Anthropology

Ethnology

Study of general patterns of human culture through cross-cultural comparison of ethnographic data

linguistic anthropology

Study of human language and its relation to culture

Ethnography

Study of specific contemporary cultures through fieldwork

what permanent changes to landscape can intensive agriculture cause?

Terracing Deforestation changing waterways

Functionalism (Malinowski)

cultural traditions were developed as a response to specific human needs such as food, comfort, safety, knowledge, reproduction, and economic livelihood

Edward B. Tylor (1832-1917)

defined culture and was the first anthropology professor at Oxford

Paleoanthropology

human evolution

Unlinear Evolutionism

idea of a single line or path of cultural development

Clifford Geertz

"culture was publicly communicated through speech and other behaviors"

Radcliffe-Brown

pioneered the study of social relations as integrated systems (created structural functionalism)

why was cultural evolutionism flawed?

- Simplistic extension of biological evolution to models of cultural change - Ethnocentric assumptions about other peoples and their cultural traits

20th century shifts in Anthropology?

- The introduction of empiricism - new way of thinking about culture which sought to separate it from biology - Shift from deductive to inductive method

Margaret Mead

- United States anthropologist noted for her claims about adolescence and sexual behavior in Polynesian cultures - her book revealed that teenagers in Samoa did not experience the same stress and emotional difficulties as those in the United States - her book also was an important contribution to the nature versus nurture debate, providing an argument that learned cultural roles were more important than biology

Bronislaw Malinowski

- introduced the technique of the participant observer -created functionalism - more concerned with how culture functions at a psychological level

game of school key aspects

- starts at birth, knowledge of learning to do school passes on in household - extracurriculars -

pros to armchair anthropology?

- still marks an important beginning for the discipline of anthropology -raised important questions about culture which led many later ethnographers to look for answers through fieldwork

language universals

1.All human cultures have a human language and use it to communicate. 2. All human languages change over time, a reflection of the fact that all cultures are also constantly changing. 3. All languages are systematic, rule driven, and equally complex overall, and equally capable of expressing any idea that the speaker wishes to convey. There are no primitive languages. 4. All languages are symbolic systems. 5. All languages have a basic word order of elements, like subject, verb, and object, with variations. 6. All languages have similar basic grammatical categories such as nouns and verbs. 7. Every spoken language is made up of discrete sounds that can be categorized as vowels or consonants. 8. The underlying structure of all languages is characterized by the feature duality of patterning, which permits any speaker to utter any message they need or wish to convey, and any speaker of the same language to understand the message

six point definition of culture

1.An integrated system of mental elements (beliefs, values, worldview, attitudes, norms), the behaviors motivated by those mental elements, and the material items created by those behaviors; 2. A system shared by the members of the society; 3. 100 percent learned, not innate; 4. Based on symbolic systems, the most important of which is language; 5. Humankind's most important adaptive mechanism, and 6. Dynamic, constantly changing.

Ethnolinguistics

A branch of linguistics that studies the relationships between language and culture and how they mutually influence and inform each other.

Design features of all language

A mode of communication by which messages are transmitted through a system of signs Semanticity: the signs carry meaning for the users Pragmatic function: all signs serve a useful purpose in the life of the users, from survival functions to influencing others' behavior

bound morpheme

A morpheme that must be bound with another morpheme to form a word.

Marxist Theory

A theory that government is merely a reflection of underlying economic forces

Globalization

Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope.

what event made the profession of anthropology recognize a need to develop formal standards of professional conduct?

After World War 2, numberg trials

Ethnocentrism

Belief in the superiority of one's nation or ethnic group.

the two areas of the human brain that processes language

Broca's area and Wernicke's area

Design features of human language

Discreteness: every human language is made up of a small number of meaningless discrete sounds Duality of patterning: meaningless discrete sounds, called phonemes, are combined to form words and parts of words that carry meaning, or morphemes. morphemes are recombined to form an infinite possible number of longer messages such as phrases and sentences according to a set of rules called syntax. displacement: the ability to communicate about things that are outside of the here and now Productivity/creativity: ability to produce and understand messages that have never been expressed before or to express new ideas

multi-sited fieldwork

Ethnographic research on cultural processes that are not contained by social, ethnic, religious, or national boundaries, in which the ethnographer follows the process from site to site, often doing fieldwork at sites and with persons who traditionally were never subjected to ethnographic analysis.

salvage ethnography

Fieldwork strategy to rapidly collect cultural, material, linguistic, and biological information about U.S. Native populations being devastated by westward expansion.

