anthro

According to the documentary, in regards to mitochondrial DNA, Jackie, Jon, and Kiril had the same number of differences.

true

Smedley makes the argument that the race concept is strongly linked to class by revealing its genesis to be linked to what conflict?

Bacon's Rebellion

Audrey Smedley focuses on the development of the race concept in which of the following locations?

Virginia

According to the documentary, there are more genetic similarities between two people of the same race than there are between two people of different races.

false

The first time the term “White,” rather than “Christian” or their ethnic names

(English, Irish, Scots, Portuguese, German, Spanish, Swede) appeared in the

public record was seen in a law passed in ______ that "prohibited the marriage of

Europeans with Negroes, Indians, and mulattoes". (NOTE: CE corresponds with AD. it means Common Era)

1691 CE

According to the documentary The Human Odyssey, by 100,000 years ago there was about 80,000 people.

false

According to the documentary The Human Odyssey, the ________ are a nomadic people living in Russia who move seasonally with their reindeer herds.

Chukchi

Question text

When did Pastoralism emerge?

10,000 to 12,000 years ago

Question text

The production system which uses techniques like irrigation and the plow to produce massive food surpluses on permanent fields is

The correct answer is: intensive agriculture

Societies that practice hunting and gathering for food production are always egalitarian and nomadic.

false

Ontology

how a society understands what exists — the nature of being and reality.

A cultural ontology

• a shared cultural framework for understanding what kinds of beings exist, how they relate, and what counts as real in that society.

cultural ontology

It shapes assumptions about the self, spirit, persons, persons’ worth, and social reality.

cultural ontology Example

spirits and ancestors in some cultures are real agents; in Western ontology, only material bodies are “real.”

Western cultures tend to view the self as:

bounded, unique, autonomous, stable, individual — centered in the mind/brain.

• Western cultures tend to view the self as:

  • bounded, unique, autonomous, stable, individual — centered in the mind/brain.

• In contrast, many non‑Western cultures see the self as:

relational, embedded in social ties, or distributed across body, community, and spirit.

A myth isn’t “just a story”; it is a

 charter for belief and action.

A mytth…

• Explains why the world is the way it is.

• Justifies social norms, identities, and categories of existence.

a myth, For example:

creation myths define where humans come from, who counts as kin, and what spirits or forces exist.

Cultures differ radically:

Some view personhood as starting at birth

• others at first breath, naming, or rites.

Cultures differ radically:

Status may depend on

age, role, spirit possession, gender, or social achievement.

Cultures differ radically:

Value systems vary: ex

(e.g., elders in some societies have highest worth; in WEIRD contexts, youth and individual autonomy are prized

A school of thought that:

• Seeks links between culture patterns and individual personality structures.

• Argues that culture shapes emotional life and psychological development.

Early anthropologists saw dominant personality types in

 each culture.

Benedict proposed

 each culture develops a “cultural personality” — dominant themes of thinking and behaving.

example of Benedict’s proposition

: Dionysian (emotional, spontaneous) vs. Apollonian (controlled, reserved).

Benedict argued

 personality types are cultural configurations, not biological.

Mead studied adolescence in Samoa and argued:

• Adolescence there is not inherently stressful — culture shapes it.

Tension common in U.S. teens was not universal.

What is modal personality?

The personality trait most common in a culture

•  the statistically typical way of being.

  • Not every individual, but the shared pattern.

What is ethnopsychology?

Local cultural ideas about:

mind, self, emotions, cognition, memory, hallucinations, and psychological processes.

Local cultural

differs cross‑culturally — not everyone thinks the mind works the same way.

Inuit child‑rearing and personality

Strong focus on:

Community cooperation, endurance, perception, and social attunement.

Inuit child‑rearing and personality

Children learn flexible behavior

 high value on social harmony and interdependence.

What is taijin kyofusho?

A culture‑specific social anxiety disorder found in Japan:

taijin kyofusho

Fear of offending others with one’s presence, gaze, smell, or actions.

Shows how mental experiences are culturally patterned.

How do auditory hallucinations differ across cultures?

Experience and interpretation vary:

• Some cultures view voices as spirits or ancestors communicating.

• Western medicine often interprets them as symptoms of illness.

How do auditory hallucinations differ across cultures?

The content and meaning depend on

cultural context.

What does WEIRD stand for and why does it matter?

W

western

What does WEIRD stand for and why does it matter?

E

Educated

What does WEIRD stand for and why does it matter?

I

Industrialized

What does WEIRD stand for and why does it matter?

R

Rich

What does WEIRD stand for and why does it matter?

D

Democratic

WEIRD societies produce research used as universal norms — but:

• Their psychology is not representative globally.

• It biases assumptions in psychology and anthropology.

How did the Western Church’s approach to kinship shape WEIRD psychology?

Western Christianity emphasized:

• Individual moral responsibility,

• Nuclear family,

Separation of spiritual vs. physical self.

