Southern Anthropologist
Abstract
Textbooks in general anthropology describe the subject as a holistic endeavor with distinct subfields. However, other than paying lip service to the concept of holism, most establish few fundamental links between the biological, social, and linguistic features of the discipline. In this paper I argue that four-field anthropology is best taught not as a set of layered blocks but as a meshwork of interacting layers of complexity. Moreover, the metaphor of meshworks in synergistic interaction changes not only how we imagine that anthropology’s parts are integrated, it suggests a different philosophical orientation to the study of the physical, communicative, and social aspects of our world.
Relational Format
journal article
Accessibility Status
Searchable text
Recommended Citation
Shanafelt, Robert
(2008)
"Synergy, Meshworks, and the Nature of Anthropology: A Teaching Perspective,"
Southern Anthropologist: Vol. 33:
No.
1, Article 4.
Available at:
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/southern_anthropologist/vol33/iss1/4
