Study with the several resources on Docsity
Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan
Prepare for your exams
Study with the several resources on Docsity
Earn points to download
Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan
Community
Ask the community for help and clear up your study doubts
Discover the best universities in your country according to Docsity users
Free resources
Download our free guides on studying techniques, anxiety management strategies, and thesis advice from Docsity tutors
Anthropology exam 1 questions and answers
Typology: Exams
1 / 6
What is anthropology? - Answer the study of humankind, from its beginnings millions of years ago to the present day -from the Greek anthropos ("human") and logia ("study") 4 fields of anthropology - Answer archaeology, physical (or biological) anthropology, sociocultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology archaeology - Answer Study of past cultures through their material remains studies: Fossils, Tools, Built structures, Waste, -Historical archeology: may use written records physical (or biological) anthropology - Answer Study humans from a biological perspective. studies: Paleoanthropology (Biological processes of human adaptation), Human variation (Physiological differences among modern humans), Primatology (Study of apes for clues about the human species), Forensics Forensic Anthropology - Answer Study and identification of skeletized or badly decomposed human remains. -FACES lab at LSU (Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services) sociocultural anthropology - Answer The study of human society and culture -Fieldwork (living among a group of people to study them) -Participant observation (participating in a given society but also observing social behavior and cultural beliefs - combines subjective and objective views, etic and emic perspectives a culture vs a society - Answer culture-the set of learned behaviors and ideas that human beings acquire as members of a given society or community society-any more or less complex group of people, aka a community. **Today we tend to refer to the group as a society and use culture to refer to beliefs and practices (i.e., the Gebusi are a society, not a culture) Linguistic Anthropology - Answer Interdisciplinary, Cultural beliefs about language, Culturally-patterned ways of using language, Language use in context, Speakers as social actors
Applied Anthropology "Fifth" Field - Answer Analyzes social, political and economic problems and develops solutions, Often involves collaboration with community members, Can involve any subfield of anthropology (or several) EX:Cultural anthropologists have been instrumental in improving the welfare of tribal and indigenous peoples Paul Farmer - Answer Well-known Applied Anthropologist -Conducted research for dissertation on AIDS in Haiti -Created an organization called Partners in Health AAA film anthropology jobs - Answer Areas of applied: sociocultural, archaeology, medical (farmers), business and corporate, visual, environmental, linguistics, museums, forensics Sociocultural: violence against women (Rupaleem Bhuyam) ways to expand social policy, worked to develop to support refugee women that are victims of domestic violence. Mary Roaf focuses on helping children and youth in economically inadvantaged cultures. Ferrel Secakuku is a farmer for his tribe in Arizona. Marc Clausen helps at-risk children Vietnamese and Cambodian youth. emic - Answer Insider's view How people in a given community view their society and culture Describes the organization and meaning a culture's practices have for its members Etic - Answer Outsider or analyst's view How the anthropologist views a given community's social organization and cultural beliefs and practices Tries to determine the causes of particular cultural patterns that may be beyond the awareness of the culture being studied May involve comparison with researcher's society and culture or other known societies and cultures What is ethnocentrism? - Answer Belief that one's culture is better, more natural than all other cultures -Most human beings are at least somewhat ethnocentric What is cultural relativity? - Answer Understanding values and customs in terms of the culture of which they are a part Looking for the cultural logic in which certain practices making sense Who are the Nacirema? - Answer Miner describes the Nacirema, a little-known tribe living in North America -actually corresponds to modern-day Americans of the mid-1950s What is Nacirema culture like? - Answer Miner presents the Nacirema as a group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and
the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles. The paper describes the typical Western ideal for oral cleanliness, as well as providing an outside view on hospital-care and on psychiatry. What does the article on the Nacirema teach us? - Answer The effect of satire is social criticism. In other words, a satire criticizes the way people do things. Satire is trying to make society better by pointing out where it is wrong in a funny way. Fieldwork - Answer Begin with entrance into a new society -many experience culture shock Develop network of informants (respondents, consultants, friends) - people from and/or with whom anthropologists gather data -Record observations in fieldnotes What is culture shock? - Answer feelings of alienation and helplessness that result from rapid immersion in a new and different culture What are the ethics that anthropologists follow? - Answer -Anthropological researchers must be open about the purpose(s), potential impacts, and source(s) of support for research projects - thou shalt not lie -Researchers must utilize the results of their work and disseminate the results through appropriate and timely activities - though shalt publish -Anthropological researchers have primary ethical obligations to the people, species, and materials they study and to the people with whom they work - above all, do no harm Participant Observation - Answer Hallmark of sociocultural anthropology participating in a given society but also observing social behavior and cultural beliefs combines subjective and objective views, etic and emic perspectives Malinowski's study in Trobriand Islands became the model History of fieldwork in anthropology (Overview) - Answer -Armchair anthropologists -Boas -Malinowski -Post-1960s trends: Feminist anthropology Postmodernism "Native" anthropology Collaborative anthropology "Armchair" anthropology - Answer Early anthropology ("armchair anthropologists"): Lewis Henry Morgan, Edward Tylor -other travelers -evolutionary theories -Societies classified on basis of technology, social institutions Franz Boas - Answer "Father of American Anthropology"
