ANT 250: Exam I Study Guide: 

What is a linguistic?

 Anthropology:

o 4 Subfields

 1. Biological- study of biological facts of human &  

nonhuman primates

o Human origins/ paleoanthropology

 2. Archeological- study of past human cultures through  recovery, analysis, & documentation of material remains  

o What ppl made, how they lived & interacted

o artifacts, features, historic/prehistoric  

 3. Linguistic- study of human language/communication

 4. Cultural- study of living & recent human  

societies/cultures

o Society- interdependent grp of ppl w/ collective

identity  

o Culture- learned values/beliefs shared by  

members of a grp

o Goals

 Advance understanding of humankind  Don't forget about the age old question of miderm

o How grps/indivs adapt to environment & give  

meaning to lives

 Through comparative approach  

o Culture & society, biology, human vs  

What is the difference between deductive and inductive?

nonhuman

 Focus on similarities & differences  

o Cross-cultural perspective, avoid  

ethnocentrism  

 Ethnography:  

o What is it?

 Def- written description of the way of life of a certain  

human group

 Anthropologist spends a long time living, interacting, &  speaking the language of a group of people (fieldwork)

o Deductive vs Inductive  

 Deductive- makes broad generalizations from one theory  o theory -> confirmation

 Inductive- develop general theories from study of many  specific cases If you want to learn more check out kurt regner

o observation -> theory

o Emic vs Etic

 Emic- examining society using concepts, categories, and  distinctions that are meaningful to members of that culture o An insider’s perspective

 Etic- examining society using concepts, categories, and  rules derived from science

What are the aspects of culture?

o An outsider’s perspective

 Aspects of Culture:

o Cultural Identity  

 Cultural tradition a grp of ppl recognize as their own

 Shared customs & beliefs that define how a grp sees itself  as distinctive  

o Roles & Expectations

 Def- standardized patterns of behavior in a given functional relationship

o Rights/duties assumed by indiv. in social grp

o May be achieved or ascribed 

o Developed thru societal influence, cultural  

influence, genetic predisposition

o Norms

 Def- shared ideas about how ppl ought to act in given  situations or towards others

o Widespread agreement on behavioral  

standards

o Violations may invoke sanctions from grp  If you want to learn more check out keiko brynildsen

o Values

 Def- culturally defined beliefs abt what’s  

true/right/beautiful  

 Way of life desirable for person & their society  

o Symbols

 Def- anything that represents something else  

o Power

 Def- the ability or potential to bring about change through  action or influence

o Often cntrled thru cultural institutions  

o Reflects uneven dist. of resources or privileges

 Ethnocentrism & Cultural Relativism:

o Ethnocentrism- tendency to think that one’s own ways (culture,  norms, behaviors) are normal and natural and that others’ are  inferior

o Cultural Relativism- no inherently superior culture

 Anthropological Approaches/Theories:

o Holistic

 Looking at all aspects of humanity to understand any part o Comparative.  

 Compare features across cultures/indivs to find similarities  & diffs

o Unilineal Evolution

 Claims all societies pass thru same series of stages  

(simpler to increasingly complex)

o 1. Savagery- hunting & gathering

o 2. Barbarism- pottery-> metal

o 3. Civilization- writing, society w/cities

 Edward Tylor and Morgan

o Historical Particularism

 Each society could only be understood in light of particular  history

 Each culture unique, changes along own path, & must be  studies on own terms

o Functionalism If you want to learn more check out we care if there are people whose biological equipment enables them to have sex ‘naturally’ with both men and women?

 Analysis of cultural elements in terms of their function,  relation to other elements of culture

o What function does it serve? Biological,  

psychological, or social needs

o Structuralism  

 elements of human culture must be understood by way of  their relationship to a broader, overarching system or  

structure 

o Configurationalism

 view of culture as integrated and patterned

o Interpretivism  

 Study of symbols in their social and cultural context

o Globalization

 Worldwide intensification of interactions & increased  movements of ppl, goods, & ideas within & across national  borders

 Key Figures:

o Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

 Natural selection/ survival of the fittest

 Biological evolution- diversity of bio species resulted from  gradual change over time in response to envm pressures o Edward Tylor (1832-1917)

 First to define anthro

 Unilineal cultural evolution

 “armchair anthropologist”

o Lewis Morgan (1818-1881)

 Attempts to organize data to catalogue human diversity  Unilineal cultural evolution

 Vast diversity of cultures represented diff stages in  

evolution of human culture (inspired by Darwin)

o Franz Boaz (1858-1942)

 One of founders of American anthro If you want to learn more check out gunawardena rutgers

 Immigration policies of U.S.

 Fieldwork among indigenous ppl of pacific NW of US &  Canada

 Historical Particularism (rejection of unilineal evol)

o Margaret Mead (1901-1979)

 Researched in Samoa (sexuality), Bali, & Papau New  

Guinea

 enculturation’s effect on cultural patterns & personality  types & behavior

o Ruth Benedict (1887-1948)

 Ways in which cultural traits & entire cultures are uniquely  patterned & integrated

o Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1982)

 Polish- taught in England  

 Used an early form of functionalism in his ethnography of  the Trobriand islands, Argonauts of the Western Pacific

o Edward Sapir

 Sapir-Wharf Hypothesis- diff languages create diff ways of  thinking  

 Linguistic research w/Hopi – native American grp in SW

 Born Into Brothels:

o Who

 Zana Briski  

 Children of the sex workers in the Calcuttta’s red light  district (Shanti, Puja, Avijit, Suchitra)

o What  

 Doc about children of sex workers in the red-light district in India, who are given. Cameras and taught photography by  Zana Don't forget about the age old question of latimer diagram of fe

o When

 Released 2004

o Where

 Calcutta, India