Chapt001 What is Anthropology

8/3/2019 Chapt001 What is Anthropology

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/chapt001-what-is-anthropology 1/38

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill




These PowerPoint slides have been designed for use by students and instructors using the

Anthropology: The Exploration of Human Diversity textbook by Conrad Kottak. These files

contain short outlines of the content of the chapters, as well as selected photographs, maps,

and tables. Students may find these outlines useful as a study guide or a tool for review.

Instructors may find these files useful as a basis for building their own lecture slides or as

handouts. Both audiences will notice that many of the slides contain more text than one would

use in a typical oral presentation, but it was felt that it would be better to err on the side of a

more complete outline in order to accomplish the goals above. Both audiences should feel

free to edit, delete, rearrange, and rework these files to build the best personalized outline,

review, lecture, or handout for their needs.

Using These SlidesUsing These SlidesUsing These SlidesUsing These Slides




Student CD-ROM²this fully interactive

student CD-ROM is packaged free of charge

with every new textbook and features the

following unique

tools:

How To Ace This Course:

Animated book walk-through

Expert advice on how to succeed in the

course (provided on video by the University

of Michigan)

Learning styles assessment program

Study skills primer

Internet primer Guide to electronic research

Chapter-by-Chapter Electronic Study Guide:

Video clip from a University of Michigan

lecture on the text chapter

Interactive map exercise

Chapter objectives and outline

Key terms with an audio pronunciation guide

Self-quizzes (multiple choice, true/false, and

short-answer questions with feedback

indicating why your answer is correct or

incorrect)

Critical thinking essay questions

Internet exercises

Vocabulary flashcardsChapter-related web links

Cool Stuff:

Interactive globe

Study break links

Contents of Student CDContents of Student CD--ROMROMContents of Student CDContents of Student CD--ROMROM




Student¶s Online Learning Center²this free web-based student supplement features many of

the same tools as the Student CD-ROM (so students can access these materials either online or

on CD, whichever is convenient), but also includes:

An entirely new self-quiz for each chapter (with feedback, so students can take two pre-tests

prior to exams)

Career opportunities

Additional chapter-related readings

Anthropology FAQs

PowerPoint lecture notes

Monthly updates

Contents of Contents of

Online Learning Center Online Learning Center

Contents of Contents of

Online Learning Center Online Learning Center




C C

hh

aa

p p

tt

eer r

11

This chapter introduces students to the

textbook by discussing how Anthropology is

defined and how it relates to other academicfields. It also discusses the different

subfields and dimensions that exist within

Anthropology.

What is Anthr o pology?What is Anthr o pology?What is Anthr o pology?What is Anthr o pology?




What is Anthr o pology?What is Anthr o pology?

Anthr o pology is the study of the human species and its immediate

ancestors.

Anthr o pology is holistic in that the discipline is concerned with studying the

whole of the human condition: past, present and f uture. Anthr o pology

studies biology, s

ociety, language, and culture.

Anthr o pology off ers a unique cr oss-cultural perspective by constantly

comparing the customs of one society with those of others.

Peo ple share both society and culture.

Society is organized lif e in gr oups, a f eature that humans share with other

animals. Cultures are traditions and customs, transmitted thr ough learning, that

govern the belief s and behaviors of the peo ple exposed to them.

While culture is not biological, the ability to use it rests in hominid biology.




Adaptation, Variation, and ChangeAdaptation, Variation, and Change

Adaptation is the pr ocess by which organisms co pe with

envir onmental stresses.

Human adaptation involves interaction between culture and

bio

lo

gy to

satisf y individual g

oals.

Four types of human adaptation:

cultural (technological) adaptation

genetic adaptation

lo

ng-

term physio

lo

gicalo

r develo

pmental adaptatio

n immediate physiological adaptation





Humans are the most adaptable animals in the world, having

the ability to inhabit widely variant ecological niches.

Humans, like all other animals use biological means to adapt

to

a given envir o

nment. Humans are unique in having cultural means of adaptation.





Thr ough time, social and cultural means of adaptation have

become increasingly important for human gr oups.

Human gr oups have devised diverse ways of co ping with a wide

range of envir onments.

The rate of this cultural adaptation has been rapidly accelerating

during the last 10,000 years.

Food pr oduction develo ped between 12,000 and 10,000 years ago

af ter millions of years during which hunting and gathering was the

sole basis for human subsistence. The f irst civilizations develo ped between 6,000 and 5,000 years ago.

