Exam Flashcards
What is Anthropology rooted in?
Curiosity. Greek philosophers with curiosity in natural world that led to important discoveries in mathematics, philosophy, and physics.
Who are the Jesuits?
French fur traders’ journals and reports that provide personal insight about Aboriginal Societies. (Remember interest is about profit).
Why did intellectuals become interested in documenting societies?
Societies were being exploited, and dying from European disease, or slaughter. Wanted to understand them before they died out. Also documented to in order to conquer.
What are the five different fields of Anthropology?
- Physical/Biological
- Applied
- Archeology
- Linguistic
- Social/Cultural
What is the Physical/Biological field?
Composed of
Palaeontology: studies human evolution.
Primatology: Humans are primates, closely related to apes.
Medical Anthropology: biological/ cultural/ social. Not to impose Western scientific medicine on local people but combine both systems.
Forensic Anthropology: Physical anthro/ archeology/ crime scene investigation. Identification in human skeletal remains for crime.
What is the Applied field?
Applying anthropological knowledge to understand a situation. Society of Applied Anthropology 1981. (ex. Hedican’s work with whites and First Nations in Lake Nipigon.)
What is the Archeological field?
Understanding adaptive patterns and environmental adjustments of past societies. (in Canada: Aboriginal inhabitants from paleolithic era).
What is the field of Linguistic Anthropology?
Study of human Languages.
Descriptive: How languages are put together in terms of sound units (phonemes) and grammatical structures (syntax).
Historical: Manner in which languages change.
What is the Social/Cultural field of anthropology?
Socioculture anthropology. In Britain is was an offshoot of sociology. This studies the social structures ad organizations. Cultural anthropology in America comes from the museum setting: emphasis on concept of culture and learned behaviour.
What is Ethnographic Fieldwork?
Basic description of a culture through data gathering stage. (Ethnographer may spend a lot of time with a group of people conduction fieldwork.
Who are informants?
People who are studied in field studies. Provide Ethnographic data.
Inductive Method of Inquiry.
Goes from specific theories and details to Generalizations.
What is enculturation?
The passing down of cultural traditions, knowledge and skills from generation to generation.
What us culture?
Culture is a set of learned traditions, beliefs, and values of a particular society.
What is Acculturation?
Contact between different cultures in terms of size, power and influence.
