Anthropologists- A Tribute to Hundred Selected Contributors to the Anthropological Discipline

Anthropology as discipline is something more than whatever has been considering by most of the learner of Anthropology or of other disciplines. As per the visionary depth of this vast discipline, everything on the earth or surrounding the earth related so human are the matter of concern for Anthropology and Anthropology studies all the things through the lenses of time and space regardless of society and culture. While the visionaries say Anthropology began frum the time of generation of the myironment and then on the commencement of life on the earth which, consequently contributed to the appearance and development of man on the earth drought the gradual process of evolution both biological and cultural Anthropology can trace its association everywhere with human activities and human thoughts and has something to contribute in these spheres. Though formal recognition and institutional association to the discipline came late Anthropology was everywhere on the earth even before it has been named Nevertheless, the formal framework of Anthropology derives Anthropology as the science or the study of man and it studies the emergence and development of man from physical, cultural and social points of view Present formal discourse enunciates that Anthropologists are Anthropological thinkers Anthropologists seek the answer to an enormous variety of questions about humans. They are interested in unveiling when, where and why humans appeared on the earth, how and why they have changed since then, and how and why modern human populations vary in certain physical features. Anthropologists are enthusiastic to understand how and why societies in the past and present differentiate in their customary ideas and practices. There is both theoretical and practical or applied aspect of anthropology. Theoretical anthropologists delineate conceptual model, theories and explain the rationale behind human acts. While applied anthropologists put anthropological methods, information and results to use, in efforts to solve practical problema. Anthropology as a separate discipline appeared too late in comparison to other social sciences. The discipline was learned under different social sciences because, in the beginning, given to its diverse interest, it was difficult to decide the subject matter of anthropology Now anthropology has emerged as full-fledged discipline of teaching and research. The subject owes to the anthropologists, whose theories and contributions have given rise to anthropological thought and gave onwards establishment to the discipline, anthropology.

Ms Sukla Sikder (b. 1989), M Sc. in Anthropology, Senior Research Fellow of University Grants Commission (UGC), India. She is a Teaching Assistant under the UGC doctoral program in Anthropology in undergraduate and postgraduate level at West Bengal State University WBSU). Ms. Sikder has worked as a Project Fellow in the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata and also in WBSU. She has published a book, a number of research articles in peer-reviewed journals and presented papers in various National and International seminars conferences in Ir. Jie and abroad. Ms. Sikder has also completed many National and International workshops and Faculty Development Programs. She is life member of Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA), Kolkata and Indian Anthropological Society (IAS), Kolkata. Her areas of research interest include Gender Studies, Child Health and Nutrition, Ethno-medicines, Tribal studies and issues of Anthropological concern.

Dr. Swapan Kumar Kolay (b. 1966) has obtained M.Sc. (1992) and Ph.D (1999) in Anthropology from the University of Sagar, M.P. He has done Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Development from Indira Gandhi National Open University. Dr. Kolay got both Doctoral & Post- Doctoral Research Fellowship from Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India, New Delhi. His worked with Cultural Research Institute, Kolkata; A. N. Sinha Institute of Social Studies, Patna; Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi and Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal. He has rich research experience in conducting Tribal development, Tribal health and Natural resource management based research on 20 different tribes in 15 states in India. He was attended and organized many workshops, training programme and National and International level seminars. He is a life member of a numbers of academic associations including ISCA, Kolkata; IAS, Kolkata. Dr. Kolay published more than 50 research articles in different National, International journals and books to his credit. At present he is Associate Professor & Head, Department of Anthropology and Tribal Studies and Dean of Student Welfare, Bastar University, Chhattisgarh.

The present generation of anthropologists and social scientists have a lot to learn from the works of the great anthropologist regarding past and present methodological and the applied aspects of the discipline. Though different attempts were made previously to recognize the contributions of great anthropologists, still the purpose of writing the present book is to acknowledge contributors even of other disciplines in addition to anthropologists, whose works has paved the way to anthropology to evolve as an individual discipline and smoothen the way for the establishment of anthropology as an accomplished subject. As anthropology stands for scientific study of human, hence, all the contribution, discovery, innovation and invention which have helped to study human scientifically through times and space can be covered under the umbrella term anthropology. As such all the thinkers whose derivation reflects the anthropological orientation could be acknowledged as anthropologists.

Anthropology is the study of what makes us human. The term anthropology, under the form of anthropologo, has been coined by Greek philosopher Aristotle as early as fourth century BC. Aristotle produced the word without serious intent; there probably was at that time no anthropology identifiable under that name. Though works of Anthropological significance has considerable antiquity Anthropology as a subject came into being very late. The first course in general anthropology introduced at the University of Rochester in the year 1879. Anthropological thinkers are Anthropologists. Study of Anthropologists include human origin, evolution, biology, society, culture, language and all the diverse things and topics. related to human. Given to the tireless contribution of anthropologists and the contributors of other disciplines, in recent past, Anthropology has evolved as a complete subject. Hence Anthropology as a subject owes to all the contributors to the subject.

Mainstream Anthropologists take holistic approach to perceive the many different dimensions of the human experience, which is described holism. They understand the past, through Archaeological-anthropology, to see how human groups lived hundreds or thousands of years ago and what was important to them and what kind of bio-cultural transformation they encountered to cope up with different geo-climatic situations and how they survived during the different adverse situation. Biological-anthropology, often referred to as physical anthropology, is one of the traditional subfields within anthropology. Through Biological and or Physical-anthropology, anthropologists consider what makes up our biological bodies and genetics, as well as our bones, diet, and health. They even compare humans with other animals, mostly with other primates like monkeys and chimpanzees, to see what we have in common with them and what makes us unique. The physical and biological study is best described by the American Association of Physical Anthropologists as 'a biological science that deals with the adaptations, variability, and evolution of human beings and their living and fossil relatives because it studies human biology in the context of human culture and behaviour'.

Social-cultural anthropology provides anthropologists with the scope to study human from different perspectives. It studies when all early humans. need the same things to survive, like food, water, and companionship, then how could the ways be very different to meet these needs then how and why people from society, acquire culture and what are the differences between different societies and cultures regardless of time and space. For example, everyone needs to eat, but people eat different foods and get food in different ways. So anthropologists look at how different groups of people get food, prepare it, and share it. Anthropologists are concerned about languages too. Linguistic anthropologists study languages, by which cultures are maintained and passed on to their succeeding generations. In addition, some anthropologists are also being recognized as ethnologists, due to studying cultures as they have observed, experienced, and discussed with persons whose culture they seek to understand.

Anthropologists, in particular, try to understand how people interact in social relationships. They look at the different ways people dress and communicate in different societies. They sometimes use these comparisons to understand their own society. Many anthropologists work in their own societies looking at economics, health, education, law, and policy. When trying to understand these complex issues, they keep in mind what they know about evolution, biology, culture, types and way of communication, and how humans lived in the past. Anthropologists seek to answer all the complex issues in the association of its four distinct subfields viz., Archaeological-anthropology, Biological-anthropology or Physical-anthropology, Social-cultural anthropology and Linguistic-anthropology. Though the academic discipline of anthropology is positioned as a social science, in reality, the work of anthropologists today ranges across the broad continuum of humanities, social science, and biological science.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages