The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to anthropology:

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

– study of humanity. Anthropology has origins in the natural sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences.Wolf, Eric (1994) ''Perilous Ideas: Race, Culture, People.'' ''

Current Anthropology ''Current Anthropology'' is a peer-reviewed anthropology academic journal published by the University of Chicago Press for the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. Founded in 1959 by the anthropologist Sol Tax1907-1995. ''Current A ...

'' 35: 1-7. p.227 The term was first used by François Péron when discussing his encounters with Tasmanian Aborigines. Flannery, T.F. (1994) ''The Future Eaters: An ecological history of the Australasian lands and people'' Chatswood: New South Wales

What ''type'' of thing is anthropology?

Anthropology can be described as all of the following: *

Academic discipline An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

– body of knowledge given to – or received by – a disciple (student); a branch or sphere of knowledge, or field of study, that an individual has chosen to specialise in. * Field of science – widely recognized category of specialized expertise within science, and typically embodies its own terminology and nomenclature. Such a field will usually be represented by one or more scientific journals, where peer reviewed research is published. There are many sociology-related scientific journals. * Social science – field of academic scholarship that explores aspects of human society.

History of anthropology

History of anthropology History of anthropology in this article refers primarily to the 18th- and 19th-century precursors of modern anthropology. The term anthropology itself, innovated as a New Latin scientific word during the Renaissance, has always meant "the study ...

Fields of anthropology

Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...

Biological anthropology Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, is a scientific discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, their extinct hominin ancestors, and related non-human primates, particularly from an e ...

, concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings * Linguistic anthropology * Cultural anthropology, focused on the study of cultural variation * Social anthropology, the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom

Archaeological and biological subfields

Outline of archaeology * Anthrozoological * Biocultural *

Evolutionary Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variati ...

, studies the relation between hominids and non-hominid primates *

Feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, seeks to reduce male bias in research finding * Forensic, application of anthropology in judicial settings * Maritime * Palaeoanthropological

Linguistics subfields

Outline of linguistics The following outline is provided as an overview and topical guide to linguistics: Linguistics is the scientific study of natural language. Someone who engages in this study is called a linguist. Linguistics can be theoretical or applied. ...

* Linguistic anthropology, the interdisciplinary study of how language influences social life * Descriptive * Ethno- *

Historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

* Semiotic, an approach to semantics * Sociolinguistics

Socio-cultural anthropology subfields

* Applied anthropology, the application of the method and theory of anthropology to the analysis and solution of practical problems *

Anthropology of art Anthropology of art is a sub-field in social anthropology dedicated to the study of art in different cultural contexts. The anthropology of art focuses on historical, economic and aesthetic dimensions in non-Western art forms, including what is kn ...

Cognitive anthropology Cognitive anthropology is an approach within cultural anthropology and biological anthropology in which scholars seek to explain patterns of shared knowledge, cultural innovation, and transmission over time and space using the methods and theor ...

, concerned with what people from different groups know and how that implicit knowledge, in the sense of what they think subconsciously, changes the way people perceive and relate to the world around them *

Communication studies Communication studies or communication science is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in different ...

Cultural studies Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the political dynamics of contemporary culture (including popular culture) and its historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers generally investigate how cultural practices r ...

Digital anthropology Digital anthropology is the anthropological study of the relationship between humans and digital-era technology. The field is new, and thus has a variety of names with a variety of emphases. These include techno-anthropology, digital ethnograp ...

, the study of the relationship between humans and digital-era technology * Anthropology of development *

Ecological anthropology Ecological anthropology is a sub-field of anthropology and is defined as the "study of cultural adaptations to environments". The sub-field is also defined as, "the study of relationships between a population of humans and their biophysical envir ...

* Economic anthropology *

Historical anthropology Historical anthropology is a historiographical movement which applies methodologies and objectives from social and cultural anthropology to the study of historical societies. Like most such movements, it is understood in different ways by differe ...

* Anthropology of gender & sexuality * Kinship & family * Legal anthropology *

Media anthropology Anthropology of media (also anthropology of mass media, media anthropology) is an area of study within social or cultural anthropology that emphasizes ethnographic studies as a means of understanding producers, audiences, and other cultural and ...

* Medical anthropology *

Political anthropology Political anthropology is the comparative study of politics in a broad range of historical, social, and cultural settings. History of political anthropology Origins Political anthropology has its roots in the 19th century. At that time, thinkers ...

Psychological anthropology Psychological anthropology is an interdisciplinary subfield of anthropology that studies the interaction of cultural and mental processes. This subfield tends to focus on ways in which humans' development and enculturation within a particular cu ...

