Anth 1000- Exam 1 Study Guide (all terms)

What did Anthropology focus on historically?

It focused on small-scale, nonindustrial groups away from the anthropologist’s country or region of origin

T or F: anthropology has changed over time

True, anthropology has changed and now studies all societies both ancient and modern

Anthropology is much more than the study of nonindustrial people. It is a _____ science that examines ____ societies, ancient and modern, simple and complex

comparative; all

Kottak defines Anthropology as the “study of humans  _____ the world and through ____”

around; time

What is Anthropology?

It’s the study of the human condition, or the human species, its evolution through time, its variations over time and space

What are Anthropologists interested in?

They are interested in how and why modern humans vary so dramatically (in appearance and way of life) yet are clearly so similar. It focuses on CULTURE.

As humans we use _____ to create important ____ between groups

commonalities; differences

Anthropologists strive to explain _____ and _____ among humans.

similarities; differences

What unique perspective does Anthropology provide?

It provides a cross-cultural perspective on human behavior, thought, and culture. THIS IS A CORE STRENGTH

What 2 things does Anthropology strive to do?

1. Make the Familiar Strange

2. Make the Strange Familiar

What are the 4 subfields of Anthropology?

1. Cultural 

2. Archaeological

3. Biological

4. Linguistic

What is: Culture?

They are traditions, customs, transmitted through learning, that form and guide the beliefs and behaviors of the people exposed to them

Culture is ____ NOT ____

social; biological

T or F: we are taught our cultures when we’re teens

False, we’re taught from birth

T or F: when we get instructed to follow culture it’s only indirect instruction

False, the instructions we get are indirect AND direct

What is the process called learning our culture?

Enculturation (which is related to socialization)

What do cultural beliefs shape?

It shapes how humans view one’s physical appearance in relation to culturally constructed ideas of desirability

What is the example that was used in class to show how cultural beliefs shape what sports are popular?

• In the U.S. it’s culturally acceptable for a woman to have a “swimmer’s build”

• In Brazil, women don’t have “swimmer’s build” because it’s not popular due to cultural beliefs that relate to how a woman should look

What discipline is Anthropology?

It’s a holistic discipline (aka holism)

What is Holism?

It’s the study of the whole of the human condition: past, present, and future; biology, society, language, and culture

What is Archaeology?

It reconstructs, describes, and interprets human behavior and cultural patterns through material remains (i.e. artifacts)

In Archeology when analyzing material remains of past settlements what conclusions can be drawn?

Conclusions about social organization, diet, culture shift, etc. can be seen

What is a major Native American archeological site found in Alabama?

Moundville

What is Biological Anthropology?

It focuses on human biological diversity through time and as it exists in the world today

What five special interests does the subfield of biological anthropology connect?

1. Human biological evolution as revealed by the fossil record

2. Human genetics

3. Human growth and development

4. Human biological plasticity (the body’s ability to change as it copes with stresses, such as heat, cold, and altitude)

5. Primatology (the study of monkeys, apes, and other non-human primates)

What is Linguistic Anthropology?

The study of language in its social and cultural context (i.e., accents, bilingualism)

What is Applied Anthropology?

The application of anthropological data, perspectives, and theory to help solve social problems

Who wrote Body Ritual Among the Nacirema?

Miner

What does Body Ritual Among the Nacirema (Miner) discuss?

It discusses the Nacirema and their culture. It describes the heathen ways in which they live their life. However, the Nacirma is American backwards. It made the familiar strange (each thing that was talked about was familiar to us but the vocabulary made it seem strange and other-worldly almost)

What did each thing discussed in the Body Ritual Among the Nacirema actually mean?

• Shrine = Bathroom

• Charm-Boxes = Medicine-Cabinent

• Holy-Mouth-Men = Dentists

• Medicine Men = Pharmacists

• The Listener = Therapists

• The Latipso Temple = Hospital

What is Quantitative data?

• Data gathered from larger numbers of people

• Doesn’t really get personal stories just general trends

What is Quanlitative data?

• Data gathered from a smaller number of people

• Gets more in-depth and detailed data

What is Ethnography?

• Based on fieldwork and “provides an account of a particular community, society, or culture

• First hand research, data that is gathered is written by the person who collects it

What is Ethnology?

• Based on cross-cultural comparison and “examines, compares, analyzes, and interprets the results of ethnography”

• Work is done by a lot of people that is put together

  • Focuses more on the “big picture” or theoretical things, comparative, and analytical

Ethnography works through a series of _____: things remote are made to seem nearby/accessible, things near to use are made to seem remote, even unattractive (e.g., Nasirema reading, Americans found it odd even though it was their own culture)

reversals

What significant thing did Bronislaw Malinowski do?

