Short Answers Flashcards
Identify and briefly define two sub-disciplines of anthropology.
Two sub-disciplines would be archeological anthropology and biological anthropology. Archeological anthropology is the study of past humansand cultures through material remains. It involves the excavation, analysis and interpretation of artifacts, soils, and cultural processes. Biological anthropology is the study of evaluations of human species. It is a scientific discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, their related non-human primates and their extinct hominin ancestors.
Identify and briefly define two branches of socio-cultural anthropology.
Two branches would be legal anthropology and medical anthropology. Legal anthropology involves the area of law and society. It inquires into the text of enforceable norms, social, political, economic, and intellectual, it also asks questions about power. Medical anthropology draws upon socio, cultural, biological, and linguistic anthropology to better understand those factors which influence health and well being, the experience and distribution of illness, the prevention and treatment of sickness, healing processes, etc.
Identify and briefly explain two challenges in doing fieldwork.
Fieldwork isn’t as easy as it sounds. Things like language barrier and cultural relativism can be very challenging. Not being able to communicate cannot give you much information. Another challenge that an anthropologist can face while conducting fieldwork is not being able to conform to cultural relativism by removing their experiences and biases. It is tough to keep those things aside that you were exposed to/grew in front of.
Identify and briefly explain two steps in the fieldwork process.
Having a research question and getting the permissions and funding that are needed from the government is the first step to fieldwork. Next step would be making room for yourself in the lives/society of the people being studied. It is not easy us to welcome a stranger in our lives. This can be achieved by participating in their daily rituals and practices
Provide two examples of jobs that an applied anthropologist might hold and briefly explain how these demonstrate ‘applied anthropology’.
An applied anthropologist might be involved in making ethnographies for companies like Netflix, Skype, VISA, and Google by bringing their unique perspective to bear on the problem and questions that they address. Anthropology, like any discipline, deals with problems and questions, which what any career or profession does. In management, people might address the problem of structure and logistics among staff. In the public sector, like the government, people address problems in designing
What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative research?
Quantitative research are research methods that involve the generation of statistical data, which include Surveys and censuses. Qualitative research are research methods that aim to explore, rather than measure, various phenomena, which include the forms of observation such as interviews, focus groups, and direct participant observation.
What do naming practices in different societies reveal about their views of self?
Naming practices in societies reveals how people perceive themselves as and their relations to others and their culture. The name an individual is given demonstrates the important aspects of themselves, defined by their culture. Some people are named after an event their culture may consider important, or after someone in the family. Some cultures follow a cultural tradition established by their ancestors where every first born male of the family gets the name of their fathers passed down, and they take pride in that. Whereas, the western society is completely the opposite; North Americans include personal and last names, as well as business titles. Having “our” own name is very important to us in the West.
What is the difference between an emic and etic perspective?
Emic perspective traditionally refers to an “insider’s perspective”. The goal of most fieldwork is to employ cultural relativism to understand an issue or perspective from the point of view of one’s informants. Etic perspective refers to the analysis of an aspect of culture using comparative categories, explanations, and interpretation from the perspective of an outside observer
Identify and briefly explain two key features of Benedict Anderson’s definition of the nation.
The nation is an ‘imagined political community’; it is imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign (Benedict Anderson, “Imagined Communities”), therefore the community is imagined by us, we have to create it and work goes into creating a nation state.
Identify one category of ‘others’ in national identity narratives and briefly explain why they are important to these narratives.
The other may be constructed out of arbitrary criteria, including physical characteristics, religion, or language. Immigration is a way in which others are produced and are often constructed in terms of racial/ethnic identities. Race and ethnicity are important features in national identity narratives of who belongs and who doesn’t
◦ The tax put on Chinese immigrants during the construction of railways
◦ In WWII, Japanese were treated than Germans in Canada, Japanese were sent to labour camps while Germans were not punished because they are Europeans and therefor treated better
What is the difference between a commodity and a gift?
