19th Century Evolutionism: McGee and Warms
� Anthropology-combined 3 streams of thought
? Study of cultural differences among societies
? Struggle to explain the antiquity of humans and the artifacts left from lives
? Investigation of biological origins of humans and other species
� Europeans were
Methods of Ethnology: Boas I (C)
� Franz Boas- father of American anthropology, first anthro proffessor in America
? Physicist turned geographer
? Developed interest in studying culture
? Professor of Anthro, columbie univ 1899
? Helped develop anthropology as a methodologically rigouous
Queer Customs: Kluckhohn (C)
what causes cutlrual differences? Humans are born with greater plasticity and less natural instincts. Culture is abstract while society is numerable, being the people that make up a culture.
? Values orientation theory; cross=cultural understanding and co
Shakespeare in the Bush: Bohannan
? Shakespeare in the Bush- different take on Hamlet, perspective from bushman!
� Na�ve Realism
? Is human nature the same everywhere? When she went to live with the Tiv culture, she thought everyone was essentially the same and that Hamlet would show that
Aims of Ethnology: Boas II (C)
� The aims of ethnology
? People described other cultures as little more than beasts
? If we aim to understand the development of human culture, we must free ourselves from the shackles
? Human minds everywhere develop according to similar laws
? Generali
Ethnography and Culture: Spradley
� Ethnography and culture- rather than studying people, ethnography is learning from people
? In order to uncover other's way of life, you must become the student
? Cultural behavior- reading
? Cultual knowledge- how to read
? Cultural artifacts- books
?
Body Rituals among the Nacirema: Miner (C)
� Bodily ritual among the Nacirima- the tale of intense sadism. Tooth rituals, hiding of the body from even spouses, reproduction discouraged.
� Body Rituals of the Nacirema
? Purpose; document unusual magical beliefs and practices of poorly understood gr
Subject method, and scope: Malinowski (C)
he subject, method, and scope of this inquiry
� Papuo-Malaysians were sailors
� Ethnographer must be an active hunter for his quarries
� Lives should be reduced into charts for simplification
� Method of stalistic doccumentation by concrete evidence
? Pol
The Nuer: Evans-Pritchard I (C)
Was able to live among the Naur, got less info but knew them better was treated as equal. Azande was treated as superior, livd on outskirts, gained much info but didn't really know them.
Nuer people of Southern Soudan
? Fieldwork in the 1930s published in
Fieldwork and the Empirical Tradition: Evans Pritchard II (C)
? Importance of being in the field
� "in science one tests hpothese by one's own observations. One does not rely on laymen to do it ofr one"
? What kind of data do anthropologists collect?
� The raw material is-- social life itself.
? Antrhopological trai
Balinese Cockfight: Geertz (C)
� Won the trust of the Balinese by fleeing from the police at a cock fight instead of just showing the police their papers to get out of it
? Symbolic and interpretice anthropology
? Demonstrated how seemingy irrational institutions and practices have a c
Baseball: Gmelch I
? Sports is an important dimension of society
? "the sports we play and how we play them can tell us something about who we are as a culture
? Tried to formulate a research question, render explicit what is often unseen or obscure to fans (why players are
Fieldwork on Prostitution in the Era of Aids: Sterk
? Stigmatize: to characterize or mark as disgraceful
? Participant observation does not necessarily mean one participates and ovserves all aects of a subject's lives
� Didn't become a prositiute to understand the lives of prositiutes
� The anthro does not
Brand Pirates and Tobacco Farmers: Benson + Thomas
? Anthropology's relevance for ethics debates
� Studying stigmatized and illegal activities -raises ethical questions. The law and the state are against you
� Understanding subjective experience
� Understanding the context
� Questioning assumptions- quest
Chinese Godfather: Osburg
Meeting the "Godfather": Fieldwork and Ethnographic Seduction in a Chinese Nightclub... recruiting the anthropologist to legitimize illegal activity, about the Chinese underground "Fatty"j
� Studying "down" Anthropologists traditionally studied societies
Gardening Tips: Cronk
Gardening Tips-before cultural relativism, there were only two explanations as to why someone was not like yourself; ignorance or stupidity. FGM and cultural relativity... gross not to be in other countries, gross to be in America...
� Cultural determinis
Moral Dilemmas and Ethical Controversies: Kirsh
Moral dilemmas and ethical controversies--- the controversy surrounding Jared Diamond's account of his father in law who chose not to avenge his family and the Paupa New Guinean man who didn't have to think twice about avenging his family. Man accused und
Sounds of Silence: Hall + Hall (C)
body language article, nonverbal communication
Does Language Shape How You Think: Deutscher
� Nonverbal gestures vary across cultures
� Facial expressions: universal, part of our shared evolutionary heritage (primates similar)
� Hand gestures: vary cross=culturally
� Posture- varies cross culturally.
� Regularly monitor nonverbal communication i
Language, Race, and white public space: Hill
? Code switching- the use of more than one language concurrently in a conversation- pattern of usage typical among multilingual people.
? Among intimates in the household and the neighborhood, the boundaries between Spanish and English are blurred boundar
Email my Heart: Gershon
? Social relationships- technology influences the language we use.
? Back in the day there were only 3 ways to break up with people, saw, called, wrote. Only one was acceptable.
? Now- tweet tweet we're done!
