Finn Sivert Nielsen

Social Anthropologist
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Defining anthropology

How should anthropology be understood and defined? It is an academic subject with an artistic vein, a personal striving for truth with methodological consistency, a theoretical playground with political implications. Some of these (and other) aspects of the discipline are reflected below... Contribute to this project

Anthropology - "the study of mankind" Defined in the Online dictionary of anthropology.
An example of what may happen when one studies mankind An email interchange between an anthropologist and the people studied by his students.
What is anthropology? - An introductory course Course plan and coherent notes for the first lecture.
"Models of social complexity" - What is theory? A paper on the nature of theory in anthropology.
How Anthropology? Oslo-antropologien ved en korsvei On the meaning of anthropology, by a younger anthropologist.
'Fagets kjerne' - Innlegg på debattmøte om antropologiens formål i verden On the meaning of anthropology, by an older anthropologist.
Building anthropology A historical sketch of the formative years of anthropology in the Nordic countries, with parallels to the situation in the Baltic countries today
History of anthropology homepage Based on a textbook on the history of anthropology I co-authored, this page contains extracts of the book, timelines, and extensive links to texts published on the Internet.
Anthropology in Norway: A Brief Introduction An overview of anthropology in Norway, one of the countries where anthropology has had the greatest national success.
Sovjetisk minoritetsforskning: to eksempler Review article on Soviet anthropology.
Forskningsprosessen i sosialantropologi (forelesning) Coherent notes for an introductory lecture.
Is anthropology a comparative social science? A course on comparison as an anthropological program - and as disciplinary rhetoric.
Contextualizing context A course on the role of contextual explanation in anthropology.
Applied anthropology defined From the Online dictionary of anthropology.
Texts on applied anthropology ... on AnthroBase.
Texts on the anthropology and (of) colonialism ... on AnthroBase.
Texts on ethical issues in anthropological fieldwork ... on AnthroBase.