Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics (UCSP)

1st Semester, A.Y. 2023-2024

Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

Divine Mercy College Foundation, Inc.
1st Semester SY 2023 – 2024

UNIT 1 – LESSON #1
Understanding of Culture, Society and Politics

Overview of Anthropology
Anthropology, provides a window to our past, a mirror for our present, and a lens through
which we look to the future.
Anthropologists, research, observed, analyzed, and apply what they learn toward an
understanding of many variations of the human condition.

The word ‘Anthropology’ comes from a Greek word ‘Anthropos’ meaning ‘man’ and ‘logos’
means ‘science or study of’
ANTHROPOLOGY: A science of Man / A study of Man; The study of human societies and
cultures and their development.
The scope of our study of the human species includes all human groups, both cultural and
biological today, and as they adapted and evolved in the pasts.

Relationship of the Anthropology and other Discipline

1. ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY: It shares an interest in social relations, organizations,
and behaviors.
2. ANTHROPOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY: It focuses the studies about different cultural and
mental process of men.
3. ANTHROPOLOGY AND EDUCATION: Culturally shaped, and that parallels and differences
exist in educative processes across cultural, linguistic, and geographic contexts.
4. ANTHROPOLOGY AND BUSINESS: They used Ethnography to study business settings, eg.
Research in an Factory may view the workers, managers, and executives as different social
categories participating in a common social system.
Four Major Fields of Anthropology
1. Biological Anthropology: Also called as Physical Anthropology, it studies HOMO SAPIENS as
biological beings both in the present and past.
a) Paleoanthropology: came from the root word ‘paleo’ means ancient. It is the study
of human biological evolution through an experimentation of the fossils of our
ancient ancestors and relatives.
b) Primatology: It is the study of our nearest animal relatives – primates. It includes
the investigation of the Anatomy, physiology, genetics, and behaviors of the apes,
monkeys, and prosimians.
We share many biological features with this group of animals, and data about their
adaptations, aid us in understanding Homo Sapiens.

Prepared by:
Ms. Quennie “Shin” Ogana
Social Studies SHS Teacher
 Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics (UCSP)
1st Semester, A.Y. 2023-2024

2. Cultural Anthropology: Also called as Social Anthropology, we call these adaptations

culture. Traditional areas of focus within cultural anthropology include ethnographic and
ethnological research.
a) Ethnography: descriptive study of one culture, subculture, or microculture based
on fieldwork.
b) Ethnology: comparative study of culture for a shorter period of time. Eg. An
anthropologist who is studying the decision making within a large business
corporation may spend a period of several months of collecting data, reporting, and
making recommendation.
3. Archeology: Systematic study of the remains of previous culture of reconstructing the
lifeways of people who lived in the past.
a) Historical Archeology: study of remain culture and subculture that have written
records but about which little, if anything, was recorded.
b) Cultural Resources Management: is a growing field for individuals with degrees in
Archaeology. CRM Specialist work on threatened archeological sites, produce
environmental impact reports, and do salvage digs on sites that will be destroyed by
contemporary building.
c) Applied Archaeology: is a focus area in Archeology that uses the methods of
archaeology to study contemporary material culture with the aim of solving specific
problems.
4. Linguistics: It is the study of language – how language is formed and how it works, the
history and development of the language.
a) Descriptive Linguistics: focuses on the mechanics of the language. The linguist
must first describe the sounds used in the language under study.
b) Historical Linguistics: reconstruct the history of languages, including the
development and relationship to other language.

Interdisciplinary fields of anthropology

1. Applied Anthropology - It is any kind of anthropological research that is done to solve
practical problems.
2. Development Anthropology - Committed to simultaneously critique and contribute to
projects and institutions that create and administer projects that seek to improve the
economic well-being of the most marginalized, and to eliminate poverty.
3. Urban Anthropology - Urban anthropology is the study of cultural systems and identities in
cities as well as the various political, social, economic, and cultural forces that shape urban
forms and processes.
4. Medical Anthropology - Medical Anthropology examines how health and well-being are
socially and culturally constituted in comparative and transnational contexts and the ways
in which culture influences the experience of illness.

Prepared by:
Ms. Quennie “Shin” Ogana
Social Studies SHS Teacher
 Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics (UCSP)
1st Semester, A.Y. 2023-2024

ASSIGNMENT NO. 1
• Using your own words, answer the following:
1. What is the importance of Anthropology?
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2. In what particular problem does a Sociologist study?
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Prepared by:
Ms. Quennie C. Ogana
Social Studies SHS Teacher

Prepared by:
Ms. Quennie “Shin” Ogana
Social Studies SHS Teacher