Cultural Anthropology

Front 1

Examples of Variability

Back 1

1. Language/ways of speaking
2. Face paint/piercing
3. Body ornamentation
4. Clothing
5. Hairstyles
6. Ways of Acting (stance, posture, gesture, teeth/nose picking)
7. Cognizing the world (kinship/color terms)
8. Values (good/bad)- number of spouse, taking a life, social surgery on genitalia

Front 2

Culture

Back 2

Ways of:
1. acting (speaking, ornamenting, dressing)
2. cognizing the world (beliefs)
3. valuing the world
--insofar as they are socially learned and socially transmitted
[a form of motion through space and time by virtue of transmission between people]

Front 3

Carriers/Vehicles

Back 3

human-made material objects that facilitate movement of culture through the world

Front 4

"a culture"

Back 4

a set of abstract cultural elements (ways of acting, cognizing, valuing) that are shared within a given population
[social group is def. of arena of sharing]

Front 5

multiculturalism

Back 5

houses different cultures; recognizable sharing or circulation of culture

Front 6

cultural relativity

Back 6

[motion is relative;no absolute frame of reference]
--there is no absolute frame of reference from which all cultural elements can be judged; must view these elements in the context of the culture in which they occur

Front 7

cultural relativity def.

Back 7

you should try to evaluate another culture on its own terms, rather than in terms of your own culture

Front 8

terrorism

Back 8

cultural relativity doesn't demand one condone it; however suggests that we ask about the beliefs of those who do condone it; increase understanding

Front 9

ethnocentrism

Back 9

-judging another culture in terms of one's own
- not appreciating that there might be another point of view

Front 10

culture shock

Back 10

the disorientation one experiences after living for a prolonged period (a year or more) in a cultural context that is different from the context to which one is accustomed [field research, coming to college]

Front 11

ethnography

Back 11

description of the life or culture of a people
- from "ethnos"-people
"graphikos"-writing
--it is the process of doing fieldwork, living with a poeple for a prolonged period of time to understand what they are like "participant observation"

Front 12

learn

Back 12

1.to gain knowledge or understanding of a skill in by study,instruction, or experience
2. to develop an ability to or readiness for by practice, training, or repeated experience
3. to become aware
4. to acquire (as a skill or habit or a modification of an existing habit) through experience, practice or exercise

Front 13

2 senses of learning

Back 13

1. perpetuating something acquired in the past

2. acquiring something new that was not part of the past

Front 14

Who learns?

Back 14

1. individual humans or individuals of other species

2. social groups (especially of humans)
-nations
-occupational groups
-corporations
3. biological species

Front 15

how does species learn?

Back 15

1.selection--through experiences in the world

2. phenotypes--species is acquiring abilities

3. evolution--biological evolution is therefore a form of learning