Anthropology

What is anthropology? I get that question a lot. When I first switched majors and people asked me what I was doing and I said "anthropology" they often repeated my response with a kind of hushed awe, as though I had told them I was majoring in Superheroism. Given that nobody seems to know what it is, I surmise that all those people must have mistaken anthropology for something else. The most common confusions are archaeology (which is technically not incorrect, but I'll explain that more in a moment) or entomology, the study of insects. More often than not, however, people just give me a blank look when I tell them what I study.

Anthropology, as the etymology would suggest, is the study of mankind. In the US anthropology is divided into four main subgroups: Linguistic anthropology, archaeology, physical anthropology and cultural anthropology. Linguistics is the study of language and thus instrumental in the study of humans. The results of linguistic research are absolutely fascinating and make for great conversation at parties. Actually researching and plotting vowel shifts and cognates and charting the increase in bilabial fricatives in Proto-Indo-European (known affectionately as PIE) is the most boring and tedious work possible. Linguistic anthropology seeks to explain how and why languages change, covering everything from whole language groups to the introduction of words and phrases into small groups of people (think: "lock it up", "daydoodah", "the Logo" and the subtle difference between "uh-huh" and "uh huh").

Archaeology is the study of extinct peoples through the analysis of the remains of their culture. If an archaeologist is lucky you'll get an Ankor Wat or Tut's Tomb, stuff that was very meaningful indeed to the culture in question. More often than not you get a piece of pottery or a pile of ashes from a hearth and you have to analyze what it was used for. Did the pot have functional purposes (did it hold wine, water, rice etc.?) or was it ceremonial or decorative? What kind of wood did they use in the fire? Is there evidence of it being used for cooking? And so on. Contrary to popular belief, archaeologists don't particularly care about the sites and artifacts themselves, they want to know about the culture. If they could just ask an ancient Minoan what they used this pot for, or how their society was structured, they would—it's a hell of a lot more efficient (and accurate) than rummaging through people's garbage. The public image of archaeologists is Indiana Jones or Lara Croft, these people are more concerned with treasure or rare artifacts rather than their significance in the greater whole of the site in which they were found. As I mentioned in the previous post, these people are antiquarians, grave robbers, "Tomb Raiders". Removing an artifact from a site is like moving a body or weapon from a crime scene, it destroys the context. Patience, precision and an eye for detail are the traits required for a true archaeologist. Because the very act of excavating a site destroys the context, you have to be sure to record every single detail so that way someone in the future can look on your notes and hopefully discover something that they couldn't have from the now-contaminated site itself.

Physical anthropology is the study of the human body. Its focus ranges from the subtle, such as the Human Genome Project, to the gross, such as forensics. Thanks to CSI and other such shows, this is perhaps the most well known part of anthropology, even if people don't know that's what it is. There's the study of how the body works, the evolution of the human form and how human bodies vary between groups. This guy was one of my professors and gives a pretty good idea of some of the stuff physical anthropology studies. Biological and medical anthropology are also parts of physical anthropology and focus on human variation and how differences among peoples can be applied to medicine, respectively. One example of how this is extremely important would be the distribution of humanitarian aid and food supplies. The US sent powdered milk to starving countries in Africa, failing to realize that most of the world's population is lactose intolerant.

Lastly, there's cultural anthropology, my specialty. Quite simply, it's the study of people and cultures. What do people think? Why do they think that? How do they behave? Basic questions but sometimes they're extremely difficult to answer. When I was little and I heard that anthropology was the study of people I thought that sounded like the most boring job in the world; I imagined somebody just watching people in cubicles, writing down something like "10:13AM, Subject sips from coffee mug." And perhaps cultural anthro would be that boring if not for a wonderful little thing called "participant observation." Participant observation means you go and live with, talk to and personally get to know the people you're studying. More often than not they become your friends, though you should always keep in mind a sense of professionalism in your field work. There are no famous examples of cultural anthropologists known to the general public (Daniel Jackson from Stargate would be a good example if people knew about it), so in order to point them in the right direction I tell them about the guys in the khaki safari outfits who go to some tropical island and study the natives. That's anthropology, but you don't have to go to a tropical island to do it, you can study any culture that's not your own (you take too much for granted in your own culture so you would never ask any really good questions). So I study people, what does that entail in practice, people often ask. Basically, I hang out with interesting people, drinking beer and having them tell me their life story. At that point, as surely as they gave me a blank look when I first mentioned anthropology, there's a change in their expression and stance as they realize that sounds like a really cool job.

But, certain career concerned individuals ask, what good is it? Sure it's intellectually stimulating but it's as careerworthy as a degree in philosophy, right? Well, like so many things, that might be true if you overspecialize. But as a field, the only places where anthropology is inapplicable is somewhere where there are not, nor were there ever, any people. As for cultural anthropology, that will only be rendered obsolete when all people everywhere perfectly understand one another.
Yeah, you worry about your own job security.