Cultural Anthropology
Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of the anthropological constant.
Cultural anthropology has a rich methodology, including participant observation (often called fieldwork because it requires the anthropologist spending an extended period of time at the research location), interviews, and surveys.
One of the earliest articulations of the anthropological meaning of the term "culture" came from Sir Edward Tylor who writes on the first page of his 1871 book: "Culture, or civilization, taken in its broad, ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." The term "civilization" later gave way to definitions given by V. Gordon Childe, with culture forming an umbrella term and civilization becoming a particular kind of culture.
The anthropological concept of "culture" reflects in part a reaction against earlier Western discourses based on an opposition between "culture" and "nature", according to which some human beings lived in a "state of nature".[citation needed] Anthropologists have argued that culture is "human nature", and that all people have a capacity to classify experiences, encode classifications symbolically (i.e. in language), and teach such abstractions to others.
Since humans acquire culture through the learning processes of enculturation and socialization, people living in different places or different circumstances develop different cultures. Anthropologists have also pointed out that through culture people can adapt to their environment in non-genetic ways, so people living in different environments will often have different cultures. Much of anthropological theory has originated in an appreciation of and interest in the tension between the local (particular cultures) and the global (a universal human nature, or the web of connections between people in distinct places/circumstances).
The rise of cultural anthropology took place within the context of the late 19th century, when questions regarding which cultures were "primitive" and which were "civilized" occupied the minds of not only Marx and Freud, but many others. Colonialism and its processes increasingly brought European thinkers into direct or indirect contact with "primitive others." The relative status of various humans, some of whom had modern advanced technologies that included engines and telegraphs, while others lacked anything but face-to-face communication techniques and still lived a Paleolithic lifestyle, was of interest to the first generation of cultural anthropologists.
Parallel with the rise of cultural anthropology in the United States, social anthropology, in which sociality is the central concept and which focuses on the study of social statuses and roles, groups, institutions, and the relations among them—developed as an academic discipline in Britain and in France. The umbrella term socio-cultural anthropology draws upon both cultural and social anthropology traditions.
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Matching Cultural Anthropology Colleges
Ashford University
Four or more years; Private for profit; $10,848 average out-state tuition; $10,848 average in-state tuition |
The New School
Four or more years; Private not for profit; $46,251 average out-state tuition; $46,251 average in-state tuition |
Webster University
Four or more years; Private not for profit; $26,900 average out-state tuition; $26,900 average in-state tuition |
Arcadia University
Four or more years; Private not for profit; $41,630 average out-state tuition; $41,630 average in-state tuition |
Chapman University
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Northeastern University
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Cornell College
Four or more years; Private not for profit; $40,655 average out-state tuition; $40,655 average in-state tuition |
Scholarships for Cultural Anthropology Majors
Philip J. Norton, Jr. ScholarshipMartha's Vineyard Bank Charitable Foundation |
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award $12,500 |
deadline March 15, 2023 |
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AB HBCU Scholars ProgramAllianceBernstein L.P. |
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award $5,000 |
deadline March 15, 2023 |
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Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell ScholarshipWomen Lawyers Association of Los Angeles |
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award Up to $5,000 |
deadline April 30, 2023 |
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1st Art Gallery Art and Design Scholarship1st Art Gallery |
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award $1,000 |
deadline June 01, 2023 |
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Dr. Allen E. and Mildred Shearer ScholarshipSoutheastern Oklahoma State University |
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award Varies |
deadline Varies |
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Arturo and Elba Candales Memorial Endowed ScholarshipEastern Connecticut State University |
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award Varies |
deadline Varies |
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Students United Student Leadership Program Fellowship-PAIDStudents United |
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award Varies |
deadline June 30, 2023 |
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Priscilla W. Utterback ScholarshipSoutheastern Oklahoma State University |
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award Varies |
deadline July 17, 2023 |
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Donald N. Brown ScholarshipSoutheastern Oklahoma State University |
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award Varies |
deadline July 17, 2023 |
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Charles Goss Memorial ScholarshipSoutheastern Oklahoma State University |
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award Varies |
deadline July 17, 2023 |
Cultural Anthropology Related Majors
- Political Science and Government
- Sociology
- Economics
- Criminology
- International Relations and National Security Studies
- Anthropology
- Social Sciences
- International Relations and Affairs
- Archeology
- American Government and Politics (United States)
- Geography
- Development Economics and International Development
- International Economics
- Urban Studies/Affairs
- Physical and Biological Anthropology
- Political Economy
- Applied Economics
- Econometrics and Quantitative Economics
- Medical Anthropology
- Geographic Information Science and Cartography