ANTH100 Lecture 1: Thinking and Doing Anthropology

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Anthropology
• Course: ANTH100
• Professor: Gotz Hoeppe

Document Summary

Anthropology is the objective and systematic study of humankind in all times and places. Anthropology contains four major fields: cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, archaeology, and biological or physical anthropology. In each of anthropology"s fields, some individuals practice applied anthropology, which uses anthropological knowledge to solve practical problems. Cultural anthropologists study humans in terms of their cultures, the often-unconscious standard by which social groups operate. Linguistic anthropologists study human languages and may deal with the description of a language, with the history of languages, or with how languages are used in particular social settings. Archaeologists study human cultures through the recovery and analysis of material remains and environmental data. Biological anthropologists focus on humans as physical organisms; they particularly emphasize tracing the evolutionary development of the human animal and studying biological variation within the species today. In anthropology, the humanities social sciences, and natural science come together into a genuinely humanistic science.