Introduction to Cultural Anthropology: Key Concepts, People, and Theories

Cultural Relativism

The practice of assessing a culture by its own standards rather than viewing it through the lens of another culture.

Status (Ascribed & Achieved)

Ascribed status is a social status a person is assigned at birth or assumed involuntarily later in life, while achieved status is a social status that comes through actions.

Gender

The social and cultural roles, behaviors, and expectations associated with being male or female.

Emic/Etic

Emic refers to an insider's perspective on a culture, while etic refers to an outsider's perspective.

4 Fields of Anthropology

The four main subfields of anthropology: cultural anthropology, archaeology, linguistic anthropology, and biological anthropology.

Kinship

The system of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of most humans in most societies.

Ethnography

A qualitative research method used to study cultures through direct observation and participation.

Ethnicity

A flexible social category. Ascribed at birth but can be later modified.

Ethnographic Methods

Research methods used in ethnography, including participant observation and interviews.

Rites of Passage

Ceremonies or events marking important transitions in a person's life.

Participant Observation

A research method where the researcher immerses themselves in a community to observe and participate in their daily activities.

Paralanguage

The non-verbal elements of communication used to convey emotion and meaning.

Phonology

The study of the sound system of languages.

Phoneme

The smallest unit of sound in a language that can distinguish meaning.

Morpheme

The smallest grammatical unit in a language.

Sociolinguistics

The study of how language varies and changes in social groups.

Dialect

A particular form of a language that is peculiar to a specific region or social group.

Semantics

The study of meaning in language.

Symbolism

The use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities.

Historical Linguistics

The study of how languages change over time.

Culturally universal traits

Features that can be found in all cultures past and present.

Kinship systems

A culturally universal trait related to family relationships.

Centralized governments

A culturally universal trait involving a governing body that holds authority.

Intensive agricultural systems

A culturally universal trait involving advanced farming techniques.

Incest avoidance

A culturally universal trait that prohibits sexual relations between close relatives.

Melanin production

The primary factor producing variation in human skin color.

Subfields of anthropology

Cultural anthropology, physical anthropology, archaeology, and paleontology.

DNA evidence

Shows that human beings cannot be subdivided into meaningful racial groups.

Ethnocide

The loss of cultural practices and languages due to forced assimilation.

Creole

A type of language that is a hybrid of two or more other languages.

Pidgin

A limited vocabulary that allows basic communication between people who do not speak the same language.

Glottochronology

Measures differences between languages to estimate when they diverged from a common 'parent tongue'.

Proxemics

Communication through distancing behavior.

Kinesics

Sometimes called 'body language' in the U.S.

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

It challenges this traditional assumption: language is a product of thought and culture

Race

A fixed biological category. A social construct. Ascribed at birth.

Infinite productivity from finite resources

The ability of human language to create an unlimited number of sentences from a limited set of elements.

Civilization Policy

U.S. policy aimed at assimilating Native Americans, affecting tribes like the Cherokee.

Narirema

Fictional tribe, America backwards. Weird quirks such as body rituals like brushing your teeth and cleaning the body

Monogenists

Believed human race shared a common origin

Polygenists

Argued that different human races evolved from multiple, separate ancestral lineages

Monogenists vs. Polygenists

They argued about racial hierarchies