1.

3 kinds of adaptation
a. Genetic- Genetic adaptations are those that take place through evolution. This means that a person does
not adapt genetically during his or her life. Rather, they hereditarily inherit any adaptations to the world.
Thus, genetic adaptations tend to occur in the future generations of a person. Example- adaptation to UV
light
b. Physiological changes in the body of an individual that result from changes to the environment. These
changes are not genetic, meaning they are not passed to future generations
i. Developmental (permanent and fixed) the permanent changes that take place during an individuals
life cycle. These permanent changes are impacted by nutrition, disease, and other factors of the
environment. For example, those who are born in high altitudes tend to have larger lung capacities than
those who dont. ex. Born in Denver (higher lung capacity)
ii. Acclimatization (temporary) temporary adaptations that result from changes in the immediate
environment. For example, when there is hot weather, our body perspires to cool down. But when it is
cold outside, we shiver to stay warm. We dont shiver when there is hot weather, and we dont perspire
to keep cool when there is cold weather. Also, moving from NY to Denver for a while (heart rate speeds
up and your breathing becomes shallower to extract more oxygen from the air you are taking in)
c. Cultural various innovative ways humans have developed to deal with changes in the natural
environment; the way we use cultural things, tools, to adapt and moderate and control the effects of the
natural environment; In a game between the Nuggets and Knicks in Denver, Knicks utilize timeouts and
use oxygen masks to adapt to high altitude
d. Significance these factors influence the way we successfully adapt and survive. It is the ability to adapt
so well that we are able to survive longer compare to our ancestors and more capable to control our
surroundings than other species
2. 4 Fields of Anthropology
a. There are 4 fields of anthropology, all of which affect the way anthropologists look at things. There is
physical anthropology, which is the study of humans from a biological perspective. They try to find out
how we have evolved over time and have adapted to the environment around us. There is also
Archaeology, which investigates the human past by excavating and analyzing material remains. They try to
determine how people in the past lived. Linguistic anthropology is the study of human language in the
past and the present, as language is key to our ability to learn and share culture throughout generations.
Cultural anthropologists study peoples everyday lives and their behaviors, beliefs, and institutions. They
do this so that they can see how cultures work, and so that they can see the world from the eyes of
others.
b. An example of physical anthropology is how genetic studies reveal that humans share 97.7% of our DNA
with gorillas and 98.7% with chimpanzees. Another example would be the work of paleoanthropologists,
who excavate the skulls, teeth, and bones of our human resources in order to analyze them and trace any
changes in human physical form. They look for changes in cranial capacity, and how they affect us.
Another example is what primatologists do, as they study living, non-human primates in their natural
habits. This gives us clues to their biology, evolution, and behavior so that they could explain our own.
Physical anthropology is significant to the study of anthropology because it tells us how we have evolved
and adapted over time and gives us insight to how we once could become.
c. An example of archeology was the unearthing of King Tutankhamens tomb. A burial site like that tells
archeologists how people treated the dead, and any rituals they had. Another example would be the work
of historic archeologists, who study recent history, such as the slave trade, and slave plantations. Recent
excavations of former slave plantations in the South, as well as personal letters and diaries, have helped
shown how African slaves lived in the 17
th
and 18
th
centuries. Archeology is significant to the study of
anthropology because it tells us how people live, and helps gives us a greater understanding of life.
d. An example of linguistic anthropology would be how socio-linguists study the use of the word nigger in
America today. An example of a descriptive linguist would be how they spend years in rural areas (around
the world) and help locals construct a written language for their spoken language. An example of a
historic linguist could be how language has changed in America over the years. More specifically, the
language used in social networking and instant messaging. Linguistic anthropology is significant to the
study of anthropology because it informs us about the various ways in which people communicate with
each other. It gives us insight on how people think and also, how culture is shared from generation to
generation.
e. An example of cultural anthropology would be how Professor Guest conducted fieldwork and studied the
lives of people in Chinatown. Cultural anthropology is significant to the study of anthropology because it
gives us a better understanding of other people, and this helps give us a better understanding of
ourselves. Through the study of systems of gender, race, sexuality, and etc., we can see how culture is
formed and how it affects the people around us, as well as ourselves.
3. 4 forces of evolution
a. Mutation deviation from the standard DNA code, creates diversity in the gene pool, normal in animal
life, may happen because of exposures to environment (like x-rays or toxic chemicals).
b. Natural Selection nature selects the genes that is most likely to survive and will reproduce that
particular gene
i. Ex. Pepper Moth Until the mid-1800s the peppered moth population was primarily white with black
specks, a coloration that provided excellent camouflage in the light-colored moss and lichen growing on
tree trunks and an effective protection against being eaten by their primary predatorsbirds. From the
late 19th century to the mid-20th century, however, the coloration of the population gradually shifted
so that 90% of the peppered moths were black, not white. How did this happen? During the Industrial
Revolution, pollution, particularly from coal burning factories, blanketed surrounding trees with a layer
of black soot, covering the lichen and changing the natural environment in which the peppered moths
lived. White moths were now much more visible and vulnerable to predators, but the few moths born
with a black color were more likely to avoid detection, survive and reproduce. The coloration of the
population gradually shifted to primarily black through the process of natural selection.
c. Gene flow/migration the swapping of genetic material within a population and between population,
genes move, flow, they dont stay still
i. Ex. Professor Guest mentioned how everyone in our anthropology class could be trapped in that room
we would swap genetic material and reproduce forming new genes; This is similar to how the Earth
works.
d. Genetic drift when the gene pool of one population or one part of a population drifts away from
another related part, cutting off or limiting the flow of genetic material between them, these smaller
populations are more easily influenced by a small number of successful mutations
i. ex. Founders effect- When a small part of a population, perhaps several hundred members with some
unique phenotypical characteristics, breaks off from the larger group, migrates to a new location and
begins to reproduce separately from the original population, it effectively founds or establishes a new
and distinct group. Founders Effect is often used to explain the origins of Native Americans and
particularly their distinctive genetic characteristics. Genetic evidence suggests that a small group of
Asians with unique phenotypical characteristics broke off and migrated into the Americas about 15,000
yBP where they began to reproduce separately from the larger Asian population, founding a new
population that eventually settled throughout the Americas
e. Significance these factors influence the way evolution works, it happens around us all the time.
However it is harder to study in humans because of the long time between generations and our general
reluctance to be studied. By understanding these forces, we can figure out our past and the past of other
species
4. 5 components of culture
a. Norms: Set of ideas of even rules about how people should behave in particular situations or toward
particular other people. Basically, what is considered normal and followed by many people. An example
would be what we wear to certain occasions such as school, weddings, funeral, work, etc, and to marry
within ones own culture/race (no intermarriage)
b. Values: Fundamental beliefs about what is important in life, what makes a good life, and what is true,
right, and beautiful. They are the standards that guide peoples behaviors and the goals people feel are
important for themselves, their families, and their community. An example would be privacy. Since 9/11,
our privacy has been threatened by security checks in airport and patriot act (which reduces terrorism by
allowing the government to eavesdrop on our calls and watch non-citizens.)
c. Mental Maps of Reality: A mental map (brain shortcut that helps us navigate the world and organize all of
the data and information that comes our way) that us humans construct of what kinds of people and what
kinds of things exist. Two Types:
i. Classifications of Reality: Our cultures mental maps seek to classify realitythough sometimes along
perceptions of reality rather than objective classificationand in the process imbue them with
naturalistic credibility. Example-- time can be divided (by culture) into millennia, centuries, decades,
years, seasons, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, seconds, morning, afternoon, evening, night,
etc.--- Categories of TIME are THOUGHT OF as Scientific, universal, and natural, but also, culturally
constructed
ii. Assigning Meaning: People in culture place values and meanings on the mental maps of the things and
people that exist in the world. EXAMPLE-- Life span is divided into infants, children, adolescents
teenagers, young adults, adults, and seniors and then give different values for each age
d. Symbols: Systems like Language, art, religion, politics, economics, etc. that all work to convey meaning to
something else. An example would be something like the bible or cross which tells us about religion.
