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Four fields of Anthropology
Archeology, biological, sociocultural, linguistic
Culture
Peoples learned and shared behaviors and beliefs
Cultural Relativism
Each culture must be understood in terms of the values and ideas of that culture and not judged by the standards of another culture
Ethnocentrism
Judging another culture by the standards of ones own culture rather than the standards of another
Ethnography
Detailed description of a living culture based on personal observation
Historical Pluralism
Each society is a collective representation of its historical past, societies could reach the same level of cultural development through different pains
Macroculture
Bigger culture ex: Scottish family in Welsh would consider themselves Welsh
Microculture
Smaller culture ex: Scottish family in Welsh would considered Scottish
Functionalism
Culture is similar to a biological organism where parks work to support the whole operation and maintenance of the whole
Arm Chair Anthropology
Not based on fieldwork or research; descriptions and theories based on missionaries and explorers accounts of the
Fieldwork
The study of geographic phenomena by visiting places and observing how people interact with and thereby change those places
Emic
Approach of studying a culture's behavior from the perspective of an insider
Etic
Approach of studying a culture's behavior from the perspective of an outsider
Shaman
Embodies religion in himself and their methods rely on communication with the spiritual world
Deductive Approach
Passing a research question or hypotheses
Inductive Approach
Does not have a hypotheses or a question
Culture Shock
Persistant uncomfortable feelings when one has moved from one culture to another
Applied Anthropology
Taking your knowledge of anthropology and applying it to peoples problems (Upcoming 5th field of anthropology)
Imitative Magic
Attempts to control the universe through the mimicking of a desired event similar actions produce similar events (Voodoo)
Contagious Magic
Things or persons once in contact can afterword influence each other (Fingernails, hair)
Animatism
Supernatural conceived as an impersonal (Mana- neither a spirit or a deity, manifests it's self in objects)
Animism
Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life
Monotheism
Belief in one God
Polytheism
Belief in many Gods
Myth
A Narrative with a plot that involves supernaturals
Doctrine
Direct and formalized statements about religious beliefs (Qu'Ran)
Zoomorphic
Having a representing anything forms of Gods or animal form
Magic
Attempt to compel supernatural forces and beings to act in certain ways
Anthropomorphism
God appears in human form
Pantheon
All the Gods of a people or religion collectively
Ancestor Veneration
Dead have a continues existence or possess the ability to influence the fortune of the living (Golden Eagle)
Ritual
Patterned behavior that has to do with the supernatural realm
Worldview
Philosophy of life or conception of the world
Cargo Cult
Expected arrival of ancestral spirits in ships bringing cargos of good and other goods
Rites of Passages
A ceremony performed in some cultures at times when an individual changes his status (Quienciera)
Priests
Fulltime religious specialist whose position is based mainly on abilities gained through formal training
Religious pluralism
Condition in which one or more religions coexist either as complimentary to each other or as competing systems
World Religions
Religion based on written sources, has many followers, widespread, and concerned with salvation
Syncretism
Fusion of differing systems of belief especially when success is partial result of heterogeneous
Communication
Process of sending and receiving meaningful messages
Oracle
Priests acting as a medium where advice or prophecy was sought from the Gods in antiquity
Language
Form of communication based on a set of learned symbols and signs shared among a group and passed on from generation to generation
Linguistic Anthropology
Study of human communication including origins, history and contemporary variation and change
Creole
Language directly descended from a pidgin but possessing its own native speakers and involving linguistic expansion and elaboration
Dialect
Particular from of language thats particular to a specific region or social group
Pidgin
Contact language that blends elements of at least 2 languages and that emerges when people with different languages need to communicate (Spanglish)
Productivity
Feature of human language whereby people are able to communicate a potentially infinite number of messages
Critical Legal Anthropology
Examines role of the law and judicial processes in maintaining the dominance of powerful groups through discriminatory practices rather than protecting less powerful peoples (Aboriginal youth case)
Code Switching
Practice of moving back and forth between two languages or between two dialects of the same language
Displacement
Feature of human language whereby people are able to talk about events in the past and the future
Sapir Whorf Hypothesis
The theory that language determines thought
Linguistic Determination
Language and structures limit and determine human knowledge and thought
Discourse
Culturally patterned verbal language including varieties of speech , participation and meaning
Tag Question
Question places at the ends of a sentence seeking affirmation (It's a nice day, isn't it?)
Observers Paradox
Observation of an even or experiment is influences by the presence of the observer/investigator
Sociolinguistics
Culture, society and a personal social position determine language
Paralanguage
Nonverbal forms of communication
Kinestics
A non verbal code that represents messages communicated in visible body language
Social Control
Maintain orderly social life
Feuding
Prolonged hostility and occasional fighting between individuals and their supporters
Law
Binding rule through enactment or custom that defines right and reasonable behavior and is enforceable by the threat or punishment
Policing
Exercise of social control through process or surveillance and threat of punishment related to maintaing social order
War
Organized and purposeful group action directed against another group and involving lethal force
Infralegal
Dispute is one that occurs outside the legal system without involving regular violence
Extralegal
Beyond the jurisdiction of the law; not regulated by the law
Banditry
Socially patterned theft (Peter-pan like crimes in Haiti)
Prophet
Convey divine revelations gained thru dreams/visions
Symbol
Anything we can perceive with our sense that stands for something else
Call System
Meaningful sounds used as language (primates)
Sociolinguistics
A school of thought that focuses on the relationship between language and culture
Linguistic Determination
Language determines consciousness of the world and behavior
Biological Anthropology
Studies humanity as biological
Archeological anthropology
Studies humanity based on the past left behind
Sociocultural anthropology
Study of living peoples cultures including variation and change
Malenowski
He believed in "functionalism"
Boas
He believed in cultural relativism- each culture muct be understood by that culture and not judged by others (Margaret Mead)

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