HUM 102_Day 1_What is Anthropology.pptx

INTRODUCTION TO ANTHROPOLOGY Denis Regnier and Marty Zeve HUM 102 Sept. 2, 2024  OVERVIEW OF LECTURE I. A (Very) Brief History of Anthropology II. Contemporary Anthropology: The Four Field Approach Physical Anthropology; Archaeology; Linguistic Anthropology...

INTRODUCTION TO ANTHROPOLOGY Denis Regnier and Marty Zeve HUM 102 Sept. 2, 2024  OVERVIEW OF LECTURE I. A (Very) Brief History of Anthropology II. Contemporary Anthropology: The Four Field Approach Physical Anthropology; Archaeology; Linguistic Anthropology; Cultural and Social Anthropology III. Cultural and Social Anthropology: Complicating the Culture Concept Culture, reason, and human nature; culture as integral human faculty; beliefs, practices, symbols IV. Perspectives and methods in cultural and social anthropology  KEY WORDS & LEARNING OBJECTIVES Key words and phrases: Human nature, culture, norms, four-field approach, rationality, universal vs particular, symbol, enculturation and socialization, structure, agency, ethnocentrism vs. cultural relativism, holism, comparison, participant-observation Learning objectives: By the end of this lecture, students will be able to: Define the four subfields of anthropology and understand their interrelations Appreciate various definitions of culture and their implications for how we think about human nature as well as differences between human beings Understand the role that normative, collectively shared beliefs, practices, and symbols play in organizing shared human life and shaping the history of humanity  W H AT I S A N T H R O P O L O GY ? (PERSPECTIVES 5) Anthropology (anthropos= human; logy=study of) is, simply put, the study of humankind. Our past & present, our languages and practices, our evolutionary trajectory and physicality What makes us human? Where do we come from? What factors influence the way that we live, think, and behave? Why are there differences in how people look, think and act? How have we changed over time? Ultimately, anthropology is an attempt to offer an accounting of ourselves.  I. A (VERY) BRIEF HISTORY OF ANTHROPOLOGY Pre-anthropology– the long history of curiosity about differences between human groups Zhang Qian, 164-113 BC This curiosity intensified during the Enlightenment period (1685-1815) in Europe, when people began to ask what was universal and essential about human beings. In other words, they sought to understand human nature– what is unique to us as a species. To do so, they needed, to understand the the history of human beings, how they have changed over time, how and why groups of humans differ physically, socially, in the way they think and the way they act. The four-field approach to anthropology emerged out of this tradition.  II. CONTEMPORARY ANTHROPOLOGY: THE FOUR-FIELD APPROACH Contemporary anthropology is organized into four subfields (the ”four- field approach”), each of which has unique approaches to studying human nature, as well as differences and similarities between humans. 1. Biological anthropology: “Study of human origins, evolution, and variation” (Perspectives10) How did human beings emerge as a unique species? What differentiates us from other primates? How have environmental pressures and exposures across time shaped our biological and innate faculties? Study fossil records, historical artefacts, contemporary primates Use the tools of life science (biology, chemistry, zoology) to do so.  “DINKINESH” (ALT. ”LUCY”) E ARLY B I P E DA L H O M I N I N DI S C OV E R E D I N 3.2 M IL L I ON YE AR OL D S E D I M E N T S I N H A DA R , E T H OP IA (1 974 )  II. CONTEMPORARY ANTHROPOLOGY: THE FOUR-FIELD APPROACH II. Archaeology: Study of the material past to understand the lifeways of ancient peoples (Perspectives12) Objects of study include tools and technologies, pottery, art, shelter, dietary remnants, and, for more recent societies, the written record. They seek to answer questions such as “How did past societies organize their social lives? What practices did the use to meet their basic needs and to reproduce their societies? How did they and their societies change over time?” Use methods from chemistry (ex. carbon dating) and biology (ex. population genetics) as well as excavation and interpretation (ex. written records, art, pottery, technologies) TERRACOTT A WARRIORS BURIAL COMPLEX OF QIN SHI HUANG (259 T O 2 1 0 BC ) , FOUNDER OF QIN DY N A S T Y A N D F I R S T EMPEROR OF CHINA  II. CONTEMPORARY ANTHROPOLOGY: THE FOUR-FIELD APPROACH Linguistic anthropology: Study of languages both as formal systems of meaning and also a defining social practice of humans (Perspectives 13) Language ”.. makes it possible to teach and learn, to plan and think abstractly, to organize, impose and convey meanings about collective life, and to coordinate our efforts..” How did language emerge, evolve, and diversify? How has it evolved and diversified over time? What role has it played on our evolution as humans? What role does it play in shaping and allowing us to represent our identity? What is the relationship between language, thought, and practice? Linguistic anthropologists use interpretive methods such as participant-observation and discourse and textual analysis; some linguistic anthropologists also use computational analysis to help uncover systematic patterns and relations within linguistic systems.  LANGUAGE, CLASSIFICATION, AND LIFEWAYS  II. CONTEMPORARY ANTHROPOLOGY: THE FOUR-FIELD APPROACH Cultural and social anthropology: Study of the similarities and differences in shared beliefs, practices, and symbols within and between living societies and human groups. Together, a group’s shared beliefs, practices, and symbols are referred to by anthropologists as their culture (Perspectives 5) They ask questions about the meanings, organization, and reproduction/ evolution of many domains of collective life, including forms of economic exchange; political ideologies and practices; health, illness, kinship and relatedness; folklore and myths; science and technology; identity and social roles, and more. Use interpretive, “experience-near,” longitudinal methods such as ethnographic fieldwork, participant-observation, and deep interviewing. Core of their methodology is long-term immersion in the lives of groups they study. CAN YOU THINK OF OTHER EXAMPLES OF BELIEFS, PRACTICES, AND SYMBOLS?  