To Boas, anthropology was a holistic and eclectic field of study, so to assess theories of cultural differences, one must be familiar with biology, interrelations of humans and their environment and such specific criteria as human migration, nutrition, child-rearing customs and disease, to name a few. He also lectured widely in an attempt to educate the public on the nature of race and the dangers of Nazi ideology. After his retirement, in 1936, Boas responded to the steady rise of the Nazis in Germany and Hitler's thoughts on a "master race" by crystallizing his ideas about racism in articles published in popular scientific journals, some of which were collected after his death in Race and Democratic Society (1945). Later Years, Legacy and Influenceīoas enlarged and updated The Mind of Primitive Man in 1937, and published Race, Language and Culture in 1940. from Germany's University of Kiel was rescinded. At the other end of the spectrum, in the 1930s his book was burned by the Nazis and his Ph.D. immigration restrictions based on supposed racial differences. In the 1920s, Boas's book was often referred to by those who opposed new U.S. In it, Boas explored further thoughts on cultural relativism, debunking then-current ideas suggesting the superiority of Western civilization over less-developed societies based on racial criteria.
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In 1911, Boas published The Mind of Primitive Man, a series of lectures on culture and race. His first doctoral student was Alfred Kroeber, also a great pioneer of American anthropology, who went on to cofound the anthropology department at the University of California, Berkeley, which helped to spread Boas’ theories coast to coast.
His growing reputation in anthropology was equalled by his enormous influence as a teacher and researcher in all four subdisciplines of anthropology (physical anthropology, linguistics, cultural anthropology and archaeology his work also extended into folklore and art). By the turn of the century, he was the most influential figure in the field of anthropology. Extending Cultural Research and Educationīoas was an innovative and productive researcher, contributing to statistical physical anthropology, linguistics and American Indian ethnology. Also in 1896, Boas was appointed assistant curator of ethnology and somatology at the American Museum of Natural History, a post he would hold until 1905, when he resigned to focus on anthropological education and research. Nine years after that, he established Columbia’s department of anthropology, the first in the United States. In 1896, Boas began lecturing at Columbia University, and three years later, he became the first professor of anthropology there. He soon began to formulate theories on anthropological relativism, which he described thusly: "Civilization is not something absolute, but … is relative, and … our ideas and conceptions are true only so far as our civilization goes." Also during this time, as part of the Chicago World's Fair, Boas was involved with a project to bring the cultures of Native Americans to the general public. In 1886, on his way back to Germany from one of his many visits with the tribes of British Columbia, Boas stopped in New York City and decided to live there, taking a position as an editor for Science magazine and his first teaching position at the newly founded Clark University, in Worcester, Massachusetts. At the museum, he met members of the Nuxalk Nation of British Columbia, sparking a lifelong relationship with the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest. Upon his return to Germany, Boas took posts in the Royal Ethnological Museum in Berlin and at the University of Berlin, where he taught geography. Fascinated by the Inuit culture, Boas collected ethnographic data not directly related to the project at hand, and so began his lifelong interest in and study of the way people lived. Soon after, in 1883, he began a yearlong scientific expedition-his first-to Baffin Island in northern Canada. in physics, with a minor in geography from the University of Kiel.Īfter a brief stint in the military, Boas continued his studies in Berlin. After attending the universities of Heidelberg, Bonn and Kiel, in 1881 he earned a Ph.D. While studying at the Gymnasium in Minden, his interest in the history of culture took root.
From the age of 5, he was interested in the natural sciences, including botany, zoology and geology. Early Life and the Birth of a Careerįranz Boas was born in Minden, in the Westphalia area of Germany, in 1858. His work culminated with his theory of relativism, which discredited prevailing beliefs that Western civilization is superior to simpler societies. He later argued against contemporary theories of racial distinction between humans. Born on Jin Minden, Germany, Franz Boas's first anthropologic fieldwork was among the Eskimo in Baffinland, Canada, beginning in 1883.
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