Theres also language. Language helps us communicate; gestures like waving, smiling, thumbs down, or
the middle finger arent universal, but they mean something when used within their particular cultural
contexts
e. Significant because it shows to us the values and ideas of a culture that explain how people should
behave, why they should behave that way, and what that behavior means
5. Absolute Dating
a. The process of dating a fossil itself. Absolute dating of the fossil itself draws on two primary chemical
assessments, radiocarbon (C14) dating for organic material and radiopotassium (K40) dating for non-
organic matter.
b. Absolute dating can be used directly on bones and teeth to establish their age within this timeframe.
c. It is significant because it can help us learn about our past through placing fossils in their correct time-
period.
6. Adaptation to High Altitudes
a. Definition As you go higher up attitudinally, there is a decrease in the amount of oxygen. Thus, those
who are born in a lower altitude, their lungs are not used to the change and it become inefficient to
obtain the necessary amount of oxygen needed for the body. Thus they need oxygen masks
b. Example Knicks when they go to Denver (heart rate speeds up and your breathing becomes shallower
to extract more oxygen from the air you are taking in)
c. Significance This is a form of cultural adaptation, one of the three ways humans can adapt. This
demonstrates the abilities humans has to control their environment efficient and able to survive so well
7. Agency
a. Definition the potential power of individuals and groups of individuals to contest cultural norms, values,
mental maps, symbols, institutions and structures of power
b. Example AN example is the civil right groups trying to earn their rights they deserve. Also, these include
negotiations, protests, strikes, or rebellions that directly challenge structures of power. An example is the
large-scale irrigation system and harvesting machines that developed in Malaysia that benefitted the rich,
but hurt the poor. However, they avoided public displays of resistance because they knew the risks of a
conflict between the rich and the poor, and how it would only hurt themselves. Instead, they resorted to
non-confrontational forms of resistance. These include theft, sabotage, slowdowns, and false-compliance
with regulations.
c. Significance Shows how cultural beliefs and practices are not timeless. They change and can be
changed. By looking at human agency, we see the way culture becomes the realm in which battles over
power are waged, where people debate, negotiate, contest and enforce what is consider normal, what
people can say, do, and even think. Also, while dominant groups create systems of power, they are never
absolute and can be contested
8. Anthropologists Tool Kit
a. Tools needed to conduct research. Must have basic tools like notebook, pens, camera, voice recorder,
maps, cell phone, dictionary, watch, and business cards. However, we must also have an understanding of
culture and its elements, such as language, race, ethnicity, gender, family and sexuality. We must
understand how such elements are culturally constructed, and how values vary from culture to culture.
b. ExampleCasper Semenya. In understanding the situation with Semenya, in which she won an 800 yard
Olympic race in Berlin, but had her medal and prize money stripped from her because she was thought of
as not being a woman (her physique, vocal abilities, athletic ability), we have to keep our minds open, and
understand how concepts of race, ethnicity, class, sex and gender all played a role in how she was treated,
and how the whole situation in general played out.
c. Significant because before doing fieldwork, anthropologists need to be prepared in terms of basic tools,
and basic understandings of how life around us works. Having culture in our toolkit allows us to
understand the deep structures of meaning and power embedded all over life, and understanding the
elements of culture, such as sex and gender, allows us to get a clearer idea of how they work in our lives,
and in the world around us.
9. Applied anthropology
a. Applied anthropology is the concept of practicing anthropology, in which anthropologists go outside the
academy and apply their anthropologic skills and insights to deal with the various problems in the world.
b. The Garbage Project is an example. Any HIV/AIDS study in Africa or study of the spread of disease or study
of our human origins is an example.
c. Applied anthropologist is significant for the study of anthropology because only if anthropologists apply
themselves and find answers to the questions they have regarding humanity will they be able to get a
larger scope of human diversity and human life.
10. Attitudinal racism
a. Definition racism embedded in the individual psychology and expressed as prejudice and bigotry
b. Example a pro-slavery owner in the south
c. Significance Appear to be on decline in American culture or are at least less visible as racial prejudice
becomes less acceptable.
11. Awash Valley
a. Middle Awash River Valley in northeast Ethiopia, has provided many of the most remarkable finds of the
past twenty-five years. It is considered to be the place where it all began. The Middle Awash site has
become one of the richest troves of discoveries in the world, not only in number of finds but in the
representation of almost every major grouping of human ancestor over the last six million years. This
remarkable record of species in one location allows us to identify patterns of continuity and change that
fill in the historical memory of evolutionary change in our immediate human ancestors. Regular
Earthquakes, flooding and geologic shifts of the earths crust have created a landscape of ridges and
ravines with geologic strata exposed to wind and water erosionperfect for revealing fossils to a team of
paleoanthropologists
b. Found the Ardipithecus kadabba (5.8 MYA) and the Ardipithecus ramidus (4.4 MYA). Both were
discovered in the Middle Awash region in the 1990s, providing the first evidence of a transitional figure
between the primate line and Australopithecines and later humans
c. This tells us about human origins.
12. Balinese Cockfight
a. Definition a common activity in local communities across bali, a mall island in the south Pacific described
in detail by Geetz.
b. Example something Professor Guest used to explain thick description
c. Significance on the surface we can see the process of this cultural activity. However, describing it in
detail is not enough as one needs to look beneath the surface of the activity do find the deep cultural
meaning of the activities. It is not simply a cock fight, but a representation of generations of competitions
among families for prestige, power, and resources within the community. Using this example, Geetz
showed that one must also rely on thick description that looks beyond the surface behavior to the
meanings below, the deeper web of meanings of every activity
13. Bronislav Malinowski
a. The father of fieldworkproposes guidelines on conducting fieldwork based on what he experienced in
Trobrian Island (he was there because of World war I); Urged his fellow anthropologists to stay a long
time in their field sites, learn the local language, get off the veranda (porch) to mingle with the people,
engage in participant observation, and explore the mundane imponderabilia (The seemingly
commonplace)
b. Significant because it has transformed anthropology and how fieldwork is conducted; has withstood the
test of time; we get involved and learn and make conclusions and get the viewpoint from the view of the
people
14. Can of Coke
a. Coke is a famous brand of soda. We were learning about how the can of Coke, we learned how a coke we
drinks comes with serious social costs to the people halfway around the world in Plachimada. When the
company began to drill more wells and install high-powered pumps to extract ground water for the
factory, the local water table fell dramatically, from 45 to 150 meters below the surface, far more than
could be explained by periods of limited rainfall. Hundreds of local non-Coca-Cola wells ran dry and
harvests were much less productive.
b. It is an example of the social costs of globalization.
c. We learned about this to help demonstrate globalization and how the world is all interconnected.