More recently, the spread of industrial pr oduction has pr ofoundly

aff ected human lif e.




Four Subdisciplines of Anthr o pologyFour Subdisciplines of Anthr o pology

The academic discipline of American anthr o pology isunique in that it includes four subdisciplines: culturalanthr o pology, archaeological anthr o pology, biological or physical anthr o pology, and linguistic anthr o pology.

This four f ield appr oach develo ped in the US as earlyAmerican anthr o pologists studying native peo ples of NorthAmerica became interested in exploring the origins anddiversity of the gr oups that they were studying.

This br oad appr oach to studying human societies did notdevelo p in Eur o pe (e.g. Archaeology, in most Eur o peanuniversities, is not a subdiscipline of anthr o pology; it is itsown department).




Origins of American Anthr o pologyOrigins of American Anthr o pology

American anthr o pology ar ose out

of concern for the history andcultures of Native North

Americans. Ely S. Parker was a

Seneca Indian who made

important contributions to early

anthr o pology.

Photo Credit: Smithsonian Institution




Four Subdisciplines of Anthr o pologyFour Subdisciplines of Anthr o pology

Variation in ³Time´ (diachr onic research): using information

f r om contemporary gr oups to model changes that took place in

the past, and using knowledge gained f r om past gr oups to

understand what is likely to happen in the f uture (e.g.

reconstructing past languages using principles based on modernones).

Variation in ³Space´ (synchr onic research): comparing

information collected f r om human societies existing at the same

or r oughly the same time, but f r om diff erent geographic locations(e.g. the race concept in the US, Brazil, and Japan).

Any conclusions about ³human nature´ must be pursued with a

comparative, cr oss-cultural appr oach.




Cultural Forces and Human BiologyCultural Forces and Human Biology

Cultural traditions pr omote certain activities and abilities,discourage others, and set standards of physical well- beingand attractiveness.

Participation and achievement in sports is determined by

cultural f actors, not racial ones. In Brazilian culture, women should be sof t, with big hips and

buttocks, not big shoulders; since competitive swimmers tendto have big, str ong, shoulders and f irm bodies, competitiveswimming is not very po pular among Brazilian f emales.

In the US, there aren¶t many Af rican-American swimmers or hockey players, not because of some biological reason, but

because those sports aren¶t as culturally signif icant as football, basketball, baseball, and track.




Intelligence TestsIntelligence Tests

There is no conclusive evidence for biologically based

contrasts in intelligence between rich and poor, black and

white, or men and women.

The best indicatorsof

ho

w any individual will per fo

rmo

n anintelligence test are envir onmental, such as educational,

economic, and social backgr ound.

All standard tests are culture- bound and biased because they

ref lect the training and lif e experiences of those who develo p

and administer them.




Culture and SportsCulture and Sports

Years of swimming sculpt

a distinctive physique.

The countries that tend to

pr oduce successf ul

f emale swimmers are the

United States, Canada,

Australia, Germany,

Scandinavia, and the

former Soviet Union,

where this body type isn¶tas stigmatized for women

as it is in Latin countries.

Photo Credit: David Madison/ Duomo





Jensenism asserts that Af rican-Americans are hereditarily

incapable of doing as well as whites.

Named for Arthur Jensen, the educational psychologist who

o

bserved thato

n average Af

rican-

Americans per fo

rm less wellon intelligence tests that Eur o-Americans and Asian-

Americans.

This racist notion of the inborn inf eriority of Af rican-

Americans recently resur f aced in the 1994 book The Bell

Curve by R ichard Hernnstein and Charles Murray.




The Bell Curve (1994)The Bell Curve (1994)

Like Jensen, Hernnstein and Murray disregard more

convincing envir onmental explanations in f avor of a genetic

one to explain patterns o bserved in intelligence test scores.

An envir onmental explanation acknowledges that for manyreasons, both genetic and envir onmental, some peo ple are

smarter than others, however these diff erences in

intelligence cannot be generalized to characterize whole

po pulati

onso

r social gr

oups.

Psychologists have come up with many ways to measure

intelligence, but there are pr o blems with all of them.





Intelligence tests ref lect the experiences of the peo ple who

write them.

Middle- and upper -class children do well because they share

the test makers¶ educational expectations and standards.

The SATs claim to measure intellectual aptitude but they also

measure the type and quality of high school education,

linguistic and cultural backgr ound, and parental wealth.

Studies have shown that per formance on the SATs can be

impr oved by coaching and preparation, placing those students

who can pay for an SAT preparation course at an advantage.





