American School of Ethnology

The American School of Ethnology was a late 19th and early 20th-century anthropological approach that focused on studying different cultures as distinct, 'frozen' entities. It emphasized detailed, descriptive accounts of indigenous societies, often comparing customs and traditions to develop theories about human development. The school aimed to classify and understand cultural differences, sometimes implying hierarchical progress toward modernity. While influential in shaping early ethnography, it has since been criticized for its static view of cultures and its tendency to overgeneralize. Today, ethnology is understood as a dynamic study of living cultures, recognizing their complexity and change over time.