WHAT IS ANTHROPOLO GY? Lesson 1: An overview of the discipline

Anthropology: The study of all humans regardless of where or when they live/lived. Page 2 in Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology

Who are Humans? Taxonomy – Homo sapiens –Roughly 175,000 – 200,000 years old –The genus Homo means “human” and extends back to 2.5 million years ago Bipedal – meaning we walk on two feet –The only living primate to do so –Bipedal primates called – hominids –Hominids are 5 – 7 million years old

People are generally like me: Same desires? Same beliefs? Same attitudes? Same values?

Naïve realism The assumption that people are generally the same all throughout the world Reading 5 in Conformity and Conflicy

The Anthropological Perspective Holistic Comparative Field-Based Evolutionary Pages 2-3 in Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology

American Anthropology Differs from British social anthropology Franz Boas - the “father” of American anthropology Pages in Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology

The Four Field Approach Physical Anthropology Linguistic Anthropology Socio-cultural Anthropology Archaeology Page 3 in Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology

Physical/Biological Anthropology Humans as biological organisms Present variation Evolution Paleoanthropology Forensic anthropology Primates Pages 3-4 in Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology

The Primate Family Tree The Primates Prosimians Anthropoids Monkeys Hominoids Apes Humans

Linguistic Anthropology Human language transmits culture Language history Language acquisition among children Language in society and the power embedded in language Pages 6-7 in Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology

Archaeology Diggers Study material remains - artifacts Reconstruct the past Prehistoric Historic Pages 7-8 in Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology

Socio-cultural Anthropology The study of present culture and society Cross-cultural in scope Comparative Often study contemporary social issues Pages 4-6 in Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology

ANTHROPOLOG Y’SHISTORY & DEVELOPMENT Anthropology as an Academic Discipline

The History of Anthropology Age of Exploration –Beginning in the 15th Century Grew out of contact between Western Europeans and others throughout the world Encountered a wide range of peoples who were physically and behaviorally different

Early Understandings of Diversity Europeans used their Judeo-Christian background to interpret physical and cultural differences By the middle 19 th century, sciences like geology and biology began to be used to understand the world

The Birth of Anthropology Anthropology grows out of this shift to rationale thought Initially, anthropologists were used by colonial governments to study indigenous peoples so that they could be better governed Translation: Anthropology got its start as a tool of colonial oppression

Early Anthropological Theory Positivism The first major approach was the Social Evolutionist Pages in Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology

Social Evolutionism  Lewis Henry Morgan ( )  Unilineal Social/ Cultural Evolution Pages in Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology

Social Evolutionism Who first said the phrase - “Survival of the fittest”? Pages in Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology

Problems with Social Evolutionism Extremely biased Used biological arguments Used to justify Colonialism Page 205 in Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology

Time for a Change Rejection of social evolutionism Boas led the new school of American anthropology He emphasized: –Holistic perspective –The comparative method Page 206 in Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology

Early British Social Anthropology Bronislaw Malinowski (1888 – 1942) Anthropological fieldwork Functionalism Page in Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology

Early British Social Anthropology A.R. Radcliffe-Brown (1881 – 1955) Structural-Functionalism

The Great Debate What should be the defining concept in anthropology? The British camp: Society The American camp: Culture While this debate seems trivial, it divided both sides Page in Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology

Another Shift in Thought Postmodernism Can anthropology be scientific?

Exam Review Questions What are the 4 fields of American anthropology (Chapter 1 in Core Concepts)? –What are the sub-disciplines (if any) within the four fields? Where, when, and how did anthropology develop as an academic discipline (Chapter 12 in Core Concepts)? –Is anthropology an old discipline? –How did colonial Europeans view of humanity and how did this ideology factor into anthropology’s development? –Who were the key early anthropologists with regards to the following theoretical ideas? Comparative method Structural-functionalism Functionalism Social Darwinism Unilineal cultural evolution