Difference between revisions of "Franz Boas"
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| − | '''Franz Boas''' was a professor of [[anthropology]] at Columbia in the early 20th | + | '''Franz Boas''' was a notable professor of [[anthropology]] at Columbia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Known as the "father of American anthropology," his work led to the foundation, at Columbia, of one of the first anthropology [[PhD]] programs in the country, and influenced many later significant anthropologists, including [[Ruth Benedict]] and [[Margaret Mead]]. |
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| + | He was first appointed a lecturer in physical anthropology in [[1896]]. At the time, Columbia had several other anthropologists, scattered among various departments. Boas' achievement was to bring them together under one roof. He went on to develop the "four field" approach to the discipline, which unified cultural and physical anthropology with [[linguistics]] and [[archaeology]]. In the early 20th century, this structure of the discipline distinguished American anthropology from that of other Western countries. As a matter of course, Boas influenced not only future anthropologists, but also linguists like [[Edward Sapir]]. | ||
==Anecdote== | ==Anecdote== | ||
Revision as of 22:57, 28 November 2007
- See also Wikipedia's article about "Franz Boas".
Franz Boas was a notable professor of anthropology at Columbia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Known as the "father of American anthropology," his work led to the foundation, at Columbia, of one of the first anthropology PhD programs in the country, and influenced many later significant anthropologists, including Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead.
He was first appointed a lecturer in physical anthropology in 1896. At the time, Columbia had several other anthropologists, scattered among various departments. Boas' achievement was to bring them together under one roof. He went on to develop the "four field" approach to the discipline, which unified cultural and physical anthropology with linguistics and archaeology. In the early 20th century, this structure of the discipline distinguished American anthropology from that of other Western countries. As a matter of course, Boas influenced not only future anthropologists, but also linguists like Edward Sapir.
Anecdote
When the US entered World War I in 1917, University President Nicholas Murray Butler sent a questionnaire to each member of the faculty asking how he or she planned to assist the war effort. By way of reply, Boas drew a line through the question and simply scribbled: "Mind my own business."[1]
