INTRODUCTION TO

ANTHROPOLOGY
WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY?
 WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY?

Literal: Technical:
 - man The science of man

The systematic
 - word/study study of humankind.
WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY?
(Ember & Ember)

The term comes from the Greek anthropos for

“man, human” and logos for “study.”
They want to discover when,
Anthropologists They are
where, and why humans
seek answers to interested in both
appeared on the earth, how and
an enormous universals and
why they have changed, and how
variety of differences in
and why the biological and
questions about human
cultural features of modern
humans. populations.
human populations vary.
WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY?
(Ember & Ember)

• Applied and practicing

Anthropology anthropologists put
has a anthropological methods,
practical information, and results to use
in efforts to solve practical
side too. problems.
WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY?
(Haviland et al. 2017)

Anthropology is the study of

humankind in all times and places.
• Anthropology focuses on the interconnections
and interdependence of all aspects of the
human experience in all places, in the present
and deep into the past, well before written
history.
THE MEANING AND SCOPE OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Anthropology is the scientific

and humanistic studies of the Anthropology is a uniquely
human species.

It is the systematic comparative and

exploration of
human biological
and cultural
diversity. holistic science
THE MEANING AND SCOPE OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Anthropology is the scientific study of the

origin, the behaviour, and the physical, social,
and cultural development of humans.

• Anthropologists seek to understand what makes

us human by studying human ancestors through
archaeological excavation and by observing
living cultures throughout the world.
THE MEANING AND SCOPE OF ANTHROPOLOGY

When, why, and

how did humans
How cultures vary? come to be, what
has changed
through time?
Anthropologists are
interested in both
universals and
differences in human
populations.
THE MEANING AND SCOPE OF ANTHROPOLOGY

It is concerned with all varieties of Also interested in people of all

people throughout the world. periods.

It is broad in scope both geographically and

historically.

Used to concentrate only on non-

All parts of the world that has
western cultures, now they work in
humans is of interest.
western cultures as well.
THE MEANING AND SCOPE OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Past, present, and future

Interested in Biology
the whole of
Society
the human
condition: Language

Culture
THE MEANING AND SCOPE OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Anthropologists tend to focus on Anthropologists want to know

the typical characteristics of the why the characteristics that
human populations they study others might take for granted
rather than on individual exist.
variation or variation in small
groups.
THE MEANING AND SCOPE OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Why do some populations have lighter skin than

others?

Why do some societies practice polygamy whereas

others prohibit it?

Where and when did people first start to farm

rather than collecting and hunting wild resources?
FEATURES OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Holistic Approach

A fundamental principle of anthropology

Refers to an approach that studies many aspects of a
multifaceted system.

The various parts of human culture and biology must

be viewed in the broadest possible context in order to
understand their interconnections
FEATURES OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Holistic Approach

In anthropology, the holistic perspective means that no single

aspect of a human culture can be understood unless its
relationships to other aspects of the culture are explored.
Anthropologists does not focus on The attempt to understand a
just one aspect of the human community’s customs, beliefs,
experiences, but studies many values, and so forth holistically is
different types of variation within one reason ethnographic fieldwork
the human population and how it takes so much time and involves
affects their own experiences. close contact with people.
FEATURES OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Holistic Approach

For example, an anthropologist’s description of

a group of people is likely to encompass their
physical environment, a history of the area,
how their family life is organized, general
features of their language, their settlement
patterns, their political and economic systems,
their religion, and their styles of art and dress.
FEATURES OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Holistic Approach

The goal is not only to understand these aspects

of physical and social life separately but to glean
connections among them.

• The essence of the holistic perspective may be stated fairly

simply: look for connections and interrelationships, and try to
understand parts in the context of the whole
FEATURES OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Holistic Approach

Because anthropologists view human groups

holistically, their curiosity may lead them to find
patterns of relationships between seemingly
unrelated characteristics.

In recent times, as more anthropologists

work in larger and more complex societies,
the focus of inquiry has shifted from looking
at a whole society to smaller entities such as
neighborhoods, communities, organizations,
or social networks.
FEATURES OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Comparative Method

Anthropolgy
employs •Provide a frame of
comparative
method which reference for
attempts to understanding any single
explain similarities
and differences aspect of life in any
among people given community
holistically.
FEATURES OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Comparative Method

The main reason anthropologists insist on

comparison is simple:
Many people mistakenly think the
customs and beliefs that are familiar
to them exist among people
everywhere, which is usually not the
case.
FEATURES OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Comparative Method

Knowledge of cultural
variability makes • The beliefs and practices of
anthropologists people living in different
suspicious of any times and places are far too
general theoretical diverse for any general theory
idea about humans to be accepted until it has
that is drawn from been investigated and tested
experience of life in in a wide range of human
only one nation or groups
community.
FEATURES OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Comparative Method

To state the comparative

perspective concisely: valid
generalizations about
humans must take into
account the full range of
cultural diversity
ANTHROPOLOGICAL CURIOSITY

How, then, is anthropology really different from the

other disciplines?
• Anthropology’s distinctiveness lies principally in the kind of
curiosity it arouses.

