Association of Polar Early Career Scientists

 

Anthropology

Anthropology logo2Anthropology is the scientific study of the origin and behavior of man, including the development of societies and cultures. Traditionally anthropology is divided into two fields, biological anthropology and cultural anthropology, both of which have their own sub-branches.

Biological anthropology focuses on the study of human populations using an evolutionary framework. Biological anthropologists have theorized about how the globe has become populated with humans, as well as tried to explain geographical human variation.

Cultural anthropology is the study of culture based on methodology that heavily relies on participant-observation. Cultural anthropologists use ethnographic examples to defend their theories. Ethnography is the product of research, a monograph or book describing in detail a specific culture. Indeed, the process of participant-observation can be especially helpful to understanding a culture from an emic point of view; which would otherwise be unattainable by simply reading from a book. The study of kinship and social organization is a central focus of cultural anthropology, as kinship is a human universal. Cultural anthropology also covers economic and political organization, law and conflict resolution, patterns of consumption and exchange, material culture, technology, infrastructure, gender relations, ethnicity, childrearing and socialization, religion, myth, symbols, values, etiquette, worldview, sports, music, art, nutrition, recreation, games, food, festivals, and language.

Because of the holistic nature of anthropological research, all branches of anthropology have widespread practical application in diverse fields. This is known as applied anthropology. Thus military expeditions employ anthropologists to discern strategic cultural footholds; marketing professionals employ anthropology to determine propitious placement of advertising; and humanitarian agencies depend on anthropological insights as means to fight poverty. Examples of applied anthropology are ubiquitous.

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Antarctic Anthropology References

The following list of references assembles a substantial diversity of Latin-American authors.

The references date from 1904 to 2011, ranging from: history, political science, law, international relations, psychology, archeology, architecture and anthropology. It also includes some literature, even though it is not traditionally considered social science. It is assumed here that literature affords the production of socio-cultural knowledge over the human enterprise in Antarctic.

Present references may not exhaust all existing publications but serves as a large spectrum of Latin-American Social Sciences on Antarctic. The aim of this reference list is to help students and researchers interested in Antarctic Latin-American Social Science and in de-centralizing the Social Sciences on Antarctic itself.

Arctic Anthropology References

The following references date from 1888 to present date and serves as a spectrum of important Anthropological writings on the Arctic populations citing some of the most important readings in the field but do not exhaust all existing publications. It also includes some literature on traditional knowledge. The aim of this reference list is to give an idea of Anthropological writings in the Arctic and to help those interested to get started.

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