Cultural Anthropology Summer 1 - Quiz 1 study

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Oct 30, 2023

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5/12/14 1 Cultural Anthropology Quiz 1 – Study Sheet Dr. Solomon Caudle What is Anthropology  Anthropology is the study of humans, past and present.  To understand the full sweep and complexity of cultures across all of human history, anthropology draws and builds upon knowledge from the social and biological sciences as well as the humanities and physical sciences.  A central concern of anthropologists is the application of knowledge to the solution of human problems. Historically, anthropologists in the United States have been trained in one of four areas: sociocultural anthropology, biological/physical anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics.  Anthropologists often integrate the perspectives of several of these areas into their research, teaching, and professional lives (applied anthropology) Goals of Anthropology  Describe, analyze and explain different cultures.  Show how groups adapted to their environments and gave meaning to their lives.  Comprehend the entire human experience.

5/12/14 2 An Anthropological Perspective  Holistic, comparative, field based, and evolutionary  Anthropologists draw on the findings of many different disciplines that study human beings (human biology, economic, religion, etc)  Generalizations about human behavior should draw on as wide a range of human groups as possible Holistic  Anthropologist study specific groups of people with the goal to produce a holistic portrait of that people’s way of life by bringing together information about many different facets of their lives – social – religious – economic – political- linguistic and so forth in order to understand a nuanced context for understanding who they are and why they do what they do Comparative  Anthropologist learned that the patterns of life common in their own societies were not necessarily followed in other societies.  Anthropologist consider similarities and differences in a wide range of human societies.

5/12/14 3 Evolutionary  Major branch of anthropology is concerned with the study of biological evolution of the human species over time, including the study of human origins and genetic variety and inheritance in living human populations.  Some anthropologist have also been interested in cultural evolution, looking for patterns of orderly change over time in socially acquired behavior that is not carried in the genes The Subfields of Anthropology Areas of Specialization  Biological Anthropology  Cultural Anthropology  Linguistic Anthropology  Archaeology Biological Anthropology  Looks at human beings at biological organisms  Interested in how human beings are different from other organisms.  Three main types of biological anthropologist – Primatologist – compare humans to closest other organism (chimpanzee and gorillas) – Paleoanthropologist – study bones and teeth of earlier ancestors – Forensic – Use knowledge of human anatomy to aid law enforcement and human rights investigators

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5/12/14 4 Archaeology  Study of past cultures through their material remains.  Prehistoric societies are those with no usable written records. – Artifact - A material remain of a past culture. • Archaeologists interpret artifact’s function by precise position in which it was found. – Features are artifacts that cannot easily be moved, such as ruins of buildings, burials, and fire pits. Linguistic anthropology  Concerned with the study of human language – First to transcribe non-western languages and produce grammars and dictionaries of those languages.  Attempt to understand language in the broader, cultural, historical or biological contexts that make it possible. Cultural Anthropology Sometimes called social anthropology  Investigates how variations in the belief and behaviors of members of different human groups is shaped by culture (sets of learned behaviors and ideas that human beings acquire as members of society  Many different areas studied specialized domains of human cultural activity – Economic, political and spiritual – Language, art, music, ritual, religion, et al.

5/12/14 5 Cultural Anthropology  The study of human behavior that is learned rather than genetically transmitted, and that is typical of groups of people.  Society is the set of social relationships among people within a given geographical area.  Culture is the learned behaviors and symbols that allow people to live in groups. Examples of Cultural Anthropology  Political and legal anthropology - concerned with issues of nationalism, citizenship, the state, colonialism, and globalism.  Humanistic anthropology - focused on the personal, ethical, and political choices facing humans.  Visual anthropology - the study of visual representation and the media. Applied Anthropology Using methods and findings of all other types of anthropology to address contemporary problems. Analyze social, political and economic problems and develop solutions .  For Example: Cultural anthropologists have been instrumental in promoting the welfare of tribal and indigenous peoples.  Indigenous People are groups of people who have occupied a region for a long time and are recognized by other groups as original (or very ancient) inhabitants. – They are often minorities with little influence in the government of the nation-state that controls their land.

