Cultural anthropology quiz 1

week 2 information

Culture

A system of knowledge, beliefs, patterns of behavior, artifacts, and institutions that are created, learned, shared, and contested by a group of people.

Enculturation

The lifelong process through which humans learn culture.

Culture is learned

Culture is not biologically inherited but learned through social interaction.

Culture is shared

Culture exists within groups and is not owned by individuals.

Culture is contested

Culture is constantly debated, challenged, and changed.

Cultural institutions

Organizations such as schools, religion, media, and government that promote and enforce norms and values.

Norms

Rules or expectations about how people should behave in particular situations.

Formal norms

Written rules such as laws, policies, and codes of conduct.

Informal norms

Unwritten rules learned through everyday interaction.

Values

Fundamental beliefs about what is important, right, and meaningful in a culture.

Symbols

Anything that represents something else and carries shared meaning.

Symbolic actions

Nonverbal or verbal behaviors that communicate cultural meaning.

Money as a symbol

Money has value because people collectively believe it does.

Mental maps of reality

Cultural classifications that organize how people understand what exists.

Mental maps and power

Those in power often shape how reality is categorized and understood.

Biology vs culture

Biology provides physical traits; culture assigns meaning to them.

Exogamy

Marriage outside one’s social group.

Endogamy

Marriage within one’s social group.

Anti-miscegenation laws

Laws that banned interracial marriage in the United States.

Loving v. Virginia (1967)

Supreme Court case that ruled bans on interracial marriage unconstitutional.

Individualism

A cultural value emphasizing personal freedom and independence.

Collective responsibility

A cultural value emphasizing protection of the group.

COVID-19 and culture

The pandemic showed how culture shapes health behavior.

Mask wearing

A public health practice that became culturally and politically contested.

Brazil COVID-19 response

Low vaccination rates and political resistance increased infections and deaths.

Jair Bolsonaro

Brazilian president who minimized COVID-19 risks and opposed mask mandates.

Sao Paulo mask fine

The city fined Bolsonaro for violating mask mandates.

Hong Kong COVID-19 response

Early mask adoption led to low infection and death rates.

New York City COVID-19 response

Delayed mask mandates contributed to higher infection and death rates.

Masks as symbols

Masks came to represent freedom, control, weakness, or care.

Cultural change

Culture evolves as beliefs and practices are challenged.

Religion as symbolic system

Religious objects and rituals carry meanings beyond their physical form.

National flags

Symbols that evoke strong political and emotional meaning.

Enculturation through schools

Schools teach norms, values, and acceptable behavior.

Enculturation through media

Media shapes beliefs and cultural expectations.

Tirakuna

Sacred mountain beings in Quechua culture.

Apu

A powerful mountain spirit that protects and influences people.

Ausangate

The most powerful apu and highest mountain in the region.

Pacha Mama

Earth Mother deity representing nature, fertility, and life.

Christianity in Quechua rituals

Christian prayers and symbols blended with Indigenous beliefs.

Coca (hallpay)

Chewing coca leaves as a cultural, spiritual, and social practice.

Coca symbolism

Coca represents grief, protection, connection, and community.

Runa

A “real person” who lives according to Andean cultural values.

Cultural identity conflict

Tension between Indigenous traditions and dominant national culture.

Ethnography

Anthropological research method focused on lived experience.

Intersubjectivity

Shared understanding created through interaction.

Nature and classification

Cultures classify nature to manage complexity.

Dog breed example

Dogs show how cultural categories shape perception.

Mental maps and dogs

Physical variation challenges simple classification systems.