Anthropology and Human Diversity
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What are the aims of cultural anthropology?
In what ways does anthropology differ from other social sciences?
What are the different subfields within anthropology?
How do anthropologists understand human biological diversity?
How does anthropology help us understand our own and other cultures?
How have changes in the world affected the practice of anthropology?

 Describe, analyze and explain different cultures.
 Show how groups adapted to their environments and gave meaning to their lives.
 Comprehend the entire human experience.

Areas of Specialization/Fields of
Anthropology
 Cultural Anthropology
 Linguistic Anthropology
 Archaeology
 Physical Anthropology
 Applied Anthropology

 Study human culture and society.
 Search for general principles that underlie all cultures.
 Dynamics of a particular culture.

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Language and it’s relation to culture.
 Study human languages:
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Development
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Variation
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Relationship of language to culture.
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How languages are learned .

 Study of past cultures-material culture.
 Reconstruct past cultures.
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Interpret artifacts:
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Function
Location

Study humans from a biological perspective.
 Paleoanthropology
 Human variation
 Primatology
 Forensics

 Analyze social, political and economic problems and develop solutions.
 Includes all fields of anthropology.

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Belief that one’s culture is better than all other cultures.
 Measures other cultures- own cultural standards.
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+Can help bind a culture together
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- Can lead to racism.

 How many races are there?
 Race is socially constructed.
 No group of humans is biologically different from another.
 Humans have an equal capacity for culture.
 Human variation & biological diversity:
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Geographical reasons

 The idea that characteristics are caused by racial inheritance.
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Biological determinism
 Differences among human groups
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Reasons
 Humans belong to the same species
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Is race valid?

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Definition: “The notion that there are no universal standards by which all cultures may be evaluated.
Cultures must be analyzed with reference to their own histories and culture traits understood in terms of the cultural whole.”
Moral relativism is the notion that because no universal standard of behavior exists, people should not judge behaviors as good or evil.
 What is the difference?

 Emic: Describes the organization and meaning a culture’s practices have for its members. (insider’s view)
 Etic: Tries to determine the causes of particular cultural patterns that may be beyond the awareness of the culture being studied. (outsider’s view)