Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
1 Intro to Anthro
1.1 Lecture Notes
Anthropology:
Multiple wives Nepalese family: multiple husbands to conserve on land Two dads
study of human species, immediate ancestors, and closest relatives human diversity human universals human biological and cultural variation in time and space
Child rearing
Holding your children Father holding his child in Maasai? Child labor in Bangladesh, China, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, even US
A holistic approach (studies whole human condition) A comparative study (ancient & modern societies, small & large)
Concepts of Beauty
Key concepts:
ture
Niger and face paint Bedouin women/Borneo men and tattoos Gauges in the US versus Ethiopian women and lip rings?
adaptation: how organisms cope with environment society: organized life in groups
Four Subelds
Sociocultural/Cultural
Social
and
cultural
similari-
Tanzania: sub for the husband China, Pakistan: dierent colors (red) Maasai: sellinga wife for cattle? Family US: drive-thru weddings Irish Travellers: totally elaborate
community/society/culture
science: tries to explain world with theories, which can be falsied uses empirical methods but, human behavior is hard to predict?
Archeological
Study human society through material remains Paleoecology: ecosystems Underwater archaeology reconstruct ancient Anthropology as a humanity
humanity:
study
human
condi-
Biological/Physical
Human adaptability
evolution,
genetics, biological
growth/development,
single case analysis: in-depth studies of a particular community/practice comparative study: compare a given characteristic across dierent societies
Linguistic
Archeological research
Applied Anthropology
Apply data/perpectives/theory/methods
anthro
analyze local perspective map site, dig pits, erect grid, excavate carefully
systematic surveys:
analyze regional perspective gather info over large area of settlement sites determine location, proximity to each other, determine size/age/features
management (CRM) Biological forensic anthropology Linguistic movements Related to other disciplines: sociology, psychology, polisci, econ, humanities, history language revitalization
1.2
2 Anthropological Research
2.1 Lecture Notes
Anthropology as science
Kottak, Ch. 1
through close observation paleoanthropology: mains Research modern physiology and adaptations excavate human re-
Formal language analysis Document endangered languages Chart language changes sociolinguistics: connection examine language-culture
Culture is
enculturation: social process by which the culture is learned (directly/indirectly) and transmitted across generations
Firsthand personal study (one ethnographer) Holistic - gather data on all possible aspects Long term: 1+ years Collaborative - engaged with locals Uses qualitative and quantitative methods Archival, historical research participant-observation: with another culture Conduct structured (formal) and unstructured (informal) interviews genealogical method: kinship charts Work with cultural consultants Read life histories Compare perspectives observe and live
habitus: behavior
unconscious that we
elements
of
thought, reproduce
unquestioningly
(Pierre Bourdieu)
Everyone by
has
culture; of a
it
must
be
shared
represent
members
group
(can't
symbol:
core
Mode of cultural transmission - teaches culture Marks cultural distinctiveness Human ability to develop and utilize symbols Also involves hand gestures, etc. values: central values that inte-
2.2
grate/distinguish one culture from others ethnocentrism: opinion that one's own way of
3 Culture
3.1
Kottak, Ch. 3
life; judging behavior and beliefs of other cultures based on one's standards
cultural relativism: thought that customs, values, and behavior of one culture shouldn't be judged by standards of another culture; universal human rights/cultural rights vs.
Lecture Notes
Culture: set of behaviors, beliefs, ideals, values, attitudes, and values that are:
Cultures
are
subject
to
change:
cultural
Learned Shared
diusion: borrow traits between societties acculturation: exchange of cultural features when groups are in continuous rsthand contact innovation: independent invention
We have multiple identities in dierent situations and contexts We negotiate dierent identites through time and space
status:
3.2
Biology vs. culture, nature vs. nurture Cliord Geertz: without culture, humans
ascribed:
determined
at
birth,
doesn't
change (typically) achieved: acquired during lifetime through talent, skills, choices, accomplishments Akha of Thailand
Kottak, Ch. 2
Ethnicity is achieved, not ascribed, exterior and not interior Religious and ethnic identity are inseperable
Ethnicity
Colonialism caused them to be excluded from Native category Neither Arab nor African Birthplace identity and dialect determine ethnic
identify with an ethnic group feel excluded from other gropus because of this aliation closely tied to culture
Identity of U.S.
race: when an ethnic gropu is assumed to have a biological basis ethnic group: group distinguished by cultural similarities (shared by group members) and dierences (between that group and others)
minority: subordinate groups in social hierarchy; inferior power, less access to resources majority: dominant or controlling groups
in a social-political hierarchy Often ethnic groups are minorities. assimilation: process of change minority
The preferred term! Often share beliefs, customs, common language, religion, history, geography, kinship, and/or race
group undergoes when it moves to an area where another culture dominates; minority is incorporated into dominat culture until it is no longer a separate unit
4.2
Races are not biologically distinct Categories vary in dierent cuultures In same society, categories vary over time hypodescent: places children from parents of two dierent groups into lower status group (2-tier system) hyperdescent: ... into higher status group (3-tier system) Brazil: has many uid racial groups (more achieved) Race is still a social construct with social consequences
At some point in human history, these must have been expanded Communication learning Primates don't have vocal tracts for speech Sign language: chimps can learn to use it (rarely) then relied totally on
Show some signs of transmission, productivity, displacement On the other hand, chimps/apes are trained, and language is still a human invention. No instances in wild
5 Language
5.1
Kottak, Ch. 17
Origin of Language
1000's of years in development Allows humans to adapt more rapidly to new stimuli Language is always changing, including
Lecture Notes
What is language?
