This part of the text addresses the core concepts and methods of cultural anthropology. Chapter 1 describes the various subfields of anthropology together with the uniqueness of the anthropological approach to the study of humans. Central to our field's perspective is the concept of culture, which is explored in Chapter 2 by considering various definitions and delineating the unique features of culture. A discussion of recent critiques of the culture concept is also included. In addition, the text examines the anthropological perspective on culture, ethnicity, and race in light of the data from biological anthropology. Next, given that anthropologists gather most of their primary data from field situations, the methods and challenges of ethnographic fieldwork are described in Chapter 3 using examples from my personal experiences. Finally, Chapter 4 turns to language, the symbolic system on which culture depends, and outlines the essential approaches of linguistic anthropology.
The chapters included in Part 1 are those that provide the foundation concepts and approaches of cultural anthropology. These are the platforms on which the remainder of the topics and chapters will build. The primary goal of the chapters in this part of the book is to provide you with the background for further analysis of cultural similarities and differences presented in Parts 2 and 3.
