FAMOUS ANTHROPOLOGISTS

February 2013

Expectations:

evaluate the major contributions to our understanding of the idea of self in relation to others made by at least one of the leading practitioners in each of anthropology (e.g., Franz Boas, Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict), psychology (e.g., Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget, Karen Horney), and sociology (e.g., George Herbert Mead, Irving Goffman).

describe some differences and similarities in the approaches taken by anthropology, psychology, and sociology to the concept of self in relation to others;

Main Focus of Today

Who are the main practitioners in Anthropology and what are their major contributions to the discipline.

Disclaimer – this is a BRIEF introduction to some famous anthropologist. You will be learning more in-depth about these individuals in the upcoming units.

Source: Bain, C. M., & Colyer, J. S. (2001). The Human Way: Introducing Anthropology, Psychology, and Sociology (2nd ed.). Don Mills, Canada: Oxford University Press.

RECAP

Anthropology is the scientific study of the development of the human species and of the various cultures that make up humanity.

Anthropology

Cultural Anthro -Analyzes cultures of living people

Physical Anthro-analyzes human evolutionary and genetic development

Social Anthro-analyzes social organizations of living people

Recap

Of the three social sciences, the youngest is anthropology, which originated as a discipline in the 20th century.

Its development differed from sociology and psychology in two significant ways: many of its founders were American, and many were female.

Margaret Mead (American)1901-1978

Cultural anthropologist – studied Samoan culture compared to American culture

She looked at adolescents in both places and found that teens did not experience the same conflict as in America

Cooperation (Samoa) vs. competition (United States)

Studied gender roles

Mead concluded that our personalities are largely influenced by the society in which we live. Americans were raised to compete against each other, while Samoans were taught to co-operate.

Margaret Mead

Margaret Mead Biography

Watch a 10 minute clip on Mead’s research in Soma

Ruth Benedict (American)1887-1948

Cultural anthropologist – studied the role of religion in shaping personality, studied native societies

Wrote Patterns of Culture – believed that culture is a sum of all personality types

Studied Japanese culture during World War II and brought respect to anthropology

Benedict, like Mead, concluded that there is a strong link between the characteristics of a culture and it’s peoples personality types.

Raymond Dart (Australian)1893-1988

Physical anthropologist

In 1924 he found a skull in South Africa in which he named it Australopithecus.

His discovery of the skull, represented a transitional stage between ages and humans.

Leakey Family (Louis, Mary, and Richard)(British)

Physical anthropologists

Believed that people originated in Africa – found fossils of Australopithecus and homo habilis

Experimented with stone age tools to find out how ancestors hunted

Louis Leakey got women started in primatology (Fossey, Goodall, Galdikas)

Rejected the ideas that human origin was in Asia but Africa instead. In order to understand our ancestors’ lives we should study other primates.

Mary Leakey on Google!

Mary Leaky on Google!

Meave Leakey - Ted Talks

Jane Goodall (British)1934 -

Primatologist – studied chimpanzees

Became part of group and was able to make new observations (eg. – chimps used tools – i.e stick in an ant hole, chimps were not strictly vegetarians – sometimes they killed another chimp and ate the meat from the carcass)

Most significant discovery is that chimps have highly developed social structure (eg. – alpha males and mating with other females)

Her work has given social scientists insights into the human kingdom – social structure, cooperation, competition in hunting, diet.

Birute Galdikas (Canadian)1945 -

Primatologist – studied orangutans (shares 98% genetic material with humans)

Worked in Borneo and was a “foster parent” to a young orangutan. She lived with primates.

“Looking into the calm, unblinking eyes of an orangutan, we see…the image of our own creation…We recognize that there is no separation between ourselves and nature. We are allowed to see the eyes of God.”

Found that orangutans live in highly structured social communities. Violence is ever-present, lurking just beneath the surface. Although largely vegetarian, orangutans, too, occasionally kill one of their community for meat.

Agreed with the Leakey's that humans can learn much about their early ancestors from the study of primates.

Dian Fossey (American)1938-1985

Primatologist – studied mountain gorillas in Rwanda

Lived with gorillas. Learned how to imitate their habits and sounds, and thus gained acceptance into their society.

She had a passion for protecting gorillas from poachers.

She was murdered in 1985 by an unknown person – much of her work remained unfinished.

She discovered much information about gorillas (eg – affection to families, aggression to outsiders; highly structured social system).

She argued, liked Goodall, that gorillas share much in common with out earliest ancestors.

The Challenge….

VS.