15. Cartoon commercials
a. These are commercials that air in between cartoons, and target mostly children. Children watch an
average of 40,000 commercials a year on television alone, even though the Childrens Television Act of
1990 limits the number of commercials to 10.5 minutes per hour on the weekend and 12 minutes each
hour on weekends. There are clear gendering messages: colors, products, tone of voice of models and
voiceovers.
b. For example, girls were encouraged to take care of small, cuddly, needy pets and babies, feed them,
change their diapers, and wipe their tears. Hovering mothers encouraged their efforts. The commercials
for boys on the other hand were dark green, blue and black. Loud voices, outdoors activities, motion,
action and adventure promoted toy trucks, balls, guns, missiles, and warrior figures.
c. It is important to learn about this because we see how gender roles are shaped by society, and the media,
from a very young age.
16. Castor Semenya
a. Caster Semenya, born in 1991, grew up in Masehlong, a poor rural South African village. In August 2009,
at the age of eighteen, she surprised the world by winning the gold medal in the 800-meter race at the
track and field world championship sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations
(IAAF) in Berlin. Within days, however, she was stripped of her medal and prize money. She was barred
from international competition and plunged into a worldwide controversy and media frenzy, due to
charges that she was not a woman. Nearly a year later, on July 6, 2010, the IAAF cleared Semenya to
compete in international events against women. Her gold medal and her prize money were returned to
her. An unverified report of her gender test leaked to the press suggested she might have a common sex
variation, specifically female external genitalia matched with internal testes. Or perhaps she had a
chromosomal variation.
b. An example used by Professor Guest to show how society reacts differently to people based on their sex
and gender. It raised discussions of what it means to be a female and what it means to be a man.
c. We learn about this to show us how our view of gender is limited. She, like millions of others, was
intersexed, meaning that biologically she did not fit neatly into the categories of male and female.
Studying her helps us understand the roles sex and gender play in our own life and in the culture around
us
17. Clifford Geertz
a. Key figure in the interpretivisit approach, which urged anthropologists to explore culture primarily as a
symbolic system in which deep meanings can be conveyed by even simply, seemingly straight-forward
actions
b. ExampleEthnographic piece Deep Ploy: Notes on a Balinese Cockfight (1973)-- Geertz saw that a
cockfight in Bali has a deeper meaning. The cockfights represents generations of competition among the
village families for prestige, power, and resources within the community; argues its a part of culture that
we have to look below the surface for (Thick description)
c. Geertz showed us that over time, members of a culture develop a shared body of cultural knowledge and
patterns of behavior. He showed us that we cant just look at what is shown. We have to look deeper
(thick description) to figure out what is implied.
18. College Rape
a. Issue of College and Rape in College; Women are more likely to get raped in College than in the general
population; Of all the instances, ~5% are only reported
b. Example Anthropologist Peggy Reeves Sanday taught an anthropologist class in the University of
Pennsylvania. One of her students came and told her she missed class constantly because she was gang
raped in a campus fraternity; there is date rape, and High profile incidences of gang rape by athletic teams
have also been widely reported
c. Significance- Significant because it shows us that American college campus culture and American culture
in general are rape-prone. It shows us how women are terrorized (by being raped, and then being blamed
by the rapist for asking for it or deserving it or flirting with him or drinking too much) and it has led to
colleges and universities working to become more explicit in their rejection of the culture of rape and
sexual violence as they create codes of sexual conduct
19. Construction of Whiteness
a. White is a cultural construction, just like other racial categories that have been developed in America.
There are strict lines for who is considered white and who is not. However, over the years, these lines
have shifted. The formulation of white is a recent process. Irish, Italians, Greeks, and many other people
were not considered white when they immigrated to the US, but now they would be considered white.
They initially faced discrimination and exclusion, especially because they were not Anglo-Saxon
protestants. Their increasing numbers, intermarriage with other white groups, and upward mobility
created conditions for inclusion in the white category. This just shows how the line of who is white shifts.
b. We are learning this because we are learning about race, and we are curious how white got constructed.
20. Cultural relativism
a. To see each culture on its own merits, to try to understand it first from the inside, according to its own
logic and structure
b. It is an example of conducting fieldwork and being unbiased in doing so. Conducting fieldwork is easiest
when you dont think that you are in a primitive place and that you are better than everyone you are
near.
c. The significance is that by utilizing cultural relativism, people can conduct fieldwork without their own
ethnocentric biases; Helps us understand people and the fieldwork we do
21. Characteristics of Globalization
a. Globalization refers to the growth of interactions around the world, as well as the movement of people,
ideas, goods, and money throughout various countries. The first characteristic is time-space compression,
which is the rapid growth of communication, transportation, and technology that has changed the way we
think about space and time. The second characteristic is flexible accumulation, which has allowed
companies to use more flexible strategies in order to accumulate a larger profit. The third characteristic is
increasing migration, where people move within countries and between countries in order to build
connections and get jobs. The fourth characteristic is uneven development. Uneven development refers
to how parts of the world have not progressed at the same rate as other places have from globalization.
This is due to the fact that the global economy, although creating wealth for many, also creates extreme
poverty for many others. The last characteristic is rapid change, which is the pace of change in the
modern era (particularly technological innovation and development) is unlike anything humans have
experienced in the past that has allowed us to adapt to almost anything.
b. Time-Space ExampleSkype and social networking allows us to talk to people so far away, and get a
response from them in a matter of seconds
c. Flexible Accumulation examplea Company moves their production facilities around the world in search
of cheaper labor costs, lower taxes, and fewer environmental regulation; factory workers in Mardi Gras:
Made in China work for about $2 an hour...the package of beads cost $20. Factory makes loads of profit.
d. Increasing Migration example- people migrate from country to country searching for job; Mardi Gras
example of factory workers dad explaining how he would send her elsewhere to get factory job
e. Uneven development example- Some people travel for business or pleasure while others have no access
to transportation
f. Rapid Change exampleability to recycle; ability to breathe more rapidly to take in more oxygen at high
altitudes (and if we cant, we have oxygen masks and tanks)
g. SIGNIFICANCEShows us how the world around us is changing and how we are adapting to meet those
changes
22. Cultural constructions
a. Definition the way culture forms what is seen as normal, the value and meaning of everyday things/
activities in our lives.
b. Example Race- it is not genetically constructed, we or culture defines and creates the concept of race
c. Significance by understanding how things in our routine lives are culturally constructed, we understand
more about those things, how it is created and how it is potentially solved, if it is a bad thing
23. Culture
a. Set of beliefs and patterns of behavior shared by a group of people and given meaning through set of
power relationships where what is normal, natural, sayable, doable, and even thinkable are promoted and
contested
b. Communities have their own set of cultural norms that may or may not differ from the cultures of other
or similar communities. There are different relationships of power between family, genders, religions,
social classes, and so on. An example is the cockfighting in Balinese culture, which not only showed us two
roosters fighting, but also, It represents generations of competition among the village for prestige, power,
and resources within the community. It symbolizes negotiation of persons prestige and status
c. Significant because Culture is a central theme for anthropologists and the concept of culture is constantly
growing and changing
24. Culture of Consumerism
a. Definition is the set of norms, values, behaviors and practices that have become commonplace and
accepted as normal, even natural and though which a desire for an imagined middle class lifestyle has
been cultivated
b. Example buying sneakers is not enough, it has to be the right kind
c. Significance This culture tells us that having these things will make us more desirable, beautiful and
attractive. Not only that, capitalism invests and promote this expansion of culture because in order to
drive the economy and grow and develop, people need to by, make, invest. Similar to Manufacturing
Desire
25. David Kato
a. Definition he was a human rights activist, a leading gay rights activist who sued the Rolling Stones
newspaper for printing a front page profile of 100 suspected gays and lesbians. He won the case but on
January 27, 2001 he was brutally murdered in his home.
