What is Anthropology?
Anthropology is the study of humankind, past and present. Anthropology examines the evolutionary history of all human kind: its global cultural manifestations and its patterns of social organization. The discipline of anthropology is considered a social science; however, anthropologists draw upon information and techniques from a broad range of humanities including, social sciences, natural sciences, and physical sciences, in their studies of humankind.
Traditionally, Anthropology has been divided into four subfields:
- Social and Cultural anthropology
Social and cultural anthropology examines cultural diversity around the world - Biological and Medical Anthropology
Biological anthropology is the study of humans as biological organisms, considered in an evolutionary framework.
Biomedical anthropology is the study of how human cultural practices influence the spread of infectious diseases, including the long-term evolutionary consequences of disease on human populations, and the effects of urbanized lifestyle on people who have lived until recently under more traditional conditions. - Archaeological Anthropology
Archaeology is the study of the human past through the materials left behind by people. - Linguistic Anthropology
The Anthropology Department of the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, offers its students a rich education in the first three of these sub-fields.
