ANTH222 Dr Jen Shaffer ANTH222 Office Hours Mon 4 5 Rm 0124 Tues 1 2 Rm 0110 Email Lshaffe1 umd edu 01 28 2014 Readings for every class and some reading assignments first due feb 21st 01 28 2014 Week 1 1 28 13 What is Anthropology natural world Anthropology is the study of how people respond to change in the We understand why different species of hominids emerged and what were the environmental factors that formed humans The relationship between hominids humans and non hominids animals or the environment Evolution of human physiology and human behavior READING SOBA 19 31 Where did the Nature v Nurture Question Come From Biological V Cultural Determinism o The question was first seen with Francis Galton and he thought that nature was more powerful and discredited the role of upbringing o Biological determinism argument that biology determines one s capacities and characteristics Downplays hard work that people put into themselves to develop characteristics such as Venus Williams being a good tennis player Diverts people from striving for their goals if they aren t born good at something they think it wasn t meant for them o Cultural Determinism culture rather than birth determines one s capacities and characteristics Go back to early 1900s Nature and Nurture Work Together o Some say that the two work together and not one over the o Sometimes one person is more nature v nurture and vice other versa Holistic Systems Thinking Systems thinking focus on connectedness highlights relationships and what emerges from them human existence is the result of a mix of things Properties of a system can be neither explained nor determined by examining its parts alone holism is anthropology s hallmark It is the study of human kind and their interactions Ecosystems Some human actions are harming the environment and having an affect on the natural course of the world Ecosystems are interconnected populations An ecosystem s populations are all related to each other through Homeostasis when an ecosystem is balanced All the relationships o Biotic living o Abiotic non living energy flows o Food chain water cycle are even with one another Complex Systems Information and Adaptation o Change is an inherent feature of a system not a negative disruption to it so homeostatis is out o Some systems are mechanical systems which are totally predictable Human systems are not mechanical They are complex systems networks of dynnamic parts between which info can flow o Systems are driven to stay organized so a change in the environment will lead to something entirely new emergence These changes are non linear which means that they are not predictable Things happen which we do not expect and this is called the Law of Unintended Consequences o Adaptation survival skill in response to a pressure exerted through a change Delimiting Systems o Holon a system that is a whole can be part of something larger called a holon Holons have boundaries The concept provides a convienent mental means of packaging things for discussion Boundaries are permeable Studying Human Systems The Evolution of Anthropology o Ethnographic accounts written accounts of other social structures and cultures o Difference between anthropology and ethnology anthro means people in general but ethno means culture or design Ethno refers to a social political economic or spiritual aspect From Fission to Fusion o Instead of breaking down a group and studying its parts its better to study it as a whole Ethnocentrism is Not Part of a Unified Comparitive Method o Comparative method attempt to understand a culture by comparing it to your own o Must minimize ethnocentrism READING Marks 1 19 What is Anthropology Studies humans as a group studies clusters of people and how it relates to other species Field of mediation takes two entities and finding the connection between them ex individual and group member Ethnography the study of human group in a specific place and situation o A person s response can change with different situations Colonialism set of relationships that are more powerful societies mostly studied by ethnography Anthropology assumed role by demonstrating a mediating role between the exotic and the mundane less powerful and more powerful societies Anthro mediates the past and the present o Looks not only what we are but what we come from We are governed by our need to eat and survive but we are also governed by our ancestors and what they have achieved Juxtaposition between animalness and nonanimalness is represented by nature v culture o Nature is the biological essence of the uhman while culture is the institutions that are man made or seem artificial Not part of our genetic part but of our social part Anthro works to mediate the relationship between traditional and folk knowledge The Subfields of Anthropology Must study many parts of the human culture to understand Biological anthro is the most scientific o Studies biological history evolutionary relationships and adaptation patterns o Contrasts with mental part of human just physical There are four subdivisions of anthropology o Began as a systematic approach to study humans o The four parts are biological physical archaeology cultural and linguistics o Derived from American model Anthro studies all peoples not just powerless and indigenous ones The Anthropology of Science Reflexivity turning anthropological gaze inwards looking at oneself Seeks to stand between science and culture and to analyze science as anthrpologists explore other beliefs systems Science is not always correct Ontology the study of the state of being in existence Epistemology what can be known or discovered and now do we know it all questions Science is really based around what we know can t answer Must make the distinction between ontology and epistemology The Normative View of Science Scientific Method Science is a set of methods for deriving knowledge about the unknown Hypothesis this is what the scientific method starts with An educated guess Must have testability Elimation of extraneous information is key Explanation is next relational enterprise that relates data collection to problem formulated Scientific explanations try to not be unnessecarily complicated Science is always uncertain The Social Matrix of Science CUDOS what scientists strive for in the scientific process o Communal science is freely shared in the public world o Universalism should be essentially international and transcend the culture dividisons in