PERSPECTIVES: AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts, terms, and figures from the lecture notes.

Anthropology

The study of humanity, including culture, language, biology, and evolution; traditionally organized into four subfields.

Culture

A set of beliefs, practices, and symbols that are learned and shared, forming an integrated whole that shapes worldview and lifeways.

Enculturation

The process of learning the characteristics and expectations of a culture or group.

Subfields of anthropology

cultural anthropology, archaeology, biological (physical) anthropology, and linguistic anthropology (often with applied anthropology).

Cultural Anthropology

The study of living societies and cultures through immersive fieldwork to understand others’ perspectives.

Archaeology

The study of the material past, analyzing tools, pottery, art, shelters, and other remains to reconstruct lifeways.

Biological (Physical) Anthropology

The study of human origins, evolution, and variation, including primates, fossils, genetics, and contemporary variation.

Linguistic Anthropology

The study of language in its social and cultural context, including how language shapes thought and identity.

Applied Anthropology

Using anthropological theories and methods to solve real-world problems in collaboration with organizations and communities.

Holism

An approach that studies the whole of humanity by examining how biology, culture, language, and history interconnect.

Cultural Relativism

The principle that beliefs and practices should be understood within their own cultural context, not judged by another culture.

Ethnocentrism

Tendency to view one’s own culture as superior and to use it as a standard to judge others.

Fieldwork

Research conducted in the community being studied, often involving direct immersion.

Ethnography

The process and product of cultural anthropological research, producing descriptive accounts of culture.

Participant-observation

Living with and observing the people studied while participating in their activities to gather data.

Symbol

A sign that stands for something else within a culture, often with learned meanings (e.g., stop sign; Confederate flag).

Belief

The mental aspects of culture, including values, norms, worldviews, and knowledge.

Practices

Behaviors and actions that reflect belief and are part of daily routines.

Language

A system of communication that is symbolic, diverse, and central to thought, social identity, and culture.

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

The idea that language shapes thought and perception; e.g., Hopi may shape temporal concepts differently than English.

Excavation

The careful digging and removal of dirt at a site to uncover material remains for analysis.

Paleoanthropology

The study of ancient humans and their evolution through fossil records.

Paleoanthropologist

Biological anthropologists who study ancient human relatives.

Homo naledi

A previously unknown hominin species discovered in the Rising Star Cave system in South Africa.

Jane Goodall

Primatologist whose long-term chimpanzee studies showed tool use and complex social life.

Bronislaw Malinowski

Anthropologist who developed participant-observation fieldwork by living among the people studied.

Franz Boas

Founder of American anthropology; advocate of cultural relativism and the four-field approach.

Charles Lyell

Geologist who argued that the Earth changes gradually through time, supporting deep-time thinking.

Charles Darwin

Naturalist who proposed evolution by common descent and the study of fossils and living species.

John Locke

Philosopher who proposed the social contract and that government protects property.

Herbert Spencer

Philosopher who applied evolutionary ideas to societies, suggesting gradual social progression.

Lewis Henry Morgan

Anthropologist who proposed that societies progress through stages: savagery, barbarism, civilization.

Zhang Qian

Early Chinese diplomat who traveled Central Asia and helped introduce ideas and Silk Road connections.

Ibn Battuta

An Amazigh Moroccan scholar who traveled extensively in the Islamic world; wrote Al Rihla.

Age of Enlightenment

18th-century European movement privileging science, rationality, and experience; influenced anthropology.

AAA Code of Ethics

Professional ethical guidelines for anthropologists in research and practice.

Globalization

The process of increasing interconnectedness of societies economically, politically, and culturally.

anthropos

Greek for “human”and the root word for anthropology, which is the study of humans and their societies.

Jean Briggs

A prominent anthropologist known for her fieldwork among the Inuit. Authored Never in Anger: Portrait of an Eskimo Family.

Never in Anger: Portrait of an Eskimo Family

Book by Jean Briggs that focused on an Inuit family in Nunavut (Canada). This ethnography explores the emotional dynamics and cultural norms of Inuit life, emphasizing the absence of expressions of anger in their community. Emotions aren’t innate but culturally shaped, demonstrating how social context influences emotional expression.

Philippe Bourgois

Anthropologist whose work in the 1980s focused on the lives of marginalized drug dealers in East Harlem to figure out why poverty existed in the United States. He argued that both individual choices and social structures can trap people in the overlapping worlds of drugs and poverty.

Does culture change?

Culture changes in response to both internal and external factors.

Humans are born with the capacity to

learn the culture of any social group.

How do we learn cutlure?

Indirectly and directly

Culture is…

symbolic

What distinguishes us from other animals and shaped our evolution?

The degree to which humans rely on culture

Biology is…

interrelated with culture.

Biology, growth and development are impacted by…

culture.

Al Rihla

A book considered to be one of the first examples of pre-anthropological writing.

Inductive

a type of reasoning that uses specific information to draw general conclusions. In this approach, the researcher seeks to collect evidence without trying to definitively prove or disprove a hypothesis. The researcher usually first spends time in the field to become familiar with the people before identifying a hypothesis or research question. Inductive research usually is not generalizable to other settings.

Deductive

a type of reasoning that starts with a general statement or hypothesis and examines the possibilities to reach a specific, logical conclusion. This research often tests existing theories within a specific context.

ethno

Greek term that refers to “people”

graphy

Greek term that refers to “writing”

ology

Greek term that refers to "the study of"

Medical anthropology is an example of…

both an applied and theoretical area of study that draws on all four subdisciplines to understand the interrelationship of health, illness, and culture.

Nina Jablonski

a prominent anthropologist known for her research on skin color and its relationship to human evolution and adaptation.

Kathleen Kenyon

a British archaeologist best known for her significant contributions to the study of ancient Near Eastern cultures and the excavation of Jericho.