• He conducted extensive fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands (in Papua New Guinea) which resulted in research on this culture. He published a well-known Ethnography called “Argonauts of the Western Pacific”.

• Created the 3 commandments of fieldwork

What 2 things did Malinowski determine a person would have to do in order to do fieldwork well?

1. Cut yourself off from your own kind of people

2. Immerse yourself in the social world you’re studying

After doing the 2 things Malinowski said in order to do good fieldwork, what were Malinowski’s 3 commandments of fieldwork?

1. Find patterns, structure, “anatomy” of social life

2. Fill in details of everyday life, the “imponderabilia”, through close observation

   1. These are things that the locals would consider mundane, BUT outsiders would notice

3. Collect a “corpus inscriptionum”, which is a set of telling examples

   1. Things that can tell you a lot about that society

What is the ULTIMATE goal of Malinowski’s approach to fieldwork?

Do all of this in order to “grasp the native’s point of view, their relation to life, and to realize their version of their world”

T or F: Anthropological Research is always based around firsthand, personal study of a particular cultural setting

False, while a lot is more informal there can be structured interviews too

What are the techniques to collect Ethnographic Data?

• Participant Observation (includes rapport and key cultural consultants)

• Genealogical Method

• Life History

What is: Participant Observation?

• Records more informal notes that will help point out some more basic aspects of the culture

• Takes part in community events and observes behavior (ACTIVE PARTICIPANT OF THE COMMUNITY)

What is: Rapport?

It’s trust with people who you are learning from 

What is: Key Cultural Consultants (AKA informants)?

• People who you have a rapport with

• People who are very important in piecing together an event that they lived through (a first-hand account)

What is: Genealogical Method?

• Helps understand the social organization & history in nonindustrial societies (AKA kin-based societies)

• Trying to figure out who’s related to who (establishing family trees or connections)

What is: Life History?

• A recollection of a person’s life that can provide a more intimate/personable account (an anthropological biography)

• In depth “case-studies”

What is an Emic perspective?

• This is the perspective of the locals

• More on a micro level

What is an Etic perspective?

• This is the perspective of the outsider; supposed to be more objective

• More on a macro level

What is an example of an Emic vs. Etic perspective on Thanksgiving?

• Emic: a uniquely American phenomenon that represents Americans and Native Americans friendship

• Etic: one of many festivals that celebrate post-harvest

What are different models of Anthropology?

• Problem-Oriented

• Longitudinal

• Team Research

• Multi-sited Ethnography

What does the Problem-Oriented model of Anthropology focus on/learn?

This model tries to learn about a specific issue in the culture since studying everything would take an extensive amount of time

What are some examples of the Problem-Oriented model of Anthropology?

Ex: population density, public health, etc.

What does the Longitudinal model of Anthropology focus on/learn?

This model looks at change over time in an area or population, usually based on repeated visits

What are some examples of the Longitudinal model of Anthropology?

Ex: change of birth rates over 10 years, etc

What does the Team Research model of Anthropology focus on/learn?

 Coordinated research by multiple ethnographers, is mostly longitudinal

What does the Multi-sited Ethnography model of Anthropology focus on/learn?

Doing projects in multiple places to see global phenomenon

What are the ethical principles of Anthropology?

• Have to be open and honest with the people who they are studying

• They must get INFORMED CONSENT with the people of the community

The most important ___ consideration for Anthropologists is the ____ with whom they work

ethical; people

What is Forensic Anthropology?

• A subfield of Biological Anthropology

• Applies skeletal analysis and archaeological techniques to solve legal and criminal cases

What is involved in doing Applied Anthropology?

Using the knowledge and/or techniques of the four subfields to identify, assess, and solve practical problems

How can we apply anthropological insights to our shared problems?

We can use these insights in order to improve the environment, health, etc.

What are some examples of Applied and Practicing Anthropology?

Ex: Medical anthropology, culture resource management (CRM), museum anthropology, etc. 

What is Naïve Realism?

The failure to understand [other cultures] social class and the assumption that everyone views the world the same way

Who wrote Nice Girls Don’t Talk to Rastas?

Gmelch wrote this

What does Nice Girls Don’t Talk to Rastas (Gmelch) shed light on?

It sheds light on ethnographic methods and how anthropologists approach research in a foreign culture

What does Nice Girls Don’t Talk to Rastas (Gmelch) talk about?

It focuses on a girl who goes to Jamaica and has Naive Realism since she hangs out with a Rasta (under the American assumption that most everyone is from the same social class) not knowing that they are shunned by the community. She gets ousted by the community because of this minute decision.

