Chapter 1

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Chapter 1 Introduction to Anthropology
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What is anthropology?

• Anthropology is the systematic study of
  humankind.
• ???????? - man
• ????? - word/study
• Emergence of the discipline
• Two major goals
• Understand uniqueness and diversity
• Discover fundamental similarities

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Four-field Approach

• Four subdisciplines bridge science and
  humanities
• Physical Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Linguistics
• Cultural Anthropology

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Physical Anthropology

• Primarily concerned with humans as a biological
  species
• Most closely related to natural sciences
• Major research areas
• Human evolution
• Modern human variation
• Subdisciplines
• Palaeoanthropology, primatology, forensics,
  genetics

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Archaeology

• Archaeologists seek out and examine the artifacts
  (material products) of past societies.
• Archaeology is not treasure-hunting (a la Indiana
  Jones).
• Subdisciplines of archaeology
• Prehistoric, historic, Classical, Biblical,
  underwater
• Modern trash

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Linguistic Anthropology

• Subfield of anthropology, philosophy, and English
• Main research areas
• How language is used
• Relationship between language and culture
• How humans acquire language
• Fields of linguistics
• Structural, historical, sociolinguistics

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Cultural Anthropology

• Sometimes known as ethnology, cultural
  anthropology examines contemporary societies and
  cultures throughout the world.
• Participant observation
• Ethnography
• Ethnographic data

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Holism and Applied Anthropology

• Training in all four fields required
• Links to other social sciences
• Sociology, psychology, economics, political
  science, history
• Applied Anthropology
• Sometimes called the 5th field
• Offers practical solutions to cultural problems

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Great Britain - 1966
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Guinea Bissau, Africa
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The Americas
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The Netherlands
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Italy
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Tibet, 1997
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Mexico - November 1
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U.S. - Virginia, 2000
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Cultural Relativism

• The values of one culture should not be used as
  standards to evaluate the behavior of persons
  from outside that culture a societys custom and
  beliefs should by described objectively.
• Modern approach We should strive for objectivity
  and not be too quick to judge however, there are
  some moral absolutes that are removed from
  culture.
• Discussion
• Examples of moral absolutes?

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Introduction to Sociology
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Sociology defined and explained
Question What is Sociology? Answer
The Scientific study of human societies and
social behavior.
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A Systematic Approach
Q Is it a science? A Yes, sociologists begin
their work by proposing questions of importance
to them and then designing a research project
that will enable them to ascertain the answers to
their major research questions. Q Is it
organized? A Yes, sociological investigations
proceed systematically. As a social science ,
sociology is a discipline that is organized and
methodical and its endeavors are undertaken for
the purpose of enhancing knowledge.
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Defining the Sociological Perspective

• Sociology is the scientific study of human
  society and social interactions.
• What makes sociology scientific?

Personal experience Awareness of
friends Systematic study with
drug use and associates
patterns of a random
of drug
use sample of drug


users
Levels of Understanding Drug Use
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Sociology and Common Sense

• Common sense assumptions are usually based on
  very limited observation.
• Moreover, the premises on which common sense
  assumptions are seldom examined.
• Sociology seeks to
• use a broad range of carefully selected
  observations and
• theoretically understand and explain those
  observations.
• While sociological research might confirm common
  sense observation, its broader base and
  theoretical rational provide a stronger basis for
  conclusions.

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I am not an Animal!!!
Sociologists examine groups of humans in an
effort to understand the nature, meaning and
significance of human group relationships.
NOTE Sociologists are not interested in
animal species.
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Social behavior

• Sociologists examine the following
• What people do that affect others around them.
• things that people do after they have given
  thought to how others might respond to their
  acts, especially when the people are aggregated
  into groups.

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The least we need to know

• Sociology seeks to understand how groups work,
  how groups influence one another, and how groups
  influence the things that individuals do.

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Sociology vs. Anthropology
One branch of anthropology (cultural) shares
an interest with sociology in its focus on
cultural issues. The other branches, archaeology
and physical anthropology are different in their
study of relics and skeletal remains to
understand peoples of the past.
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Sociology vs. Psychology
Psychology attempts to explain why individuals
act, or how individuals influence others
behavior. Remember, sociology attempts to
explain how and why groups act or how groups
influence individuals behaviors.
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Sources

• Introduction to Anthropology
• http//www.killgrove.org/ANT220/jan15.ppt
• Introduction to Anthropology
• http//www.socanth.uncc.edu/crobb/1introlect1.ppt
  
• Introduction to Anthropology
• http//www.wmrfh.org/rbaker/The20Four20Fields.p
  pt
• Introduction to Sociology
• http//www.imperial.edu/Media/19-SOC1CH1.ppt
• Introduction to Sociology http//www.aui.ma/person
  al/B.Cox/material/ISCh01r.ppt

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