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What is Anthropology ?. . . What is Anthropology?. Anthropology is the broad study of humankind around the world and throughout time. It is concerned with both the biological and the cultural aspects of humans. Four Main Subdivisions:. Physical Anthropology biological evolution
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What is Anthropology? • Anthropology is the broad study of humankind around the world and throughout time. • It is concerned with both the biological and the cultural aspects of humans
Four Main Subdivisions: • Physical Anthropology • biological evolution • genetic inheritance • human adaptability and variation • Primatology • the fossil record of human evolution
Cultural Anthropology • culture • ethnocentrism • cultural aspects of language and communication • subsistence and other economic patterns • Kinship • sex and marriage • socialization • social control • political organization • Class • Ethnicity • Gender • Religion • culture change
Archaeology • Prehistory and early history of cultures around the world • Major trends in cultural evolution • Techniques for finding, excavating, dating, and analyzing material remains of past societies • Linguistic • Human communication focusing on: • Importance of socio-cultural influences • Nonverbal communication • The structure, function, and history of languages, dialects
Culture - Shared by most members of a particular society: • Symbols • Values • Beliefs • Behaviours
Participant-observation • Best way to get to know another society & its culture is to live in it as an active participant rather than simply an observer. • By physically and emotionally participating in the social interaction you become accepted as a member.
Dian Fossey • Dian Fossey believed that in order to study gorillas effectively she had to immerse herself with them in an effort to get them to accept her presence
Jane Goddall • Lives with and studied chimpanzees
How Does Change Happen Externally • Diffusion – spread of cultural traits through social contact (sushi) • Acculturation – process of contact, exposure, & exchange of ideas (incorporation, directed change, cultural evolution) Internally • Invention (a new product, idea, or social pattern) • An invention that affects daily life
Why do we need Anthropologists? Don’t they tell us what we already know to be true? • Intuition is believing something to be true because a person’s emotions and logic support it • Intuition is not proof of fact – this is why we need anthropologists – they prove or disprove what we BELIEVE to be true
Kinship • A family relationship based on what a culture considers a family to be • The family unit can vary depending on the culture in which the family lives
Methods used by Anthropologists • Participant-observation • Collection of statistics • Field interviews • Collection of detailed notes • Fieldwork
Anthropological Schools of Thought There are many but two that relate specifically to change: • Functionalism • Cultural Materialism
Functionalism • The function of beliefs & institutions is to meet the needs of the majority of society • Change occurs by consensus, based on shared values and norms. • The body is a common used analogy to describe this theory • Change must be slow because every institution is connected to others so they are linked
Cultural Materialism • Technological and economical factors are the most important in molding a society – known as materialism • Determinism – states that the types of technology and economic methods that are adopted always determine (or act as deciding factors in forming) the type of society that develops
Cultural Materialism - This theory views cultural change within a framework of 3 levels: • Infrastructure – (base of the pyramid) • How people attend to their basic needs of survival & reproduction • It influences the other 2 levels • Changes to demographics or economics will change the organization & ideology of a culture • Structure - (middle) • How a culture is organized (politics, laws, & families) • Superstructure - (top of the pyramid) • Ideology of a culture, its beliefs & values, such as religion