Essentials of Cultural Anthropology, Sixth Edition

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Essentials of Cultural Anthropology, Sixth Edition

• Garrick Bailey
• James Peoples

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Chapter 1

• The Study Of Humanity

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Chapter Outline

• Subfields of Anthropology
• Cultural Anthropology Today
• Understanding Human Cultures Anthropological
  Approaches
• The Value of Anthropology

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Subfields of Anthropology

• Archaeology
• Biological (Physical) Anthropology
• Cultural Anthropology
• Anthropological Linguistics
• Applied Anthropology

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Archeology

• Investigating the human past by excavating and
  analyzing material remains.
• Prehistoric archaeology investigates cultures
  that lived before the development of writing.
• Historic archaeology investigates written
  accounts along with historic sites.

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Biological Anthropology

• Investigates
• Anatomy and behavior of monkeys and apes.
• Physical variations between different human
  populations.
• Biological evolution of the human species.
• Primatology is the study of evolution, anatomy,
  social behavior and adaptation of primates.

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Biological Anthropology

• Human VariationHow and why populations vary
  physically.
• PaleoanthropologyHow and why humans species
  evolved.
• Forensic AnthropologyAnalyze and identify human
  remains.

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Cultural Anthropology

• The study of contemporary and historically recent
  human societies and cultures.
• Focus on the customs and beliefs of a human
  group.

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Cultural Anthropology Objectives

• Study how groups of humans lived.
• Compare cultures to determine universal
  principles.
• Understand how dimensions of human life relate
  (religion, art, communication, family).
• Understand cultural change.
• Make the public aware of cultural differences.

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Fieldwork

• Moving into the community under study,
  communicating in the local language and living in
  close contact with the people.

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Ethnography

• A written account of how a single human
  population lives.

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Anthropological Linguistics

• How is language used in social contexts?
• What styles of speech do people use?
• What do the labels people attach to the
  environment tell us about the the way they
  perceive the environment?

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Anthropological Linguistics

• Concerned with the complex relations between
  language and other aspects of human behavior and
  thought.

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Applied Anthropology

• Applies research skills to human problems.
• Medical anthropology - health, nutrition, social
  environment and cultural beliefs.
• Development anthropology - helps agencies adapt
  projects to community needs.

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Applied Anthropology

• Applies research skills to human problems.
• Educational anthropology - deals with issues of
  learning and teaching.
• Corporate anthropology - trains employees within
  a company what to expect and how to speak and act
  when they conduct business in other countries.

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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.).

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Globalization

• The effect on cultures of
• intermixing and migrations of peoples with
  diverse homelands
• multinational reach of communications media
• movement of production and services to overseas
  locales
• increase in international travel and tourism.

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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.

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Cultural Relativism

• No culture is inherently superior or inferior to
  any other culture.

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Ethnocentrism

• The belief that moral standards, manners and
  attitudes of one's own culture are superior to
  those of other cultures.

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Value of Anthropology

• Allows us to see the development of human biology
  and culture over time.
• Provides knowledge about human evolution,
  prehistoric populations, and tribal societies.

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Value of Anthropology

• 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.

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Quick Quiz
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1. Anthropology has how many subfields?

1. just one
2. three
3. five
4. six

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Answer c

• Anthropology has five subfields archeology,
  biological or physical anthropology, cultural
  anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and
  applied anthropology.

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2. Paleoanthropologists study

1. our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees
2. people such as the Asmat from New Guinea
3. the aged
4. our fossil ancestor

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Answer d

• Paleoanthropologists study fossils to determine
  how our species evolved.

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3. Primatologists study

1. plant pollen
2. monkeys and apes
3. prehistoric people and their sites
4. the social context of language

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Answer b

• Primatologists study monkeys and apes.