What is the following quote defining and who said it?: “Culture or Civilization, taken in its wide ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”(1871)

This quote is defining Culture, and it was said by E.B. Tylor

What are human cultures dependent on?

• Symbolic Communication (symbols/words have shared meaning in one culture)

• Learning (cultures are learned through indirect/direct socialization)

• The Ability to Live in Groups (culture is SHARED with a number of people)

T or F: Biology alone can explain how human cultures function, interact, and change over time

False, it ALONE cannot explain this

What are the distinctive features of culture?

• It’s Learned

• It’s Shared

• It’s Symbolic

• It Shapes and Channels Nature

• It is All-Encompassing

• It is Integrated

• It is Adaptive and Maladaptive

• It is Changing

• It is Inclusive and Exclusive

When talking about the distinctive features of culture, what does it mean when it’s “Learned”?

This means it’s acquired through socialization

When talking about how culture is learned, what is an example?

The walking protocol in the U.S. compared to Australia, it’s not the same

When talking about the distinctive features of culture, what does it mean when it’s “Shared”?

This means that even though culture is shared through, the emotion/meaning is contested with the people in the culture

When talking about how culture is shared, what is an example?

Golden arches represent McDonalds, BUT some people love it and some people hate it

When talking about the distinctive features of culture, what does it mean when it’s “Symbolic”?

This means that a culture’s symbol can be arbitrary in what it might symbolize

When talking about how culture is symbolic, what is an example?

• Llama vs. I love you (in sign language)

  • One is an animal, one is words of affirmation but they both use the same hand signal

When talking about the distinctive features of culture, what does it mean when it “Shapes and Channels Nature”?

This means that what you eat, how much you eat, can lead to changes in bodily form

When talking about the distinctive features of culture, what does it mean when it’s “All-Encompassing”?

This means it encompasses one's whole life (human life, behavior, and society) 

When talking about the distinctive features of culture, what does it mean when it’s “Integrated”?

This means that it’s a pattern-systematic phenomenon and that there is a logic that links ALL the aspects to one another

When talking about how culture is integrated, what is an example?

In the U.S. specifically: work ethic + individualism = lots of laws and workplace practices that get passed

When talking about the distinctive features of culture, what does it mean when it’s “Adaptive and Maladaptive”?

• Adaptive = helps the person/community

• Maladaptive = hurts the person/community

When talking about how culture is adaptive and maladaptive, what are examples of each?

• Adaptive = community activities like festivals

• Maladaptive = pollution

T or F: Culture is NOT always adaptive

True, this is because some laws are passed that hurt the person/community (like drilling in the earth to get more gas)

When talking about the distinctive features of culture, what does it mean when it’s “Changing”?

This means that culture isn’t static, it’s always undergoing change

When talking about how culture is changing, what is an example?

Fashion, slang words (or language in general)

When talking about the distinctive features of culture, what does it mean when it’s “Inclusive and Exclusive”?

This means that culture can bring us together or tear us apart. We often define who we are in opposition to other groups.

What are the three cultural levels and scales?

1. National Culture

2. International Culture

3. Subcultures

What is National Culture?

Cultures specific to a nation-state, shared by the citizens of the same nation

What are some examples of U.S. National Culture?

Football, equality, etc.

What is International Culture?

Cultures that are shared around the world, regardless of the nation-state that one is in

What are some examples of International Culture?

World religions, western-dress, hip-hop, movies, etc.

What are Subcultures?

Smaller culture, different civil patterns or traditions in a region of the world/state/city

What is a popular example of Subcultures?

Cliques in highschool (jock vs. geek, etc.)

What is Ethnocentrism?

It’s the tendency to view one’s culture as superior and to apply one’s own cultural values in judging the behavior and beliefs that are found in other cultures

What is Cultural Relativism?

• It’s the viewpoint that behavior in one culture should NOT be judged by the standards of another culture. It should be understood RELATIVE to its own system of meaning. 

  • It’s NOT a moral position but an analytical tool to help one engage with and think about different cultures

What are the different Cultural Dimensions?

• Universality

• Generality

• Particularity

When talking about cultural dimensions, what is Universality and what are some examples of it?

• Things that are found in EVERY culture

  • Ex: kinship, language, taboos against inc3st, etc.

When talking about cultural dimensions, what is Generality and what are some examples of it?

• Things that are found in MOST BUT NOT ALL cultures

  • Ex: major world languages (e.g. English, French, etc.), monogamy

When talking about cultural dimensions, what is Particularity and what are some examples of it?

• Things that are RARELY found in cultures

  • Ex: cross-cousin marriage, polygamy, etc.

What is Diffusion?

The movement or borrowing of traits between cultures; can be direct OR indirect