ANTH 1102 1st Edition Exam 1 Study Guide Lectures 1 6 Unit 1 Introduction to Anthropology What is anthropology the study of human diversity across time and space Four subfields of anthropology socio cultural archaeological biological and linguistic SOCIO CULTURAL anthropology describes analyzes interprets and explains social and cultural similarities differences includes ethnography and ethnology ARCHAELOGICAL anthropology reconstructs describes and interprets human behavior and cultural patterns through material remains artifacts BIOLOGICAL anthropology examines human biological diversity in time and space LINGUISTIC anthropology studies language and diversity in its social cultural context Unit 2 Culture What are ethnographic techniques and ethical practices used to carry them out successfully Ethnographic techniques discover local beliefs perception through problem oriented research longitudinal research team research Ethical practices are important to carry out research safely and successfully so researchers realize consequences of research for participants and therefore ensure informed consent get research approved by Institutional Review Board and follow guidelines set by American Anthropology Association Code of Ethics What is culture Shared knowledge beliefs art morals laws and customs culture can learned symbolic shared integrated adaptive maladaptive and all encompassing Cultural perspectives include ethnocentrism cultural relativism and human rights Describe Universal vs Particular aspects of culture Some signs gestures customs are universal mean the same thing everywhere while particular signs gestures customs are significant and specific to different places in the world What is agency and how does it affect practice Agency is an individual s ability to decide what happens around him her actions taken alone or in a group to form and transform cultural identities Practice theory recognizes individuals diversity so culture plays out differently based on gender status religion ethnicity etc Describe mechanisms of cultural change diffusion movement of cultural idea s to places other than place of origin acculturation adoption of behavior patterns of a surrounding culture independent invention cultural group creating its own customs e g Globalization the spread of ideas across the world Unit 3 Language What is language and linguistic anthropology How has language evolved over time Language is our primary means of communication allows us to conjure elaborate images discuss past present future share experiences and benefit from others experiences Linguistic anthropology studies comparison variation and change in language sociolinguistics looks at multilingualism dialects linguistic styles social differences Linguists can understand the evolution of human language by studying nonhuman primates communication consisting of call systems series of sounds to understand cultural transmission through learning from basics to a language creation of new expressions and displacement describing things events that aren t present Linguists have also found that the mutated gene FOXP2 occurred in humans around 150 000 years ago giving humans the capacity for speech What is kinesics the study of communication through body movements stances gestures and facial expressions other strategic pause altering pitch voice level grammatical forms written Nature vs Nurture environmental hypothesis humans have generalized intelligence innate intelligence hypothesis humans have specialized intelligence Language Thought and Culture Chomsky s Universal Grammar believed humans ability to learn language stemmed from innate knowledge of certain structures of language Common Structural Basis learning foreign language translating words ideas pidgins turn to creoles Sapir Whorf Hypothesis different languages produce different ways of thinking focal vocabulary Cognitive Anthropology the study of relationships between language culture and thought semantics a language s meaning system ethnosemantics study lexical vocabulary categories and contrasts e g color terminology kinship terms ethno medicine ethno botany and ethno astronomy What is sociolinguistics What factors affect linguistic diversity Sociolinguistics studies relationships between social and linguistic variation or language in a social context I e language use language and social stratification class gender ethnicity and language and power gaining expressing reinforcing resisting power Historical linguistics deals with long term change reconstructs features of past proto languages by studying their daughter languages The premise is linguistic features correlate with social economical and political differences historical aspect can change throughout time How language can be diverse gender differences between how men and women speak status position use of titles and more prestigious dialects depending on who one is speaking to and ethnicity cultures accept and reject certain types of vernacular Unit 4 Gender What is gender What is the difference between sex and gender How does gender affect age What is gender stratification and how does it affect society Gender is a form of identity context specific relative and based on culture inclusion exclusion Sex vs gender sex is a biological identity as female or male while gender is a cultural identity ascribed by culture Gender role are tasks assigned by culture to sexes with gender stereotypes going deeper with oversimplified but strongly upheld ideas about characteristics of males and females Sexual dimorphism is a difference in male female biology beyond primary genitalia and secondary sexual characteristics breasts voice hair distribution Aging men tend to be more powerful and respected while aging women are looked at negatively and less valued Gender stratification is unequal distribution of rewards between men and women reflecting different positions in social hierarchy Matriarchy vs Patriarchy matriarchy is dominated by woman authority while patriarchy is all about male authority and female avoidance Patriarchy is known for violence in North India where it is the cause of warfare inner village raiding dowry payments and murder female infanticide How did the spread of women s and human rights affect society Increased laws and mediating institutions are available to protect individual rights Brazil has female run police stations for battered women and there are shelters in the US and Canada for victims of