? Different media technologies- new media in t
The original affluent society: Sahlins (C)
? original affluent society was none other than the hunter's
? There are two possible courses to affluence. Wants may be "easily satisfied" either by producing much or desiring little
? Consumption is a double tragedy: what begins in inadequacy will end i
Malaysia: Ong
? quiescent, Malay factory women who are seized by vengeful spirits explode into demonic screaming and rage on the shop floor
? Anthropologists studying spirit possession phenomena have generally linked them to cultur- ally specific forms of conflict mana
Crack in Spanish Harlem: Burgois
? Foragers
� Until 10,000 years ago all humans were foragers
� Animal domestication (initially of sheep and goats) and plant cultivation (of wheat and barley) began 10,000 to 12,000 years ago in the Middle East
� t cor- relations�that is, association or c
Kottak 2
� Enculturation is the process by which a child learns his or her culture.
� What is culture?
? Culture is learned
� But our own cultural learning depends on the uniquely developed human capacity to use symbols, signs that have no necessary or natural con
Kottak 1
? American anthropology in particular, can be traced to the nineteenth century. Early American anthropologists were concerned especially with the history and cultures of the native peoples of North America
? There also are logical reasons for the unity of
Kottak 3
� Ethics and Anthropology
? To guide its members in making decisions involving ethics and values, the AAA offers a Code of Ethics
? Anthropologists should be open and honest about . . . their research projects with all parties affected by the research. Th
Kottak 4
� Language and Communication
? Non Human Primate Communication
� Call systems
? These vocal systems consist of a limited number of sounds�calls� that are produced only when particular environmental stimuli are encountered. other primates\
� Sign Language
Kottak 5
TBD
Levels of Culture
? International culture (transcends national boundaries) =>
? National culture (Symbols; anthems, flags, holidays, historical figures. Purpose; forge a common identity. Embodies those beliefs, learned behavior patterns, values, and institutions that are s
Ethnocentrism
The tencdncy to view one's own culture as superior
? The tendency to apply one's own cultural values in judging the behavior and beliefs of people raised in other cutlrues
Common Misconception
? Anthropologists only work in the world's most remote areas among people who have never had outside contact
� Reality: anthropologist study people in many kinds of societies in many countries
? Anthropologists are only interested in studying "primitive
...
� Ethnographic research: the initial process
? Read the literature
? Formulate a research question
? Apply for research funding
? Get IRB (human subjects) approval
? DO IT!
...
� Tuskegee- people working for the gov't and taking black men with syphilis and intentionally not treating them. Institutions came up with Human Subjects approval-- any researcher has to go through a review process where people read over grant proposals a
Participant observation
? Living in the communitiy under study
? Learning the local culture
? Participate in daily activities
? Important!!!!- at the end of the day, record your observations. You never realize is this going to be important down the road
? Is the evidence from pa
Cultivating Social relatiohsips
? Get to know broader range of individuals (more representative view of society)
? Increasing rapport (thru familiarity and friendship) results in more reliable data
? Seasonal perspective- understanding annual cycle is crucial for studying a range of iss
Situating the Anthropologist
? Because all data is filtered though the lens of theindividual anthropologist, it is crtical to understnd
� How personal attributes situate the anthro
� How perrsonal atribues help/hinder
? Acceptance, rapport, accesss to information can be facilitated o
The roots of Anthropology
? How to explain cultural differences between groups of humans... cultural?, How to explain the bio origin of humans... physical? How to understand human antiquity based on old artifacts... archaeology?
? Context- European global expansion, contact with o
� Unilineal Evolution
- all societieis follow the same evolutionary trajectory but at a different pace (economic, political institution, social institutions, religion, rationality, etc)
� Jean Lamarck (1744-1829
) Geographic or climatic changes pressures life forms to adapt
� Biological- Darwinism 1809-1882- natural selestion. Some variations more beneficial for survival
�
Herbert Spencer 1820- 1902
Bio to social- Evolution from simple to more complex states. Human societies analogous to biological organisms. Identify functions of organs in maintaining society
� Lewis Henry Morgan 1818-1881-
focus on Evolution of social and political institutions. Based some of his theories on data he personally gathered.
? Savagery to barbarism to civilization = promiscuity to polygamy to monogamy
� Edward Burnett Tylor 1832-1917
- Focus on evolution of religios throughts and systems. Was not gathering own data, was relying on British imperial system's information. Built theories based on reports and descriptions by others. Armchair scholar
? Tylor's theory of religion
� As societ
� Social darwinsism
? Some societies are more fit than others
? Justification for European powers to dominate other societies (a moral imperative)
� Social darwinism and racial theories
? Racial groups classified from primitive to civilized
? Some races deemed inferior to ot
Anthropology today
?
� Used to combine rather than separate sub-disciplines
� Adaptation ; the processes by which organism cope with changes
?
What makes cultural anthro unique?
? Combination of holistic approach, small scale analysis, method of participant observation- micro scale research researcher personally goes into the field to gather data
? Cultural anthropology is the farthest of the social sciences to the qualitative si
Ethnography
? Descriptive acct of particular society
? Based on long-term first hand field work
? Old school approach- highly descriptive and holistic account of a particular society
? Contemporary approach- problem oriented research, less holistic and more focused o
Ethnology
� Ethnology
? Examines, analyses and compares the results of ethnographies- the data gathered in different societies
? Goal is to arrive at general conclusions
? Cultural anthro a social science or in the humanities?
� Social sciences
? Branches of learni
Four Sub Fields of Antrhoooplsdf;lkjsdf
Physical/Biological
Archaeology- the study of past societies by uncovering what is left behind
Socio Cultural Anthro- holistic study of human societies with a special focus on culture
Linguistic Anthro- the study of language in its social contest