Download Anthropology wants to know what makes us human

Anthropology wants to know what
makes us human
The first year in anthropology
Anthropology is unique because it is both
an art and a science.
Anthropology is an interpretation of what it means to
be human, but based on careful observation and
analysis of people's real lives, all over the world.
Anthropology takes nothing for granted. We look at
human life in a global perspective, in all of its
wonderful and amazing diversity. We question
everything, and so anthropology can help you ask
new questions and gain valuable insights into every
other field you study.
Any student can take the two first-year units of study
to get a taste of anthropology. ANTH 1001: Cultural
difference, an introduction presents the
anthropological concept of culture and argues that
cultural forces determine not only how people live,
but how they learn to see the world, and what is most
important to them. ANTH 1002: Anthropology and
the global (see over) shows how the tools of
anthropological research and analysis can help us
understand contemporary problems and situations
like climate change, urbanisation, development,
technology, and the global economy.
These units could be your first steps in taking an
anthropology major, but they are also very useful
CRICOS 00026A
and interesting no matter what you go on to study.
ANTH 1001: Cultural difference, an
introduction
Everywhere you go, people live profoundly different
lives. The things you take for granted—your home,
your family, how you get food on the table, your
plans for the future—are, to many other people,
really weird. But everyone must have something in
common because we are all human. Anthropology's
concept of culture helps us to understand both what is
universal and what is unique about human ways of
life. Your culture makes you who you are. Its
landscapes, be they cities, rice fields or rainforests,
become part of you. But a culture is also a world
people create. Culture reflects both the adaptability
and the creativity of humans as a species. To really
understand why there are so many different cultures,
you must step into the shoes of another person, and
attempt to understand the life they take for granted
by living it.
If culture is another world, then each culture also
defines who belongs to that world. Imagine, then, a
world in which animals are people too. Or a world in
which a river has human rights. Or, better yet, learn
about these places, in this unit.
ANTH 1002: Anthropology and the
global
There is no group of people today that is not, in some
way, living on a global stage. Although people are
infinitely different, every culture has to cross
boundaries. Every culture is also multicultural. Every
person alive today lives in multiple cultural worlds all
at once. In this light, a lot of social problems look
very different. Why do people move around the
world? Why does religion matter so much? What if
economic globalisation was not bringing people
closer, but actually making them different? What if
human rights were not universal?
making your own arguments, and finding evidence
for them. Did you know that the head of the World
Bank, the managing editor of the Financial Times, and
the founder of Partners in Health, Paul Farmer, all
studied anthropology? Anthropologists are found in
journalism, foreign affairs, advertising, at tech
companies, and consulting for big business too.
Everybody wants to acquire the ethnographer's
magic.
Today we see that all cultures cross boundaries. It
actually took anthropologists a long time to notice
this, and when they did, a lot of their research had to
change. This class tells how that happened. It shows
how anthropologists borrowed from political economy
and history to tell a richer story of how societies
change.
The skills of the anthropologist
For more information...
To learn about what you can study in anthropology,
see the department's web site at sydney.edu.au/
arts/anthropology.
Studying anthropology can lead in many different
career directions. Learning about culture, society and
complexity provides valuable experience and
knowledge that helps you think creatively, grapple
with ambiguity, and see things from multiple points of
view. Professional anthropologists use the
‘ethnographic method’, participating as much as
possible in the daily lives of the people they study.
We learn to see interesting orders and patterns
where others see dull routines, or chaos and
confusion. We have, in the words of an early
anthropologist, "the ethnographer's
magic" (Malinowski 1922, 6).
Front left: Young woman weaver at village silk farm,
Santuk, Cambodia. © Linda Connor, 2015.
We figure out how people think, and the influence of
the social environment. We see how and why societies
change, and why they don't, and we challenge
experts and powerful people with facts that they
ignore. Assignments in anthropology classes help
develop skills of developing your own thinking,
Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1922. Argonauts of the
Western Pacific. London: George Routledge and
Sons, Ltd.
For more information
Neil Maclean | ANTH 1001 Unit Coordinator (2016)
T +61 2 9351 2931| E [email protected]
Ryan Schram | ANTH 1002 Unit Coordinator (2016)
T +61 2 9114 1293| E [email protected]
CRICOS 00026A
Reference and photo credits
Front right: Young men riding motorcycle in car park,
Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. © Anjalee Cohen,
2003.
Back: Coconut juice seller, market at Kampot,
Cambodia. © Linda Connor, 2015.