5/12/14 6 Applied Anthropology Using methods and findings of all other types of anthropology to address contemporary problems. For Example:  May use a particular groups ideas about illness and health to introduce new public health practices  Others apply knowledge from traditional organizations to east the problem of refugees trying to settle in a new land and western methods of cultivation to help farmers increase their crop yields. Is Anthropology Science Early anthropologist viewed anthropology as science: 1. The study of the world through the five senses; 2. Believed a rational mind could derive universal, objective truth about the world from material evidence 3. A single scientific method could be applied to any dimension of reality – for the movement of the planets to human sexual behavior Ethnocentrism: is the term anthropologists use to describe the opinion that one's own way of life is natural or correct. Some would simply call it cultural ignorance Cultural Relativism: Is the idea that people from different cultures can have relationships that acknowledge, respect and begin to understand each others diverse lives. People with different backgrounds can help each other see possibilities that they never thought were there because of limitations, or cultural proscriptions, posed by their own traditions.

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5/12/14 7 What is Culture?  However, for anthropologists and other behavioral scientist…. Culture is defined as:  A specific set of learned behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, values, and ideals that are characteristic of a particular society or population. Culture as a Learned Characteristic  Culture is learned and passed down from previous generations.  This is also called Enculturation  It is not something an individual is born with. Layers of Culture There are very likely three layers or levels of culture that are part of your learned behavior patterns and perceptions.  Level 1  Most obviously is the body of cultural traditions that distinguish your specific society. When people speak of Italian, Samoan, or Japanese culture, they are referring to the shared language, traditions, and beliefs that set each of these peoples apart from others. In most cases, those who share your culture do so because they acquired it as they were raised by parents and other family members who have it.

5/12/14 8 Level 2  The second layer of culture that may be part of your identity is a subculture . In complex, diverse societies in which people have come from many different parts of the world, they often retain much of their original cultural traditions. As a result, they are likely to be part of an identifiable subculture in their society. The shared cultural traits of subculture set them apart from the rest of their society. Layers of Culture  Examples of easily identifiable subcultures in the United States include ethnic groups such as Vietnamese Americans, African Americans, and Mexican Americans.  Members of each of these subcultures share a common identity, food tradition, dialect or language, and other cultural traits that come from their common ancestral background and experience.  As the cultural differences between members of a subculture and the dominant national culture blur and eventually disappear, the subculture ceases to exist except as a group of people who claim common ancestry. That is generally the case with German Americans and Iris Americans in the United States today. Most of them identify themselves as American first. They also see themselves as being part of the cultural mainstream of the nation.  LEVEL 3  The third layer of culture consists of cultural universals. These are learned behavior that are shared by all of humanity collectively. No matter where people live in the world, they share these universal trait Examples of such "human cultural" traits  include:

5/12/14 9 Culture as an agent of Environmental Adaptation  The material objects and customs produced by a group of people are influenced by the environment around them.  For example:  The types of tools and the materials that they are manufactured out of are determined by what is available.  No stone? Then your tools will be made out of wood, bone, or antler.  This is a problem for archaeologists. Culture and Society  Culture and society are not the same thing. While cultures are complexes of learned behavior patterns and perceptions, societies are groups of interacting organisms.  People are not the only animals that have societies. Schools of fish, flocks of birds, and hives of bees are societies. In the case of humans, however, societies are groups of people who directly or indirectly interact with each other. People in human societies also generally perceive that their society is distinct from other societies in terms of shared traditions and expectations.  While human societies and cultures are not the same thing, they are inextricably connected because culture is created and transmitted to others in a society. Cultures are not the product of lone individuals. They are the continuously evolving products of people interacting with each other. Cultural patterns such as language and politics make no sense except in terms of the interaction of people. If you were the only human on earth, there would be no need for language or government.

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5/12/14 10 Two Components of Cultural Anthropology Ethnography and Ethnology Ethnography  This is the most visible and most widely used research tool in cultural anthropology.  Two main components of ethnography:  Fieldwork  Published results  Excellent example of an ethnography is:  Lewis H. Morgan  League of the Ho-dé-no-sau-nee Or Iroquois  I’ll post the PDF on the Wiki for anyone who is curious. Fieldwork  Process by which data is gathered from the study location.  This can be as far away as Australia or as close as your local delicious and refreshing Starbucks ™

5/12/14 11 Publishing  Without this part of the anthropological process the rest of the research is wasted.  Why do the fieldwork and record the data if no one will ever even have the chance to read it? Ethnology  This is a comparative study and analysis of the worlds cultures.  Uses the ethnographic accounts recorded in the field to formulate broader anthropological theories that help to explain why cultures are different or similar. So what’s the difference between Ethnography and Ethnology?  Ethnography  Detailed description of a culture based on field work.  Ethnology  Comparing different cultures to try and discover broader patterns that extend across many cultural groups.

