ANTH1008 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Ethnomusicology, Dendrochronology, Co-Determination
ANTH1008 Lecture One: Introduction
• Literal translation from Latin: human study
• Anthropology is the study of human in the widest and most inclusive sense (Eller
2009:3)
• The study of the diversity of human bodied and behaviour in the past and present (Eller
2009:4)
• Anthropology is "one of the most important and urgent things people in the modern
word can do" (Eller 2009:19)
• The exploration of human diversity in time and space (Kottak 2011:5)
• Anthropologists typically study small, "traditional", "primitive" groups. It's the study of
what are called primitive or backward peoples (Radcliffe-Brown 1965:2). However,
nothing limits anthropologists to particular kinds of people or cultures. Initially, they
were concerned with small-scale, technologically simple societies because it is easier to
analyse compact and unfamiliar cultures and no other science did so (Eller 2009:10-11).
From the late 20th century anthropology included industrialised and urban groups
(Monaghan and Just 2000:2)
• Urban anthropology is the anthropological study of cities and urban life (Kottak 2011:
59), it has theoretical and applied dimensions, looking at topics such as immigrations,
ethnicity, poverty, class, and violence.
• Anthropology is incredibly varied, everything about humans is studied, every facet of
their way of living (e.g. Bolivian tin miners, high-energy physicists, Sri-Lankan priests,
heroin addicts, heavy metal listeners, Tasmanian Aborigines, Microsoft business
partners, etc.)
Anthological Approaches
• Holistic: the study of human nature, human society, and the human past
-Holism is the whole, the entirety
-Anthropologically holism is the study of the whole human condition and the whole
culture under study—past, present and future; biology, society language and culture
(Kottak 2011:5)
-Each culture must be approached as a whole because each culture has parts and the
parts are interconnected. Every part of a culture related in some way to every other part
(Eller 2009:13)
• Field based: involves direct contact with people, sites or animals of interest
• Comparative or cross-cultural: anthropology examines all societies, ancient and
modern, simple and complex (Kottak 2011:5)
-Western culture is quite atypical and non-representative, so western culture in a
cultural minority, like how any culture is the minority—no culture is holistic
• Evolutionary: the change over time, biologically and culturally
• Biocultural: humans are codetermined by cultural and biological processes
-it combines biological and cultural approaches to a given problem
-studies how organisms adaption and cope with environmental forces and stresses
• Comparing cultures is vital aspect of anthropology. It uncovers the similarities in
cultures and also the differences between cultures. It sheds light on the full variations
between cultures, what is possible for humans? And anthropology is the study of what
is possible and what is necessary for humans (Eller 2009:13)
• Anthropology is holistic, comparative/cross-cultural, and biocultural
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