Anthro Quiz Review Sheet

Kayla MacLennan February 4, 2012

1 Intro to Anthro
1.1 Lecture Notes

Reproduction and Family

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

Biological/cultural adaptations, nature vs. nur-

Sociocultural/Cultural

Social

and

cultural

similari-

Mating and Marriage:

ties/dierences Ethnography: observe an indivual

    

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

Requires eld work Community specic Descriptive

Ethnology: examine ethnographic data Comparative, cross-cultural

Uses data from a number of researchers Synthetic

  

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-

tion/experience/culture/thought use analytical, critical, speculative methods

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

Primatology Evolutionary psychology

Linguistic

Historical (past) Descriptive/structural present) Sociolinguistics (present) (recent past -

Archeological research

Applied Anthropology

  

Team based Study remains to reconstruct past excavation:

 

Apply data/perpectives/theory/methods

anthro

analyze local perspective map site, dig pits, erect grid, excavate carefully

Identify/assess/solve contemporary social problems

systematic surveys:

Cultural  development anthropology Archaeological  Cultural resource

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

Biological anthropological research

1.2

2 Anthropological Research
2.1 Lecture Notes
Anthropology as science

Kottak, Ch. 1

    

Genetic/molecular In lab primatology: study primate behavior

through close observation paleoanthropology: mains Research modern physiology and adaptations excavate human re-

 Linguistic anthropology research

   

Formal language analysis Document endangered languages Chart language changes sociolinguistics: connection examine language-culture

   

Symbolic Integrated Changing Contested

Culture is

learned  not instinctive

Cultural anthropological research

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

thoughts/actions of just one)

symbol:

something that arbitrarily stands for

something else languages are systems of symbols

   

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-

emic: insider's etic: outsider's


2.2

Write eldnotes, keep journal, document with audio/video and photographs

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

rules/ideals vs. cultural practices Three modes of cultural change:

  

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:

any position (no matter the prestige)

What is the essence and uniqueness of humanity?

that someone occupies in society

  
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

would be monstrosities Culture makes us human

4 Ethnicity and Race

4.1 Lecture Notes

Kottak, Ch. 2

 

Ethnicity is achieved, not ascribed, exterior and not interior Religious and ethnic identity are inseperable

Ethnicity

Swahili of East Africa

  

  

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

Ethnicity vs. Race

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

descent: assign social identity on basis of ancestry situational identity

metaphor for American society homogenization versus diversity

Social construction of race

      
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?

through cultural contact kinesics: sions study communication through body

  

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

phrases and sentences Noam Chomsky: all languages have common

response to specic stimuli automatic, can't combine

structural basis - universal grammar

Sapir-Whorf

Hypothesis:

grammatical

cate-

Standard English

is not superior, but it is

gories of dierent languages lead their speakers to think about things in particular ways

the prestige dialect historical linguistics: time study of languages over

focal vocabulary: specialized sets of terms and distinctions that are particularly important to certain groups


investigates relationships be-

protolanguages: original languages (Proto Indian European)

Sociolingustics:

tween social and linguistic variation, or language in its social context (features that vary systematically with social position and situation)

 

daugther languages: parent years language;

descend from same separately for

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

Kottak, Ch. 10 Reading: bate Chimp's Culture De-

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,

6 Media & Gershon

6.1 Lecture Notes
The medium is the message Marshall McLuhan: wrote Understanding

Media: the Extensions of Man (1964)

text of extralinguistic forces:

   

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)

Black English Vernacular:

dialect of English

rather than a separate language?

A set of beliefs about how a medium communicates and structures communications (email vs. letters)

has complex system of rules

Media ideologies about one medium are always aected by the media ideologies people have about other media.

Genetic

evidence

also

exists

(similar

chromosome to Israeli populations) phenotype: visible properties of an organism

remediation: ways people interlink media, suggesting people dene every technology in terms of the other communicative technologies available to them

Lemba look African

genotype: hereditary makeup of an organism

idioms of practice:

shared practices and ideas

Lemba have the Cohen genetic signature

about how to use media == media etiquette Connection vs. disconnection : new technology connects us, but it also provides new forms of disconnection

Theories of human origins

 

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

source of human diversity

Carolus Linnaeus: developed rst taxonomy, but still believed in Creationism (species are unchanged)

Some assumptions:

   
6.2

#1:

American youth eagerly adopt new

Evolution: descent with modication; form changes over generations

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

Giraes, peppered moths Believed humans, apes shared common history

7 Evolution, Genetics, and Human Variation

7.1 Lecture Notes
Study to establish links between humans and other human species, between past to and present populations, and understand

The Breakup 2.0

Didn't know about sources of variation, how heredity worked

Gregor Mendel: father of genetics

genes:

discrete units that determine

heredity, can be dominant or recessive

found on chromosomes determines (wholly or in part) a particular biological trait

changes/constants in human biological variation

alleles: biochemically dierent forms of a gene heterozygous: possesing two dierent

Lemba: ethnic group in S. Africa and Zimbabwe

 

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

Body features also aected by natural selection

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

is a discredited concept in biology

Natural selection can achieve the same effect in dierent ways

In scientic thought: race is a geographically isolated subdivision of a species

Then, what denes 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]

Early studies used phenotypical traits for racial classication

Overly simplistic Compatible with political use of race in colonial period

 

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

e.g. Loving family (biracial marriage)

Kottak, Ch. 4

inuenced by many genes dark skin: protects against sunburn

and overproduction of Vitamin D