Anthropology Class Notes
Anthropology Class Notes
We/They dichotomy
Western / Non-Western
Rational / Mystic
Scientific population / Non
Understand the holistic "whole" approach
Edward Tylor - Father of anthropology
Franz Boas - Father of American anthropology
Hominids - Bipedal Primates
Chapter 1: Anthropology and human diversity
Relevant Questions:
1) What is anthropology?
The study of peoples (Anthropos-man / Logos-study of)
2)What are the goals of anthropology?
To understand the biological evoltion of the human species
To understand the biological diversity of present day human
To understand the cultural past of human societies
To understand the cultural similarities and differences among present day human groups
3)What is the anthropological perspective?
4)What do we mean by "etic" and "emic" perspectives?
5)What social groups do anthropologists study?
6)Why study anthropology?
We live in an increasingly multicultural world; anthropology helps us answer philosophical questions about what it means to be human; anthropology may present us with ways in which we could improve our world. For example, how does anthropology address the issues of "race" racism, and racialism?
Hypodescent - the process by which a child whos parents belong to two different social groups is considered to be a member of the least privileged of the two groups
Ethnocide - total destruction of a cultural group - assimilation accultunation - merging of 2 cultures, they drop some values and gain others
Genocide - Total destruction of the people and culture of a group
Fields of anthropology
1)Cultural anthropology - It consists of the study of living, present-day human cultures and societys
Fieldwork -Long term exploration of a cultural group.
Participant --- Observation
"Emic" "Etic"
Insiders Outsiders Ethnography
The anthropology of Religion
Visual Anthropology
Legal, Political anthropology
2)Archaeology - It consists of the study of past societies through the analysis of their material remains
We/They dichotomy
Western / Non-Western
Rational / Mystic
Scientific population / Non
Understand the holistic "whole" approach
Edward Tylor - Father of anthropology
Franz Boas - Father of American anthropology
Hominids - Bipedal Primates
Chapter 1: Anthropology and human diversity
Relevant Questions:
1) What is anthropology?
The study of peoples (Anthropos-man / Logos-study of)
2)What are the goals of anthropology?
To understand the biological evoltion of the human species
To understand the biological diversity of present day human
To understand the cultural past of human societies
To understand the cultural similarities and differences among present day human groups
3)What is the anthropological perspective?
4)What do we mean by "etic" and "emic" perspectives?
5)What social groups do anthropologists study?
6)Why study anthropology?
We live in an increasingly multicultural world; anthropology helps us answer philosophical questions about what it means to be human; anthropology may present us with ways in which we could improve our world. For example, how does anthropology address the issues of "race" racism, and racialism?
Hypodescent - the process by which a child whos parents belong to two different social groups is considered to be a member of the least privileged of the two groups
Ethnocide - total destruction of a cultural group - assimilation accultunation - merging of 2 cultures, they drop some values and gain others
Genocide - Total destruction of the people and culture of a group
Fields of anthropology
1)Cultural anthropology - It consists of the study of living, present-day human cultures and societys
Fieldwork -Long term exploration of a cultural group.
Participant --- Observation
"Emic" "Etic"
Insiders Outsiders Ethnography
The anthropology of Religion
Visual Anthropology
Legal, Political anthropology
2)Archaeology - It consists of the study of past societies through the analysis of their material remains