ANTH 0780 1nd EditionExam # 1 Study Guide Lectures: 1 - 8Lecture 1 (January 9th)What is Cultural Anthropology?Cultural Anthropology is the study of systems of meaning through competitive means. It is studied through ethnographic fieldwork to better understand the relationship between the particular and the universe by taking notes on how we learn to “live.”System of meaning- the way we act, think about, and explain the world around usLecture 2 (January 14th)Types of Cultural Anthropology1. Structural Functionalism- Looks at societies as a system of structures which function to perpetrate the social system (interconnected functions)- It has the ability to engage in social systems- Notable anthropologist: Evans-Pritchard- Example: looking and all the watches around the world and seeing how they function in society2. Structuralism- Sees social systems as individual representations of more universal social laws- The elements of culture should be understood in relation to overarching social structures- Notable anthropologist: Levi-Strauss- Example: all watches have a common structure yet their designs and appearance can look different3. Symbolic or interpretative- Represents culture by understanding how people understand themselves- “Thick description”- attention to the social business that lets a person to interpret the meaning of what they observe - Social business- the aim in a particular social interaction- Notable anthropologist: Clifford Geertz who stated that culture is a text- Example: a watch passed down from a grandfather has more meaning than just an average watchLecture 3 (January 16th)CultureCulture (capital C)- humans have the capability to create and imitate patterned, symbolically mediate ideas and activities Culture (lowercase c)- particular sets of learned behaviors and ideas that humans acquire as members of society (is used to adapt and transformSocialization- how people learn the behavioral rules established by their respective societiesEnculturation- how people living with one another learn the holistic process of learning how to think, feel, speak, and behave as a member of a sociocultural groupHabitus- process by which we learn and come to understand socio-cultural norms through our engagement with our social and physical environment (depends heavily on material culture)Material culture- all the objects that make up the cultural environment we inhabit and engage with on a daily basisSymbols and AgencySymbol- something that stands for something else (culture is always symbolic)Agency- ability to exercise some control over ones life and requires the ability to employ cultural symbols effectively; cultural adaptations occurCultural holism- attempts to integrate all that is known about a culture and its parts; the whole is understood to be greater than the sum of its partsLecture 4 (January 21st)What is fieldwork?Fieldwork is an extended period of close involvement with the people whose way of life interests the anthropologist. It is the period where the Anthropologist collects most of his/her data. Anthropologists started with studying cultures based on the data collected by others such as missionaries, colonial officials, and traders.Who developed fieldwork?Bronislaw Malinowski, also called the “father of fieldwork,” is most famous for the ethnographic monographs such as the Argonauts of the Western Pacific, which explores the Kula Ring, a form of economic exchange among the Trobriand Islanders.Franz Boas, known as the “father of American Anthropology,” is an opponent of scientific racism, which said that race is a biological concept and human behavior is best understood through the study of biological characteristics. He believed that cultures changed backed on the contact people had in their environment and that anthropology should study the entire human experience. He also developed four sections of research: archeological, physical, linguistic, and cultural and trained Margret Mead, Ruth Benedict, and Zora Neale HurstonHow has fieldwork changed?Shifted from attempts to be scientifically objective to acknowledging the contingent and located nature of interactions. It began with a positivist approach and moved to an interpretive one. It also initially started with studying groups with less power, but now studies either groups with more power or the connections created by various global projectsWhat is positivism?- The position that there is an ultimate, singular, knowable reality and that this reality can be studied through a single, appropriate set of scientific methods - Based on “objective” knowledge which is knowledge that is absolute and true- Positivism’s limitsPretends that social environment is a laboratory in which social scientists work Ignores social scientist’s interactions and impact on society not accounted for in work Tries to represent culture as static entityOften tied to colonial projects—i.e., study cultures within colonial empire What is interpretive anthropology?- Developed as a response to objectivity in the 1960s- Allowed anthropologist’s background to begin to inform the production of knowledge- Culture is read as a text- Critiquing the Interpretive perspective- Argued that anthropologists frame thoughts according to own social, political, and literary history and that anthropologists tend to study people with less power and status What is reflective perspective?- Refers to the explicit acknowledgement of the way in which one thinks and how one’s choices regarding the field are informed by one’s cultural background and inter-subjective knowledge- Inter-subjective Knowledge: knowledge that is shared between subjects- Depends on explicit recognition of political and ethical dimensions of fieldwork and how these shaped knowledge in the field- Stating explicitly your relationship to the culture and how people with that culture interact with you Multisited Ethnography– Ethnography that traces people, objects, ideas, in various locationsUses cultural connections created by various global movements, including colonial projects.Lecture 5 (January 23rd)What is ethnography?Ethnography is a book length account that details particular data of an extended period of living closely with a community of individuals (period of time=fieldwork). It is usually based on the lives and interactions of real people. Ethnographies often possess elements that we might associate