, studies the interaction of cultural and mental processes * Public anthropology *

Anthropology of religion Anthropology of religion is the study of religion in relation to other social institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures. History Al-Biruni (973–1048), wrote detailed comparative studies on the anthr ...

Transpersonal anthropology Transpersonal anthropology is a subdiscipline of cultural anthropology and transpersonal studies. It studies the relationship between altered states of consciousness and culture. Definition and context According to Walsh and Vaughan,Walsh, R. an ...

, studies the relationship between altered states of consciousness and culture *

Urban anthropology Urban anthropology is a subset of anthropology concerned with issues of urbanization, poverty, urban space, social relations, and neoliberalism. The field has become consolidated in the 1960s and 1970s. Ulf Hannerz quotes a 1960s remark that tr ...

, concerned with issues of urbanization, poverty, and neoliberalism * Visual anthropology, the study and production of ethnographic photography

Other subfields

Anthropological criminology Anthropological criminology (sometimes referred to as criminal anthropology, literally a combination of the study of the human species and the study of criminals) is a field of offender profiling, based on perceived links between the nature of ...

, a combination of the study of the human species and the study of criminals *

Anthropological linguistics Anthropological linguistics is the subfield of linguistics and anthropology which deals with the place of language in its wider social and cultural context, and its role in making and maintaining cultural practices and societal structures. Whil ...

, the study of the relations between language and culture and the relations between human biology, cognition and language *

Anthropological theories of value Anthropological theories of value attempt to expand on the traditional theories of value used by economists or ethicists. They are often broader in scope than the theories of value of Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, etc. ...

, attempts to expand on the traditional theories of value used by economists or ethicists * Cyborg anthropology, studies the interaction between humanity and technology from an anthropological perspective *

Museum anthropology Museum anthropology is a domain of scholarship and professional practice in the discipline of anthropology. Characteristics A distinctive characteristic of museum anthropology is that it cross-cuts anthropology's sub-fields (archaeology, cultural ...

, a domain that cross-cuts anthropology's sub-fields *

Philosophical anthropology Philosophical anthropology, sometimes called anthropological philosophy, is a discipline dealing with questions of metaphysics and phenomenology of the human person. History Ancient Christian writers: Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ...

, dealing with questions of metaphysics and phenomenology of the human person * Theological anthropology, the study of the human as it relates to God

General anthropology concepts

* Culture * Society *

Kinship and descent In anthropology, kinship is the web of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of all humans in all societies, although its exact meanings even within this discipline are often debated. Anthropologist Robin Fox says tha ...

* Marriage and family * Evolution *

Material culture Material culture is the aspect of social reality grounded in the objects and architecture that surround people. It includes the usage, consumption, creation, and trade of objects as well as the behaviors, norms, and rituals that the objects creat ...

Race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

and ethnicity * Globalization and postcolonialism * Socialization

Theories

Actor–network theory Actor–network theory (ANT) is a theoretical and methodological approach to social theory where everything in the social and natural worlds exists in constantly shifting networks of relationships. It posits that nothing exists outside those relat ...

Alliance theory The alliance theory, also known as the general theory of exchanges, is a structuralist method of studying kinship relations. It finds its origins in Claude Lévi-Strauss's ''Elementary Structures of Kinship'' (1949) and is in opposition to the ...

Cross-cultural studies Cross-cultural studies, sometimes called holocultural studies or comparative studies, is a specialization in anthropology and sister sciences such as sociology, psychology, economics, political science that uses field data from many societies th ...

* Cultural materialism *

Culture theory Culture theory is the branch of comparative anthropology and semiotics (not to be confused with cultural sociology or cultural studies) that seeks to define the heuristic concept of culture in operational and/or scientific terms. Overview In ...

* Feminism * Functionalism * Interpretive * Performance studies *

Political economy Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour m ...

* Practice theory * Structuralism *

Post-structuralism Post-structuralism is a term for philosophical and literary forms of theory that both build upon and reject ideas established by structuralism, the intellectual project that preceded it. Though post-structuralists all present different critiques ...

* Systems theory

Methods and frameworks

* Ethnography *

Ethnology Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). ...

Cross-cultural comparison Cross-cultural studies, sometimes called holocultural studies or comparative studies, is a specialization in anthropology and sister sciences such as sociology, psychology, economics, political science that uses field data from many societies th ...

Participant observation Participant observation is one type of data collection method by practitioner-scholars typically used in qualitative research and ethnography. This type of methodology is employed in many disciplines, particularly anthropology (incl. cultural an ...

Online ethnography Online ethnography (also known as virtual ethnography or digital ethnography) is an online research method that adapts ethnographic methods to the study of the communities and cultures created through computer-mediated social interaction. As mo ...

* Holism * Reflexivity *

Thick description In the social sciences and related fields, a thick description is a description of human social action that describes not just physical behaviors, but their context as interpreted by the actors as well, so that it can be better understood by an o ...

