Introduction to Anthropology

Authors

Anna Boshnakova, Sheridan CollegeFollow

Files

Document Type

Book Chapter

Description

Anthropology is a discipline with an intriguing reputation. The unforgettable George Lucas Indiana Jones movies, Dan Brown’s bestselling mystery-detective novel The Da Vinci Code or the popular TV series Bones represent different aspects of the multidisciplinary nature of anthropology and give us an idea what anthropologists do, albeit a Hollywoodized one. The smart and brave Dr. Henry Walton “Indiana” Jones, Jr., or “Indy” discovers treasures in secret places; the Harvard professor Dr. Robert Langdon solves mind-bending riddles and uncovers hidden symbolic messages and cryptic codes; or the passionate forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan investigates crime scenes and resolves cold cases. All of these influential fictional characters have helped to raise the profile of anthropology as a discipline that seeks to understand and explain the complexity of human nature and behavior in all its diversity, both past and present.

Publication Date

2020

Publisher

TopHat

Disciplines

Anthropology

Comments

Learning Outcomes
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

• Define the discipline of anthropology;
• Distinguish between anthropology and other social sciences disciplines;
• Explain the general structure of anthropology;
• Describe the methods used by the anthropologists to conduct their research;
• Differentiate between basic and applied research;
• Assess ethical considerations in anthropological research.

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences (FHASS)

Terms of Use

Terms of Use for Works posted in SOURCE.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

SOURCE Citation

Boshnakova, Anna, "Introduction to Anthropology" (2020). Books & Chapters. 18.
https://source.sheridancollege.ca/fhass_books/18

Original Citation

Boshnakova, A. and J. Ginter. (2020). Introduction to anthropology. In: J. Pulis and P. Angelini (Eds.), Social and behavioural sciences: Exploring human behaviour and he environment (pp. 3-55). TopHat.