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Key terms

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Even to fluent English speakers, the way anthropologists write and speak often seems like a different language. When writers use words without defining them, we often skip over these terms, or think we know what they mean until we are asked to explain them ourselves.

The best thing you can do when you don’t understand a term is to ask your teachers and mentors. Clarifying a term for a student is a good exercise for them as well! It is important to think about how you would explain a term to a non-anthropological audience; this is something you should keep in mind when defining your terms at the beginning of an essay assignment.

Exercises

Note a key term used in a lecture or reading and write your own definition based on the context in which your lecturer/the author used the word. Next, try to use the term in a sentence of your own (perhaps summarizing the lecture or the reading).

If either of these steps was difficult, look back over your notes, consult other sources on the reading list, or ask your class teacher or mentor for clarification (go to Google only as a last resort!). 

Useful resources

Discover Anthropology Glossary of Terms: A list of key terms that you will see and use throughout your studies in anthropology. Some of these terms (e.g., ‘culture’) may seem obvious, but the meanings they hold in anthropological contexts could be different from the way you use them in everyday conversation.

Small places, large issues: an introduction to social and cultural anthropology, edited by Thomas Hylland Eriksen (also accessible online through LSE Library): A thorough reference text with overviews of the major topics in social anthropology, including textbook-like definitions of useful terms.

How to Think Like an Anthropologist by Matthew Engelke (also accessible online through LSE Library): A very accessible and entertaining introduction to the major themes and debates of social anthropology, including useful vocabulary explained in context.

 

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