Chapter 14 Flashcards
What makes anthropology important and relevant today?
What makes anthropology important and relevant today is the anthropological perspective grounded in holistic, comparative, evolutionary, and ethnographic methods.
What does anthropology push us to do?
Pushes us to be reflexive about our assumptions regarding human behaviour and human experience
What does research reveal?
Research reveals different paths for cross-cultural understanding and equitable social change
How can students of anthropology incorporate what they learn?
All students of anthropology can incorporate the core principles of the anthropological perspective into how they engage with the world around them
What are some examples of how students of anthropology incoporate what they learn?
- As citizens and for employment
- Appreciating how and why certain linguistic forms are taught in schools
- Studying gender dynamics in sports’ politics of immigration, welfare, and adoption
- Identifying structural inequalities
What is the anthropological perspective?
Anthropology provides a perspective on the world that is grounded in empathy, humility, and reflexivity. An openness to different ways of thinking; different ways of doing things; and different ways of living on the planet
What is applied anthropology?
the practical use of anthropological research to find solutions to “real-life” problems. Often referred to as the fifth field.
What is an example of applied anthropology?
- Medical anthropology
- Biological anthropology: forensic and criminal investigations
- Archaeologists: preservation of culturally significant sites
- Linguistic anthropologists: Indigenous language revitalization projects
What did Regna Darnell state?
Regna Darnell states that all anthropology is applied, because “How, after all, can we purport to study human life without engaging it?”
What makes anthroplogy important and relevant today?
What makes anthropology important and relevant today is the anthropological perspective grounded in holistic, comparative, evolutionary, and ethnographic methods.
What is practicing anthropology?
Generally a term used for those anthropologists that work outside of academia in the public or private sector
What is practicing anthropology in a private sector?
In private sector anthropologists work as experts in qualitative research, cross-cultural communication, community stakeholder relations, and corporate social responsibility.
What is practicing anthropology in a public sector?
In public sector anthropologists do research and policy development in health, education, immigration and settlement, multiculturalism, homelessness, urban planning, environment, and human rights
What are action anthropologists?
An approach centered on a commitment to social justice and political engagement – particularly in connection to Indigenous rights and sovereignty
What does the term action anthropologist originate with?
The term originates with American anthropologist Sol Tax to differentiate is work with Indigenous people in the United States on sovereignty versus those anthropologist who worked for the government
What does anthropology push us to do?
Pushes us to be reflexive about our assumptions regarding human behaviour and human experience
What is public anthropology?
- A commitment to understand and dismantle social injustice and inequality in and outside of academia.
- Often a focus on public-facing and accessible commentary or research
- Prioritize collaborative and community-engaged research
What is design anthropology?
this field is interdisciplinary and uses anthropological theory and methods, particularly ethnography, to better understand the experience of humans with technology, objects, and systems
What is the key to design anthropology?
Key to design anthropology is to study and improve these interactions, either in the profit or not-for-profit sectors
What is an example of design anthropology?
Example of design anthropology include studying the human use of computer programs, medical equipment, drones, toys, cell phones, clothes, cars, architecture, city planning, and even electoral systems
What is the practical explanations of research - Urban social planning in Canada
Anthropologist Alexander Ervin used his background in collaborative, community-based research to work with the Saskatoon Social Planning Council
- In Canada, social planning councils are involved with a wide range of local policies and issues and carry out policy research
- The goal is to provide data that the human service organizations can use to solve problems identified in the research
How can students of anthropology incorporate what they learn?
All students of anthropology can incorporate the core principles of the anthropological perspective into how they engage with the world around them
What is the practical explanations of research - Doing Business in Japan
- Anthropologist Richard Reeves-Ellington designed and implemented a cross-cultural training program for a North American company doing business in Japan
What were the outcomes of doing business in Japan
- Outcomes:
- Promoted effective working relationships with Japanese executives
- Shortened project times
- Improved financial returns
- The North American company’s employees and their Japanese counterparts felt more comfortable working with each other
How did these case studies reveal the relevance of anthropology?
- The importance of cross-cultural understanding in any context
- How anthropology’s emphasis on participatory research, flexibility, and holism can be used to identify solutions for problems facing specific populations
How does anthropology engage with the public & political spheres
Many anthropology programs in Canada now offer courses or certificates in public or applied anthropology that emphasize learning the skills and knowledge to produce collaborative research with a commitment to contributing to positive social change
How does anthroplogy affect human rights?
- Anthropologists believe in both collective and individual rights
- Examine socioeconomic and political contexts which create abusive traditions, customs, and practices
- Work at the grassroots level with local activists and interpreters to persuade and work through local traditions to empower people to improve human rights
What does research reveal?
Research reveals different paths for cross-cultural understanding and equitable social change
Who do anthropolgists advocate for?
Anthropologists advocate internationally for the rights of Indigenous people, women, 2SLGBTQIA people, racialized minorities, and the poor
What did Penny Van Esterik do?
Penny Van Esterik’s advocacy around infant feeding and how infant formula is marketed and sold to poor mothers
What did Bruce Miller do?
Bruce Miller’s advocacy on recognizing discrimination and structural violence in Canada’s courts and healthcare systems
How did anthropology affect the truth of reconcilliation?
Commitment to shed light on the colonial past of our discipline and working on projects that are meaningful and useful to the communities with whom we collaborate.
How does anthropology affect indigenous governance?
- Bringing attention to the diversity in governance
- Supporting a resurgence in Indigenous governance
- E.g., Incorporation of matai (sacred chiefs) in Samoan national governance structures
What are some examples of how students of anthropology incoporate what they learn?
- As citizens and for employment
- Appreciating how and why certain linguistic forms are taught in schools
- Studying gender dynamics in sports’ politics of immigration, welfare, and adoption
- Identifying structural inequalities
How does anthropology affect climate change?
- Anthropologists have always been interested in the relationship between human communities and their environment
- Today, anthropologists focus on amplifying Indigenous knowledge and experience of the environment, the impact of climate change, and animal-human relations
Who is Karine Gagne?
Karine Gagné examines the relationship of Indigenous Elders in a farming community in Ladakh (northern India) to the surrounding glaciers and how their melting represents an ethical, political, and social crisis
Students of anthropology learn…
- Written and Oral Communication
- Research Methodologies
- Critical Thinking
- Cross-Cultural understanding and Awareness
How does anthropology make us engaged global citizens?
- Bringing us into contact with different ways of life
- Making us aware of how arbitrary our understanding of the world is
- Making us aware of how much our own tradition has contributed to the form of the modern world
- Making us aware of how much our well-being is situated in wealth and resources generated elsewhere
How is anthropology humanistic?
- Relates to our desire to learn about what makes us human and examine human diversity cross-culturally
- Record the endless possibilities of the human condition and changes in lifeways
