Anthropology is a social science that studies human society and cultures through a comparative lens. Anthropologists seek to understand how people live in societies and how they make meaning of their lives. Anthropology is divided into four subfields: cultural or social anthropology, linguistic anthropology, biological or physical anthropology, and archaeology.

• Cultural or Social Anthropology: This subfield is the study of the learned behavior of groups of people in specific environments. Cultural anthropologists base their work in ethnography, a research method that uses fieldwork and participant-observation to study individual cultures and customs.

• Linguistic Anthropology: This subfield is the study of language and its role in human communication and culture. Linguistic anthropologists study the relationship between language and culture, how language is used in social contexts, and how it shapes our understanding of the world.

• Biological or Physical Anthropology: This subfield is the study of the evolution of human beings and their living and fossil relatives. Biological anthropology places human evolution within the context of human culture and behavior. This means that biological anthropologists study the biological and social factors that have affected the evolution of humans and other primates, and that generate, maintain, or change contemporary genetic and physiological variation.

• Archaeology: This subfield is the study of the material remains of past cultural systems to understand the technical, social, and political organization of those systems and the larger cultural evolutionary process that stand behind them.

Anthropology is a key discipline contributing to multiculturalism, environmental studies, and globalization. Students of anthropology learn about human societies and cultures throughout the world, including when they developed and how they change. This broad perspective is applied to understanding ourselves and comparing ourselves with others. By using the knowledge and perspectives gained from many cultures, anthropology is in a position to offer great insight into understanding present human societies and offering solutions for the future.