Cultural relativism Cultural relativism is the idea that a person's beliefs and practices should be understood based on that person's own culture. Proponents of cultural relativism also tend to argue that the norms and values of one culture should not be evaluated ...

* Ethnocentrism *

Emic and etic In anthropology, folkloristics, and the social and behavioral sciences, emic () and etic () refer to two kinds of field research done and viewpoints obtained. The "emic" approach is an insider's perspective, which looks at the beliefs, values ...

Anthropology organizations

American Anthropological Association The American Anthropological Association (AAA) is an organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 10,000 members, the association, based in Arlington, Virginia, includes archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, ...

, a professional organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology *

American Association of Physical Anthropologists The American Association of Biological Anthropologists (AABA) is an international professional society of biological anthropologists, based in the United States. The organization publishes the ''American Journal of Physical Anthropology'', a pee ...

, based in the United States *

American Ethnological Society The American Ethnological Society (AES) is the oldest professional anthropological association in the United States. History of the American Ethnological Society Albert Gallatin and John Russell Bartlett founded the American Ethnological Socie ...

Anthropological Society of London The Anthropological Society of London (ASL) was a short-lived organisation of the 1860s whose founders aimed to furnish scientific evidence for white supremacy which they construed in terms of polygenism. It was founded in 1863 by Richard Francis ...

, founded 1863 * Anthropological Society of Victoria, formed in 1934 * Anthropological Survey of India, the apex Indian organisation involved in anthropological studies and field data research * Ardabil Anthropology Museum, a museum in Ardabil, Iran * Australian Anthropological Society, the professional association representing anthropologists in Australia * Center for World Indigenous Studies * Ethnological Society of London * Indian Anthropological Society, the representative body of the professional anthropologists in India * Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography, Russian institute of research, specializing in ethnographic studies of cultural and physical anthropology * Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, a research institute based in Leipzig *

Maxwell Museum of Anthropology The Maxwell Museum of Anthropology is an anthropology museum located on the University of New Mexico campus in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The museum was founded in 1932 as the Museum of Anthropology of the University of New Mexico, becoming the firs ...

, an anthropology museum located on the University of New Mexico campus * Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, the University's collections of local antiquities, together with archaeological and ethnographic artefacts from around the world * National Anthropological Archives, an archive maintained by the Smithsonian Institution * Network of Concerned Anthropologists * N. N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology *

Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre (SAC) ( th, ศูนย์มานุษยวิทยาสิรินธร) is an academic institution under the Ministry of Culture in Taling Chan District, Bangkok, Thailand, establish ...

, an academic institution in Thailand * Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, a long-established anthropological organisation * Society for Anthropological Sciences * Society for Applied Anthropology *

Society for Medical Anthropology The Organization of Medical Anthropology was formed in 1967 and first met on April 27, 1968, at the 27th Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA), during which the Medical Anthropology Newsletter was conceived and first publish ...

, an organization formed to promote study of anthropological aspects of health, illness, health care, and related topics * South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, a University of South Carolina research institute * USC Center for Visual Anthropology, a center located at the University of Southern California

Books, journals, and other literature

* Bibliography of anthropology *

List of anthropology journals {{Anthropology Academic anthropological knowledge is the product of lengthy research, and is published in recognized peer-reviewed academic journals. As part of this peer review, theories and reports are rigorously and comparatively tested before ...

Anthropology scholars

* American ** Franz Boas ** Ruth Benedict ** Margaret Mead ** Eric Wolf *

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

** Bronislaw Malinowski **

E.E. Evans-Pritchard Sir Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard, Kt FBA FRAI (21 September 1902 – 11 September 1973) was an English anthropologist who was instrumental in the development of social anthropology. He was Professor of Social Anthropology at the University ...

Alfred Radcliffe-Brown Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown, FBA (born Alfred Reginald Brown; 17 January 1881 – 24 October 1955) was an English social anthropologist who helped further develop the theory of structural functionalism. Biography Alfred Reginald Radcli ...

** Edmund Leach * French **

Marcel Mauss Marcel Mauss (; 10 May 1872 – 10 February 1950) was a French sociologist and anthropologist known as the "father of French ethnology". The nephew of Émile Durkheim, Mauss, in his academic work, crossed the boundaries between sociology and a ...

Claude Lévi-Strauss Claude Lévi-Strauss (, ; 28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair of Social Anth ...

Anthropology lists

* List of members of the National Academy of Sciences (Anthropology) * List of museums with major collections in ethnography and anthropology * List of visual anthropology films

References

External links

American Anthropological Association (AAA): What is Anthropology?

National Association for the Practice of Anthropology (NAPA): The Profession of Anthropology
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