-Criticized evolutionism: intellectually flawed morally defective poor data-gathering techniques each culture as a product of its own unique history -Argued vehemently against ethnocentrism Bronislaw Malinowski - Answer Did fieldwork in Trobriand Islands (Torres Straits) - BBC Tales from the Jungle Revolutionized fieldwork while in Trobriand Islands -Spent years studying culture -Learned native language -Learned cultural patterns of thought Malinowski's Intro to Argonauts - Answer -The organization of the tribe, the anatomy of its culture -Imponderabilia of everyday life (diary/fieldnotes) -Corpus inscriptionum (transcriptions of events, rituals, etc - word-for-word) What kinds of research methods do cultural anthropologists use? - Answer Interviews (structured, open-ended), Surveys, Census, Kinship charts, Mapping, Video and audio recording (also internet, YouTube...), Photography, measurement and statistical data (incl. social network, GIS), silent observation, *PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION Who are the Gebusi? - Answer people on New Guinea -Westerner contact 1st happened in 1960 -studied by Knauft How did Knauft end up doing research among the Gebusi? - Answer went to Gebusi part of rainforest to study political decision making What kinds of methods did Knauft use in studying the Gebusi? - Answer went with tape recorder and type writer, to become a participant observer & do fieldwork What is kogwayay? - Answer A key symbol of Gebusi society Togetherness, talk, cheering (p.18) - value of social unity BUT, has a negative side as well: controlled by men - songfests about women's sexuality, things women in Gebusi society would be beaten if did What is Second Life? - Answer an online virtual world studied by Boellstorff & turned it into participant observation his research as the avatar "Tom Bukowski" How did Boellstorrf conduct research in Second Life? - Answer made a person and interviewed players and observed online life What is culture? - Answer something that is distinct from nature (nature versus nurture)
shared knowledge a symbolic system (Geertz "webs of significance") a tool/ mediating object a system of practices habitual actions Characteristics of Culture - Answer made up of learned behaviors involve the use of language, classification systems and symbols patterned, integrated and shared by members of a group adaptive and subject to change What is the Culture and Personality school of thought in anthropology (and how does it approach culture)? - Answer culture as the principal force in shaping the personality of a society -Assumed that each society had a distinct culture and personality (homogenous, usually national, culture) What is symbolic anthropology (and how does it approach culture)? - Answer a theoretical perspective that focuses on understanding culture by discovering and analyzing a culture's symbols: Key symbols reflect deep concerns of a culture -Example: Victor Turner's study of the Ndembu of East Africa (mudyi tree) What is ethnoscience (and how does it approach culture)? - Answer theoretical perspective that focuses on recording and examining ways that members of a society use language to classify and organize their cognitive world, for example: Study of color classification systems, Ethnobotany (study of plant classification systems) What is the ethnography of speaking? - Answer Look at "meaning in use" - not just structural analysis of language, vocabulary and grammar how community categorizes behavior and communication, including what a community defines as speaking Also the other "paralinguistic" features of expression, such as tone, prosody, etc Example: Spradley and Mann's article on asking for a drink What is a speech event? - Answer from Spradley and Mann (78): "activities that are directly governed by rules for speaking" Patterned ways of using language Have cultural rules (need more than a dictionary and grammar) Examples: asking for a drink, giving a lecture, church sermon, chew someone out, gossip, chat (in person and on internet) What is a speech act? - Answer Speech to accomplish a purpose Can be a word, a phrase, a sentence, a book, etc -Brady's bar speech acts: hustling, slamming, giving shit, muttering, teasing
How did Spradley and Mann study drinking and talk at Brady's bar and what did they learn? - Answer first observed people then sent in underage guys to order a drink. they learned that speaking and tone has a lot to do with getting out of being carded and successfully getting a drink underage How does Geertz say that cockfighting relates to Balinese culture and society (e.g., what does the rooster symbolize? Who takes part in cockfighting?) - Answer Not about the animals, but the men, a competition Symbolism of cock - maleness, extension of self, but also animality Blood sacrifice What is deep play and how is cockfighting in Bali an example (know what factors make a match "deeper")? - Answer High stakes in terms of money, but moreso of status Reflects social organization and alliance (bet on kinsman's rooster, own villager's rooster) -status equals/personal enemies, high status individuals cultural relativism - Answer Goal of anthropology, viewpoint that behavior in one culture should not be judged by the standards of another culture -Boas' famous method (approach each culture on its own terms) Professor Managan's research - Answer how Guadeloupeans use French and Creole and think about these 2 languages (especially in terms of their identity) -Participant observation in associations, made friends and gwo ka drumming class and hiking group -audio & video interviews What kinds of careers can a degree in anthropology lead to? - Answer Editor, Educational Planner, Forensic Specialist, Government Analyst, High School Teacher, Medical Researcher, Museum Curator, Park Ranger, Peace Corps Staffer, Social Worker How do businesses use anthropology? - Answer Help businesses gain a better understanding of their activities and customers