Week 1
Anthropology=Study of Humankind
Human species and ancestors
Holistic(整体的)--past, present, and future; biology, society, language, and culture
Comparative, cross-cultural perspective
Exploring variation in time (diachronic历经时间长河的) and space (synchronic不考虑历史上变化的)
Anthropology in the news: http://anthropology.tamu.edu/html/in-the-news.html Adaptation
It is all about adaptation
What distinguishes humans from other species?
Before J. Goodall, it was just technology
Bipedalism（两足动物）, culture, language, intelligence Culture is the non-biological means of adaptation Cultures are traditions and customs, transmitted through learning, that govern the beliefs and behaviors of the people exposed to them
Four subfields of anthropology: all interrelated
* Cultural anthropology * Archaeology * Biological or physical anthropology * Linguistic anthropology
Cultural Anthropology
Combines ethnography (人种学) and ethnology（民族学）to study human societies and cultures to explain similarities and differences.
Ethnography focuses on a particular community, society, or culture based on information collected during fieldwork, which involves living in the community (e.g., 6 months to 2 years).
Emphasizes local behavior, beliefs, customs, social life, economic activities, politics, and religion
Emic and etic views
Ethnology examines, interprets, analyzes, and compares the ethnographic data gathered in different societies to make generalizations about society and culture.
Biological or Physical Anthropology
Biological, or physical, anthropology investigates human biological diversity
Paleoanthropology（古人类学）: human evolution as revealed by the fossil record
Human genetics
Human growth and development
Human biological plasticity: the body’s ability to change as it copes with stresses such as heat, cold, and altitude
Primatology（灵长动物类学）: the study of the biology, evolution, behavior, and social life of primates
Archaeological Anthropology
Describes, and interprets past human behavior and cultural patterns through material remains
Material remains: potsherds（陶瓷片）, jewelry, and tools, garbage, burials, structures, etc.
Paleoecological studies: ecological and subsistence patterns
Look at changes in social complexity over thousands and tens of thousands of years
Kinds of Archaeology
* Experimental archaeology: try to replicate ancient techniques and processes * Historical archaeology: use of written records as supplements in their study of societies with written histories * Classical archaeology: Mediterranean, such as Greece, Rome, and Egypt * Underwater archaeology: submerged sites
Science, Explanation, and Hypothesis Testing
Science is a way of viewing the world.
* -Hypotheses are suggested explanations of things and events. * testing hypotheses * -Explanations show how and why the thing to be understood is related to other things in some known way.
A theory is more general, suggesting and implying associations and attempting to explain them
Steps in the Scientific Method
Applied Anthropology
* Applied anthropology is the application of any of anthropological data, perspectives, theory, and techniques to identify, assess, and solve contemporary social problems * Medical anthropology, environmental anthropology, forensic（法医的） anthropology, and development
Applied Anthropology Examples
* Biological anthropologists: public health, nutrition, genetic counseling, substance abuse, epidemiology, aging, mental illness, and forensics (e.g., mass graves). * Applied archaeologists locate, study, and preserve prehistoric and historic sites threatened by development (a.k.a. cultural resource management). Expert witnesses, garbology, movies (Smith, Parker) * Cultural anthropologists work with social workers, businesspeople, advertising professionals, factory workers, medical professionals, school personnel, education, and economic development