b. Example This was mentioned as an example of how sexuality is a major issue as various cultures respond
differently to it.
c. Significance Though the Ugandan authorities were unable to identify the murderer, human rights groups
believe Kato was targeted because of his outspoken defense of gay rights. This incident shows how the
concept of sexuality is so important and a hot topic that parliament would propose killing people based
on sexual identity and Christians from US would be promoting ideas of appropriate sexuality in Uganda. It
shows how sexuality is a site where power is negotiated, contested, and enforced
26. Death Without Weeping
a. Award winning ethnography; Her work reflects the deep commitment of anthropologists to fieldwork;
Shed light on the basic principles of fieldwork and what was going on in Alto del Cruzeiro
27. Deep Time
a. The sense of the natural history of our planet and universe, and the fact that the history is very vast.
b. The universe is calculated to be 14 billion years old and the Earth only 4.6 billion. Dinosaurs lived between
65-230 mya. Primates (humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, gorillas, orangutans, lemurs, tarsiers and others)-
emerged fifty million years ago Contemporary primates (sivapithecines) shared a common ancestor as
recently as between 12-15 mya. The ancestors of modern orangutans branched off from the common line
at this point. Then between 6-7 mya, our ancestors branched off from the line that led to monkeys,
chimpanzees and gorillas. This then broke into Australopithecines, Modern Humans, Homo habilis, Homo
erectus, and Homo sapien
c. It is a significant topic when learning about human origins and where humans came from.
28. Dejure and defacto racism
a. Definition Dejure racism in the law, Defacto racism in the way the world is, meaning it is in the
everyday way of life
b. Example Dejure Laws past in Southern states that limited rights of the African Americas, Defacto
Blacks living all in the same area, one that is poor and doesnt have the best living conditions
c. Significance Back then, racism was outright in the laws, dejure. But even though it was removed, racism
in the US is still apparently based on defacto racism. By studying and analysis dejure and defacto racism,
we understand ones culture in how they view and deal with certain people. It also expands our
knowledge in how racism is a system of power and stratifies people based on race
29. Dude Youre a Fag!
a. C.J. Pascoes ethnography, Dude, youre a Fag-- Explores the way gender and particularly masculinity, is
constructed in a suburban, working-class, racially diverse high school is in northern California; Calling a
person a fag is not calling a person gay; it is saying that a guy danced liked a girl, cares about their
clothing, is too emotional, or did something incompetent; it is Directed at guys who are not masculine
enough. Gay guys were tolerated as long as they werent too effeminate. Fag discourse (dialogue) is
used almost exclusively among white male students in a daily banter of teasing, bullying, and harassment.
b. ExampleThis is an example of how gender and particularly masculinity are constructed in culture
c. Significance- Study the boundaries of masculinity a disciplinary mechanism for making sure boys are
boys through fear of abuse or violence
30. E.B.Tylor
a. An English anthropologist who attempted to organize the data that was accumulating, to catalogue the
human diversity, and to make sense of the many questions it simulated. He and others were influenced by
Darwins theory of evolution. He plotted cultures along a continuum from simple to most complex and
believed they could trace the path of cultural evolution from its origin to the future.
b. An example of his work would be how he used Darwins theory of evolution to classify cultures from how
simple they were to how complex. He used the term savage, barbarian, and civilized.
c. Significant because he thought Western Cultures were the epitome, as it was the most civilized. He
thought others would become just like it, or die out. He thought that if they arranging all the cultures
along a continuum, they believed that they could trace the path of human cultural evolution, understand
where some cultures had come from and predict where others were headed
31. Ear Wax
a. The waxy substance in ones ear.
b. This is an example of the absurdity in using physical characteristics for determining race.
c. We mentioned this while discussing race. We were wondering what if we judged people based on their
earwax instead of their skin color, as it is another type of phenotype. Would people with dry earwax be
superior to people with wet earwax?
32. Egg and Sperm
a. This is a famous concept in many biology textbooks, which demonstrate how the male sperm and the
female egg get together to produce a fetus. Martin, who wrote a book on how the egg and sperm are
portrayed in textbooks, finds that the distinct roles eggs and sperm are described in very stereotypical
ways, even if those descriptions do not match up with more recent scientific findings. The sperm is
frequently described as the more active of the two.
b. An example is the fact that the egg is seen as large and passive. It does not move or journey, but passively
is transported, is swept, or even drifts along the fallopian tube. In reality the egg draws the sperm in
and actually moves its own nucleus to meet the sperm and better enable fertilization. Rather than active a
passive roles, the egg and sperm appear to be mutually active partners in an egalitarian relationship.
c. We learn about this to show how cultural ideas about gender shape how we think.
33. Enculturation
a. Process of learning the culture around us, often through observation and emulation, sometimes through
direct instruction and education
b. Example- Depending on the culture, the spatial comfort zone may have different meanings. In the US,
there are public zones (12 feet), social zones (4-12 feet), personal zones (1.5-4 feet) and intimate zones
(under 1.5 feet.) From Professor Guests experience in China, when people confronted him, they violated
his space by coming extremely close. To us, it is disturbing. However, to the Chinese, it is just their culture.
c. Significant because in order to learn more about a culture, you have to go through enculturation and
learn about their norms, values, mental maps of reality, and symbols.
34. Ethnocentrism
a. Assumption that ones own beliefs and practices are normal and indeed natural and others beliefs and
practices should be evaluated using them
b. The significance of ethnocentrism is that it had become a cornerstone of anthropology for generations to
come, mostly because ethnocentrism led to the biases that had led to many of the social problems we
have had, or currently have. For example, white supremacy over blacks and colored races.
35. Ethnography
a. A way of compiling an anthropologists research in order to tell the stories of the people they have
worked with. Ethnographers collect, organize, and analyze the data. They choose which facts to present,
which people to highlight, and what stories to tell. They have the power to interpret the people and their
stories to audience.
b. Example- Nancy Scheper-Hughes did in Alto de Cruzeiro as she tries to understand the lives of the women
and children of this Brazilian shantytown (as women dont care about their children as there are high
infant mortality rates), and she later talks about a global trade for harvested human organs
c. Significance- Important because it lets people know what the author has researched for his or her time; it
makes the situation or concept known; people tell what stories to tell
36. Evolution
a. Definition all living species share a common ancestry from which they all have descended. The more
closely two organisms are related biologically, the more recent their common ancestor.
b. Example humans evolved from apes
c. Significance helps make sense of the diversity of life on earth, and fossil finds and DNA discoveries fit
together.
