"What is Anthropology" Flashcards
define anthropology
the study of human nature, human society, and the human past
define holism
a characteristic of the anthropological perspective that describes, at the highest and most inclusive level, how anthropology tries to integrate all that is known about human beings and thier activities
what is comparison
a characteristic of the anthropoligcal perspective that requires anthropologists to consider similarities and differences in as wide a range of human societies as possible before generalizing about human nature, human society, or the human past
define evolution
requires anthropologists to place their observations about human nature, human society, or the human past in a temporal framework that takes into consideration change over time
define culture
sets of learned behavior and ideas that human beings acquire as members of society together with the material artifacts and structures that human beings create and use. human beings use culture to adapt to and transform the world in which they live
define biocultural organisms
organisms (in this case, human beings) whose definging features are codetermined by biological and cultural factors
define material culture
objects created or shaped by human beings and given meaning by cultural practices
define races
social groupings that allegedly reflect biological differences
define racism
the systematic oppression of one or more socially defined “races” by another socially defined “race” that is justified in terms of the supposed inherent biological superiority of the rulers and the supposed inherent biological inferiority of those they rule
define biological anthropology (or physical anthropology)
the speciality of anthropology that looks at human beings as biological organisms and tries to discover what characteristics make them different from other organisms and what characteristics they share
define primatology
the study of nonhuman primates, the closest living relatives of human beings
define paleoanthropology
the search of fossilized remains of humanity’s earliest ancestors
define cultural anthropology
the speciality of anthropology that shows how variation in the beliefs and behaviors of members of different human groups is shaped by sets of learned behaviors and ideas that human beings acquire as members of society- that is, by culture
define sex
observable physical characteristics that distinguish two kinds of humans, female and males, needed for biological reproduction
define gender
the cultural construction of beliefs and behaviors considered appropriate for each sex
define globalization
the reshaping of local conditions by powerful global forces on an ever-intensifying scale
define cyborg anthropology
a form of anthropological analysis based on the notion of animal- machine hybrids, or cyborgs, that offers a new model for challenging rigid social, political, or economic boundaries that have been used to seperate people by gender, sexuality, class, and race, boundaries proclaimed by thier defenders as “natural”
define fieldwork
an extended period of close involvement with the people in whose language or way of life anthropologists are interested, during which anthropologists ordinarily collect most of thier data
define informants
people in a particular culture who work with anthropologists and provide them with insights about thier way of life, also called respondents
define ethnography
an anthropologist’s written or filmed description of a particular culture
define ethnology
the comparative study of two or more cultures
define language
the system of arbitrary symbols used to enocde one’s experience of the world and of others
define linguistic anthropology
the specialty of anthropology cincerned with the study of human languages
define archaeology
a cultural anthropology of the human past involving the analysis of material remains left behind by earlier societies
define applied anthropology
subfield of anthropology in which anthropologists use information gathered from the other anthropological specialties to solve practical cross-cultural problems
define medical anthropology
the specialty of anthropology that concerns itself with human health- the factors that contribute to diseasae or illness and the ways that human populations deal with disease or illness
define science studies
research that explores the interconnections among sociocultural, political, economic, and historic conditions that make scientific research both possible nad successful