Primary spoken or written means of communication Transmitted through enculturation learning Based on arbitrary associations with words and things movements, stances, gestures, and facial expres-
Fundamental Attributes
What is said, and how it's said Body movements communicate social differences
cultural transmission: language is a system that is taught productivity: combine two or more signs to create new expressions baboonlet displacement: ability to talk about things not physically present
Structure of Language
phonology: study of speech sounds morphology: study of how sounds combine to create morphemes - words and meaningful parts lexicon: dictionary containing morphemes and meanings
Nonhuman Communication
call
systems:
limited
number
of
vocal
syntax:
arrangement/order
of
words
in
sounds
Sapir-Whorf
Hypothesis:
grammatical
cate-
Standard English
gories of dierent languages lead their speakers to think about things in particular ways
focal vocabulary: specialized sets of terms and distinctions that are particularly important to certain groups
investigates relationships be-
Sociolingustics:
tween social and linguistic variation, or language in its social context (features that vary systematically with social position and situation)
change
Linguistic diversity
subgroups: languages w/in a taxonomy of related languages that are most closely related
style shifts: varying speech in dierent context diglossia: regular style shifts between
5.2 5.3
high and low variants of the same language (certain speech patterns are better/worse according to the people who use them)
Regional variations in North American English: coke v. pop Contrast in gender & speech: color purple Language and status position - honorics: terms used to honor people stratication: economic use and evaluate speech in consocial, political,
mass media: everyone is involved in them at the same time The globe is no more than a village The message of any technology is the
speech habits determine our access to resources Working Girl Bordieu: linguistic practices are symbolic
change of scale or pace or pattern it introduces to human aairs The content of any medium is always another medium media ideologies: shape ways people think about and use dierent media
capital: linguistic forms take on power of groups they symbolize (=> symbolic domination)
dialect of English
A set of beliefs about how a medium communicates and structures communications (email vs. letters)
Media ideologies about one medium are always aected by the media ideologies people have about other media.
Genetic
evidence
also
exists
(similar
remediation: ways people interlink media, suggesting people dene every technology in terms of the other communicative technologies available to them
idioms of practice:
about how to use media == media etiquette Connection vs. disconnection : new technology connects us, but it also provides new forms of disconnection
Enlightenment (18th century) raised interest in human origins Creationism: belief in biblical creation as
second-order information: information that can guide you into understanding how particular words and statements should be interpreted
Carolus Linnaeus: developed rst taxonomy, but still believed in Creationism (species are unchanged)
Some assumptions:
6.2
#1:
technologies Data: Students can be uneasy about how media shapes social interactions #2: 'Virtual'/'real': Youth substitute faceto-face with media, are socially isolated Data: Mediated breakups are still real (not a 'virtual' breakup)
Charles Darwin: developed theory of ... natural selection : process by which nature selects forms most t to survive and reproduce in environment
genes:
alleles of the same gene Lost Jewish tribe Evidence for Jewish ancestry homozygous: alleles possessing two identical
Genetic evolution
dark around equator, but not in S. America where the Amazon provides shade
genetic evolution: change in a population's gene pool any factor contributing to the change can be considered a mechanism of genetic evolution 1. Natural selection: (sickle cell anemia) 2. Mutation: occurs spontaneously, regularly 3. Random genetic drift: change in allele frequency that occurs by chance 4. Gene ow: exchange of genetic material between populations of the same species
Thomson's Nose Rule: long noes adaptive in arid/cold areas; nose form and temperature are associated for populations living in an area for many generations
Bergmann's Rule: smaller of two bodies more likely in warm areas, larger in cold and
Allen's Rule: relative size of protruding body parts increase with temperature
Race
Human's haven't been isolated long enought clines: gradual shift in gene frequency between neighboring populations Between these clines, human biological variation was indeed distributed gradually
Throughout time, groups with power have used racial ideology to create dierences and justify opressing other groups race: groups assumed to have a biological basis; actually dened in a culturally arbitrary, rather than scientic, manner racism: (1) discrimination agains an ethnic group assumed to have a biological basis (2) assigning of values to real/imaginary dierences, to accuser's benet and at victim's expense, in order to justify former's own aggression [Albert Memmi]
Races are not biologically distinct; phenotypical similarities/dierences do not necessarily have genetic basis Skin color can be explained by natural selection (nature picking forms most likely to survive and reproduce in an environment) aecting amount of melanin
7.2
Kottak, Ch. 4