Important Concepts from Unit 1 Notes

Question 1

simply put, what is anthropology?

Answer 1

the study of people!

Question 2

Anthropology adopts a ______ perspective, approaches questions through a _____ lens, and has been historically oriented towards the study of _______

Answer 2

1. holistic
2. comparative
3. culture

Question 3

Western philosophy and thought has ling taken a _____ approach to question of what humans are

Answer 3

dualistic

Question 4

______ holds the reverse from idealism

Answer 4

materialism

Question 5

those who adopt a materialistic perspective emphasize the role played by our physical bodies in the material world in shaping what it means to be human, what factors might they emphasize?

Answer 5

environmental conditions, and relations involved in labour and production

Question 6

____ can be understood as a commitment to contextualization, and can study a range of influences on humans and why we must take everything into account

Answer 6

holism

Question 7

what are the four fields of anthropology?

Answer 7

biological/physical, archaeology, linguistic, cultural

Question 8

______ looks at humans and the human condition from the perspective of biology

Answer 8

biological/physical anthropology

Question 9

______ has a main focus on human history

Answer 9

archaeology

Question 10

which two subfields of anthropology frequently overlap?

Answer 10

cultural and linguistic

Question 11

_____ is the comparative study of how language both reflects and influences social life

Answer 11

linguistic anthropology

Question 12

When did cultural anthropology develop?

Answer 12

the end of the 19th century

Question 13

why did Micheal Cepek describe the global activist movement of the Cofan nation in the Amazon?

Answer 13

to attempt to stop the destruction of their home territories by oil development, road building, and waves of colonization

Question 14

with very few exceptions, early cultural anthropologists were ____ from _____ who worked with _____

Answer 14

White men
Europe/North America
colonized social groups

Question 15

when did fieldwork become the hallmark for cultural anthropological research?

Answer 15

the early twentieth century

Question 16

who are informants?

Answer 16

individuals who help anthropologists gather the information they need, usually referred to as friends, teachers, or respondents instead

Question 17

_____ are NOT homogenous, self-contained, timeless wholes

Answer 17

cultures

Question 18

_______ made one of the foundational definitions of culture: “the complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired… as a member of society”

Answer 18

Edward B. Taylor

Question 19

In the early twentieth century, _____ introduced the concept of culture to describe differences between human groups, arguing that human behaviour was largely taught through social learning (cultural behaviour)

Answer 19

Franz Boas

Question 20

In the ______, some anthropologists argued that the concept of culture led to a reduced scope of social life/beliefs of different social groups

Answer 20

1980’s

Question 21

what are the two most important characteristics of culture?

Answer 21

culture is learned, culture is expressed through both symbols and material practices

Question 22

1. Cultures or social groups are internally diverse
2. Culture both influences and is shaped by global flows
3. Culture involves both tradition and the potential for change
4. Culture both limits and allows for individual and group agency

are all variants of what concepts? (two points?)

Answer 22

culture is learned and expressed through both symbols and material practices

the characteristics of culture!

Question 23

in ____ anthropologist Melville Herskovitz argued that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was being drafted largely from Westerners and didn’t account for cultural differences

Answer 23

1947

Question 24

Renato Rosaldo spent time with the IIongot tribe in the Phillipines from 1967-70, there he observed the tradition of _____

Answer 24

headhunting

Question 25

Lila Abu-Lughod writes an article about the perception of Muslim women from Westerners and the Western media, what argument does she make around the idea of cultural relativism?

Answer 25

she makes the point that the world is divided into spheres when talking about the Middle East (like we’re all completely separated) rather than examining the interconnectedness of N.A and the Middle East… media continues to reinforce stereotypes… we must respect difference (people choose to lead different lives, and don’t need “saving”!)