How can I relate an area in central park to anthropology?

Question

How can I relate central park to anthropology? I need to do a paper describing a place from the views of anthropology. I told my professor I would chosecentral park and he told me to be more specific and do my paper on only one part/area of the central park. How can I tie culture, curtural diversity, people, tradition, significance and so on into anthropology? Any smart ideas would really be appreciated. I need as many possible answers I can get.

Answer 1

I'm assuming you can GO to Central Park.

Do so.

Try to imagine yourself an anthropologist, making sense of what you see.

Reflect on the concepts of anthropology you've been studying, and apply them to what you see.

Then start to focus in on one area of the park.

WHY do people go there? How do they use it?

What rituals are practiced there? What set, standard behaviors? What ways of interacting? What rules (both official rules, and the unspoken rules) do people follow there?

Sit and watch people, looking for instances of the concepts you've been learning.

Answer 2

Dig a trench, or have someone do it for you, just a few feet deep, and see what you find (no bodies, I hope), and then be sure to fill it back up, or you may receive a fine!

Answer 3

umm, do a fieldwork

like cultural anthropology field work at the park, view the people and go about it like a cultural anthropologist.

get your field noted and turn them in

Answer 4

You could do particpant observation.  Sit at a bench in front of a vendor and take notes about what you see.  You'll be able to see social interactions, hear conversations, see what people eat/drink, etc.

Even a bus stop in front of Central Park will always have a diverse group of people.

Good luck.

Answer 5

Where you aware that the rock outcroppings throughout Central Park are the result of glacial retreat? This is clearly evident by the striations found on most of the exposed granite. There's an outcrop directly across from the Natural History Museum that shows this quite clearly. Perhaps you can show a correlation between the glacial movement and the habitation of North America.