AN101 Lecture Notes - Sociocultural Anthropology, Linguistic Anthropology, Biological Anthropology
Document Summary
Studies what it is to be human in its diversity. Archeology studies the human past through the analysis of material remains. Biological anthropology studies the biological evolution of the human specie. Primatology: studies primates, the closest living relatives to human beings. Paleoanthropology: studies fossilized bones of our early ancestors. Linguistic anthropology studies the relationship between language and culture. Sociocultural anthropology focuses on learned behaviours and ideas that human beings acquire as members of society. Fieldwork: getting immersed for a long period of time in other people"s everyday life. Participant observation: getting involved in the everyday routine of other people"s culture. Comparative approach: anthropology compares different cultural settings (not western focused) Methodology: through fieldwork and participant observation, anthropologists get immersed in other people"s everyday life and try to understand their point of view from the inside. Ethnography a form of anthropological writing that describes the main social practices and ideas of a specific group of people.
