Outline of anthropology

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to anthropology:
Anthropology - study of humankind. Anthropology has origins in the natural sciences - humanities - and the social sciences. The term was first used by François Péron when discussing his encounters with Aboriginal Tasmanians.

What type of thing is anthropology?

Anthropology can be described as all of the following:

Academic discipline - body of knowledge given to – or received by – a disciple ; a branch or sphere of knowledge, or field of study, that an individual has chosen to specialise in.
Field of science - widely recognized category of specialized expertise within science, and typically embodies its own terminology and nomenclature. Such a field will usually be represented by one or more scientific journals, where peer-reviewed research is published. There are many sociology-related scientific journals.
Social science - field of academic scholarship that explores aspects of human society.

History of anthropology

Fields of anthropology

Archaeology - study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes.
Biological anthropology - concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings.
Linguistic anthropology - interdisciplinary study of how language influences social life.
Sociocultural anthropology - focus on the study of society and culture. Includes Cultural anthropology and Social anthropology.

Archaeological subfields of anthropology

Biocultural anthropology - scientific exploration of the relationships between human biology and culture.
Feminist archaeology - interprets past societies from a feminist perspective.
Maritime archaeology - studies human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers through the study of associated physical remains, be they vessels, shore-side facilities, port-related structures, cargoes, human remains and submerged landscapes.

Biological subfields of anthropology

Anthrozoology - subset of ethnobiology that deals with interactions between humans and other animals, such as quantifying the positive effects of human–animal relationships.
Evolutionary anthropology - interdisciplinary study of the evolution of human physiology and human behavior, and of the relation between hominids and non-hominid primates.
Forensic anthropology - application of the anatomical science of anthropology and its various subfields, including forensic archaeology and forensic taphonomy, in a legal setting.
Paleoanthropology - study of the evolutionary development of ancient humans.

Linguistic subfields of anthropology

Linguistic anthropology - interdisciplinary study of how language influences social life
Linguistic description -
Ethnolinguistics -
Historical linguistics -
Semiotic anthropology - approach to semantics
Sociolinguistics -

Socio-cultural anthropology subfields

Applied anthropology - application of the method and theory of anthropology to the analysis and solution of practical problems
Anthropology of art -
Cognitive anthropology - concerned with what people from different groups know and how that implicit knowledge, in the sense of what they think subconsciously, changes the way people perceive and relate to the world around them
Communication studies -
Cultural studies -
Digital anthropology - study of the relationship between humans and digital-era technology
Anthropology of development -
Ecological anthropology -
Economic anthropology -
Historical anthropology -
Anthropology of gender & sexuality -
Kinship & family -
Legal anthropology -
Media anthropology -
Medical anthropology -
Political anthropology -
Psychological anthropology - studies the interaction of cultural and mental processes
Public anthropology -
Anthropology of religion -
Transpersonal anthropology - studies the relationship between altered states of consciousness and culture
Urban anthropology - concerned with issues of urbanization, poverty, and neoliberalism
Visual anthropology - study and production of ethnographic photography

Other subfields

Anthropological criminology - a combination of the study of the human species and the study of criminals
Anthropological linguistics - study of the relations between language and culture and the relations between human biology, cognition and language
Anthropological theories of value - theories that attempt to expand on the traditional theories of value used by economists or ethicists
Cyborg anthropology - studies the interaction between humanity and technology from an anthropological perspective
Museum anthropology - domain that cross-cuts anthropology's sub-fields
Philosophical anthropology - dealing with questions of metaphysics and phenomenology of the human person
Theological anthropology - study of the human as it relates to God

General anthropology concepts

Theories

Actor–network theory - theoretical and methodological approach to social theory where everything in the social and natural worlds exists in constantly shifting networks of relationships. It posits that nothing exists outside those relationships.
Alliance theory -
Cross-cultural studies -
Cultural materialism -
Culture theory -
Feminism -
Structural functionalism -
Symbolic anthropology -
Performance studies -
Political economy -
Practice theory -
Structuralism -
Post-structuralism -
Systems theory

Methods and frameworks

Anthropology organizations

American Anthropological Association - professional organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology
American Association of Physical Anthropologists - based in the United States
American Ethnological Society
Anthropological Society of London - short-lived organisation of the 1860s whose founders aimed to furnish scientific evidence for white supremacy which they construed in terms of polygenism.
Anthropological Society of Victoria - formed in 1934
Anthropological Survey of India - apex Indian organisation involved in anthropological studies and field data research
Ardabil Anthropology Museum - a museum in Ardabil, Iran
Australian Anthropological Society - professional association representing anthropologists in Australia
Center for World Indigenous Studies
Ethnological Society of London
Indian Anthropological Society - representative body of the professional anthropologists in India
Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography - Russian institute of research, specializing in ethnographic studies of cultural and physical anthropology
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology - research institute based in Leipzig
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology - anthropology museum located on the University of New Mexico campus
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge - university's collections of local antiquities, together with archaeological and ethnographic artefacts from around the world
National Anthropological Archives - archive maintained by the Smithsonian Institution
Network of Concerned Anthropologists
N. N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre - academic institution in Thailand
Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland - long-established anthropological organisation
Society for Anthropological Sciences
Society for Applied Anthropology
Society for Medical Anthropology - organization formed to promote study of anthropological aspects of health, illness, health care, and related topics
South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology - University of South Carolina research institute
USC Center for Visual Anthropology - center located at the University of Southern California