Key Concepts in Cultural Anthropology

Fieldwork

Research method involving immersive community engagement.

Sociolinguistics

Study of language in social contexts.

Heritage Speaker

Individual fluent in a language due to cultural background.

Hypodescent

Classification of mixed-race individuals into minority groups.

Code Switching

Alternating between languages in conversation.

a speaker uses several language varieties in a particular interaction

Acculturation

Cultural change resulting from contact with another culture.

Language Revitalization

Efforts to revive endangered or extinct languages.

Research Ethics

Guidelines ensuring integrity and respect in research.

Language Shift

Change in language use within a community.

Key Informants

Individuals providing critical insights for research.

Ethnology

Comparative study of cultures and their development.

Dialect

Regional variation of a language.

Cultural Relativism

Understanding cultures on their own terms.

Mechanisms of Power

Processes through which power is exercised in society.

Racial Formation

Social processes creating and transforming racial categories.

Whiteness

Cultural identity associated with being white.

Digital World / Physical World

Interaction between online and offline environments.

Enculturation

Process of learning one's own culture.

Applied Anthropology

Use of anthropological methods to solve real-world problems.

Rapport

Trust and relationship between researcher and subjects.

Photoethnography

Combining photography with ethnographic research.

Ethnographic Research Strategy

Systematic study of people and cultures.

Ethnocentrism

Belief in the superiority of one's own culture. Using your cultural standards to evaluate and judge others' practices

Emic Perspective

Insider's view of a culture.

Folk Taxonomy

Categorization based on cultural beliefs.

Agency

Capacity of individuals to act independently.

Social Construction

Concepts shaped by social processes and interactions.

Etic Perspective

Outsider's analysis of a culture.

Uneven Development

Disparities in economic growth across regions.

Armchair Anthropology

Study of cultures without fieldwork.

Historical Particularism

Social groups shaped through historical processes

Cultural particularities are social and historical products

Assimilation

Process of adopting the cultural norms of another group.

Moral Judgment

Evaluation of actions based on ethical standards.

Racism

Prejudice or discrimination based on race.

Survivance

Active survival and resistance of Indigenous cultures.

Ex: - Cultural and linguistic practices through which people navigate and resist oppressive power dynamics

- Isnang communities that transcribe oral traditions to preserve lifeways and lands from being encroached on by energy development

Hashtag Activism

Using social media hashtags for social change.

Cultural Imperialism

Imposition of one culture over another.

etic perspective

the perspective of the outside observer

Which of the following best reflect the primary characteristics of culture?

Adaptive

All-encompassing

Learned

Symbolic

The Wôpanâak project, led by Jessie Little Doe, is creating new native speakers of the Wôpanâak language. This type of project is called:

language revitalization

In Rachel Kolb and Timothy Loh's brief article, they discuss "How deaf and hearing friends conavigate the world." Which of the following represent findings from their research?

- Informal interpreting provides examples of how access becomes embedded in everyday linguistic relationships

- Institutional accessibility frameworks can result in narrow definitions of inclusion

- For people who use signed languages, whether informal or professional interpreting is desirable depends on the context of the interaction