5/12/14 12 Methodology in the Field  Participant Observation  Associated with Ethnography  This is an anthropological technique used to understand groups of people by interacting with them in their own environment.  An anthropologist will go and live with a certain group of people for an extended period of time and this allows for a more complete view of the culture being studied.  Informants:  These are individuals who assist the Ethnographer in interpreting certain aspects of the culture being observed. The Importance of Symbols in Culture  Symbols are extremely important to every culture in the world.  Symbols can be defined as:  Signs, emblems, and other things that can have a meaningful representation of something else that may or may not be related to the physical structure of the symbol itself.  Symbols are given meaning by the culture that creates them. Ethnocentric Attitudes  This is related to the topic of Cultural Relativity that was previously discussed. This is a common problem among both the general population and anthropologists as well.  Ethnocentrism is the idea that one persons culture is superior to other cultures.  Everyone, anthropologists included, must constantly try to keep this in check and ensure that attitudes such as this do not pollute the interpretations of any culture being studied.  Eliminating these attitudes is one of the primary goals of anthropology in general

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5/12/14 13 Culture refers to the beliefs, values, behavior and material objects that, together, form a people's way of life. Culture determines how we view the world around us Culture includes the traditions we inherit and pass on to the next generation Culture : totality of our shared language, knowledge, material objects, and behavior 37 Culture The Importance of Symbols in Culture  Symbols are extremely important to every culture in the world.  Symbols can be defined as:  Signs, emblems, and other things that can have a meaningful representation of something else that may or may not be related to the physical structure of the symbol itself.  Symbols are given meaning by the culture that creates them. 39 Ethnocentrism, Cultural relativity and Globalization ● Ethnocentrism is the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture. ● Sociologists tend to discourage this practice, instead they advocate cultural relativism, the practice of judging a culture by its own standards. ● Some evidence suggests that a global culture may be emerging. - Three key factors are promoting this trend: -Global economy: the flow of goods. -Global communications: the flow of information. - Global migration: the flow of people.

5/12/14 14 ● Language Diversity across the United States. The 2000 U.S. Census reports that 18 percent of people over the age of five speak a language other than English in their home ● Some call for Afrocentrism , the dominance of African cultural patterns in people’s lives. ● Supporters of multiculturalism argue that it helps us come to terms with our diverse present and strengthens the academic achievement of African- American children. ● Opponents of Multiculturalism argue that it encourages divisiveness rather than unity. 40 Cultural Diversity in the US Is Technology promoting a global culture? ● New and emerging communications, computer, and other technologies. Don’t forget bio tech - It provides a set of concepts that both material and non material culture need to adapt to. -It can span the globe, but not all cultures will accept or adopt to these technologies and the changes they cause/impose at the same rate. - East and West have different bases and adopt at different rates 41  Global culture is much more advanced in some parts of the world than in others • Many people cannot afford to participate in the material aspects of a global culture • Different people attribute different meanings to various aspects of the global culture 42 Limitations of the Global Theory

5/12/14 15 Culture and Society 43 • Society : the structure of relationships within which culture is created and shared through regularized patterns of social interaction – Society provides the context within which our relationships with the external world develop – How we structure society constrains the kind of culture we construct – Cultural preferences vary across societies 44 Only humans depend on culture rather than instincts to ensure the survival of their kind. ° Culture is very recent and was a long time in the making. ° What sets primates apart from other animals is their intelligence. Human achievements during the Stone Age set humans off on a distinct evolutionary course, making culture their primary survival strategy. Human Culture Culture and Society 45 The concept of culture (a shared way of life) must be distinguished from those of nation (a political entity) or society (the organized interaction of people in a nation or within some other boundary). Many modern societies are multicultural---their people follow various ways of life that blend and sometimes clash. On this planet our race, homo sapiens evolved 250,000 years ago give or take a few thousand. But the first cities appeared about 12,00 years ago. Think about that. For 95% of human life there were no cities. What kind of culture was there then?

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5/12/14 16 Components of Culture 46 All cultures have five common components: symbols, language, values and beliefs, norms, and material culture, including technology. Symbols are defined as anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share culture. The meaning of the same symbols varies from society to society, within a single society, and over time. Components of Culture 47 Language is a system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another. It can be either written or spoken or both Language is the key to cultural transmission , the process by which one generation passes culture to the next. Through most of human history, cultural transmission has been accomplished through oral tradition Don’t ignore the non-verbal aspects .