Cultural Anthropology Final

Diaspora is best used to describe: a. A form of trans-border identity found amongst migrant populations that keep their roots and links to place of origin b. Movements in which members call for a new nation state c. Movements in which new states are built across old national borders d. A group made up of migrants and of people who remain in their home country that share an identity

a. A form of trans-border identity found amongst migrant populations that keep their roots and links to place of origin

Which of the following best describes the definition of nation used in our class: a. A group of people believed to share the same history, culture, language, and even the same physical substance b. A group of people believed to share the same history, culture, language, and even the same physical substance who occupy a common territory c. A group of people believed to share the same history, culture, language, and even the same physical substance, who share the same laws and government d. A country in which citizens are believed to share common goals and a common ethnic background.

a. A group of people believed to share the same history, culture, language, and even the same physical substance

A pervasive sense of rootlessness and normlessness in society is described as: a. Anomie b. Alienation c. Liminality d. Communitas

a. Anomie

Why do anthropologists tend to write ethnography in the first-person? a. Doing so stresses the situated nature of ethnographic fieldwork b. B language helps to shape habits of thought and action writing in the first-person makes anthropologists more careful about the conclusions they draw. c. Cultural anthropologists view their work as a form of literature d. Writing from a first-person perspective makes ethnographies more interesting to read.

a. Doing so stresses the situated nature of ethnographic fieldwork

It is common for students and employees to ask for letters of reference from teachers and colleagues. You may ask for a letter of reference from Dr. Brown or your TA. They will write one for you without asking for payment in return because they expect that you will be willing to write letters of reference for your students and colleagues in the future. This system is best described as an example of: a. Generalized reciprocity b. Balanced reciprocity c. Redistribution d. Capitalist exchange

a. Generalized reciprocity

Ray, an East Harlem crack dealer, had tried an office job but he found it frustrating because: a. He felt that his white female colleague was afraid to ride the elevator with him. b. He felt that the office job offered few opportunities for promotion c. He felt the office job demanded him to keep hours that were a poor fit with his sleep schedule d. All of the above

a. He felt that his white female colleague was afraid to ride the elevator with him.

Sushi did not have a central role in the Japanese diet for centuries, however many people now think of sushi as a defining element of Japanese cuisine. Which of the following anthropological concepts best describes this situation? a. Invention of tradition b. Diaspora c. Situated Knowledge d. Alienation

a. Invention of tradition

Why does Jane Hill describe mock Spanish as a form of covert racism? a. Mock Spanish may enforce racist stereotypes even when speakers do not intend to do so. b. Mock Spanish is used to disguise racist speech so that it seems funny. c. Mock Spanish is used to intentionally offend and marginalize Spanish speakers. d. All of the above.

a. Mock Spanish may enforce racist stereotypes even when speakers do not intend to do so.

Trobriand Islanders' explain conception as the result of a woman's womb being entered by a maternal ancestor spirit or baloma. Several anthropologists have suggested that this explanation seems true, and even self-evident to Trobrianders because it integrates personal experiences of kinship into a broader social system. This view of Trobriand kinship stories represents them as a form of: a. Myth b. Orthodoxy c. Imagined Community d. Clan.

a. Myth

A repetitive social practice composed of a sequence of symbolic activities in the form of dance, song, speech, gestures and the manipulation of objects, adhering to a culturally defined ritual schema and closely connected to ideas enshrined in myth is best described as: a. Ritual b. Orthopraxy c. Orthodoxy d. Art

a. Ritual

The Government of India allows former citizens who have emigrated elsewhere, citizens of other countries with an Indian parent or grandparent, and citizens of other countries who are married to someone with an Indian parent or grandparent to obtain a PIO card that gives them many of the same rights as a legal citizen of India. This practice is best described as one of: a. Trans-border statehood b. Diaspora c. Redistribution d. Cosmopolitanism

a. Trans-border statehood

Which of the following statements is Ted Bestor, author of the article that you read on the global tuna trade, LEAST likely to agree with: a. Transnational trade brings about a "flat" world in which people fully share culture, language, thought and systems of value. b. Transnational trade increases cultural and economic interconnectedness. c. Transnational trade can be manifested in relationships that are beyond the control of a single nation state. d. Transnational trade can be organized by the tastes and desires of a small group of people.

a. Transnational trade brings about a "flat" world in which people fully share culture, language, thought and systems of value.