37. Fieldnotes
a. descriptions of people, places, sounds and smells; reflections on patterns, themes that are emerging,
questions to be asked and issues to be pursued; personal reflections on the experience of doing fieldwork
b. Significant to get fieldnotes because the collection of data allows the anthropologist to revisit the details
of earlier experiences, to compare information, and impressions over time, and to analyze changes,
trends, patterns and themes
38. Fieldwork
a. Strategy for understanding the world around us through intensive interaction with a local community of
people over a long period of time. You have to look beyond the taken-for-granted, every-day experience
of life to discover the complex system of power and meaning that people construct
b. Example-- Going out with the anthologists tool kit and try to become a part of the community by
participating in the organizations or the communitys efforts; what Nancy Scheper-Hughes did in Alto de
Cruzeiro as she tries to understand the lives of the women and children of this Brazilian shantytown (as
women dont care about their children as there are high infant mortality rates)
c. Significant because In order to better understand the community, anthropologists need to become a part
of their community rather than observing it from outside
39. Franz Boas
a. An American anthropologist who is considered the father of American anthropology. He actively
developed the concept of culture with his students in the early 20
th
century. He worked on salvage
ethnography
b. Examplesalvage ethnographyhe worked to document Native American culture before they
disappeared-- rapidly gather all available material, including historical artifacts, photos, recordings of
spoken languages, songs and detailed information about cultural beliefs and practices, from religious
rituals to family patterns, gender roles to political structures
c. Significant because Culture is a central theme to anthropology and helped further develop the concept of
culture; also, his studies on Native American culture focused on culture, biology, artifacts, and language==
today known as the four-field approach
40. Fuzhou, Snakeheads
a. Snakeheads are smugglers. They have great connections with lawyers and demand their money. If you are
an illegal immigrant, they keep you and threaten you until you pay them or get family to do so. A lot of
Fuzhounese people need to borrow money from friends and family in order to pay the snakeheads
b. Example- example of immigration to America; showed how desperate Chinese were to get jobs and how
there have been
c. Significance- Important in the study of why the number of Fuzhounese immigrants from China going into
the US has been increasing; and their impact through various waves of immigration
41. Garbage project
a. Willian Rathje, an archeologist from the University of Arizona, conducted a study in which he studied what
people threw away. Rathje analyzes huge quantities of garbage in Tucson (by hand), and found out that
people dont do what they say they will do. 15% of the households reported drinking beer, but none
reported drinking more than 8 cans a week. However, analysis of their garbage showed 80% of the
households actually drank beer, and 50% of them drank more than 8 cans a week.
b. The garbage project is an example of how archaeologists apply anthropology. They look through garbage
in order to understand human history, development, culture, and society.
c. The significance of the garbage project was to understand human consumption, and in broad terms, to
understand human life.
42. Gender Ideology
a. It is a way of thinking about men and womens essential character, capabilities and value that promotes
and justifies stratification. These gender stereotypes and ideologies have been found to vary from culture
to culture, though their effects may appear similar when viewed through a global lens.
b. For example in this culture men are thought to be the source of income for the family, while to woman is
thought to be the caretaker of the family.
c. We learn about this because it is important to see how men and women are thought about in society. It is
also important to know because gender ideologies support a gendered system of power.
43. Gender Performance
a. It is viewing gender based on performance, and away from the clear cut male and female roles that
society has set. Viewing gender as performance allows us to push away from easy dichotomies and
universal characteristics of man and woman. Gay, lesbian and transsexual gender identities push away
from the dual oppositional categories of male and female toward an idea of gender performance that can
include a repertoire of signs, images and behaviors utilized at various times and in various situations.
b. An example would be that a man might be a trucker to make a living but also change his baby daughters
diapers and take her in a stroller to play in the park. Men and women can also learn one anothers script.
So we see men and women playing with one anothers identity. However stretching the norms of gender
performance can pose challenges, and it may make it difficult to be identified with their own gender
group.
c. We learn about this during gender to help show us how the roles of males and females are not clear-cut in
reality.
44. Gender Stratification
a. It is a hierarchy of power in which gender is used to define who has access to a groups resources,
opportunities, rights and privileges. Gender stereotypes and gender ideologies both support a gendered
system of power. The concept that man is the bread earner of the family and woman is the cradle handler
has given way to gender stratification. In environments, where this concept is true, you will find, the
wealth, thereby the power and henceforth the privileges enjoyed by are the man. When a girl gets
married, why she takes the last name of the man.
b. An example of gender stratification is the fact that the woman takes the last name of the man once she is
married.
c. We learn this because it is important to learn that many roles of men and women in society are in part
due to gender stratification.
45. Happy Meal
a. To make one pound of beef for these burgers, 430 gallons of water are needed. The amount of water
used for ten pounds of beef is enough to support a whole family for an entire year! This life of surplus is
something many people dont have, as many dont have access to water. Yet we consume it in order to
attain happiness. In addition, with the happy meal, kids are often given toys. The toys that the kids are
given are dependent on their gender, which shows us that McDonalds is telling kids what it means to be a
boy or girl. They are telling kids how they should be. If they act differently, such as if a girl wants a boy
toy, or a boy wants a girl toy, they are portrayed as weird.
b. Professor Guest went over the Happy Meal, which includes soft drink, a side order of French fries, and a
burger (can be either a hamburger or a cheeseburger) during the first class to show how Americans lived a
life of surplus, as well as how McDonalds differentiated and enforced gender relations of what it means to
be a boy or girl.
c. The Happy Meal is significant for the study of anthropology because it shows how America is a
commercial country that lives a life of surplus and convenience. It is also significant because it shows how
gender relations in America have been developed and shaped by culture.
46. Hegemony
a. Definition the second aspect of power which involves the ability to create consent and agreement
within a population
b. Example taxes
c. Significance Cultural institutions of media, schools, and religion, have tremendous power to shape,
often unconsciously, what people think is normal, natural and possible. This is really an important to
study since it has the ability to make people discipline their own behavior to believe and act in certain
normal ways often against their own interests, even without a tangible threat of punishment for
misbehavior. No force is actually required.
47. Hijras
a. Religious followers of the Hindu Mother Goddess, Bachuchara Mata; they are Depicted and described as
transgendered; Most hijras are born as men, though some may be intersexed. They basically remove
penis and testicles, and they become a third sex and gender. Culturally, they are viewed as neither man
nor woman though they tend to adopt many characteristics of the womans role. They dress, walk, and
talk like women and may have sex with men. Because of their transgression of cultural and religious
boundaries, they are at once feared and revered. Many live in hijra religious communities but tend to
exist on the margins of Hindu society. Hijras often face extreme discrimination in employment, housing,
health, and education. Many support themselves through begging, ritual performances and sex work.