Cultural biases in testing aff ect per formance by peo ple in

other cultures as well as diff erent gr oups in the same nation.

Native Americans scored the lowest of any gr oup in the US,

but when the envir onment during gr owth and develo pment for

Native Americans is similar to that of middle-class whites, the

test scores tend to equalize (e.g. the Osage Indians).

At the start of WorldWar I, Af rican-Americans living in the

north scored on average better than whites living in the south

due to the better public school systems in the north.




Cultural Anthr o pologyCultural Anthr o pology

Cultural Anthr o pology combines ethnography and ethnology to studyhuman societies and cultures for the purpose of explaining social andcultural similarities and diff erences.

Ethnography pr oduces an account (a book, an article, or a f ilm) of a particular community, society, or culture based on information that iscollected during f ieldwork.

Generally, ethnographic f ieldwork involves living in the communitythat is being studied for an extended period of time (e.g. 6 months to 2 years).

Ethnographic f ieldwork tends to emphasize local behavior, belief s,

customs, social lif e, economic activities, politics, and religion, rather then develo pments at the national level.

Since cultures are not isolated, ethnographers must investigate thelocal, regional, national, and glo bal systems of politics, economics,and information that expose villagers to external inf luences.





Ethnology examines, interprets, analyzes, and compares the

ethnographic data gathered in diff erent societies to make

generalizations about society and culture.

Ethnolo

gy uses ethno

graphic data to

build models, testhypotheses, and create theories that enhance our understanding

of how social and cultural systems work.

Ethnology works f r om the particular (ethnographic data) to the

general (theory).





ETHNOGRAPHY ETHNOLOGY

requires f ieldwork to collect

data

draws upon data collected

by a series of researchers

descriptive synthetic

gr oup/community specif ic comparative/cr oss-cultural

Comparison between Ethnography and Ethnology




Archaeological Anthr o pologyArchaeological Anthr o pology

Archaeological anthr o pology reconstructs, describes, and

interprets past human behavior and cultural patterns thr ough

material remains.

The material remainsof

a culture include artif acts (e.g.

potsherds, jewelry, and tools), garbage, burials, and the

remains of structures.

Archaeologists use paleoecological studies to establish the

ecological and subsistence parameters within which givengr oup lived.




Archaeological Anthr o pologyArchaeological Anthr o pology

The archaeological record pr ovides archaeologists the

unique o pportunity to look at changes in social complexity

over thousands and tens of thousands of years (this kind of

time depth is not accessible to ethnographers).

Archaeology is not restricted to prehistoric societies.

Historical archaeology combines archaeological data and

textual data to reconstruct historically known gr oups.]

William

R athje¶s ³garb

olo

gy´ pr o ject in Tucs

on, Ariz

ona.




Biological Anthr o pologyBiological Anthr o pology

Biological, or physical, anthr o pology investigates human biological diversity acr oss time and space.

There are f ive special interests within biological anthr o pology: paleoanthr o pology: human evolution as revealed by the fossil record

human genetics human gr owth and develo pment

human biological plasticity: the body¶s ability to change as it co pes withstresses such as heat, cold, and altitude

primatology: the study of the biology, evolution, behavior, and social lif e of primates.

Biological anthr o pology is multidisciplinary as it draws on biology, zoology, geology, anatomy, physiology, medicine, public health, osteology, and archaeology.




Biological Anthr o pologyBiological Anthr o pology

Paleoanthr o pologists study the fossil

record of human evolution. This

photo shows Pr of essor Teuku Jaco b

with early fossil skulls f r om Java,

Indonesia.

Photo Credit: Kenneth Garrett / National Geographic




Linguistic Anthr o pologyLinguistic Anthr o pology

Linguistic anthr o pology is the study of language in its social

and cultural context acr oss space and time.

Some linguistic anthr o pologists investigate universal

f eatures

of language that may be linked t

ouni

formities inthe human brain.

Historical linguists reconstruct ancient languages and study

linguistic variation thr ough time.

Sociolinguistics investigates relationships between socialand linguistic variation to discover varied perceptions and

patterns of thought in diff erent cultures.




Theoretical/Academic Anthr o pologyTheoretical/Academic Anthr o pology

Theoretical/academic anthr o pology includes the four

subf ields discussed above (cultural, archaeological,

biological, and linguistic anthr o pology).

Directed at c

ollecting data t

otest hyp

otheses and m

odels thatwere created to advance the f ield of anthr o pology.

