Download What is anthropology?

WHAT IS
ANTHROPOLOGY?
OR, HOW TO DETERMINE WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY
IS NOT
ANTHROPOLOGY
• Study of the human species and its immediate
ancestors
OTHER KEY TERMS
• Society: organized life in groups
• Culture: traditions and customs, transmitted through
learning, that form and guide the behavior of the
people exposed to them
MATCH THE FIELD!
• Primarily uses ethnography to study a particular
community
• Study variation in language due to geography
• Compares and contrasts cultures to make
generalizations about society
• Ask questions like “Did this past society hunt or gather for
food?”
• Study topics like human genetics, growth and
development, and evolution of primates
• Study changes in grammar, sounds, and vocabulary
over time
• Reconstructs human behavior and culture through
material remains
• Excavate areas
ANTHROPOLOGY IS A SCIENCE!
WHAT DO ANTHROPOLOGISTS DO?
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Observe
Interview
Research
Collect Data
Write
Photograph, Film, Document
Fieldwork
Participant Observation
Live with subjects under study
Cross reference and Compare/Contrast Findings
APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY
• Application of anthropological data,
Perspectives, theory, and methods to
Identify, assess, and solve modern problems
TO BE AN ANTHROPOLOGIST…
WHAT IS NOT ANTHROPOLOGY
• Doing research or observation or participant observation
without the permission or knowledge of the subjects
under study
• Doing Harm to a person or subject under study
• Violating Ethical principles of the society or culture under
study or the society or culture of the anthropologist
• Violating Human Rights (See UN Declaration)
• http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/
• Gathering or disseminating information that could be
used to harm people
• Forgetting that all people have dignity and worth and
that every individual deserves to be treated equitably.
BIAS
• prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or
group compared with another, usually in a way
considered to be unfair
NAPOLEON CHAGNON & THE
YANOMAMO