How did the Western Church’s approach to kinship shape WEIRD psychology?

This influenced Western concepts of:

• The autonomous individual,

• Separate mind and body,

• Individual moral psychology.

How do different cultures construct gender?

Gender =

cultural meanings assigned to biological sex differences.

How do different cultures construct gender?

Not universal or fixed

it’s socially constructed.

Is gender always binary?

• No. Many societies recognize more than two genders.

• Binary gender is not universal.

Examples of non‑binary or third gender systems

Hijra (South Asia)

Bugis (Indonesia)

Two‑Spirit (Indigenous North America)

Hijra (South Asia):

• A socially recognized third gender in India/Pakistan.

• May undergo initiation, fulfill cultural roles (e.g., blessing at births/weddings).

Bugis (Indonesia):

• Five gender categories including:

Male, female, calabai (assigned male at birth, female role), calalai (assigned female at birth, male role), bissu (spiritual gender combining all).

Two‑Spirit (Indigenous North America):

A cultural and spiritual identity encompassing non‑binary gender roles.

Is masculinity innate or achieved?

• Gender roles are cultural achievements.

Is masculinity innate or achieved?

• Cultures socialize individuals into gendered behavior through:

Ritual, language, expectation, socialization.

How do cultures use ritual to construct gender?

Rite of passage, naming, body modification, or initiation can:

• Define gender identity,

• Connect individuals to social roles and spiritual personhood.

4) Economics and Subsistence

What characterizes foraging societies?

Hunter‑gatherer lifeways:

• Small, mobile groups,

• Sharing of resources,

• Egalitarian social relations,

• High mobility,

• Low accumulation of material goods.

What is horticulture?

• Plant cultivation with simple tools and no permanent fields.

• Relies on shifting cultivation — planting, fallowing, moving.

Environmental determinism vs. environment as constraint

Environmental determinism:

environment dictates culture — outdated and discredited

Environmental determinism vs. environment as constraint

Modern view: environment shapes possibilities and constraints, but humans have:

• Agency,

• Cultural choice,

• Innovation.

Kwakiutl & California foragers showing human agency

They don’t just respond to ecology — they make

complex social systems.

Kwakiutl & California foragers showing human agency

Example (general):

• Organized potlatches,

• Ranked social systems,

• Elaborate exchange.

What are the Iroquois known for?

• Matrilineal kinship,

• Longhouses,

• Political confederacy,

• Complex social organization.

What are the Yanomama known for?

• Horticultural society in Amazon,

• Fierce reputation in some accounts,

• Village alliances and conflict dynamics.

Smedley’s argument about the history of race in America

Race is

social and historical construction, not biological.

Smedley’s argument about the history of race in America

race emerged to justify inequality and slavery.

• Race categories shift over time and are tied to power.

Significance of Bacon’s Rebellion

• Late 1600s uprising in Virginia by white and Black indentured servants.

• Afterward, elites fostered a race divide to prevent cross‑racial solidarity.

• This helped institutionalize race categories.

• Made “white” category

When did “White” first appear in the public record?

• The concept of “White” as a racial category emerged in colonial legal codes.

• It was tied to privileging European descent.

What is redlining and its role in the wealth gap?

Redlining = discriminatory lending practice:

• Banks denied loans in neighborhoods with Black residents.

Result: disinvestment and racialized wealth disparities.

Redlining

discriminatory lending practice:

What is eugenics?

• Pseudoscience claiming improvement of the human species through selective breeding.

• Used to justify racism and forced sterilization.

Who introduced “Caucasian”?

• 18th‑century scientists used it as a racial category.

• It reflects early Western racial taxonomy.

Blumenbach coined it (gave 5 races)

Which continent is most genetically diverse and why?

Africa

Which continent is most genetically diverse and why?

• Because humans originated there and diverged for the longest time.

Does phenotype reveal genotype?

No

Does phenotype reveal genotype?

• No:

  • Phenotype = observable traits (skin color, hair).

  • Genotype = genetic inheritance.

  • Similar phenotypes can conceal big genetic differences.

• Phenotype

observable traits (skin color, hair).

Genotype

 genetic inheritance.

Is race biological or social?

Socially constructed.

Genetic variation within so‑called races is greater than between them.

Is race biological or social?

Race has real social consequences but

it’s not biologically discrete.

Anthropological objections to race concept

Biologists and anthropologists show:

• Human variation is clinal — gradual, not bounded groups.

• No fixed racial boundaries.

How do anthropologists define ethnicity?

Shared identity based on:

• Common ancestry,

• Cultural traditions,

• Language,

• History,

• Symbols.

How does ethnicity differ from race?
Race

often imposed externally and tied to physical traits.

How does ethnicity differ from race?

Ethnicity

comes from shared culture and self‑identified group membership.

What is ethnogenesis?

The process by which:

• A group forms or redefines an ethnic identity.

• Can occur through migration, conflict, political change, or nation‑building