A commodity is defined as ‘a raw material or primary agricultural product that can be bought and sold, such as copper or coffee’, while a gift is defined as ‘a thing given willingly to someone without payment; a present’. Commodities are impersonal, alienable items that are devoid of moral and social considerations or obligations. On the other hand, gifts are presented in a way that exhibits one’s personal feelings towards another, and therefore, is meaningful.
Provide 2 examples of how North Americans transform commodities into gifts.
- Cards - Writing a personal message to another person
2. Giving gifts that are associated with an individual’s interests, thus making it more intimate
Identify and briefly explain two key features or characteristics of rituals.
A ritual is a dramatic rendering or social portrayal of meaning shared by a speci±c body of people in a way that makes them seem correct and proper. One key feature of ritual is that it contains a performance, presentation or dramatization aspect. Another feature of ritual is that it is communal, designed to unite a group that share the same worldview, and strengthen their belief. For example, in contemporary magic, where rituals focus on visualization and meditation, groups collectively focus on a single image/desire (i.e. curing someone) and are often overtaken with “mystical experiences” such as experiencing physical sensations or a sense of overwhelming connectedness and love that make them believe in magic even more. These experiences are in reality a result of the collective participation in the ritual itself, and not a confirmation of their particular worldview.
Identify and briefly explain two key symbolic actions of Rastafarianism.
- Marijuana: The Weed of Wisdom
Ganja is considered the “wisdom weed” by Rastafarians, as its use helps one to gain wisdom. Rastafarians use it as a part of a religious rite and as a means of getting closer to their inner spiritual self, Jah (God) and Creation. It was alleged that it was found growing on the grave of King Solomon and citing biblical passages, such as Psalms 104:14, to attest to its sacramental properties: “He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man, that he may bring forth food out of the earth.” True Rastafarians do not smoke cigarettes as it is seen as un-natural and dangerous to one’s health. Marijuana is not the only plant or herb used by Rastafarians. They use a wide variety of herbs, plants for medicinal and dietary purposes, however, ganja is the most popular. - “Ital” Diet and Dreadlocks
A set of dietary and hygienic laws were formulated to accompany the religion’s doctrine. They urged their flocks to shun the ingestion of alcohol, tobacco, all meat (especially pork), as well as shellfish, scaleless fish, snails, predatory and scavenger species of marine life, and many common seasonings like salt. In short, anything that was not “ital,” a Rasta term meaning pure, natural or clean, was forbidden. They also outlawed was the combing or cutting of hair, citing the holy directive in Leviticus 21:5: “They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.” Their nappy tresses were allowed to mat and twine themselves into ropy dreadlocks, so called to mock non-believers’ aversion to their appearance. (The noun “dread” has also since evolved into a word of praise.)
Is Wovoka and the Ghost Dance an example of a revitalization movement? Why or why not?
Yes because during a solar eclipse, Wovoka, a shaman of the Northern Paiute tribe, had a vision where he claimed that God had appeared to him in the guise of a Native American and had revealed to him a bountiful land of love and peace, Wovoka founded a spiritual movement called the Ghost Dance. He prophesied the reuniting of the remaining Indian tribes of the West and Southwest and the banishment of all evil from the world. By the end of the nineteenth century, due to a series of forced removals and brutal massacres at the hands of white settlers and the US Army, the native population of North America had dwindled to a mere fraction of what it had once been. Because forced assimilation had nearly destroyed Native American culture, some tribal leaders attempted to reassert their sovereignty and invent new spiritual traditions. The most significant of these was the Ghost Dance, pioneered by Wovoka, a shaman of the Northern Paiute tribe. The massacre at Wounded Knee, during which soldiers of the US Army 7th Cavalry Regiment indiscriminately slaughtered hundreds of Sioux men, women, and children, marked the definitive end of Indian resistance to the encroachments of white settlers.
