1. What is Anthropology? emphasis on Cultural anthropology
Cultural Anthropology, Lecture 1
Dr. Martin

2. Learning Objectives
1. Develop an understanding of anthropology and how the subfields of anthropology interrelate
2. Distinguish between cultural anthropology and the other subfields of anthropology
3. Develop an understanding for the importance of anthropology, particularly cultural anthropology, in today’s world
4. Practice thinking like an anthropologist.

3. Anthropology Anthro= human Ology= the study of…
The study of the past and present biological and cultural variation within the human species

4. Anthropology What Does It Mean To Be Human?
Major question addressed within anthropology:
What Does It Mean To Be Human?

5. Distinctive Way of Studying Humans
1. Holistic
Emphasizes the functional relation between parts and the whole
No single aspect of culture can be understood alone
Integration of all that is known about humans and their activities
Past
Present
Language
Holism=
Integration
Culture
Genetics
Anatomy

6. Distinctive Way of Studying Humans
2. Comparative
Compare patterns of variation
Consideration of similarities & differences
Draw comparison
Anthropology also includes the cross-cultural & relativistic perspective to comparison
What does these perspective mean for anthropological studies?
Compare objectively without making value judgments
Look at culture in its own context

7. Distinctive Way of Studying Humans
2. Comparative & Cross-Cultural Perspective
Skeletal Features Left: Chimpanzee;
Right: Modern Human
Coming of Age Ceremonies
Left: Korean; Right: Maasi (Kenya)

8. Distinctive Way of Studying Humans
3. Field-based
Data collection; direct contact
Education and Identity in Rural France: The Politics of Schooling
The Cultural Implications of International Migration in the Light of Fieldwork Evidence

9. Distinctive Way of Studying Humans
4. Evolutionary
Observations placed in temporal
framework
Consider change over time
How does this perspective apply to cultural anthropology?
Cultural evolution – 19th century, considered an outgrowth of Darwinian evolution
Over time, cultural change occurs as a result of humans adapting to some non-cultural stimulus
Cultural evolution as a theory in anthropology was developed in the 19th century, and it was an outgrowth of Darwinian evolution. Cultural evolution presumes that over time, cultural change such as the rise of social inequalities or emergence of agriculture occurs as a result of humans adapting to some noncultural stimulus, such as climate change or population growth. However, unlike Darwinian evolution, cultural evolution was considered directional, that is, as human populations transform themselves, their culture becomes progressively complex.

10. Cultural and humans What is culture? Humans are biocultural organisms
Set of learned behavior and ideas that humans beings acquire as members of a society
Humans are biocultural organisms
What does this mean?
Triangle of Adaptation
Biological and cultural factors
influence the world around us
Environment
Biology
Culture

11. Anthropology: Cross-Disciplinary
Spans the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities
Diversity with the discipline : 4 subfields
Biological (Physical) Anthropology
Cultural Anthropology
Linguistic Anthropology
Archaeology
Holistic
Applied
Anthropology

12. FIGURE 1.1 The subfields of anthropology
Copyright © 2008 by Robert H. Lavenda and Emily A. Schultz.

13. Purpose:
Describe, analyze, interpret, and explain social and cultural similarities and differences of living human cultures in all parts of the world

14. Cultural Anthropology
Objectives of Cultural Anthropology
What are the behavioral characteristics of the human species?
Understand how all aspects of culture function as a whole.
Study how cultures change over time

15. Cultural Anthropology
Traditionally, non- western cultures.
Today, a wider focus including segments of Western Society

16. Cultural Anthropology
Variation in beliefs and behaviors of members of different human groups
Shaped by sets of learned behaviors and ideas that human beings acquire as members of society
Study all human societies
Urban & Rural, Developed & Developing,
Western & Non-Western
Conduct fieldwork
Participant observation
Ethnography
Samburu pastoralists in northern Kenya on issues relating to gender, sexuality, inter-ethnic violence, religion, and material culture
Ethnography provides an account of a ‘particular’ community, society, or culture (based on fieldwork). During ethnographic
fieldwork, the ethnographer gathers data that he/she organizes, describes, analyses, and interprets to build and present that account, which may be in the form of a book, article, or film.
PO: which means that we take part in community life as we study it. Anthropologists have learned that the best way to really get to know another society and its culture is to live in it as an active participant rather than simply an observer.
My first research project was located in Ghana, West Africa and focused on the social and economic organization of a market place system that connected a large commercial town to a rural hinterland. The main economic base of the locality was cocoa production for export, which was organized through a government marketing board and not the normal marketing system I was investigating. However, I was interested in all sorts of other activities in order to achieve a wide perspective on the local economy and culture. My fellow harvesters were all members of a reciprocal work party, who help on each others farms in turn during periods of peak labour demand. Although no payments are exchanged, everyone gets a reward of food and drink from the host farmer at the end of the day, and a party atmosphere dominates the day's events.

17. Cultural Anthropology
Samburu pastoralists in northern Kenya on issues relating to gender, sexuality, inter-ethnic violence, religion, and material culture
Ethnography provides an account of a ‘particular’ community, society, or culture (based on fieldwork). During ethnographic
fieldwork, the ethnographer gathers data that he/she organizes, describes, analyses, and interprets to build and present that account, which may be in the form of a book, article, or film.
PO: which means that we take part in community life as we study it. Anthropologists have learned that the best way to really get to know another society and its culture is to live in it as an active participant rather than simply an observer.
My first research project was located in Ghana, West Africa and focused on the social and economic organization of a market place system that connected a large commercial town to a rural hinterland. The main economic base of the locality was cocoa production for export, which was organized through a government marketing board and not the normal marketing system I was investigating. However, I was interested in all sorts of other activities in order to achieve a wide perspective on the local economy and culture. My fellow harvesters were all members of a reciprocal work party, who help on each others farms in turn during periods of peak labour demand. Although no payments are exchanged, everyone gets a reward of food and drink from the host farmer at the end of the day, and a party atmosphere dominates the day's events.

18. Cultural Anthropology Research
What Can It Tell Us?
Social organization – comparison of different forms of human social life, kinship patterns, social groupings
Cultural conflict – war, ethnicity, politics, aftermath of conflict
Subsistence patterns – strategies, land ownership, environment

19. Cultural Anthropology Research
What Can It Tell Us?

20. Summary - Anthropology
Integrated, scientific, and holistic study of human cultural and biological variation
Humans are biocultural organisms
Biology and culture are interdependent
Human biology makes culture possible- human culture makes human biological survival possible

21. Summary – Cultural Anthropology
Sub-discipline of anthropology
Studies all human societies
Examines a wide-range of topics including but not limited to:
Economics & Exchange
Religion & Worldview
Globalization
Migration
Subsistence Patterns
Marriage & Family
Politics & Government

22. Free-Write Jan 8, 2014
United Nations established Millennium Development Goals focusing on a wide range of topics including
Food security & sustainable food future
Halting the spread of infectious diseases
Universal primary education
Preventing under-five mortality
Water sanitation and access to water
Based off of what we learned today, briefly discuss how cultural anthropology research may help the United Nations and their partners achieve one of these goals.

23. In-Class Activity Research in Cultural Anthropology Worksheet
In this activity, students will:
Using areas of research interest, identify possible research questions / themes
We will do one example as a class
The other three examples will be worked on in small-groups. Be prepared to share your responses with the class.

24. Cultural Anthropology
Worldview
One’s placement in world
Cultural group’s placement in world
Interaction with environment
Family
Cultural definition
of family
Marriage patterns
Individual & group roles
Subsistence Patterns
Usage of environment
Animals or plants not consumed
Parts of animal
consumed
Cultural
Anthropology
Health & Culture
Sex differences
Perception of health
Geographical access to health