Bestor's article on the global tuna trade is best described as examining: a. A chain of love b. A commodity chain c. Hegemony d. Cultural imperialism

b. A commodity chain

What does Jane Hill mean by "mock Spanish"? a. An accent that many Anglo-Americans use when making fun of Spanish speakers. b. A kind of Spanish and pseudo-Spanish speech that is used by Anglo- American English speakers, often when they wish to appear laid-back or fun. c. Men who pretend to be Hispanic on the street in order to seem tough and masculine.. d. Spanish used by people who identify as Hispanic but don't speak the language fluently.

b. A kind of Spanish and pseudo-Spanish speech that is used by Anglo- American English speakers, often when they wish to appear laid-back or fun.

A worker in an iPad factory feels a deep separation between her own identity, what she does at work, and the objects she helps to make. In fact she hasn't seen a working iPad. This feeling is best described as one of: a. Anomie b. Alienation c. Work as a frame d. Liminality

b. Alienation

Anthropologist Sawa Kurotani found that, despite her Japanese background, the Japanese women she hoped to study did not take her seriously because she didn't have a family. This changed when she accepted food from the plate of one of their small children. This change in the status of relationships during ethnographic fieldwork is best described as an example of: a. The care chain b. Building rapport c. Communitas d. Situated knowledge

b. Building rapport

In Chain of Love, the film on Phillipina domestic workers, women who travel to do domestic work elsewhere are frequently described as: a. Seeds planted in foreign soil b. Export quality c. Hummingbirds d. Robots

b. Export quality

Rather than ensuring that everyone was provided for, as suggested in question 43, many experts on the Moche state have suggested that the collection of corn and distribution of beer was a way in which rulers persuaded farmers to accept the ideology of the dominant group. In this view the exchange of corn for beer served, ultimately, to support the privileged position of rulers (who were able to collect and enjoy corn without working to grow it). This interpretation of the practice is best described as: a. Strategic essentialism b. Hegemony c. Domination d. Myth

b. Hegemony

The care chain describes: a. How emotional ties link women working overseas to their families in the Philippines. b. How the work of overseas domestic laborers from the Philippines is enabled by the work of domestic laborers within the Philippines who care for the children of domestic workers. c. How care keeps women indebted to former employers. d. How workers in caring professions may continue to do service jobs that are no longer profitable because they feel an obligation to continue care.

b. How the work of overseas domestic laborers from the Philippines is enabled by the work of domestic laborers within the Philippines who care for the children of domestic workers.

Which of the following statements does the principal of linguistic relativity best support? a. Language and culture must be studied separately b. Language and culture are inseparable c. People who speak different languages cannot comprehend each other d. Some forms of kinship are purely linguistic

b. Language and culture are inseparable

Which of the following statements best describes the relationship between culture and sensation that we studied in this class? a. Language shapes perceptions, whereas culture merely interprets sensations. b. Language and other parts of culture shape the ways in which people see color, hear sounds, and otherwise perceive the world around them. c. Although color perception differs between cultures, listening and taste are the same across all human groups. d. Sight and sound are cultural, but taste and smell are primarily chemical senses.

b. Language and other parts of culture shape the ways in which people see color, hear sounds, and otherwise perceive the world around them.

Rulers of the Moche state, which was once located in present-day Peru, used to require payments in corn from members of the local population. They would then take some of this corn, ferment it into beer, and give the beer back to all of their subjects in beautiful ceramic jugs. If, by doing this, the central Moche rulers helped to ensure an equaldistribution of corn throughout the countryside the practice could be described as: a. The Spirit of the gift b. Redistribution c. Balanced reciprocity d. Dowry

b. Redistribution

In her article on Jocks and Burnouts, why did Penelope Eckert treat details such as students' pant-leg widths, lunch eating habits, and ways of wearing backpacks as important? a. These details represent the sort of "thick description" needed to establish Eckert's status as an objective researcher. b. These details reveal ways in which students seek to identify and affiliate with one another. c. These details explain changing gender relations at the high school. d. These details reveal the importance of ascribed status in US high schools.

b. These details reveal ways in which students seek to identify and affiliate with one another.

Which of the following is best described as an instrument of governmentality: a. A gun used by government agents who will exercise unlimited force. b. A policeman's nightstick used by government agents to exercise limited force. c. A census form used by government agents to collect information about members of the population. d. All of the above.

c. A census form used by government agents to collect information about members of the population.