Violence against them is common, particularly against hijra sex workers. At the same time, hijras are
revered as auspicious and powerful ritual figures.
b. Example- A person born as men, but may be intersexed. They are generally discriminated and face
violence
c. Significance- Study societys reaction to these types of people. To some, they become a third sex and
gender
48. Homo Sapien sapiens
a. Definition the scientific name of our species, 5
th
major group of our evolutionary chain
b. Example N/A
c. Significance N/A
49. Human Origins
a. Definition the way to understand how us humans came about by tracing back our ancestors. The first
modern humans who looked like us was around 170,000 years ago.
b. Example There are 2 views. The theory of evolution states that biological adaptations over generations
to changes in the natural environment is the key reason to the diversity of life on earth today, including
us, and how it relates to life in the past. Creationism, is the religious conviction that God created the earth
and all the creatures therein. A more modern version is intelligent design and it argues that we simply
cannot explain the complexity of life without considering the involvement of an intelligent designer
c. Significance To understand who we are, where we come from, and what it really means to be humans
and opening windows on our past and perhaps our future
50. Hurricane Katrina
a. Hurricane Katrina was an unnatural disaster. There was a hurricane that hit New Orleans in 2005. The
hurricane was natural, but hurricane led to destroying the levies, which resulted in the incident. Katrina
had such a devastating effect on New Orleans because the city was unprepared. The government was
slow to respond. A catastrophic hurricane had been anticipated for New Orleans since 2001, yet the city,
state, and federal governments had no effective evacuation plan, protective wetlands had continued to
be sold to developers and the budget for maintaining and improving levees and pumps had been cut by
eighty percent. Was this because they were black?
b. Example of stratification-- Most of the people we saw during the disaster were black, and that is so
because race and class stratified the city. The blacks almost all lived on lower land, more prone to being
damaged, and they couldnt leave the city. The rich lived on higher ground. Katrina is said by many to be a
result of structural, institutional racism in which the patterns, practices, and behaviors of our social life
and social institutions developed over hundreds of years of overt racial prejudice continue to affect where
people live, how the public infrastructure is funded and how public needs are responded to. In the years
since, the city population has dropped below 250,000 and the percentage of African American residents
has dropped from 68% to 57%.
c. Significant because it shows how institutional racism and defacto (Racism in everyday life) racism are still
around.
51. Hutu/Tutsi
a. The Hutu and Tutsi are two main groups in Rwanda. In 1994 they were both involved in a horrific
genocide. Over a few months over a million Tutsi and a handful of moderate Hutus were slaughtered by
extremists Hutu death squads. The Belgians came mid 20
th
century and elevated Tutsi to the most
influential positions in Rwandan society as they considered the Tutsi as more European, and therefore
were given better positions. To rationalize their prejudicial behavior (in 1920s), Belgian colonial
government hired scientists to measure Hutu and Tutsi anatomy, including skull size in order to physically
differentiate between the two groups. These flawed studies (based on studies developed in Europe and
U.S.) declared that Tutsi were taller, bigger-brained and lighter skinned closer in physical form to
Europeans and so naturally suited to the role assigned to them by the Belgian colonial government. To
maintain and enforce this segregation, in 1933 the Belgian colonial government established a national
identity card that included identification of "ethnicity". Even after independence in 1962, Rwanda
continued to use the identity card, forcing all citizens to be labeled as Hutu, Tutsi, Twa-a small minority
population-or nationalized. The cards were discontinued only in 1996 after the genocide. The Hutu
resented Belgians for elevating the Tutsi to power in the colonial government; protests led to major
uprisings against the Tutsi. The Hutu made repressive policies toward the Tutsi, and by 1990 there was a
full-blown civil war, and Tutsi were eliminated systematically
b. Example of racism as Belgian differentiated between Tutsi and Hutu; and then when Hutu got in con
c. We learned about this to show how racism plays a tremendous role in life, and in this case it led to
genocide. If it werent for the Europeans making different classes between the Hutu and Tutsis, there
would never be genocide.
52. Hypodescent
a. Definition the one drop of blood rule, which assigns children of mixed marriages to the lower social
category of the two parents or any relative going back many generations.
b. Example Barack Obama, he has a white mother and black father but instead of being white, he is called
black
c. Significance This has been a key legal and cultural concept used to draw and maintain clear boundaries
between races. It helped to enforce practices of slavery and racial supremacy. Not only that, even
though it is no longer enforced in American law, it is still practiced in American culture
53. Institutional racism
a. Definition- racism embedded in the social structure of a culture. These expressions of racism come out in
the institutional practices and habits that have been built over hundreds of years when racial prejudice
and bigotry were legal and respectable
b. Example - new york city fire department and how 92% were white
c. Significance While racism is no longer allowed under US law and attitudinal racism is becoming less
acceptable, this social pattern continue to distribute rewards and privileges along racialized lines even
though the individuals involved in the institutions are not prejudiced or bigoted. It structures where
people live, what schools they attend and what jobs they are hired for
54. Intersex
a. When somebody is intersex, biologically they do not fit neatly into the categories of male and female. We
may think the biology of sex is clear-cut. But the millions of intersexed individuals in the human
population with ambiguous genitalia or varied chromosome patterns challenge these mental maps of
reality. A diversity of physical expressions along the continuum between male and female that once were
labeled hermaphrodite and now are described as intersex. Millions of people are born intersexed, with
some combination of male and female genitalia, gonads and chromosomes.
b. An example of intersexed people is any of Fausto-Sterlings three major groups. Some intersexuals have a
balance of female and male sexual characteristics, for instance one testis and one ovary. Others have
female genitalia but testes rather than ovaries. Still others have male genitalia with ovaries rather than
testes.
c. Another example is Casper Semenya. Biologically, she did not fit into the categories of either male or
female. She had a common sex variation in which female external genitalia matched with internal testes
d. We learn about this because the presence of middle sexes redefines our most fundamental mental maps
of reality, those separating male and female. But most Western societies seek to ignore this variation.
They legally require a choice between male and female at birth. Since the 1960s Western medicine has
taken the extreme steps of attempting to control or manage intersexuality through surgery and
hormonal treatments. The 2000 American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement on intersex surgery
declared, the birth of a child with ambiguous genitalia constitutes a social emergency.
55. IQ Tests
a. Definition test administer to determine ones intelligence
b. Example SAT
c. Significance iq test are based on the belief that race and intelligence are linked and its the old and false
foundation of racial thinking. It has nothing to do with genetics but rather cultural factors such as wealth,
linguistic background, and educational history. Ultimately iq tests do not measure intelligence but the
measure the mastery over a certain set of cultural information
56. Is There a Gay Gene?
a. Definition Studies performed based on biological basis, which tried to link sexual identity to certain
types of genes. However, there is no evidence to show a relationship as of yet. One gene or gene
combinations cannot be directly linked to the gay sexuality.
b. Example N/A
c. Significance The Gay Gene has been challenged by anthropologists, because of its framing of human
sexuality. For example, the existence of a Gay Gene would easily group people into categories of gay and
straight but we know that is impossible since sexuality is too varied and diverse. Anthropologically, the
assumption of a universal biological basis for the patterns of homosexual and heterosexuality that have
emerged in North America and Europe fail to account for ways sexuality is conceptualized in other
cultures that challenge the two category framework. However, there is some evidence that suggests that
there is a higher rate that twins will be gay, than the rate of a regular person being gay. In general
scientists usually attribute gay to nurture, and not nature.