Generally, theoretical/academic anthr o pology is carried out in

academic institutions (e.g. universities and specialized

research f acilities).




Applied Anthr o pologyApplied Anthr o pology

Applied anthr o pology is the application of any of

anthr o pological data, perspectives, theory, and techniques to

identif y, assess, and solve contemporary social pr o blems.

So

me standard subdivisio

ns have develo ped in appliedanthr o pology: medical anthr o pology, envir onmental

anthr o pology, forensic anthr o pology, and develo pment

anthr o pology.

Applied anthr o pologists are generally employed by

international develo pment agencies, like theWorld Bank,United States Agency for International Develo pment

(USAID), theWorld Health Organization (WHO), and the

United Nations.




Medical Anthr o pologyMedical Anthr o pology

Medical anthr o pology

studies health

conditions f r om acr oss-cultural

perspective. In

Uganda's Mwiri

primary school

children are taught

about HIV.

Photo Credit: Jorgen Schytte / Still Pictures / Peter Arnold, Inc.




Applied Anthr o pologyApplied Anthr o pology

Applied anthr o pologists assess the social and cultural

dimensions of economic develo pment.

Develo pment pr o jects of ten f ail when planners ignore the

cultural dimensio

nsof

develo pment.

Applied anthr o pologists work with local communities to

identif y specif ic social conditions that will inf luence the

f ailure or success of a develo pment pr o ject.




Two Dimensions of Anthr o pologyTwo Dimensions of Anthr o pology

GENERAL

ANTHROPOLOGY

APPLIED

ANTHROPOLOGY

Cultural Anthr o pology Medical Anthr o pology

Archaeological

Anthr o pology

Cultural R esource

Management (CRM)

Biological or Physical

Anthr o pology

Forensic Anthr o pology

Linguistic Anthr o pology Non-government

Organizations (NGO¶s)

The Four Subf ields and Two Dimensions of Anthr o pology




Anthr o pology and Other FieldsAnthr o pology and Other Fields

Anthr o pology¶s own br oad sco pe has always lent it to

interdisciplinary collaboration.

Anthr o pology is a science, in that it is a systematic f ield of

study that uses experiments,o bservati

ons, and deducti

on to

pr oduce reliable explanations of human cultural and

biological phenomena.

Anthr o pology is also one of the humanities, in that is

enco

mpasses the study and cr o

ss-cultural c

omparis

onof

languages, texts, philoso phies, arts, music, per formances

and other forms of creative expression.




Cultural Anthr o pology and SociologyCultural Anthr o pology and Sociology

Formerly, sociology focused on ³western´ societies while

anthr o pology looked at ³exotic´ societies.

Cultural anthr o pological methodologies have primarily been

in-depth and qualitative (e.g. participant

o bservati

on).

Sociological methodologies tended to be mainly quantitative

(statistically based).

The trend toward increasing interdisciplinary coo peration

(deconstruction) is causing these diff erences to disappear.




Political Science and EconomicsPolitical Science and Economics

While other disciplines have looked at such institutions as

economics and politics as distinct and amenable to separate

analysis, anthr o pology has emphasized their relatedness to

other aspects of the general social order.

Anthr o pology has tended to emphasize cr oss-cultural

variation in such institutions, in contrast to the almost

exclusivelyWestern orientation of the other disciplines.




Anthr o pology and the HumanitiesAnthr o pology and the Humanities

The anthr o pological concept of ³culture´ has gained

increasing inf luence in the humanities¶ treatment of human

artif acts.

In turn, cultural studies have br ought a

f uller rec

ogniti

onof

the inf luence such artif acts may exert on human behavior.




Anthr o pology and PsychologyAnthr o pology and Psychology

Anthr o pology has contributed a cr oss-cultural perspective to

concepts develo ped in psychology.

The school of cultural anthr o pology known as culture and

personality has emphasized child rearing practices as the

f undamental means for transmitting culture.




Anthr o pology and HistoryAnthr o pology and History

The convergence between the disciplines of anthr o pology

and history has been marked, particularly during the last

decade.

R ecent treatments

of colo

nial histo

ry have emphasized theimportance of understanding the cultural contexts of

historical records.

K ottak argues for some continued distinction between

histo

ry and anthr o pology,

on the basis

of hist

ory¶s

focus

onthe movement of individuals thr ough r oles, as o pposed to

anthr o pology¶s focus on change in structure or form.

Documents

Chapt001 What is Anthropology