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What is Anthropology?

What is Anthropology?. The Anthropological Perspective. Anthropology is the study of humankind in all times and places. Focuses on the interconnectedness and interdependence of all aspects of the human experience in all places, in the present and deep into the past.

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What is Anthropology?

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  1. What is Anthropology?

  2. The Anthropological Perspective • Anthropology is the study of humankind in all times and places. • Focuses on the interconnectedness and interdependence of all aspects of the human experience in all places, in the present and deep into the past. • Anthropologists use the “holistic perspective,” which asks anthropologists to look at the “whole picture” to see all of these interconnections.

  3. Fields of Anthropology Physical Anthropology- • Focuses on humans as biological organisms; • Deals with a much greater time span than other branches of anthropology. • Paleoanthropology • Human Growth, Adaptation, and Variation • Primatology • Forensic Anthropology Archaeology- • Focuses on details of material and environmental remains in order to reconstruct a cultural story. Linguistic Anthropology- • Study human language to determine the past and present, and the relation between language and culture. Cultural Anthropology- • Study of customary patterns of behavior, thought, and feelings as humans are culture producing and culture re-producing beings. • Ethnography • Ethnology

  4. Physical Anthropology • Paleoanthropology- study of human evolution; how, when, and why we became the kind of organisms we are today. • Takes a biocultural approach– focuses on interaction of biology and culture • Human adaptation: • Environmental Extremes • Developmental Adaptations • Ex: Why eyebrows? • Physiological Adaptations • Ex: Changes in responses when moving into high altitude.

  5. Physical Anthropology • Primatology- study of living and fossil primates • Studying the anatomy and behavior of primates helps us understand what we share with our closest living relatives and what makes us unique.

  6. What is a Primate? Asian and African Apes Monkeys LemursLorisesTarsiers

  7. Physical Anthropology • Forensic Anthropology-the identification of human skeletal remains for legal purposes. • Called upon by law enforcement authorities to identify murder victims • Investigate human rights abuses like genocide, terrorism, and war crimes • Use details of skeleton to determine age, sex, stature, race, right/left-handed, children, etc.

  8. Archaeology • Studies human cultures through the recovery and analysis of remains • I.e. tools, pottery, cultural remains, fossils, etc. • What people say they do versus what they actually do. • Contemporary-prehistoric findings; prior to written history, creating our own story.

  9. INDIANA JONES INDIANA JONES AND ARCHAEOLOGY

  10. Archaeology Myths of Indiana Jones • These things are not (always) hidden in pyramids with traps • They take many long days to uncover • Artifacts need delicate care and proper tools • Treasure? Nah. Not the kind we all think it is.

  11. Linguistic Anthropology • Most distinctive feature of the human species • No other creature has established such a complex system of symbols, gestures, sounds, and words quite like us. • Work out relationships among languages • History- where and how the speakers of ancestral languages originated • Helped revive surpressed minority languages • Helped create written form of oral languages • Cultural slang

  12. Linguistic Anthropology • What aspects of language are universal in every language? • What are the first things you learn when learning a new language? Hunter-Gathering Societies vs. Americans

  13. Describe what you see….

  14. Cultural Anthropology • Study of customary patterns of behavior, thought, and feelings as humans are culture producing and culture re-producing beings. • Culture- Conscious and unconscious standards by which societies operate  socially learned • Has two main components: • Ethnography • Ethnology

  15. Cultural Anthropology • Ethnography- • Uses participant observation (submerging themselves in a culture in order to gain information) • Example: By living with war-like people, an ethnographer should be able to understand how warfare fits into the overall cultural framework. • Discovers how all aspects of culture relate to one another in order to truly understand a society’s cultural system. • Social • Political • Economic • Religious

  16. ACE VENTURA PET DETECTIVE • What is Ace trying to uncover? • Why go live with the culture? Guano

  17. Cultural Anthropology • Ethnology- • Uses the raw data from ethnography in order to make comparisons and connections across cultures. • Helps explain differences and similarities among separate groups. • Helps determine the function and operation of cultural practices in all times and places.

  18. Combining Expertise Anthropologists Working Together What three fields of Anthropology are used in this clip?

  19. ACTIVITY • In groups of 4 or 5, work collaboratively to create a movie poster for one of the fields of Anthropology. • Your movie poster must have the following: • A captivating image that is either literal or metaphorical explaining the duties/importance of the field. • A slogan or phrase that cleverly describes the field. *** Added Bonus: *** Use a pre-existing movie/TV show to alter and mold into a field of Anthropology.

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