Reflection About Anthropology

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

While reading in both books about ethnography I was shocked to learn that there was a ton of different theoretical perspectives. I was also shocked at how the theories are so different from one another. For some the only similarity is that it is the study of humans. Before the class I thought that there was a set way on how anthropology was studied but I very quickly found out that is not the case. Anthropology is very broad and is open to tons of different interpretations. There is no set way on how we must go about researching and studying.

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.

In society today, the discipline of anthropology has made a tremendous shift from the practices it employed years ago. Anthropologists of today have a very different focus from their predecessors, who would focus on relating problems of distant peoples to the Western world. In more modern times, their goal has become much more local, in focusing on human problems and issues within the societies they live.

Anthropologists have always had their discrepancies with the word culture and its background significance. There have been numerous definitions that have filtered through the field, yet not one that everyone can accept or agree with. Franz Boas, an anthropologist in the early 20th Century, and his students, had a difficult time figuring out the objective of what culture is. Culture is about learning and shared ideas about behaviour. Although Boas and his students had a slightly different idea in mind. They ultimately reached a conclusion, a definition of culture in their view that is a contradiction in terms. Boas sates that, “ culture was expressed through the medium of language but was not reducible to it;

a. Herbicide: a substance that is toxic to plants and is used to destroy unwanted vegetation.

Anthropology is the study of humans and cultures. The Chicago Tribunes article relates to the subject of physical anthropology because the Zika virus affects the communities of people around the world. The Zika virus is transmitted through mosquitos

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

Anthropology is the study of the human world. Anthropologists investigating the origin and development of human. Anthropology as a science split (physical anthropology, archaeological, linguistic, and cultural) and also in areas that are specialized as (forensic, medical, economic and business).

Anthropology is the study of society and cultures, when used by historians it can allow that historical narratives to grow. Historians can use anthropology to better explore cultural and social trends as well as deeply explore a certain community in great detail, exploring certain events that may be unique to that community along with its myths and folklore or is the community a part of a larger trend.

Anthropology is the study of humans and all aspects that revolve around people from the past to current time. There are many types of anthropology that make it helpful for finding something specific in that certain area. Anthropology can be helpful in wide ranges from different cultures, behavior, languages, from finding any kind of artifacts or fossil remains, anthropology is used to help discover what something is or what something used to be. Anthropology has come to be known as a study of an infinite curiosity about humans. Not only concerned with an interest in human beings and their developments, Anthropology is much more broad in concept of trying to understand the relationships between human beings and all possible questions about them.

When I get my degree in Social Work I hope to be working with developmentally disabled children and adults. I hope to be working with developmentally disabled people because my mom works with them so I grew up around them, and my little sister is autistic. Growing up around developmentally disabled people as well as having an autistic sister has made me feel compassion towards them and want to help them in their everyday lives do things that they are not fully capable of doing on their own. In my chosen degree there are many ways that the four subfields of anthropological training could be helpful. One of the four subfields, Archaeology could be helpful to me in my degree in social work by helping me better understand why some developmentally

The four fields of anthropology are biological/physical, linguistic, cultural, and archaeology. Cultural anthropology focuses on the beliefs, ideas, artistic expression, and patterns of behavior of a society. Linguistic is the spoken language, body language, and sign language. Biological/Physical is the info on genetics, child growth/development, health of ancestors, and types of diseases that can infect communities. Lastly, archaeology is the material remains, in a specific time period of extinct culture.

Armchair anthropologists conclude their research by studying artifacts and not conducting the proper research required (Horn 2012). Theories made by armchair anthropologists are based on assumptions rather than facts and evidence, this can cause misunderstandings between different races and cultures that are being studied leading to false information being spread and becoming popularized. Before ethnographic fieldwork was

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.