1 / 13

Anthropology: The Discipline of Infinite Curiosity about Human Beings

This introduction to anthropology explores the scope and holistic approach of the discipline. It delves into the curiosity that anthropology has about various aspects of human beings and poses intriguing questions. It also highlights the specific fields of study within anthropology and the methods used in research, as well as the application of anthropological knowledge in practical settings. The scientific method and its role in anthropology are also discussed.

kmuncy
Download Presentation

Anthropology: The Discipline of Infinite Curiosity about Human Beings

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Introduction ANTHROPOLOGY:A DISCIPLINE OF INFINITE CURIOSITY ABOUT HUMAN BEINGS

  2. THE DISCIPLINE • THE SCOPE OF ANTHROPOLOGY • THE HOLISTIC APPROACH • ANTHROPOLOGY & SCIENCE • THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL CURIOSITY

  3. A sample of Questions that Anthropology ponders: • Why can human beings throw baseballs? • Why do we stand up on two fragile limbs when so many other animals sensibly move about on all four? • Why are we relatively hairless (and, thus, get sunburn)? • Why do we speak, form societies, fight wars? • Why do we think about our own impending deaths? • How long have human beings been around? • When did people first start farming, or forming states?

  4. “First Contact” • What types of questions would you ask? • How would you respond to these people? • What types of things would you look for while observing these people? • The anthropologist may also experience "culture shock” • a psychological reaction that ranges from mild to severe when we experience a different culture

  5. SPECIFIC FIELDS OF STUDY • PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY • ONE MAJOR FIELD • CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY • ARCHAEOLOGY • LINGUISTICS • ETHNOLOGY

  6. PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY HUMAN PALEONTOLOGY or PALEOANTHROPOLOGY HUMAN VARIATION HUMAN GENETICS POPULATION BIOLOGY EPIDEMIOLOGY

  7. CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY ARCHAEOLOGY PREHISTORY HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY LINGUISTICS HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS STRUCTURAL LINGUISTICS SOCIOLINGUISTICS ETHNOLOGY ETHNOGRAPHY

  8. ETHNOLOGY • ETHNOGRAPHER • ETHNOHISTORIAN • CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCHER

  9. METHODS • WITHIN-CULTURE COMPARISONS • NONHISTORICAL CONTROLLED COMPARISON • CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH • HISTORICAL RESEARCH

  10. APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY • ALL FOUR SUBDISCIPLINES REPRESENTED • Utilize anthropological knowledge to achieve practical goals • EXAMPLES • Museum work • Forensics • Bilingual education • Community development

  11. THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD • provides orderly and supported explanations • a logical system used to evaluate data that are obtained by systematic observation • science theories are falsifiable • scientific explanations are testable, tentative, and subject to change • The scientific method rests on the faith that the universe possesses order and this order can be discerned and interpreted

  12. THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD (cont.) • Two ways of generating testable propositions or what are called hypotheses: • inductive method • begins with specific observations from which you then draw conclusions or make generalizations • deductive method • begins with a generalization or theory and from it you predict specific observations, actions, or applications

  13. SUMMARY • Eric Wolf has called anthropology "the most scientific of the humanities and the most humanist of the sciences."

More Related