make (artifacts like pottery
or tools) and leave behind
Archaeology studies things that
people alter (features like roads
and buildings) and leave behind
Archaeology studies environmental
clues that show the circumstances
in which people live or lived
(ecofacts)
Archaeologists are interested in
material culture from the past as
well as from the present
What Kinds of
Archaeologists Are There?
Five of Kinds of Archaeologists
Contract Archaeologists

Classical Archaeologists

Study the remains from the
foundational societies for Western
Civilization

Ethnoarchaeologists
Identifying, evaluating, and
managing sites threatened by
development.

Study how living societies make and
use tools and other material objects
to draw analogies with ancient
materials
Experimental
Archaeologists

Historical Archaeologists

Study the remains of historically
documented societies to provide
additional data on how people lived.
Attempt to reconstruct how material
culture and cultural features were
constructed and used in the past.
What is Linguistic Anthropology?
DEFINITION
Linguistic Anthropology
is the study of language
and communication.
KEY COMPONENTS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Linguistic anthropologists describe
how languages are produced and
used
Linguistic anthropologists study how
language changes through time
Linguistic anthropologists study how
language usage varies in different
social contexts
Linguistic anthropologists study how
knowing a particular language
influences how people think
Linguistic anthropologists study how
people communicate non-verbally
through gestures, body language and
the use of space.
Language is a central part of culture
What kinds of Linguistic
Anthropologists Are There?
Eight Kinds of Linguistic Anthropologists

Descriptive Linguists
study how languages are produced and
organized


study how children acquire language

Historical Linguists
Ethnolinguists

study how knowing a particular
language affects the way people think

Sociolinguists
study how language use changes in
differing social situations
Paralanguage Experts
study pitch, tone and rhythm in
language
study how languages change over time

Developmental Linguists
Proxemics Experts
study the use of space to
communicate

Kinesics Experts
study body language and gestures
What is Cultural Anthropology?
DEFINITION
KEY COMPONENTS
1.
Cultural Anthropology,
also called Sociocultural Anthropology,
is the study of
contemporary and
historic human
societies through their
cultures.
2.
3.
4.
Cultural anthropology studies
living societies and descriptions
of living societies
Cultural anthropology uses
fieldwork and participantobservation to understand
other ways of life
Cultural anthropology attempts
to take a cultural relativist
perspective on other cultures
Cultural anthropology is
interested in all aspects of life
in a society and how they fit
together
What Kinds of Cultural
Anthropologists Are There?
Seven Kinds of Cultural Anthropologists

Cultural Ecologists

study how culture interacts with the
environment


study how power and authority are
Social Anthropologists
delegated and rules enforced in
society
study the rules for forming kin and non
kin social groups in society
Medical Anthropologists
Economic Anthropologists
study how people produce and distribute
the things they need to survive

Political Anthropologists
Psychological Anthropologists
study how individuals grow and function
in different cultural contexts

study how culture and human biology
interact to create disease and illness in
societies
Aesthetic Anthropologists
study what is considered beautiful
and how beauty is created in different
societies