ANTHROPOLOGY 101 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY NOTES FROM LECTURE 1 THE EXPLORATION OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY What is anthropology It is the study of different cultures and societies Why do you think people study anthropology It is possible that some are discontent with their own society reject it and look for alternative ways of live It is possible that we are interested in how the world operates and want to search for universal human problems What are universal human problems in your perspective Disease Poverty Struggle for happiness fulfillment and satisfaction Aging and death These might be universal problems but the solutions to them differ on each society Example aging how people treat their elders or death not talking about it So anthropology gives alternatives to different problems but learning from other cultures Inspiration for this discipline Imperialism anthropology is the hand of imperialism Western occupation to non Western countries in the 19th century but many say the precursors of anthropology are missionaries and travelers who wrote their accounts The questions that the subjects of anthropology ask are Why are we doing this Who benefits from it How is anthropology different from military surveillance ANTHROPOLOGY HAS NOT BEEN USED FOR GOOD PURPOSES THE FIVE FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY 1 Linguist anthropology The study of language in relationship to culture Humans have a developed and abstract sign system 2 Physical or biological anthropology Study of human biological diversity 3 Archeology Study of cultural past through excavation 4 Cultural Anthropology Study of social symbolic and material live of contemporary human societies 5 Applied Anthropology Use of insights and research techniques to analyze social political and economic problems and develop solutions Culture The concept of culture sets anthropology apart from other social and behavioral sciences Culture is LEARNED it is KNOWLEDGE NOT BEHAVIOR WORKING DEFINITION BY SPRADLEY AND McCurdy Culture is the learned and shared knowledge that people use to generate behavior and interpret experience Issues that might prevent an anthropologist from learning about other cultures 1 Na ve realism The believe that people everywhere see the world the same way 2 Culture shock Anxiety result from cross cultural misunderstandings 3 Ethnocentrism Belief and feeling that one s own culture is best Judging others with our own values values of our own culture
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