Conflict Kitchen: Iran, a new restaurant kiosk, opened recently in Schenley Plaza. The kiosk sells foods from countries with which the US is in conflict in the hope of introducing people to a different ways of thinking about these places. In the terms used in our class this idea might be described as: a. A form of balanced reciprocity b. A form of redistribution c. An attempt at a transformation-representation, and therefore a kind of art d. An attempt at transformation-representation, but not a kind of art because it's done for money

c. An attempt at a transformation-representation, and therefore a kind of art

After graduating from Pitt you join the government of a small kingdom. The king explains that he wants you to use your anthropological expertise to support his power through hegemony. The best way to do this would be to: a. Order more guns and teach members of the police to use them against rebel groups b. Train a secret police force to gather information about the king's citizens. c. Commission a TV program that will remind people of popular myths that depict the power of the king as natural and unquestionable. d. Encourage the king's officials to follow elaborate bureaucratic procedures.

c. Commission a TV program that will remind people of popular myths that depict the power of the king as natural and unquestionable.

Many students find that they have little trouble remembering material from "Introduction to Cultural Anthropology" while sitting in the classroom where they learned it. Yet these same students sometimes have a great deal of difficulty recalling the same material when asked about it by family friends over the summer. The anthropological concept that best explains this phenomenon is: a. Situated Knowledge b. Positivism c. Distributed cognition d. Holism

c. Distributed cognition

Which of the following is NOT correct about social inequality? a. Gender, class, race, and ethnicity often intersect to shape social situations b. Gender, class, race, and ethnic differences are often viewed as natural, normal, or even biological c. Gender, class, race, and ethnic inequalities are found in all societies at all times. d. Gender, class, race, and ethnicity can be described as imagined categories that have real effects on peoples' lives.

c. Gender, class, race, and ethnic inequalities are found in all societies at all times.

Many social practices, such as the time and money spent on wrapping gifts, appear nonsensical when examined in isolation. Yet when anthropologists examine these same practices in relation to other domains of social life previously unrecognized significance is often revealed. The name for this principal of anthropological study is: a. Cultural relativism b. Ethnocentrism c. Holism d. Limit cases

c. Holism

Carrier notes that some gifts seem to be wrapped less often and less carefully than others. This is because: a. Gift wrapping is most important between equal recipients, such as between friends or colleagues. b. Gift wrapping is most important between unequal givers and recipients, such as between parents and children. c. Homemade gifts, such as zucchini bread, already contain the spirit of the giver and so can be given without wrapping. d. Gifts with obvious market value, such as money or gift certificates, may remain unwrapped.

c. Homemade gifts, such as zucchini bread, already contain the spirit of the giver and so can be given without wrapping.

Most citizens of the USA don't know each other directly. However, there are times when key political and social figures can address the US population as "we" and moments when people living in different parts of the country imagine that they are experiencing events together. This phenomenon is best described as an example of: a. Secular ritual b. Situated knowledge c. Imagined community d. Clan

c. Imagined community

Which of the following is true about inequality as we studied it in this class: a. Race is different from other forms of inequality because it is based on biology b. Race and sex are different from other forms of inequality because they are based on biology c. Inequities of race, ethnicity, language and sex often overlap d. Inequality is only found in industrialized societies

c. Inequities of race, ethnicity, language and sex often overlap

The view that the truth of social life is "out there", that it can be known directly through the senses, and that there is a single appropriate set of methods through which it must be investigated is best described as: a. Holism b. Situated knowledge c. Positivism d. Distributed cognition

c. Positivism

Which of the following best describes the definition of race used in our class: a. Race describes biological differences between human populations. b. Race is a human population category whose boundaries overlap with ethnic divisions c. Race is a category of social difference whose boundaries allegedly correspond to biological attributes d. Race describes visually apparent differences between human populations.

c. Race is a category of social difference whose boundaries allegedly correspond to biological attributes

Jane Hill has stated that studying mock Spanish has led her to think critically about her own speech and thought processes. This statement is best described as an example of: a. Language Ideologies b. Frame c. Reflexivity d. Holism

c. Reflexivity

9. As used in our class, "naturalizing discourses" describes: a. Political rhetoric that draws on organic metaphors, such as a speech that describes Kansas as the heart of the nation. b. Advertising in which products and processes are depicted as valuable because they are natural, such as descriptions of "all natural" rotisserie chicken. c. Representations of identities and social differences as if they are a result of biology rather than culture or history, such as associations between race and poverty. d. Models that emphasize the interdependence of biology and culture, such as discussion of cultural adaptation.

c. Representations of identities and social differences as if they are a result of biology rather than culture or history, such as associations between race and poverty.

