Anthropology Personal Statement

Ruth Benedict, Alfred Kroeber and Hortense Powdermaker all discovered anthropology through a college lecture. Benedict had become a high school English teacher, social worker, writer and poet (Mead, 7). After attending a lecture by Alexander Goldenweiser and Elsie Clews Parsons, Benedict knew that this career would keep her interested and she would enjoy it (7). Alfred Kroeber majored in English, like Benedict, but after hearing Franz Boas in a seminar on American Indian Languages he switched to studying anthropology (Steward, 4). Hortense Powdermaker was not happy with her desk­job after graduating from college so she went back for more schooling (Hortense, 293). She took a course in social anthropology and knew that was the career for her (293). All three of these anthropologists started in careers not related to anthropology but for unknown reasons had attended a lecture focusing on anthropology. The effects of attending one lecture

What is anthropology? This is a question that can be answered in numerous ways, but we are going to define it as simple as possible. If we break the word down into its two components it means the study of human beings. “Anthropo” means human beings or human kind and “logy” or “logia” is Greek for the study or knowledge of something. When we put it all together, it is the study of human beings which can be very broad. Anthropology can be broken down into four subfields: physical anthropology, archaeology, linguistic anthropology, and cultural anthropology.

Anthropology is something we should value because it allows us as human beings to learn about our origins and also to understand the cultures in the world outside of our own. Anthropology uses many techniques to learn and study such cultures that we do not understand. Ethnography is the gathering and interpretation of information based on intensive firsthand study of a participation culture -or- the written report of this study.

In 2014, George Gmelch studied and observed the practices, taboos, and fetishes that have been placed by other players perviously in the history of baseball. Gmelch amassed tremendous pieces of information upon us with all these players having different rituals,taboos, snd fetishes . From eating Popeyes every morning to avoiding eating certain foods, whatever flats your boat is what works. By slowly but surely observing all these actions Gmelch put together a piece that really can break down the "baseball magic".

• Anthropologists study the origin, development, and customs of human beings • They may research many questions related to what it means to be human:

1. Why is the idea of disappearing natives a myth? Use a specific quote from the text to support this.

When I and two other people left class and walked to the Anthropology open house, we were stopped outside of the door to receive the paper. We were told we needed 6 other stamps in total to get the extra credit for the assignment. One stamp was given to use at the door.

Anthropology is defined, in the most basic terms, as the study of other cultures. This field can subsequently be divided into more specific sects, and contain more precise defining characteristics, but this definition is essentially all that is needed. Anthropology is a science that attempts to look at other cultures and draw conclusions to questions that are raised while studying. An anthropologist is someone who accepts what is presented before them and is driven by an urge to understand each presentation as thoroughly as possible. Once the concept of anthropology is accepted, one must identify the means of reaching the goal of this field. In the sect of social anthropology, this vehicle is known as

Anthropology, as a discipline in the field of human sciences, is based on certain ethical principles to guide its practitioners through their research. This creates a stable framework on which to start any research project. Avoiding deviation, however, can be complicated. Anthropologists have a responsibility to their field,

As an aspiring physician and researcher, I am drawn to Northwester's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. I chose the biological sciences major in order to expand my knowledge about biology. While chemistry, biology, physics are my favorite subjects in school, I also find the development of human cultures to be a fascinating subject and would take anthropology electives at Northwestern to satiate my curiosity. At Weinberg, I am interested in conducting research in order to both expand my knowledge of scientific research and skills and to enhance my undergraduate experience.

The Cultural Anthropology class that I took last summer changed my perspective in life and confirmed my decision of being an Anthropology major. My worldly Cultural Anthropology professor, John Denman, took advantage of the three-hour, Monday through Thursday class and shared his whole life story, mixing his experiences with the lessons we were learning. Not only did this help with retaining the information, but I had never met someone who had “lived” so much. I was truly inspired and wished I could experience a day in the life of a participant observer. His stories of becoming part of a tribe in Hawaii, learning their traditions and culture were fascinating because he became part of something so special.

Humans are an interesting species because of the strong need humans have to fully understand what it truly means to be human. Many fields such as history, psychology, and sociology all offer a perspective in the study of humanity, but there are distinguishable from anthropology. Anthropology differs from other humanities fields due to its holistic nature, comparative research methods, and the strong emphasis on fieldwork and participant interaction. Anthropology is the study of people throughout the world, their evolutionary history, how they behave, adapt to different environments, communicate and socialize with one another. In order for anthropologists to examine the full scope of human life, they employ the four field approach that embodies the holistic nature of the field.

Anthropology is the social sciences discipline that looks to understand humanity. In this discipline there are subdivisions such as cultural anthropology and primatology, and the beauty of anthropology is that you can more than you think, link some of your life event to some anthropological context.

Politically we are confronted with a host of issues ranging from matters pertaining to local taxation, planning, and zoning to regional (if not global) terrorism and other manifestations of conflict. The study of geography allows us to participate and enjoy our planet. Geography gives us a sense of reference to where we live and where we may be going in relationship to where we have been. Its appreciation of the world we live in. Anthropology is the study of human kind and culture, everybody wants to know where and how humans came to be. Some examples we can apply anthropology in our daily lives would be in relating to our families, friends, co-workers, in understanding work dynamics, in understanding and communicating with teens,, and in proposing new ideas, and plans. Its unique contribution to studying the bonds of human social relations been the distinctive concept of culture.

In the past few decades, people are starting to shift towards learning cultural anthropology to explore human variations. In fact, it has come to be a bit of a fascination. “There is cultural intermingling and each country is learning more about other cultures.” For example, studying abroad for college students has greatly increased in recent years. Students realize that living and learning in another country will give them a broader knowledge of the culture and gain a deeper understanding of their own identity.