Interesting Facts: Boas was an outspoken opponent of racism, and used anthropology to refute the scientific racism that was popular during his time. His theory of
cultural relativism
What culture did Franz Boas study?
Soon after, in 1883, he began a yearlong scientific expedition—his first—to Baffin Island in northern Canada. Fascinated by
the Inuit culture
, Boas collected ethnographic data not directly related to the project at hand, and so began his lifelong interest in and study of the way people lived.
What is Franz Boas best known for?
Franz Boas is regarded as both the
“father of modern anthropology”
and the “father of American anthropology.” He was the first to apply the scientific method to anthropology, emphasizing a research- first method of generating theories.
What is culture according to Franz Boas?
Boas took years to develop a working definition of culture, but it is one that influences anthropologists to this day: culture is
an integrated system of symbols, ideas and values that should be studied as a working system
, an organic whole (Kuper 1999:56).
What was Franz Boas central belief about culture quizlet?
Franz Boas- he rejected unilineal cultural evolution, its generalizations and its comparative method. He
claimed that cultures arise from different causes, not uniform process
. Boas used the idea of diffusion- the borrowing of curtail traits and patterns from other cultures to explain apparent similarities.
Who is the most famous anthropologist?
- Franz Boas (1858 – 1942) …
- Bronislaw Malinowski (1884 – 1942) …
- Margaret Mead (1901 – 1978) …
- Ruth Benedict (1877 – 1948) …
- Ralph Linton (1893 – 1953) …
- Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908 – 2009)
Who were Franz Boas students?
| Franz Boas | Notable students Fay-Cooper Cole Erna Gunther Zora Neale Hurston | Notable ideas Cultural relativism four-field approach | Influenced Ruth Bunzel Frederica de Laguna Gilberto Freyre Pliny Earle Goddard Alfred Irving Hallowell Otto Klineberg Ruth Landes Rhoda Métraux Elsie Clews Parsons Ruth Underhill | Signature |
|---|
What perspective did Franz Boas develop?
Franz Boas and his students developed
historical particularism
early in the twentieth century. This approach claims that each society has its own unique historical development and must be understood based on its own specific cultural and environmental context, especially its historical process.
What is the contribution of Franz Boas in the study of different cultures?
Franz Boas was the most important figure in 20th century North American anthropology. He laid
down the four-field structure of anthropology
around cultural anthropology, physical anthropology, linguistics and archaeology.
How does a culture differ in society?
The difference between culture and society is
that culture is the way in which people live in a particular area
. However, society is a group of people who share a common form of lifestyle. The culture includes a particular set of values, traditions, and beliefs, whereas society has people who share common beliefs.
Where did Franz Boas work?
Over the years Boas was employed as an instructor of anthropology at
Clark University in Worcester, Mass
. From 1888 to 1892 and later became an assistant in anthropology at the Chicago Natural History Museum.
Can you explain why culture is both material and immaterial?
Material culture includes all of the physical things that people create and attach meaning to
. Nonmaterial culture includes creations and abstract ideas that are not embodied in physical objects. The word culture is often used as a synonym for nation and society, but they aren’t the same thing.
What did Franz Boas stress in anthropological work?
The anthropological perspective, associated with Franz Boas, that
stressed the uniqueness of each culture thought to be the outcome of chance historical developments
(Sidky 2004). Historical particularism was a dominant trend in anthropology during the first half of the twentieth century.
Is the study of what makes us human?
Anthropology
is the study of what makes us human. Anthropologists take a broad approach to understanding the many different aspects of the human experience, which we call holism.
How did Boas promote cultural relativism?
By
studying this indigenous
group, Boas introduced the theory of cultural relativism, which is the idea that all people have equally developed cultures. … Boas brought in the idea that cultural traits must be explained in specific cultural contexts instead of a broad reference to evolutionary trends.