Which of the following best describes the anthropological approach to relationships with objects that was discussed in our class: a. There are always clear distinctions between gifts and commodities. b. All objects are either gifts or commodities. c. Some objects may be gifts and commodities at different points in time. d. In the present day US all objects are commodities at some point.

c. Some objects may be gifts and commodities at different points in time.

10. Societies in which there is a long-standing hierarchy that grants some people privileged access to wealth power and prestige are best described as: a. Achieved status b. Nation-states c. Stratified societies d. Caste

c. Stratified societies

In his study of crack dealing in East Harlem Philippe Bourgois: a. Simply describes what crack dealers do and refuses to make any judgments about their behavior b. Celebrates crack dealing as a valuable form of self-expression c. Sympathetically explains reasons why men deal crack, but notes that this form of resistance is often self-destructive d. Suggests that, despite stereotypes, most crack in the neighborhood is sold by office workers

c. Sympathetically explains reasons why men deal crack, but notes that this form of resistance is often self-destructive

Many Indian Hindus visit Catholic churches on Christmas. During these visits they perform many of the same kinds of worship that would be performed at a Hindu temple. This sort of mixing of religious traditions is best understood as an example of: a. Worldviews b. Transformation-representation c. Syncretism d. Revitalization

c. Syncretism

Which of the following statements is the best example of indexicality? a. Cricket, as played in the Trobriand Islands, draws on war magic. b. Elderly Jews living in Florida talk about friendship as a kind of kinship. c. When used by white speakers in social situations mock Spanish is associated with friendliness and warmth d. The ways in which babies gaze at objects has a relationship to the language that they are learning to speak.

c. When used by white speakers in social situations mock Spanish is associated with friendliness and warmth

Which of the following best summarizes Carrier's explanation for why Americans wrap Christmas gifts: a. Wrapping requires greater effort and expending labor is a sign of love. b. Gift wrapping requires expenditure and spending money is a sign of love. c. Wrapping helps to transform objects from commodities into gifts. d. Wrapping keeps gifts clean so that only the spirit of the giver may enter them.

c. Wrapping helps to transform objects from commodities into gifts.

Substantive citizenship best describes: a. Rights and obligations legally granted by a state b. Actions demanded by a state, often through coercive force, that are not spelled out in law c. The ways in which laws shape the everyday life of citizens d. Actions people take, regardless of legal status, that assert their membership in a given state

d. Actions people take, regardless of legal status, that assert their membership in a given state

Which of the following is the best example of strategic essentialism? a. American fishermen depend on Japanese tuna markets to make their living. b. Women from the Philippines think differently about family roles after spending time in Italy. c. Turkish peasants understand the essence of a person as coming from the father's family. d. American fisherman draw on cultural stereotypes to explain Japanese people's desire for tuna as the result of appreciation of "samurai" fish

d. American fisherman draw on cultural stereotypes to explain Japanese people's desire for tuna as the result of appreciation of "samurai" fish

As used in our class, cosmopolitanism best describes: a. A bias against cocktails made with cranberry juice b. Valuing the practices of other cultures more than the practices of one's own c. Learning about multiple cultures when engaged in capitalist trade d. Being "at home" in more than one cultural setting.

d. Being "at home" in more than one cultural setting.

Children undergoing their first week at summer camp, which might be described as a rite of passage, tend to forget about social distinctions that apply outside of camp. They also develop intense friendships with each other. Which anthropological concept best summarizes this description of the situation? a. Play b. Frame c. Liminality d. Communitas

d. Communitas

How does selling crack allow men in East Harlem to earn respect? a. Willingness to engage in dangerous and illegal work is considered manly b. Willingness to engage in dangerous and illegal work is considered worthy of respect whether the seller is male or female c. Making a profit is the fastest way to earn respect d. In contrast to office work, selling crack allows men to behave in ways they consider manly.

d. In contrast to office work, selling crack allows men to behave in ways they consider manly.

A marker of struggle between social groups that is revealed by what people say and how they say it is best described as: a. Linguistic relativity b. Orthopraxy c. Listening as cultural d. Language ideology

d. Language ideology

Which of the following best explains how play is understood by anthropologists? a. Play is trivial and unimportant b. Play activities should not be confused with those that are truly cultural c. Play is primarily important to anthropologists who study children d. Play comments on and transforms non-play activities

d. Play comments on and transforms non-play activities

A Sri Lankan refugee living in Monroeville who is not a US citizen, attends a city council meeting and speaks in favor of a new traffic sign being installed at a dangerous intersection. Her actions can be best described as: a. Invented tradition b. Legal citizenship c. Hegemony d. Substantive citizenship

d. Substantive citizenship