Final answer:
Franz Boas is known as the "father of American anthropology," recognized for his work in recording Native American languages and arguing against racism. His influence extended to his students like Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead, and Edward Sapir, although his field has faced criticism for its colonialist practices and exploiting indigenous peoples.
Step-by-step explanation:
Known as the "father of American anthropology," Franz Boas was a preeminent geographer and linguist renowned for his extensive work in recording Native American languages and for his staunch opposition to racial discrimination and the concept of race as a biological categorization. Boas was instrumental in shifting the focus of anthropology to encompass detailed ethnographic work urging scholars to gather information directly from native peoples rather than from secondhand sources.
His leadership at Columbia University and the federal Bureau of American Ethnology paved the way for a more nuanced, respectful, and empirical approach to studying human societies. Boas's commitment to cultural relativism and his scientific methodologies influenced his students, such as Ruth Benedict Margaret Mead and Edward Sapir, who furthered psychological anthropology. However Boas's work along with other early anthropologists like Edward S. Curtis and Albert Gatschet is not without critique scholars like Vine Deloria Jr. have pointed out the exploitative dynamics wherein anthropologists benefited at the expense of the indigenous peoples they studied.