A NOTE ON APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY All four fields of anthropology have some practitioners who draw on anthropological theories, methods, and findings to solve practical problems (Perspectives 13). They move beyond universities to found or partner with NGOs; medical providers; the private sector; governments and militaries; multilateral organizations like the UN, and more.  II I. CU LTU RAL AND SOCI AL ANTHROPO LOGY: C OMPLI CATI NG THE CULT URE CO NCEPT (GEERT Z 1 973) Culture is a tricky concept. Even anthropologists disagree on how to define it. Early definitions from Enlightenment-era European thinkers were motivated by attempts to understand human nature, or what is unique about and essential to humans. Enlightenment thinkers believed that the capacity to reason set humans apart from other animals and was unique and essential to them. They saw culture as the product of human intellect and reason. Yet, they interpreted cultural differences as posing a challenge to this definition Some sought to resolve this challenge by proposing a hierarchy of cultural development This is an early example of ethnocentrism, or the notion that one’s own culture is more rational and superior to those  II I. CU LTU RAL AND SOCI AL ANTHROPO LOGY: C OMPLI CATI NG THE CULT URE CO NCEPT (GEERT Z 1 973) As the formal discipline of anthropology emerged and evolved over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, anthropologists began to refine and contest the Eurocentric notion of culture. These thinkers embraced cultural relativism, or the idea that one should not judge another person’s culture as inferior just because it is different from one’s own. Ex: Franz Boas (1858-1942): Pushed back against European ethnocentrism using evidence from physical and social and cultural anthropology  II I. CU LTU RAL AND SOCI AL ANTHROPO LOGY: C OMPLI CATI NG THE CULT URE CO NCEPT (GEERT Z 1 973) Others sought underlying similarities across cultural beliefs, practices, and symbols. To do so, many argued that culture is function of more fundamental aspects of humans: Biology; psychology; our social relations, which help us meet basic needs for living Ex. Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942): Cultural beliefs, practices, and symbols are designed to meet the psychological and biological needs of individuals (functionalist explanation).  II I. CU LTU RAL AND SOCI AL ANTHROPO LOGY: C OMPLI CATI NG THE CULT URE CO NCEPT (GEERT Z 1 973) Out of these debates over the meaning of culture, and what it tells us about human nature, Clifford Geertz offered a different explanation: Cultures– shared beliefs, practices, and symbols that vary among human groups-- are the product of inherent cultural faculties that allows us to have flexibility in how we think and behave. How does this differ from instinct? Cultural faculties and cultures are not programs or rules, but norms. They tell us how we ought to think or behave, but they don’t force us to behave or think in certain way. Culture provides structure, but also leaves room for agency. Because culture is normative, we can change it. They don’t emerge from individual reason but from being a member of a particular society. We are enculturated or socialized into shared beliefs, practices, and symbols that allow us to plan, collaborate, and adapt to environmental and historical contexts in ways that benefit us. Because culture is normative, not rule bound, anthropological knowledge is not prescriptive. Rather, it is interpretive. It can describe a collective shared body of knowledge, practice, and symbols, and give you insight into how people organize and find meaning in their lives in relation to the contexts in which they live, but it can’t predict how people will think or behave.  II I. CU LTU RAL AND SOCI AL ANTHROPO LOGY: C OMPLI CATI NG THE CULT URE CO NCEPT (GEERT Z 1 973) Often, because we are socialized or enculturated into collective beliefs, practices, and symbols from such an early age, it can be hard to question them. A joke: “One morning two young fish are swimming along when another fish passes them from the other direction. As he swims by, he says ‘how’s the water boys?’ Puzzled, one young fish turns to the other and says, ‘what’s water?’” An important function of cultural and social anthropology is to “critique common sense,” or question things that seem right or obvious because we have been enculturated/ socialized into believing so. As physicians-in-training, you will be socialized/ enculturated into medicine and there will be moments when you need to stop and ask, “Wait, what’s this water I’m swimming in?”  IV. P E R S P E CT IV E S A N D M E T H O D S I N C U LT U RA L A N D S O CI A L A N TH R O P O LO GY How do anthropologists study culture? Holism: How do different aspects of culture work together? How and to what extent are they interrelated? The flag is a symbol; it stands for or represents something else, ex. a nation. But is also associated with a set of beliefs, ex. national identity and customs, ex. you must fold a flag a certain way, store it a certain way, not let it touch the ground. Cultural relativism: Evaluate a culture from within, don’t judge it against your own as a standard or interpretive tool. Comparison: Compare cultural phenomena within or between societies to better understand how people and societies change, their similarities and differences, and the range of possible responses to common needs and experiences. Ethnographic fieldwork and participant-observation: Methodology that involves immersing ourselves in the societies we study for long periods of time, living alongside (accompanying) people, interviewing them many times, and ultimately building toward an understanding rather than testing a specific hypothesis. Like culture, fieldwork is flexible and open-ended