Structural Functionalism

Focus on social structure to explain culture

Four major areas of linguistic anthropology

Historical linguistics Descriptive linguistics Sociolinguistics Ethnolinguistics

Design features of some language

Interchangeability: the ability of individuals within a species to both send and receive messages Cultural transmission: the need for some aspects of the system to be learned through interaction with others, rather than being 100 percent innate or genetically programmed Arbitrariness: the form of a sign is not inherently or logically related to its meaning; signs are symbols

pastoralism examples

Maasai (Africa) Sami or Saami (Scandinavia)

plant domestication

Manipulation and control of plant food supply

Ways of collecting data in anthropology

Observation and participant-observation Building rapport Qualitative and quantitative methods Recording field notes

Post World War II shift in anthropology?

Post-colonial theory Postmodernism Feminist theory Marxist approaches

preparation of fieldwork

Preliminary research; language study Research design and proposal; ethics review; gaining funding Logistical preparations: travel arrangements; medical concerns

How Does Language Variation Develop/dialects begin?

Settlement patterns, Migration routes, Geographical factors, Language contact, Region and occupation, Social class, Group reference, Linguistic processes

What might limit a researcher's full participation?

Skill and knowledge Language ability Fear or awkwardness Gender Age Personal ethics or boundaries Secret or restricted knowledge or rituals

Holism

The anthropological commitment to consider the full scope of human life, including culture, biology, history, and language, across space and time.

uneven development

The increasing gap in economic conditions between core and peripheral regions as a result of the globalization of the economy.

Archaeology

The study of past human cultures through their material remains

Anthropology

The study of the full scope of human diversity, past and present

Where did Malinowski do his fieldwork?

Trobriand Islands

Horticulture examples

Trobriand islands Cameroon

Fieldwork particularly marked changes since the 1960s

Where is the field? Partnerships and collaboration Getting permission shift away from modernist approaches that emphasized positivism

Positvism

a belief in the scientific method as the only route to valid knowledge or truth

rapport

a close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned understand each other's feelings or ideas and communicate well.

unbound morpheme

a morpheme that can stand alone as a separate word

ethnographic fieldwork

a research strategy involving living with a community of people over an extended period to better understand their lives

universal grammar

a set of rules that are common to all languages

Gesture-call system

a system of non-verbal communication using varying combinations of sound, body language, scent, facial expression, and touch, typical of great apes and other primates, as well as humans.

the 'other'

a term that has been used to describe people whose customs, beliefs, or behaviors are different from one's own

intenstive agriculture vs. horticulture

agriculture requires more labour and than horticulture requires greater energy inputs and technological innovations generally involves use of draft animals and mechanical implements irrigation systems - diversion of water supply

Napoleon Chagnon and James Neel

allegations that they deliberately infected the Yanomami with measles, starting an epidemic that killed thousands of people, Neel conducted medical experiments without consent, and Chagnon deliberately created conflicts between Yanomami groups so he could study the resulting violence.

Armchair Anthropology

an early and discredited method of anthropological research that did not involve direct contact with the people studied

Reflexivity

analyzing and critically considering our own role in, and effect on, our research

Symbol

anything that serves to refer to something else, but has a meaning that cannot be guessed because there is no obvious connection between the symbol and its referent.

using symbols in language is called...

arbitrariness

descriptive linguistics

careful description of spoken languages

Paralanguage

characteristics of speech beyond the actual words spoken; pitch, vocal loudness, and tempo and duration of sounds

Charles Hockett

created design features of language

Terracing

creating flat platforms in the hillside that provide a level planting surface.

microculture (subculture)

distinct groups within a larger group that share some sort of common trait, activity or language that ties them together and or differentiates them from the larger group.

Ethical guidelines in Anthropology

do no harm, obtain informed consent, ensure anonymity

etic vs. emic perspectives

emic - within the social group (from the perspective of the subject) etic - from outside (from the perspective of the observer).

Numberg Code

established principles for the ethical treatment of the human subjects involved in any medical or scientific research.

