On the 13th of January, we'll be joined for a hybrid Lunch & Learn by Orkideh, Fabio, and Abhishek: social anthropologists from the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at SOAS University of London. In lead up to this fantastic webinar, Health Foundry take a look into the basics of Anthropology and the studies behind it.
“The purpose of anthropology is to make the world safe for human differences”
Anthropologist Ruth Benedict (1887-1948)
Anthropology is often described as the study of the human condition: how people live their lives, the life-worlds they form, their histories and futures, and their relations with not just other people, but also things, environments, and ideas. In doing so, anthropologists might study technologies, futures, economies, health care and governments. In its methods, anthropology gives time to understanding deeply what makes us uniquely human and to increase our understanding of ourselves in the process. It has variously been spoken of as making the familiar strange and the strange familiar, as addressing large issues in small places, and even as the most humanistic of the sciences and the most scientific of the humanities.
Career options in anthropology are on a steady incline, and more are becoming interested in undertaking studies therein. Much like the many areas it researches, the range of courses offered within anthropology is also wide and varied. This is part of its charm, as skills provided and taught within this discipline go far beyond what might be traditionally considered as its domain. Detailed further by Princeton University USA ‘Therefore, in addition to ethnographic methods, anthropologists will sometimes employ more quantitative social science methods (such as surveys), natural science methods (such as laboratory research), and methods associated with the humanities (such as textual and visual studies)’.
Now, let’s zoom in on our Panel for the upcoming webinar; The Department of Anthropology and Sociology is one of the leading research-driven centres in the UK. Unlike other UK Anthropology departments, SOAS anthropologists are specialists on Asia, Africa or the Middle East, their global interconnections, and their diasporas. Some of the subjects SOAS anthropologists cover include gender and other social identities, belonging and exclusion, material culture, AI and digital cultures and many more. But for the upcoming event, we are focusing on the intersections between health care, medicine, technology and anthropology. During the hour-long session, our panellists will talk about how an anthropological view can help organisations, such as yours, and discuss examples where founders and management have invested in blending big data on markets (or scale) with thick data (or immersive understandings of their users).