The study of anthropology is known among anthropologists as the study of humans through a comparative approach. Anthropology has four main broader themes. Such as biological anthropology, linguistic anthropology, cultural anthropology, and archaeological anthropology. Also including medical anthropology once in a while (which seems to be a growing field). Associations such as the American Anthropological Association allow their findings to be public to everyday citizens which, in turn, allows students, professors, anthropologists, and anthropology enthusiasts to be able to keep updated with newer studies and information all day, every day.
The studies conducted by the American Anthropological Association (AAA) aid in the success of studying anthropology. The American Anthropological Association have multiple different ways in order to inform viewers of their publications. Such as, news articles, podcasts, guides, and even giving the audience their own form of publishing self-made works. They also have multiple links in order to give the public important information. They host public information programs, field trips, internships, and fellowships. Being able to provide this many opportunities for the public is beneficial to the sharing of anthropological information.
The American Anthropological Association contributes to the broader themes of anthropology through their different ranges of publications. Firstly, with medical anthropology. Although medical anthropology is not mainly seen as a main theme of anthropology, it is widely accepted by many. The American Anthropological Association published the “American Anthropologist” which includes a section on just on medical anthropology. This helps inform future anthropologists, students, and professors alike on updated versions of findings that are currently being studied not only in America but all around the world. Next, through their digital-only publication of “Open Anthropology”, they are able to use public issues such as racism and gun violence in order to show the biological aspect of anthropology. Since biological anthropology focuses on human variability, it allows public issues to be brought to light and gives us prominent information in order to, as a society, fix these issues to better our lives. This also factors into our cultural anthropology by allowing us to see how we function is affecting our lives.
After reviewing the AAA website more, there is not much for archaeological anthropology. Though, one could argue that since it is not the only website for anthropology, that another similar website may provide more information. The AAA could publish more information through archaeological finds in order to further its credibility throughout the anthropological community. Archaeological anthropology allows us, in the modern day century, to be able to see how those who lived before us functioned both physically, culturally, and communicatively. It allows us to further understand how we, as a human society, have developed and evolved throughout time. It also lacks linguistic anthropology in order to show the communicative aspects of modern-day society in comparison to ancient society.
Overall, the American Anthropological Association is able to provide an extreme amount of information to the public about all the different, broader themes of anthropology. The AAA allows anthropological studies to be known worldwide.
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First off, I just want to say that I actually thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog, I definitely appreciated the ending.
But to get to the heart of it, I really appreciate that the AAA does cover a wide sweep of issues and topics, it was especially interesting – and slightly unexpected, as usually you only hear about them from a political standpoint – to hear that they cover racism and gun violence from a biological perspective. I also appreciate that they have the ability to get their research out. One of the biggest things (in my opinion) when it comes to research is communication and outreach. Being able to get more than one perspective is always helpful. I’m definitely glad to see that, even though it may be lacking in a few areas, the AAA is helping the anthropological community as well as the public.
Hey, I just wanted to commend you for creating such a well written blog. I found quite a few things interesting while reading your blog. One interesting thing that really stood out to me was the aspect of “Open anthropology” and how the topic of racism and gun violence was an issue in the aspect of biological anthropology. I decided to go on the AAA website to read more on it. I learned that anthropologists have done Historical research that has shown that the idea of “race” has always carried more meanings than mere physical differences; indeed, physical variations in the human species have no meaning except the social ones that humans put on them. Today scholars in many fields argue that “race” as it is understood in the United States of America was a social mechanism invented during the 18th century to refer to those populations brought together in colonial America.