The Anthropological

Perspective
What is anthropology?

◼ What do you think when you hear the

word “anthropology”?

Anthro-: Man
-Ology: Study of

Anthropology: Study of human beings

Fields in Anthropology

◼ Biological (physical) anthropology

◼ Linguistic anthropology
◼ Archaeological anthropology
◼ Cultural anthropology
Physical Anthropology
▪ The study of humans from a biological perspective
Human blood, DNA, bones, biology, etc.

Examples:
● forensic anthropologists studying and identifying
remains
● primatology (studying apes or monkeys)
● medical anthropologists studying children’s nutrition
and behavior
Linguistic Anthropology

▪ Studies language in its social and cultural

context, across space and over time.

Examples:
Dr. Pamela Bunte Studying Verbal artistry in
Southern Paiute narratives
▪ Other linguistic anthropologists have
identified links between social
and linguistic variation, like the
difference
between language
among classes.
Archaeological
Anthropology
◼ Reconstructs, describes, and interprets
past human behavior and cultural
patterns through material remains.
•Example: examining the remains
of an ancient city discovered in
Italy, like Pompeii.

•Other archaeologists have

created a subfield called garbology
(the study of garbage). In one city
in Tucson, the areas reporting the
low consumption of beer actually
produced the most cans of beer in
their garbage.
 Cultural Anthropology

◼ The study of human society and culture,

the subfield that describes, analyzes,
interprets, and explains social and
cultural similarities and differences.

Culture includes everything that people have, think

and do as members of a society
Examples: clothing, beliefs, and behaviors.
 Cultural Anthropology

Cultural anthropologists generally use two

kinds of activity study and interpret diversity:

▪ 1. Ethnography
▪ 2. Ethnology
 Ethnography
Provides and account of one particular
community, society or culture
▪ Groups that anthropologists traditionally
have studied have been powerless and
relatively poor (as are most people in the
world today)
However, modern cultural
anthropologists and applied
anthropologists often study
local cultures and subcultures in
a variety of social settings. Eg,
unemployed men in Philadelphia
or pregnant women in Mission
Viejo.
 Ethnology

◼ Examines, interprets, analyzes and

compares the results of ethnography –
the data gathered in different societies.
▪ It then uses such data to compare and
contrast and to make generalizations about
society and culture
▪ Example: anthropologists might examine the ways
death rituals are performed in different cultures
around the world.
 Scholarly vs Practicing
Anthropology
What can we do with this
information? Why study human
culture?

Two reasons:
1. Academic anthropology – studying
people in order to report, analyze and
theorize
2. Applied anthropology – studying
people with the intent to solve
contemporary social problems
 Applied Anthropologists in
Action
◼ Medical anthropology
▪ Studies health conditions from a
cross-cultural perspective.

In Uganda’s Mwiri
primary school,
children are taught
about HIV
Applied Anthropologists
(cont’d)
These children have a
condition called
kwashiorkor, which is a
word that comes from a
West African term
meaning “one-two”. This
refers to the practice in
some societies of abruptly
weaning one infant when
a second is born. With no
mother’s milk, the first
baby may get no protein
at all.
What are some culturally appropriate ways of fending
off kwashiorkor?
Applied Anthropologists at
Home
Anthropologists have
worked in urban
areas to help address
social issues like
homelessness
 What will we be studying in
anthropology?
◼ We will be looking specifically at cultural
anthropology. Our course will use the
cultural anthropological lens in our
readings, discussions, projects and exams.
▪ We will define culture and talk about
relativism and ethnocentrism
▪ We will look at different family or kinship
systems
▪ We’ll talk about sex and gender, economic
systems and rites of passage
▪ Finally, we’ll examine the ways social
stratification occurs in various cultures