Anthropology is broader in scope than any other

discipline having to do with humans.
• Anthropological curiosity mostly focuses on the typical
characteristics of human groups and how to understand and
explain them.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL CURIOSITY

As a species, Did the

When did How related
Do all societies are human earliest
people first are humans,
have marriage beings innately humans have
begin speaking monkeys and
customs? violent or light or dark
a language? chimpanzees?
peaceful? skins?
THE VALUE OF ANTHROPOLOGY

What insights What is the Some of the

does value of the most general
anthropology information insights and
offer about that contributions
humanity? anthropologists are:
have gathered
about the past
and present of
humankind?
THE VALUE OF ANTHROPOLOGY

First, anthropology helps us understand the biological,

technological, and cultural development of humanity
over long time spans.

Most of the reliable information available about

human biological evolution, prehistoric cultures, and
non-Western peoples resulted from anthropological
research.

This information has become part of our general

storehouse of knowledge, recorded in textbooks and
taught in schools.
THE VALUE OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Another value of anthropology is that it teaches the importance

of knowing and understanding cultural diversity.

Anthropology urges all of us not to be ethnocentric in our

attitudes toward other peoples.

Mutual respect and understanding among the world’s peoples are

increasingly important with globalization, with its world travel,
international migration, multinational businesses, and conflicts
based on ethnic or religious differences.
THE VALUE OF ANTHROPOLOGY

The world’s problems will not be

solved simply by eliminating
ethnocentrism, but a more relativistic
outlook on cultural differences might
help to alleviate some of the
prejudices, misunderstandings,
stereotypes, interethnic conflicts, and
racism that cause so much trouble
among people on all continents.
THE VALUE OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Anthropology helps
to minimize the • Anthropology teaches people to be aware
miscommunications of and sensitive to cultural differences—
that commonly people’s actions may not mean what we
arise when people take them to mean, and much
from different misunderstanding can be avoided by
parts of the world taking cultural differences into account
interact with one in our dealings with other people.
another.
THE VALUE OF ANTHROPOLOGY

• A Canadian • A manager from a • A Vietnamese student

businessperson selling German firm may be attending a California
products in Turkey may unintentionally university may come
wonder why her host offensive when he across as a sycophant to
does not cut the small shoves the business card her professors because
talk and get down to of his Korean or her culture values
business, whereas the Japanese counterpart in learning so highly, which
Turk can’t figure out his pocket without manifests itself as deep
why the salesperson carefully studying it. respect for teachers.
thinks they can do
business before they
have become better
acquainted.
THE VALUE OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Finally, people can use anthropology’s Anthropology offers the chance to

comparative perspective to compare yourself to other peoples
understand their own individual lives. who live in different circumstances.

By exposing you to the

When they learn about
cultures of people living
others, anthropologists
in other times and
hope that students gain
places, anthropology
new perspectives on
helps you see new things
themselves.
about yourself.
THE VALUE OF ANTHROPOLOGY

What assumptions do you unconsciously Do people in other cultures share the same
take for granted about people in other kinds of problems, hopes, motivations, and
places and humanity in general? feelings as you do?

How does your life compare to the lives of other people around
the world?

How does the overall quality of your

existence—your sense of well-being and
Or are individuals raised in other societies happiness, your family life, your emotional
completely different? states, your feeling that life is meaningful—
compare with that of people who live
elsewhere?
CONCLUSIONS

Anthropology has practical value in the modern world, and it is

not as esoteric as many people think.

Only anthropology allows us to see the development of human

biology and culture over long time spans.

Most of the knowledge we have about human evolution,

prehistoric populations, and modern tribal societies was
discovered by anthropologists.
CONCLUSIONS

The value of inculcating understanding and

tolerance among citizens of different nations is
another practical lesson of anthropology.

The information that ethnographers have collected

about alternative ways of being human allows us to
become more self-aware.

The comparative perspective of anthropology also

gives us insights into our own society.
CONCLUSIONS

It is related to many other fields, including the

sciences and humanities, to both natural sciences
and social sciences.

Anthropologists bring their distinctive cross-

cultural perspective to the study of economics,
politics, psychology, arts, music, literature and
society in general.