Franz Boas Summary

Franz Boas 1858-1942 German-American Anthropologist Franz Boas is primarily remembered for his pioneering work as an anthropologist and ethnologist. Boas was the founder of the culture-centered (but s... Read more

Franz Boas, an anthropologist and linguist, helped to found modern cultural anthropology in the United States. He and his students influenced all areas of anthropology through the 1930's, revolutioniz... Read more

Boas near the end of his life. Krupat is an American critic and scholar who has written extensively on Native American cultures. In the following excerpt, he discusses elements of modernism ... Read more

In the following essay, Wax argues that while Boas was successful in introducing a spirit of critical inquiry and empiricism into modern anthropology, he failed to develop viable theories of his own. ... Read more

In the following essay, Spier provides an overview ofBoas's contributions to the field of anthropology. Boas left no body of dogma as a legacy. What he established, as a foundation to modern... Read more

A distinguished American anthropologist, Stocking is the editor of numerous volumes of writings on the subject. In the following excerpt, which was originally published in the 1979 collection The Uses... Read more

In the following excerpt, Hyatt applauds Boas's efforts to effect social change. The life and thought of Franz Boas has had a profound impact on many diverse elements of American society. In... Read more