57. Key Informant
a. People such as advisors, teachers, and guides that are sought after by anthropologists as they are our
cultural consultants
b. Significant because The key informant may suggest issues to explore, introduce new people to interview,
provide feedback on research insights, and warn against cultural miscues
58. Lawrence Summers
a. Definition president of Harvard who commented that the cause of the disparity between male and
female in the math and science department is due to the differences in mental capacity or the brain
b. Example N/A
c. Significance it demonstrates how gender is our cultural construction, they way we think of men and
women. We are taught that there is a fundamental essences that differs between men and women. It
also demonstrates about gender ideology, which is the way we think about men and womens essential
character, capabilities and value that promotes and justifies stratification
59. Loving v. Virginia
a. In this landmark legal case, Michael and Rachel Loving were arrested in their bedroom in 1958 for
breaking Virginias Racial Integrity Act. They had been married in Washington, D.C. that year, but the
Virginia judge upheld their conviction and sentenced them to prison unless they left Virginia for 25 years.
Supported by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Japanese American Citizens League and a coalition of
Catholic bishops, the Lovings won their appeal to the US Supreme Court, which invalidated the remaining
state anti-miscegenation laws.
b. Having to do with interracial marriage.
c. We were learning about this because of cultural norms, and whom you can marry according to culture.
60. Manufacturing Desire
a. Definition is a culture of consumerism and a desire for a middle class lifestyle that has been created to
encourage your desire for these consumer products and support the continuing growth of the economy
through ever-increasing consumption. It causes you to buy things in order to feel normal and one of the
crowd
b. Example buying gifts for Valentines Day
c. Significance Through media, financial services, and government, we are told or persuaded to buy things
not because we need them but because we want them or desired them. By consuming part of the
celebrity culture we can share in their lifestyle and success. We also fell that we wont fit in, wont be
normal, or cool.
61. Mapping
a. Can take on many forms; Draw maps of the neighborhood and make careful observations about the
natural and built environment of the community. They map human relations, such as kinship analysis,
which is a traditional strategy allowing anthropologists to see the interlocking relationships of power that
may be built upon family and marriage. They also use social network analysis, which is used in more urban
areas, where family networks are more spread out as they are more revealing
b. Examplemaps can be neighborhood maps, or maps of the environment or community (roads, houses,
stores, facilitiessewers, water systems, schools, hospitals, etc.)
c. Significant because it tells us about the area and the family and the community
62. Mardi Gras beads
a. The beads are not made in the United States, but rather, overseas, in China. They work in horrible
conditions, yet those who consume the beads (New Orleans partygoers) are ignorant of this.
b. In the movie, Mardi Gras, people celebrate this in New Orleans but are too oblivious to realize that the
beads are made from relatively cheap labor in China.
c. Anthropologists may study how globalization has affected the production of goods, such as Mardi Gras
Beads overseas and what the social costs are for outsourcing the job.
63. Masculinity/femininity
a. Definition is the culturally constructed view of how men and women should be
b. Example Masculinity is being aggressive versus Femininity is being emotional
c. Significance By studying what it means to be masculine and feminine, we begin to see how it is cultural
constructed in our lives, that it is not biology that predict the roles of men and women play in a given
culture. Not only that, we begin to see that these gender roles arent two fixed extremes of identity but
rather there is a long continuum of behaviors that range between these two categories
64. Melanin
a. Definition is the skin pigment produced by melanocytes in the skin and it is a black pigment
b. Example Professor Guest talked about this when we talked about human adaptation.
c. Significance The amount of melanin we have is an adaptation to the varied amount of UV light in
different areas. If there is too much UV light, one would have more melanin to protect them from getting
skin cancer. It is due to the amount of melanin we have that give rise to the variation of human skin color
as the cause of the concept of racism and race in our culture.
65. Minah Karan
a. Hundreds of thousands of young migrant women workers who over the past thirty-five years came to
factories in Malaysias export processing zone. Their name carries a dual meaning. Minah is a common
womens name and reflects the mass migration of rural workers to factories. But, Karan means electric
current (because these ladies work in electronic factories), and the second meaning insinuates sexual
electricity. These women were a key factor in the growth of the nation by expanding the electronics
export factories. These women have broken the gender-racial boundaries of Malaysian culture by working
in the multi-racial, multi-gendered, foreign global factories. This racial mixing is seen by many as morally
questionable. Because these women work away from their villages, many see them as loose and easy.
b. We learn about these people to demonstrate race, gender, and globalization in Malaysia. These Minah
Karan reframed the racial order established by the British colonial administration centuries ago, because
they often mix with males of different races.
66. Mutual Transformation
a. Risky business because it exposes the personal component of anthropological research; Anthropologists
have been transformed themselves on a very personal level, as they become more Self-understanding,
show empathy for others, and transform their world views
b. Example- Nancy Scheper-Hughes views changed after studying the people in the favela
c. Signifiance- The community may have an influence on the views of an anthropologist. The anthropologist
affects the local community by just being there, or even, bringing solutions to problems, and they affect
the anthropologist in return.
67. Nancy Scheper-Hughes
a. Did fieldwork in the Favela; The favela has poverty, deprivation, sexism, chronic hunger, and economic
exploitation; The mother has to choose who love because of the very high mortality rate
b. Finds that people work hard, high infant mortality, low life rate for these Brazilians (live up to their 40s)
c. She challenged the concept of how life was there; people kept kids alone in house, while they went off to
work
d. Mother love- love mother has for child is essential for a woman who become mothers; its a conception
that mothers are automatically programmed to love their kids; Nancy Hughess research shows that there
are cultural factors that shape this concept (in this context); in this favella, mothers make choices on
which child to love (depending on who lives). In that culture, they cant afford to feed a baby (and give up
food) to a kid that wont live. Hughes compares it to doctors and hospital institutions. When several
people come in at critical condition, doctors have to see the chances of survival for each person (and then
act.) If they act first, theres a chance that the people wont even live in the first place
68. Nature vs. Nurture
a. Naturists trace some individual human behavior and contemporary social patterns to biology, particularly
the effects of evolution on the human body and mind. Nurturists turn to culture and the powerful effects
of nurturehow we are shaped by the people, places, events and environment around us and the choices
we makeas the primary influence shaping who we are as women and men.
b. An example of this would be asking why do men appear to be more aggressive, less engaged with
childrearing, less likely to clean the house, even less capable of sitting still? Naturists, including
evolutionary psychologists and many in popular culture trace these patterns to physical or mental
differences that developed during human evolution that have imprinted themselves in our DNA and still
shape contemporary behavior millions of years later.
c. We learn about this during the sex and gender chapter, because the concept of nature vs. nurture is a hot
one that has been going on for a long time now. It helps us think about who we are as men and women.
69. Organ theft
a. Definition the scrambling for fresh organs for transplant surgery. Often they are obtain by kidnapping,
mutilation, and dismemberment removal of blood and organs for commercial sale
b. Example The organ theft and trade in the shantytowns of Northeast Brazil
c. Significance this increases the already profound sense of ontological insecurity in a world that values
their bodies more dead as a reservoir of spare parts than alive. To the poor, it seems as if almost
anything cold can be done. This adds to the everyday treats to the poor such as urban violence, police
terror and theft. Leads to the grim statement by some that little people like ourselves are worth more
dead than alive.
70. Outsider/Insider
a. Becoming an insider from being an outsider; If youre an outsider, youre just observing all the time and
not participating in their activities; Need to do participant observation and establish rapport within a
community to become an insider.
b. Significant because this is the way you can get involved in your subject and learn about your place/topic
and actually learn something
71. Participant observation
a. Participating in the activities of daily life, we experience life from the perspective of the insider
b. ExampleBronislaw Malinowski got stranded during WWI in Trobriandhe examined the Kula ring, an
elaborate system of exchange involving thousands of individuals across many islands, some of whom
traveled hundreds of miles by canoe to exchange Kula valuables, particularly shell necklaces and
armbands in an elaborate trade network
c. Significant because participant observation is the cornerstone of fieldwork. Its not enough to learn from a
distance. Anthropologists have to get directly involved in daily activities and live life in the persons shoes.
