ANTH V02 Cultural Anthropology

Week 1: Intro to Anthropology

Anthropology: The Study of Humans

Anthropos /Logos: human/ study of

The Four Field Approach: Anthropology is a holistic approach

studies the totality of the human being

Cultural Anthropology:

What is Culture?

everything that people have, think and do as members of society

culture is shared and learned

Cultural studies look at: cultural processes and institutions

Linguistics:

Study of human language and speech

Origins of language

Specific languages

Language is a uniquely human characteristic

Archaeology:

The study of past human cultures which existed in the past and are now extinct

Archaeology looks at:

Prehistory (before written records)

Artifacts and material culture

Goals: construct culture history, reconstruct past lifeways, & study cultural process

Applied Anthropology:

Jobs outside university setting

Physical Anthropology:
looks at humans from a biological point of view

Genetics:

Molecular level (genes)

Process of inheritance

Population level (evolution)

Primatology:

The biology and behavior of non-human primates

Clues to early human behavior

Paleoanthropology:

Study of human evolution

looks at human fossil record

fossil: remains of life forms of the past

Bio-Cultural Diversity: How biology and culture contribute to human diversity