New Columnist

Understanding Anthropology
by Lauren Valadez

Hello CNY Latino readers! My name is Lauren Valadez, and I am thrilled to join this community as a new columnist. I am originally from El Monte, California, but I recently moved to Central New York to attend Syracuse University. I am currently a sophomore studying anthropology, which I understand might be an unfamiliar term to many. I often get blank stares and questions when I mention my major. With this article though, I hope to make anthropology something easier to understand and share why it is important in all of our lives.

To put it simply, anthropology is the study of humankind. Although it sounds like a complex word, it comes from two Greek roots: “Anthropos”, meaning “human” and “logos”, meaning “study”. In the United States, anthropology is divided into four main categories, including cultural anthropology, biological anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and archeology. These sections help us to understand what it is to be human, like how we interact with each other, how we have evolved over time, how we communicate differently all over the world, and what humans were like in the past.

So why is anthropology so important? Well, it affects more sectors of your life than you might think. For example, businesses refer to cultural anthropology to understand what certain communities are interested in and how they can sell and advertise it to them best. Health professionals refer to biological anthropology to understand how and why diseases affect one culture more than another. Government officials, especially politicians, value linguistic anthropology to figure out the best ways they can appeal to specific audiences.

Finally, archeology helps everyone to understand where we come from. By examining ancient societies and how they functioned, we can figure out how the past has affected the present.

Anthropology simply helps put things into perspective and shape the way we interact with the world around us. It gives us a broader view of humanity and how we are all connected in this complex world we live in.

Images Credit: Photo of an archeological-ancient-excavations by Yena Kwon and the photo of an archeologist conducting a study of fossils by Ron Lach from pexels.com

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Lauren Valadez has joined this community as a new columnist. She is originally from El Monte, California, but she recently moved to Central New York to attend Syracuse University. She is currently a sophomore studying anthropology.