Anthropology -- from the Greek roots ανθρωπο-ς, "man" or "human" and λογος, "word," "speech," "discourse," or "reason"--refers to the study of human beings and humankind in the broadest sense. Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) used the term ανθρωπολογος in reference to the science of the nature of man, particularly human physiology and psychology. The term Anthropologia, in its more recognizably modern form, was apparently first used in 1594 by Otto Casmann (1562 - 1607), a priest and rector in Stade, Germany, in his book "Psychologia anthropologica".

 

While many other disciplines, such as psychology and sociology, have people as their primary objects of study, Anthropology approaches its subject from a more holistic perspective. Anthropology treats all aspects of human existence and experience as complementary phenomena within an integrated whole, including both human biology and culture. These elements are seen as far less coherent when the linkages among them are not explicitly taken into account. Anthropology is also holistic because of its concern with the entire temporal range of human existence and experience, beginning with the appearance of our earliest human ancestors in the fossil record and onward through the emergence of modern life in industrialized and globalized societies. Contrary to a popular belief that the primary focus of Anthropology is on life in preindustrial communities, the discipline gives no special emphasis to any particular peoples, group of cultures, or geographic area. The student population of Queens College is as much of interest to anthropologists as are the Neolithic farmers of Europe, India, or China. Therefore, Anthropology is holistic in three senses: its focus of study is on all of humanity, on all aspects of humanity, and at all time periods.

In North America, Anthropology traditionally encompasses four subdisciplines: