ANTH-101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Linguistic Anthropology, Cultural Relativism, Cultural Anthropology
Document Summary
Anthropology = the study of humans* (all varieties of people, cultures and all time periods) Anthropologists use a holistic approach: the 4 fields of culture, linguistics, biology and archeology. Archaeology: study of past material culture (ex. fossil fuels, artifacts, etc. ) Biological: study of human biology + evolution (study races , biological variation) Linguistic: study of language - broader cultural, historical and biological context (includes ape language studies, unique to humans) Cultural: human diversity (ex. sets of learned behaviours, culture in all forms) Applied anthropology: action anthropology anthro as a social action/critique, includes all 4 fields, applying it to the real world, brings attention to discrimination. Ideas or beliefs that people learn in a society determines their behaviours. Argues against reductionism* / determinism (to a single point culture, ex. How does it improve our understanding of cultural practices? (ex. genital cutting, rituals) Rights of passages: legal age, graduating, birthday, license, etc.
