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    Introduction To Anthropology

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    Bismah Ibrar
    This document provides an introduction to anthropology. It defines anthropology as the scientific study of humanity, including our evolution, social and cultural variations, and biological characteristics. It notes some common misconceptions that anthropology only studies primitive societies or rural areas. A brief history outlines how anthropology emerged in the 19th century to make comparative studies of human groups and uncover universal patterns.

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    Introduction To Anthropology

    Uploaded by

    Bismah Ibrar
    86 views14 pages
    This document provides an introduction to anthropology. It defines anthropology as the scientific study of humanity, including our evolution, social and cultural variations, and biological characteristics. It notes some common misconceptions that anthropology only studies primitive societies or rural areas. A brief history outlines how anthropology emerged in the 19th century to make comparative studies of human groups and uncover universal patterns.

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    1. Introduction to Anthropology

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    This document provides an introduction to anthropology. It defines anthropology as the scientific study of humanity, including our evolution, social and cultural variations, and biological characteristics. It notes some common misconceptions that anthropology only studies primitive societies or rural areas. A brief history outlines how anthropology emerged in the 19th century to make comparative studies of human groups and uncover universal patterns.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    86 views14 pages

    Introduction To Anthropology

    Uploaded by

    Bismah Ibrar
    This document provides an introduction to anthropology. It defines anthropology as the scientific study of humanity, including our evolution, social and cultural variations, and biological characteristics. It notes some common misconceptions that anthropology only studies primitive societies or rural areas. A brief history outlines how anthropology emerged in the 19th century to make comparative studies of human groups and uncover universal patterns.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 14

    Introduction to

    Anthropology
    Shamona Zia
    Visiting Faculty, FASS
    University of the Central Punjab
    Lahore
    Introduction to
    Anthropology
    What is Anthropology?
    Misconception about Anthropology
    Brief Historical overview of Anthropology
    What is Anthropology?

     The term anthropology is a combination of two words derived

    from Greek language: Anthropos and logos.

     The term Anthropos is equivalent to the word mankind


    or human being, while logos means study or science. So
    putting the two words together, anthropology is the or science
    of mankind or humanity.
    What is Anthropology?

     Anthropology is a broad scientific discipline dedicated to

    the comparative study of humans as a group, from its first

    appearance on earth to its present stage of development.


    What is Anthropology?

    In a more specific term, anthropology is science which:

     Investigates the strategies for living that are learned and


    shared by people as members of human social groups;

     Examines the characteristics that human beings share as


    members of one species (homo sapiens) and the diverse
    ways that people live in different environments;
    What is Anthropology?

     Analyzes the products of social groups: material objects

    (tools, cloths, houses, etc) and nonmaterial creations

    (beliefs, values, practices, institutions, etc).


    Anthropology and Natural Sciences
     Anthropology has a strong affinity with natural sciences as well.

     In fact, anthropology is well known by that aspect of it which is mainly


    concerned with the biological/ physical dimensions of mankind as a biological
    being in group context.

     Hence, it may be inappropriate to say that anthropology is only a social science.


    It is also a natural science, not in the sense that it deals with the natural
    phenomenon or man as an individual entity but in the sense that one of its main
    interests is to study man and man's behavior as a product of the natural
    processes, and in the context of the animal kingdom.
    Misconceptions about Anthropology

    Four misconceptions about anthropology


    1. Anthropology is limited to the study of
    "primitive" societies.
    2. Anthropologists only study the rural people and
    rural areas.
    Misconceptions about Anthropology

    3. Anthropologists are only interested in the study of far away, remote exotic

    communities living isolated from the influences of modernization.

    4. Anthropology wants to keep and preserve primitive, out-of-date cultural

    practices in museums and anthropologists are advocates of defunct, obsolete

    culture.
    Brief Historical Overview of
    Anthropology

     The present academic anthropology has its roots in the works and

    ideas of the great ancient and Medieval Greek, Roman, and Hebrew

    philosophers and social thinkers.

     These people were interested in the nature, origin and destiny of

    man, and the morality and ethics of human relationships.


    Brief Historical Overview of
    Anthropology

     Anthropology as an academic discipline was born during the 19th

    century.

     Anthropology as academic discipline was born out of the

    intellectual atmosphere of that is called the Enlightenment and

    based on Darwinian Theory of Evolution.


    Brief Historical Overview of
    Anthropology

     Early anthropologists mainly studied small communities in technologically

    simple societies (traditional, non-industrialized or simple societies).

     Anthropologists of the early 1900s emphasized the study of social and cultural

    differences among human groups. This approach is called

    ethnography.
    Brief Historical Overview of
    Anthropology

     By the mid-1900, anthropologists attempted to discover

    universal human patterns and the common bio-

    psychological traits that bind all human beings. This approach is

    called ethnology.
    Brief Historical Overview of
    Anthropology

     Ethnology aims at the comparative understanding

    and analysis of different ethnic groups across time

    and space.

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