Cultural artifact

Contemporary Cultural Studies, Spring 2016”, hosted by the College of Education, and guided by Professor Cameron McCarthy. These both previous intellectual enrichments provided the groundwork for a pre-dissertation fieldwork in Santiago de Chile during June, 2016, funded…

One of them is cultural anthropology, which is the study of individual cultures mostly through participant observation, living in a culture or learning a culture different from your own. Cultural anthropology seeks to learn and compare cultures to help us as humans understand each other and recognize our diversity (Cloak, Jr., F. T., 1968). Basically, one cannot fully understand a culture without looking at all the features (the whole picture). One of the basic importances of cultural…

political responsibilities, and today the ‘others’ whom anthropologists have studied make those responsibilities explicit and unavoidable” (Ruby 2000, 140). As an anthropologist, it is Mead’s duty to understand that her main objective is to be a cultural relativist, which she clearly outlines in her work. An important lesson that Mead gathered and analyzed from this research is that “an important lesson preliterate peoples can teach us is that underlying wide diversity in superstructure, all…

assignment, I was required to complete The Ethnographic Immersion Cultural Journal that involved my engagement into an unfamiliar cultural setting. First, I chose a person of a different ethnicity than mine, who became the focus of my project. Next, I designed the activities that allowed me to spend 10 hours learning about and interacting with the selected individual. This was followed by providing details about her country of origin, cultural background, worldview, religious beliefs, and her…

In many non-Western cultures there is no such thing as “art” as “art” implies that a group of artifacts that has “non-utility” and a “special status for disinterested appreciation” (Heyd within Mcdonald & Veth, 283). This is not to imply that rock art is not aesthetically pleasing but that it has a different function in indigenous societies than just…

the few years, countless ancient buildings, artifacts, and antiques were destroyed. Moreover, millions of people were sacked, imprisoned and otherwise ostracized for their hidden counter-reformation action, while thousands were executed. There were constant protests and the denunciation of government and factory officials led to serious dislocations in Chinese society. The Communist Party encourage student to join the Red Army that can push the Cultural Revolution forward. Offices closed and…

Biological anthropology, or physical anthropology, is the study of how humans have evolved into the biological organisms we are today. Cultural anthropology is the study of all of the different types of cultures currently thriving all over the world. Archaeology is the study of artifacts and material remains of past cultures, so that we can understand how those who came before us lived. Linguistic anthropology is the study of human communication throughout the…

In his words, the tourists see the village as retaining their ‘culture’, of being “precontact”(Wolf 71) even after hundred of white tourists visit. They are convinced that the village is totally symbolic, where they can ogle at the sacred artifacts and old cannibal customs. However, the tourists are the true cannibals; they feast on the culture and eat up the lives of the villagers. Lila Abu-Lughod, another anthropologist, brings up a similar problem in her writing. In response to the tourists…

What promoted your interest in material culture? Some years ago, I visited an estate in England and saw a beautifully appointed carriage and thought: Wow, they pimped their rides. I started thinking about carriages and other extravagances that constituted a very rich 18th century materialism and consumption. I wondered what carriages would reveal about the role of materialism in human life. I particularly wondered how the complex social and economic dimensions of carriage culture shaped how men…

contains an examination of power and its limitations, especially as it relates to attempts to control others. Power is a multifaceted thing, and people have power over others in some ways while lacking it others. The novel takes place during the Cultural Revolution, and the Chinese government attempts to use its power to shape people and society as it sees fit. Luo and the narrator are expected to submit to the process of re-education and the village headman who leads it. However, they are also…