Kroeber

examined the historical processes that led cultures to emerge as distinct configurations as well as the way cultures could become more similar through the spread or diffusion of cultural traits

Franz Boas

father of modern American anthropology; redirected American anthropologists away from cultural evolutionism and toward cultural relativism

Audrey Richards

focused on issues of health and nutrition among women and children in Zambia

shifiting cultivation

form of agriculture, used especially in tropical Africa, in which an area of ground is cleared of vegetation and cultivated for a few years and then abandoned for a new area until its fertility has been naturally restored.

morpheme

in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix)

intensive agriculture

large plots of land under continuous cultivation, may practise crop rotation and field rotation

open vs closed system in language

open: easily create new meanings and messages closed: cannot create new meanings or messages

Critical Cultural Relativism

poses questions about cultural practices in terms of who is accepting them and why

Post-colonialism

questioned the authority of researchers and writers from the economically privileged areas of the world to speak about, or on behalf of, people who had been largely subjugated through colonialism

Post Modernism

questioned whether there exists any objective truth at all, and dismissed attempts to pursue such truths as futile

Different ways of ethnography

reflexivity and polyvocality

Pastoralism

reliance on herd animals, grazing animals ie. cattle, sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas

James Frazer

relied on the accounts of others who had traveled, such as scholars, missionaries, and government officials to write his book on comparative religions

Critical age range hypothesis

research suggesting that a child will gradually lose the ability to acquire language naturally and without effort if he or she is not exposed to other people speaking a language until past the age of puberty.

John Taylor Gatto

resigned from public school teaching because he feels the system undermines basic human values by replacing their importance with the "scientific vision" of the world, wrote "dumbing us down: the hidden curriculum of compulsory school"

Lewis Henry Morgan

savagery, barbarism, civilization; unilineal cultural evolution

Agriculture creates what type of living?

sedentary living

Horticulture

small-scale, low intensity farming

pragmatics

social and cultural aspects of meaning and how the context of an interaction affects it ie. politeness, can you pass the salt vs. pass the salt

Quantitative Research examples

studies of demographics, diet and nutritional status, income distribution

Proxemics

study of the social use of space

Dialect

subordinate variety of a language and the common assumption is that we can understand someone who speaks another dialect of our own language

increasing migration

the accelerated movement of people within and between countries

Applied Anthropology

the application of anthropological knowledge and research strategies to current problems, both local and global

cultural determinism

the belief that the culture in which we are raised determines who we are at emotional and behavioral levels.

historic archaeology

the exploration of the more recent past through an examination of physical remains and artifacts as well as written or oral records

language

the idealized "standard" of a variety of speech with a name, ie. swedish, english, spanish

flexible accumulation

the increasingly flexible strategies that corporations use to accumulate profits enabled by innovative communication and transportation technologies

what makes human language an open system while all other languages are closed?

the level of combinations between phonemes, morphemes, and syntax that is entirely lacking in the communication abilities of all other animals.

phoneme

the minimal unit of sound that can make a difference in meaning if substituted for another sound in a word that is otherwise identical

Anthropocene

the modern geological era during which humans have dramatically affected the environment

cultural relativism

the practice of judging a culture by its own standards

time-space compression

the rapid innovation of communication and transportation technologies associated with globalization that transforms the way people think about space and time

prehistoric archaeology

the reconstruction of human behavior in the distant past (before written records) through the examination of artifacts

syntax

the study of creating phrases and sentences

Morphology

the study of how morphemes are used to create new words

Biological Anthropology

the study of human biological variation in time and how they've adapted to their environments

Primatology

the study of nonhuman primates

Cultural Anthropology

the study of people's communities, behaviors, beliefs, and institutions, including how people make meaning as they live, work, and play together

semantics

the study of the meanings of words and other morphemes as well as how the meanings of phrases and sentences derive from them (spread of the use "like")

Kinesics

the term used to designate all forms of human body language

polyvocality

the use of many voices in ethnographic writing

lexicon

the vocabulary of a language

historic linguists

those who study how language changes over time within a culture and how languages travel across cultures

sociolinguists

those who study language in its social and cultural contexts

going native

to become fully integrated into a cultural group

Ruth Benedict

used cultural relativism as a starting point for investigating the cultures of the American northwest and southwest