Anthrolopogy Terms Part 1

Front 1

Biological/physical anthropology

Back 1

Thinks as human beings in an animal environment; evolution; looking at the decomposition of human beings; relationships to other human beings

Front 2

Cultural Anthropology

Back 2

study of the beliegs and behaviors of contemporary society

Front 3

Linguistic Anthropology

Back 3

study of communication, speech, language, body language, sign speech, art and how we convey meanings

Front 4

Archaeology

Back 4

study of human goods which relies on human goods; its what we make and produce on earth; primarily study cultures of the past

Front 5

Medical Anthropology

Back 5

the study of the human response to disorder and disease

Front 6

Applied Anthropology

Back 6

using the data and knowledge from other studies and applying it to everyday life

Front 7

Culture

Back 7

a set of acquired beliefs and/or behaviors; changes from generation to generation; its not wired; it changes over time

Front 8

Enculturation

Back 8

the process of becoming a functioning process of your society the moment you are deemed apart of the society; usually begins in early childhood, or something early conceivement; it varies in intensity and when it starts

Front 9

Acculturation

Back 9

when you have a minority group coming into a majority group, and learning their culture, become perfient in that culture

Front 10

Assimilation

Back 10

people who have assimilated have lost their culture by adopting another

Front 11

Syncretism/cultural hybridization

Back 11

when 2 cultures come together there is an interplay between acculturation and assimilation; a combination of adapting to culture and still upholding your own; ex) ethnic food coming to America; taco bell, el pueblo loco

Front 12

Socialization

Back 12

refers to the process of becoming socialized into a society, you may be in a culture but you still have your own culture

Front 13

Ethnography

Back 13

the study of one particular culture in great detail and depth

Front 14

Ethnology

Back 14

the study of society that focuses on one particular aspect and looks at that aspect across other societies

Front 15

Emic

Back 15

trying to understand a culture from the perspective of someone in that culture, an insiders perspective, very intimate perspective

Front 16

Etic

Back 16

looking a culture from a macrolevel perspective, you try to explain whats going on from linking things together, look at a systematic perspective and figuring your culture is the best, or supreme and right

Front 17

Ethnocentrism

Back 17

this is a natural feeling that your culture is the best, or supreme and right; sometimes can lead and translate into racism, sexism, etc

Front 18

Cultural Relativisim

Back 18

the idea that you want to evaluate practices and where they occur, you want to get a better understanding of something, you don't necessary want to accept it

Front 19

Ritual

Back 19

a series of symbolic activites that moves someone from ordinary to some higher level; moving you from one status to another; ex) graduation, funeral, baptism, marriage

Front 20

Fieldwork

Back 20

what anthropologist do when they collect data, it really doesn't tell you anything

Front 21

Participant Observation

Back 21

a particular method, not everyone does it, seen as the halmark of cultural anthorpology; you do a long term study of a society; doesn't tell you anything about what people are doing

Front 22

Multicited Research

Back 22

you travel from place to place to do your study; its pretty common in anthropology