Anthropology

Anthropology ( /ænθrɵˈpɒlədʒi/) is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos (ἄνθρωπος), "human being", and -logia (-λογία), "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German philosopher Magnus Hundt.

Anthropology's basic concerns are "What defines Homo sapiens?", "Who are the ancestors of modern Homo sapiens?", "What are humans' physical traits?", "How do humans behave?", "Why are there variations and differences among different groups of humans?", "How has the evolution Anthropology ( /ænθrɵˈpɒlədʒi/) is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos (ἄνθρωπος), "human being", and -logia (-λογία), "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German philosopher Magnus Hundt.

Anthropology's basic concerns are "What defines Homo sapiens?", "Who are the ancestors of modern Homo sapiens?", "What are humans' physical traits?", "How do humans behave?", "Why are there variations and differences among different groups of humans?", "How has the evolutionary past of Homo sapiens influenced its social organization and culture?" and so forth.

In the United States, contemporary anthropology is typically divided into four sub-fields: cultural anthropology also known as social anthropology, archaeology, linguistic anthropology, and physical (or biological) anthropology. The four-field approach to anthropology is reflected in many undergraduate textbooks as well as anthropology programs (e.g. Michigan, Berkeley, Penn). At universities in the United Kingdom, and much of Europe, these "sub-fields" are frequently housed in separate departments and are seen as distinct disciplines.

The social and cultural sub-field has been heavily influenced by structuralist and post-modern theories, as well as a shift toward the analysis of modern societies (an arena more typically in the remit of sociologists). During the 1970s and 1990s there was an epistemological shift away from the positivist traditions that had largely informed the discipline.During this shift, enduring questions about the nature and production of knowledge came to occupy a central place in cultural and social anthropology. In contrast, archaeology, biological anthropology, and linguistic anthropology remained largely positivist. Due to this difference in epistemology, anthropology as a discipline has lacked cohesion over the last several decades. This has even led to departments diverging, for example in the 1998–9 academic year at Stanford University, where the "scientists" and "non-scientists" divided into two departments: anthropological sciences and cultural & social anthropology; these departments later reunified in the 2008–9 academic year. ...more

New Releases Tagged "Anthropology"

The Four Heavens: A New History of the Ancient Maya (Unearthing the Past)

Nightfaring: In Search of the Disappearing Darkness

Most Read This Week Tagged "Anthropology"

Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI

Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity

Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues

Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global

Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution

Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations

The History of Money: A Story of Humanity

The Bone Hacker (Temperance Brennan, #22)

The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us

We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys

Estuve aquí y me acordé de nosotros: Una historia sobre turismo, trabajo y clase (Nuevos cuadernos Anagrama, #61)

Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling

More most read this week tagged "anthropology"...

Anthropology Books

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies

The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures

Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation

More anthropology books...

Lists

Biographies of Indians

109 books — 24 voters

Guidance to Death by Daniel V. Meier Jr.

Ghost Ships, Abandoned Lighthouses and Other Eerie Vanishings in Fiction Part III

102 books — 3 voters

The Horse, the Wheel, and Language by David W. Anthony

480 books — 173 voters

The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell

The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil

How we see the world

274 books — 149 voters

The True Story of Moses by Linda George Christy

The Sacred and the Profane by Mircea Eliade

The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James

A History of Religious Ideas, Volume 2 by Mircea Eliade

Religious studies

160 books — 56 voters

The Removable Root Cause of Cancers and other Chronic Diseases by Paul Ola

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

The Corona Protocol Prescriber's Guide by Dr. Paul D Corona MD

Public Health Must Reads

40 books — 20 voters

Related Genres

Nonfiction
Archeology

Featured News & Interviews

New Voices Alert! 51 New & Upcoming Debut Novels

Read »

Quotes Tagged “Anthropology”

“ The world's most primitive people have few possessions, but they are not poor. Poverty is not a certain small amount of goods, nor is it just a relation between means and ends; above all it is a relation between people. Poverty is a social status. As such it is the invention of civilization. ...more ”
― Marshall Sahlins, Stone Age Economics

21 likes

“ I think about my education sometimes. I went to the University of Chicago for awhile after the Second World War. I was a student in the Department of Anthropology. At that time they were teaching that there was absolutely no difference between anybody. They may be teaching that still. Another thing they taught was that no one was ridiculous or bad or disgusting. Shortly before my father died, he said to me, ‘You know – you never wrote a story with a villain in it.’ I told him that was one of ...more ”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

77 likes

More quotes...