Participant observation gives depths to our eyes and helps guard against mistaken assumption based on
observation from a distance
72. Patty Kelly/Sex Work
a. Definition A study of sexuality in age of globalization based on fieldwork in a Mexican brothel. Sex work
is legal in 1/3 of Mexican states. Zona Galactica is a legal, state run and regulated brothel with 140 women
sex workers. Kelly spent a year with the women, their clients, and with government administrators, in
order to analyze commercial sex in globalizing world. Women sex workers used brothel to make a decent
living, get health care, and even build a sense of community and a sense of dignity.
b. Example Example of how uneven development/globalization affects the world and how people are
doing whatever to make money
c. Significance This is significant because prostitution is one type of work in a wide spectrum of womens
labor since women use their bodies, intimacy and sexuality to perform various kinds of gendered work. In
a larger picture, sexuality comes into play in work places, for example, waitresses dress, act, and talk in
sexual manner to receive more tips. Studies from Zona Galactica allow people to step back from their own
ideas about sexuality and understand how sexuality plays a key role in providing modest jobs for poor
women in Mexico
73. Penguins
a. They are animals that usually live in cold places. They all look almost identical.
b. We were learning about them in order to show how phenotype does not say much about genetics; you
would be surprised to know that penguins are more genetically different than humans.
74. Peppered Moths
a. Until the mid-1800s the peppered moth population was primarily white with black specks, a coloration
that provided excellent camouflage in the light-colored moss and lichen growing on tree trunks and an
effective protection against being eaten by their primary predatorsbirds. From the late 19th century to
the mid-20th century, however, the coloration of the population gradually shifted so that 90% of the
peppered moths were black, not white. The coloration of the population gradually shifted to primarily
black through the process of natural selection. When environmental protections implemented in the late
20th century reduced pollution and soot levels, trees returned to their earlier lighter coloration. In
response, white pepper moths again increased in the population, rising from 10% in 1983 to over 90% in
the late 1990s
b. Example of natural selection in the animal world.
c. Teaches us about natural selection and the various types of adaptation in the world today
75. Phenotype/genotype
a. Definition Genotype is what is genetically expressed on our genetic code. Phenotypes are what you
physically look like right now or what is physically expressed. This is mainly due to genes interacting with
the environment.
b. Example Genotype the shape of our nose, Phenotype - bone density
c. Significance we often group people into races because of the phenotype differences within groups such
as skin color and eye color but these are only .1% differences between us. People believe these are the
biological differences that separate races. But these account for only .1% of the differences in our genes.
We are 99.9% same.
76. Plachimada
a. Plachimada is a rural area in south India, where one-third of the population lives with water scarcity. But
water scarcity is new for the people of Plachimada, an area of typically rich agricultural harvests. Local
residents trace the changes to March 2000 when Coca-Cola opened a bottling plant in the village, capable
of producing 1.2 million bottles of Coke, Sprite and Fanta every day.
b. Example of how globalization has changed the world today
c. We learned about this to help demonstrate globalization, the effects of it, and how the world is all
interconnected.
77. Polyvocality
a. The use of many voices in ethnographic writing, allows the reader to hear directly from the people in the
study. Anthropologists may also increase polyvocality by inviting key informants to help design the
research (including interviews and survey questions)
b. Example- Nancy Scheper-Hughes uses the voice of Naliza and direct quotes to help us make sense of the
deaths of so many children in the community of Alto de Cruzeiro; she explains church bells ring because
another kid (little angel) is going up to heaven
c. Significance- Bringing people and their stories to life, makes them more vibrant and available to the
reader
78. Power
a. Definition the ability or potential to bring about change, through action or influence, either ones own
or that of a group or institution
b. Example Government versus citizens
c. Significance every aspect of culture is infused with power and power relationships as every relationship
you have, there is a power dynamic to it. It is embedded in many kinds of social relations and is stratified
among participants. By studying and unmasking the dynamics of power within culture, we can
understand more about how the things work in our life.
79. Race and Racism
a. Definition Race is a flawed, culturally specific system of classification that uses certain physical
characteristics like skin color or hair texture to attempt to divide the diverse human population into a few
discreet biological groups and attribute to those groups unique combinations of physical ability, mental
capacity, personality traits cultural patterns and even capacity for civilization. Racism is the individual
racial thoughts and actions as well as the institutional patterns of behavior that create systems of power
in which power, privilege, resources and opportunities are unequally distributed among groups of people
based on a belief in biologically different races.
b. Example African Americans and slavery and segregation
c. Significance we often link race with biology and that all races have the same genetics as their
commonality. However, it has nothing to with biology but mainly our cultural constructions. By revealing
that humans are really more same than different and that it is a flawed attempt to group people, we
better understand each other and more of our similarities than our differences and can try to get rid of
racism and race.
80. Rapport
a. Building Relationships of trust and familiarity with members of the community
b. Example- keep subjects clearly informed about goals and scope of project and let them consent; protect
their privacy by anonymity or disguising their activity
c. Significant because it Allows the anthropologist to move from an outsider to an insider as people trust
them
81. Reflexivity
a. Self reflections on the experience of doing fieldwork
b. Example--Nancy Scheper-Hughes own feelings and experiences came out in her work; mentioned how
she was surprised by the indifference of women to their childs death and how they were willing to not
love their child
c. Significance- The anthropologists own feelings and experiences in the text can help make the
ethnographer become alive and makes it more engaging
82. Richard Gere
a. Richard Gere is an American movie star. In April 2007 Gere and other movie stars raised awareness about
the need for HIV/AIDS prevention in the trucking community. At the end Gere grabbed Indian movie star
Shilpa Shetty, and kissed her on both cheeks. The Indian community was really offended.
b. An example of varying cultures.
c. Significance- We learnt about this to show how culture is different in different places.
83. Rickets
a. Definition it is a vitamin deficiency disease caused by the lack of Vitamin D. It causes improper bone
formation causing one to have weak bones
b. Example: Northern African Americans
c. Significance This is the reason why we have vitamin D in our milk. During slavery, the Europeans found
out that African Americans began to develop rickets when they moved to the north because there is a lack
of sunlight in the north. Thus, since their skin was dark and the lack of sunlight, they didnt have enough
sunlight to produce vitamin d. The problem was solved when vitamin d was added to milk.
84. Sambia
a. Definition - A fundamental concept from Gil Herdts fieldwork in New Guinea. This group believed that
adult men needed to supply boys with semen to ensure their development. Secret ceremonies of fellatio
were performed by boys on older men within the group, in order to receive their semen.
b. Example example of cultural practices in other cultures
c. Significance The idea was that homosexuality strengthens the Sambian mens masculine identity and
same sex initiation did not make them seem homosexual/gay in the eyes of other cultures. This study is
related to similar anthropological studies performed on the power of liquids-semen, mother milk, coconut
milk, etc. to carry meaning, though the means to transfer the semen varied by the group that was
observed.
85. