Anthropology: The study of humanity.
Chapter 1
Anthropology: The study of humanity.
4 Types of Anthropology
Biological Anthropology: study of humans as biological organisms, including evolution.
Archaeology: The study of past human cultures through their material remains.
Linguistic Anthropology: the study of human communication.
Cultural Anthropology: the study of living people and their cultures.
Holism: the perspective in anthropology that cultures are complex systems that cannot be fully understood without paying attention to their different components, including economics, social organization, and ideology.
Cultural Relativism: The perspective that each culture must be understood in terms of the values and ideas of that culture and should not be judged by the standards of another.
Characteristics of Culture
Culture is not the same as nature: Different cultural contexts shape maters such as labeling and negative stereotypes and access to care and support. For example, certain aspects of biology affect people’s behavior and lifestyles such as being HIV positive, but it is impossible to predict how a person who is HIV-positive will fare in Culture A vs Culture B. ( Eating, Drinking, Sleeping, Eliminating are all different in different cultures.
Culture is based on symbols. A symbol is an object, word, or action with a culturally defined meaning that stands for something else.
Culture is Learned.
Cultures are integrated.
Cultures interact and change.
Globalization: The process of intense global interconnectedness and movement of goods, information, and people, is a major force of change.
Race: a classification of people into groups on the basis of supposedly homogeneous and largely superficial biological traits such as skin color or hair characteristics.
Ethnicity: A shared sense of identity among a group based on a heritage, language, or culture.
Ethnocentrism: judging others by the standard of one’s own culture rather than by the standards of that
Anthropology: The study of humanity.
4 Types of Anthropology
Biological Anthropology: study of humans as biological organisms, including evolution.
Archaeology: The study of past human cultures through their material remains.
Linguistic Anthropology: the study of human communication.
Cultural Anthropology: the study of living people and their cultures.
Holism: the perspective in anthropology that cultures are complex systems that cannot be fully understood without paying attention to their different components, including economics, social organization, and ideology.
Cultural Relativism: The perspective that each culture must be understood in terms of the values and ideas of that culture and should not be judged by the standards of another.
Characteristics of Culture
Culture is not the same as nature: Different cultural contexts shape maters such as labeling and negative stereotypes and access to care and support. For example, certain aspects of biology affect people’s behavior and lifestyles such as being HIV positive, but it is impossible to predict how a person who is HIV-positive will fare in Culture A vs Culture B. ( Eating, Drinking, Sleeping, Eliminating are all different in different cultures.
Culture is based on symbols. A symbol is an object, word, or action with a culturally defined meaning that stands for something else.
Culture is Learned.
Cultures are integrated.
Cultures interact and change.
Globalization: The process of intense global interconnectedness and movement of goods, information, and people, is a major force of change.
Race: a classification of people into groups on the basis of supposedly homogeneous and largely superficial biological traits such as skin color or hair characteristics.
Ethnicity: A shared sense of identity among a group based on a heritage, language, or culture.
Ethnocentrism: judging others by the standard of one’s own culture rather than by the standards of that