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U-M ANTHRCUL 101 - Observing Anthropologically
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ANTHRCUL 101 1st Edition Lecture 1 Outline of Last Lecture N/AOutline of Current Lecture **1/7 NotesI. Anthropology’s Big PictureII. What Can Anthropology Do? III. Class DetailsObserving Anthropologically (1/9)I. Strategies of Anthropological Observation (Familiarizing and Defamiliarizing) II. How do we make cultural life visible? (Interpretation and Juxtaposition) III. Universal vs. Particular Aspects of Human Life IV. Laura Bohannan: "Shakespeare in the Bush" (Ethnocentrism)Current Lecture**1/7 Notes(GradeBuddy accidentally marked 1/7 as a holiday in this course – here are the brief notes from the first lecture)I. Anthropology’s Big Picturea. The study of the biological and cultural diversity of human kind, past and present, throughout time, and across spaceb. Branches of Anthropologyi. Culturalii. Linguisticiii. Archaeologicaliv. Biologicalc. "Human beings are the result of the same evolutionary process that produced the entire vast diversity of living things… Yet we cannot help but think of ourselves as somehow significantly 'different' from the rest of nature." (From Ian Tattersall, 1998,Becoming Human: Evolution And Human Uniqueness, page 78)These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.II. What Can Anthropology Do? a. Expands our self-understandingsb. Explores global worlds at home and abroadc. Lends us a big picture on lifeIII. Class Detailsa. Readings: Window on Humanity 6th Edition (WOH), Getting Ghost by Luke Bergman, everything else on CToolsb. Grades:i. 3 in class exams (20% each)ii. 2 short writing exercises (25% total)iii. Section attendance/participation (15%)c. About Professor Chivensi. PhD, UNC Chapel Hill, 2004ii. Post Doctoral Fellow, Rice University 2004-2006iii. Now: UM Anthropology Advisor and Lecturer IViv. Fieldwork in 1997-1999 in North Carolinav. Fieldwork 2000-2002 in PolandObserving Anthropologically (1/9)I. Two Strategies of Anthropological Observationa. Familiarizing: Making the strange familiari. Learning unfamiliar categories on their own termsb. Defamiliarizing: Making the familiar strangei. Unsettling or reconsidering aspects of your own culture that you take for grantedII. How do we make cultural life visible?a. Interpretation: describing the meaning of a particular thingi. The challenge of familiarizing interpretations:1. Thick vs. Thin descriptions – ex: Winking2. Thin description: winking is the physical act of using particular muscles to blink one eye, usually for physiological purposes such as re-wetting the eye3. Thick description: Is the person who is winking doing it to convey a particular message? Is it supposed to be flirtatious? Or to let someone know that they are in on a secret? ii. The challenge of defamiliarizing interpretations: 1. To give a jolt to deeply engrained patterns and interpretations of symbols/traditions/etc. is very difficult2. Anthropologists must do this in order to produce ethnographic descriptions of a culture without any of their own cultural biases getting in the way (Horace Miner must do this in “Nacirema”)b. Juxtaposition: by placing two different things in direct comparison, you can better understand both of themi. Ex: Comparing the world of musicals to regular life in a mall food court (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkYZ6rbPU2M)1. What this juxtaposition tells us:a. “regular life” can be seen at an American mall, musicals are out of place thereb. There are certain rules of engagement in a food court that are challenged when a musical breaks outc. Leads you to think about life as a kind of theater – everyone fulfills a certain roled. How do the people in the food court change as they are switched into the roles of audience members? III. Universal vs. Particular Aspects of Human Life a. Franz Boas (1858-1942) i. PhD in Physicsii. Postdoc, Geographyiii. A Pioneer of American Anthropologyiv. Worked in all four fields of anthropology (cultural, linguistic, archaeological, biological)v. Opposed “Scientific Racism”b. Argued that cultural forms are the result of local contexts and local historiesi. Not the result of intrinsic or hierarchical differences between human groups, ie., not “primitive” vs. “advanced” (no culture is “better” than anyother)IV. Laura Bohannan: “Shakespeare in the Bush”a. Initial intent was to show how messages in Hamlet are universalb. Uses juxtaposition as a form of comparative methodc. Bohannan found that the Tiv people’s values and norms were such that Hamlet’s themes were, to them, completely different than they were to Americans i. Hamlet assumes that the reader thinks it is scandalous for his uncle to marry Hamlet’s mother so quickly after his father’s death, but in Tiv culture this is a sign of success – changes the whole meaning of the playd. Ethnocentrism: belief that the way one’s culture views something is the only right way to do soi. Bohannan discovers that the only universal is ethnocentrism – both she and the Tiv people believed their version of the story was the correct


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U-M ANTHRCUL 101 - Observing Anthropologically

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