Essays on Anthropologists

Human beings are unique in their quest to understand the origin of life, and the urge rationalize nature and the world that surrounds them. We have developed various disciplines to better understand the natural world around us (Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology) and ourselves (Psychology, Physiology etc.). Anthropology is a discipline that tries to understand what it means to be human by looking at biological, evolutionary, cultural, and linguistic aspects. The word “Anthropology” is derived from Greek “Anthropos” meaning human and “Logos” meaning word(Lewis, Jurmain, & Kilgore, 2012). There are four major subfields of anthropology viz., biological, archeological, linguistic and ...

Ethnology is a branch of anthropology that is concerned with the analysis and comparison of various characteristics of living things- especially human- based on the relationship between them considering aspects such as social and cultural practices. Anthropologists have further coined the word ethnotaxonomy, which refers the study of the taxonomic systems within the context of ethnic groups . Further down, ethnozoology is another term applied by the anthropologists in reference to the study of both the previous and prevailing interrelations between the animals and human cultures in their natural environment. This discipline is concerned with the naming and grouping of ...

Introduction

The main mission of the ethnographer outlined in this paper was to carry out an investigation of the traditional Han society and culture (Jarvenpa, 1998). The ethnographer investigated how the Han lived in the early days, including if they still hunted for food or fished, how the Indians and members of the white community interacted, the communities’ hopes and fears, and how they saw their future. In this regard, the ethnographer investigated the traditional Han society and culture through cultural immersion and participants’ observation of the members of the community.

Methods

Methods: The ethnographer used two methods of collecting information. ...

Describe which general fossil primate groups appear and radiate during the following geological epochs: Eocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene. For each of the geological epochs, identify the general primate group that first appears and radiates during that epoch. In addition, give the time range in millions of years for each epoch and provide at least one example of a specific primate genus and/ or species that is representative of each general primate group. 2. List and briefly describe at least five elements of the post-cranial anatomy found in humans, but not in apes, that facilitate efficient bipedal locomotion. Provide specific ...

Introduction

Anthropology in Turkey is a rich context of gradual changes in people’s culture, social platform and political administration. Political and cultural heritage are among the key elements that have undergone the immense transformation. Efforts towards unification of the Turkish nation depicts change. These efforts led to the dissemination of Ataturk cult to unify the Nation. In the political realm, the first and second constituting declarations pivot the turning point. The 1990s saw the transformation of the PKK strategy with the aim of becoming a democratizing force in Turkey. This paper discusses the state of anthropology in Turkey, emerging ...

Introduction

This paper describes why the existence of race is not biologically yet it exists in the political and social sense. Additionally, the paper analyzes the factors that lead to variations among humans.

Why race isn’t “biological real.”

Interactions, professions, job positions, schools, and justice are all impacted by race, and people view the world through a racial lens (Frankenberg 58). Hence, the activities that people engage in are as a result of their race. According to Boas (7), although people behave in a certain way because they belong to a particular group, race is not biological. It developed through history since people are continuously ...

Kinship represents a system of societal organization that describes putative or real family ties. The concept is a human attribute that deeply relies on cultural extensions. While it remains common among many social sciences, kinship is increasingly popular in cultural anthropology. This essay describes descent and alliance as two significant concepts in cultural anthropology of kinship. Both terms encompass the primary forms of human relatedness. On one hand, the term alliance refers to the social relatedness that individuals form through marriage. Marriage-based alliances point to the necessity of interdependence for families and lineages. These marriages exist as a form ...

Lucien Levy-Bruhl was a French anthropologist who had a study in the primary field explaining the types of minds and which involved primitive mentality. In the work, “How natives think” he hypothesized on what he mentioned as the two basic mindsets of a person, the “primitive” and “the Western.” He goes ahead to explain in his work that a “primitive” mind does not have the ability to distinguish between the supernatural and the reality. The primitive mind, however, uses a “Mystical participation” to so as to exploit the world. Besides, Levy-Bruhl explains that the Primitive mind does not address ...

Final Portfolio Projects

Introduction The first project is from Chapter One: Introducing Linguistic Anthropology and involved asking people around me about what their opinion was regarding some popularly held notions about languages, and how the level of sophistication of a language is correlated with how civilized a people are perceived to be. The second project is from Chapter Twelve: Language, Culture, and Thought and explores the differences between cultural relativism and universalism in analysing various aspects of a culture. The third project is from Chapter Nine: Languages In Variation and Languages In Contact and pertains to the increasing usage of English language ...

The situation on Earth

After humans were expelled from Pandora they returned to Earth in defeat, having to contend with the fact that their depleted resources were now unable to be resupplied. In desperation, they decide to reform the defunct RDA into a new organization. The former Resources Development Administration is restructured into the Resources Acquisition Group (RAG) which has determined that a more peaceful approach may be to use Pandora as a case study for house Earth itself might be revitalized using a small amount of resources and information given willingly by the Na'i. The “Avatar” program is therefore readopted into this ...

Abstract

Mermaids have remained the creatures of mythology for quite some time now, and they are also being featured in many of the present day movies and TV shows apart from the children’s cartoons. That is all well for we know that these media are a work of fiction, but shockingly enough, the subject has very recently come up but this time, the classification has not remained in the genre of fiction. Today people are asking if mermaids could actually exist or if the myths had come out of a few very overactive imaginations. The controversial issue has become ...

The growth of material culture research has occurred simultaneously with a mounting interest in the physical and represented aspect of social life within the field of anthropology. Material culture perspective is founded on the clear, apparent reality that the presence of human-made objects or artefacts is actual proof of the existence of human intelligence (Prown 1982: 1). The fundamental principle is that objects created or changed by humans reveal the beliefs of people who created, bought, used, or consumed them, and thereby the value and belief system of the society at large. Visual anthropology and landscape are vivid representations ...

Trobriand islanders are the inhabitants of Trobriand Island. This is a unique community of people, who despite the civilization and European colonization were able to maintain their authentic traditions and way of life. These people still live by primitive style of living, but some of the impacts of globalization they have taken into their lives. Many anthropologists explored Trobriand culture, but two of them succeeded the most. Let`s have a more deliberate look at this unusual islanders who were able to save their primitive identity among the world of civilization. Trobriand consists of the four main islands which ...