ANTH 205 Peoples and Cultures of the World 8 27 13 What is Anthropology ANTHROPOS HUMAN LOGOS REASON KNOWLEDGE Basically the study of humanity human diversity How is anthropology different Anthropologic investigation is holistic Traditionally Anthropology s focus is on pre industrial populations Anthropologists have copyrights on the study of culture FOUR FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY 1 Archaeology Investigation of the culture demography and history of past populations through their material and biological remains 2 Biological Physical Anthropology Investigation of the evolution adaptions genetics and biological variation of humans and primates 3 Linguistics Exploration of the nature development and evolution of human language as well as the cataloging and documenting of the thousands of languages spoken around the world 4 Cultural Anthropology Explores cultural variation and how culture influences meaning perception politics history and all other things human What is Culture Most simply culture is the learned and shared behavior of a community of interacting human beings Defining Elements of Culture o 1 Information that is SHARED among a population o 2 Information that is SOCIALLY TRANSMITTED Other aspects of Culture o Establishes shared symbolic system that allows for meaningful social interaction o Provides extra genetic behavioral solutions to common challenges finding food shelter etc o Internalized Perceived as natural What do Cultural Anthropologists do Cultural Anthropology emphasizes in depth experiential investigation Participant Observation What do we investigate Cross Cultural o What factors are cross culturally associated with Polygyny War Pastoralism Is there such a thing as a sexually egalitarian society Population Specific o How do gender role expectations influence educational autonomy in southern china Identity o How do individuals with mixed race parents associate with different groups What is race o How does transnationalism affect ones sense of self and heritage Post Industrial o How do Mexican migrant workers Evolutionary Ecology o How do individuals decide which foods to eat or which game animals to pursue o What determines humans sense of fairness o What factors influence individuals investments in family and marriage versus bachelor ette hood and philandering o What factors influence perceptions of attractiveness and aesthetics o How do individuals decide which cultural strategy to emulate 08 27 2013 08 27 2013