1.
What is the main method of cultural anthropology, and how would you
describe this method in your own words? (2+ sentences)
The main method of cultural anthropology is ethnography. Ethnography
basically aims to understand a community or culture by immersing oneself in
its practices, beliefs, lifestyles, etc. An example of ethnography would be
observing teachers as they teach.
2.
What ideas did early cultural anthropologists challenge? How did they do
so? Discuss Margaret Meade OR Zora Neal Hurston in your answer,
addressing both the ideas they challenged and the research and writing the
created to challenge these (4+ sentences)
- The ideas early cultural anthropologists challenged involved gender, family,
sexuality, race, identity, etc. They did this through ethnographic research
and publishing. In Margaret Mead’s case, she challenged the notion that
gender roles and behaviors are biologically determined by arguing they are
shaped by culture. In her book “Coming of Age in Samoa,” Mead
demonstrated that gender roles could vary across cultures and were
therefore not universal. Through this, she highlighted the important effect of
cultural influence on human behavior.
3.
Quote from either Zora Neal Hurston or Margaret Mead, first giving a 1-2
sentence quote and then discussing what stands to you about the quote and
your reading of their work. Be sure to quote from the text in our weekly
reading, not other work (4+ sentences).
Margaret Mead writes “The precedent of educators here who recommend
special tactics in the treatment of adolescent girls translated into Samoan
terms would read: Tall girls are different from short girls of the same age, we
must adopt a different method of educating them.” This quote reflects
Mead’s argument that through her multiple observations of Samoan culture
and how it approaches adolescence in women, their behavior and
development are not governed solely by universal biological factors, as
educators in Western societies might assume. This quote encapsulates
Mead's call to examine human behavior within its specific cultural context
and challenges the notion that there is one universally applicable method for
understanding or educating adolescents, irrespective of their cultural
backgrounds.
