Download Anth1000C Overheads 1

Anth1000C Overheads 1
What did we do last time?
 How do we differentiate ourselves from animals?
 What makes us human?
What makes us human? 1
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 Humans use tools (together with some animals)
What makes us human? 2
 Humans communicate through complex and abstract concepts:
• We have languages
• Humans use symbols
What are symbols?
Symbols are
 behaviours,
 images,
 words
 that express ideas which are too complex to be stated directly.
 example: flag
What makes us human? 3
Humans organize
 themselves,
 their surroundings and
 the world
 into conceptual categories.
Organizing the world conceptually
 One way of imposing order on human experience:
 binary oppositions = contrasting conceptual pairs
 E.g.up/down, sun/moon, men/women
Us and them
 Most human groups make a distinction between themselves and other groups
with whom they come into contact (either those with whom they compete or
those with whom they co-operate.
Us and them
 We and they / us and them
 We make classifications
 We try to give order to the world we live in.
Organizing the world
 Human groups tend to identify themselves with their environment.
 E.g. animals or physical features that provide them with their livelihood)
The Key Questions
 What is anthropology?
 What is cultural anthropology?
 What is culture?
What is anthropology?
 Anthropos: human being
 -ology: study or science
Focus of anthropology
 Diversity of the ways human beings
– establish and live their social lives in groups.
– give meaning to their experiences.
The Fields of General Anthropology
Archaeology
 Investigating human past by excavating and analyzing material remains.
 Examines past social structures and institutions.
 The “Garbage Project”
– Rathje and Murphy, 1992
Physical or Biological Anthropology
 The study of human and
non-human life, past and
present
 Many physical anthropologists research animals in order to understand human
origins and behaviour
 Links with archaeology especially in the question of when human beings first
emerged as Homo sapiens
Linguistic Anthropology
 Originally emerged when researchers began documenting disappearing Native
American languages
 Relevance today?
– Language is still changing
– Scope broadened to include aspects of communication
• media, email, popular music, advertising, etc
Applied anthropology
 Involves the use or application of anthropological knowledge to help solve
social problems
 A separate field?
– Just like theory, application should be a valued part of every field of
anthropology
– All anthropologists should forcibly and directly address the effects of
globalization
• (Hackenberg, 2000)
Socio-cultural anthropology
 The study of humankind everywhere, throughout time.
 Seeks knowledge about what makes people different and about what they all
have in common.
Cultural Anthropology
 Tries to look at cultures from the “outside”
 Encompasses all aspects of human behavior and beliefs and includes:
– making a living, distributing goods, reproduction, political patterns, religious
systems, forms of communication and expressive aspects of culture such
as art
What is the distinguishing feature of modern anthropology?
 Approach rather than the subject matter.
 Not limited to the study of the 'exotic other'.
Cultural Anthropology Today
 Research is often done in urban, industrial areas.
 Extended fieldwork continues to distinguish cultural anthropology from other
disciplines.
 Research extends across many disciplines (law, music, religion, etc.).
Objectives of Cultural Anthropology
 Understand how dimensions of human life relate (religion, art, communication,
family).
 Understand cultural change.
 Make the public aware of cultural differences.
What is culture?
 Culture is diversity of ways in which humans establish and live social lives in
groups.
 Culture is not a thing, should not be treated as a noun.
 It is more realistic to say 'people live culturally rather than they live in cultures'
(Tim Ingold 1994).
About culture
 Culture is acquired and learned ( knowledge, experience,symbols,direct and
indirect,conscious and unconscious).
 Culture is shared.
 Culture is symbolic.
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Culture is integrated.
Humans are creative, they act in culture creatively.
Culture is adaptive and maladaptive.
Cultural Anthropology’s Distinctive Features
 ETHNOGRAPHY
– means “culture writing”
– provides a first-hand, detailed description of a living culture
– based on personal experience
 ETHNOLOGY
– the study of one topic in more than one culture
• marriage forms, economic practices, religion, etc
– uses ethnographic material
Anthropological Perspectives
 Holistic -No dimension of culture can be understood in isolation.
 Comparative - Generalizations about humans must consider the range of
cultural diversity.
 Relativistic -Cultures cannot be evaluated based on the standards of another
culture.
Cultural Relativism (1)
 The idea that a culture must be understood in terms of its own values and
beliefs and not by the standards of another culture
– gained by exposure to “other” ways with a sympathetic eye and ear to
appreciating differences
Cultural Relativism (2)
 Critical
– poses questions about cultural practices in terms of who is accepting them
and why
– recognizes oppressors, winners, victims
– a critique
 Absolute
– whatever goes on in a culture must not be questioned by outsiders
– Holocaust?
Value of Anthropology 1
 Encourages understanding and tolerance among citizens of different nations.
 Allows us to compare our lives with those of people living in different times and
places.
Value of anthropology 2
 Allows us to see the development of human biology and culture over time.
 Provides knowledge about human evolution, prehistoric populations, and tribal
societies.
Local cultures
Canadian Anthropology
 Roots in both British/European tradition of social anthropology and American
cultural anthropology
 Shaped by ethnohistorical and advocacy work with First Nations peoples
 First full-time anthropological appointment at University of Toronto in 1925
The KEY Questions Revisited
 What is anthropology?
 What is cultural anthropology?
 What is culture?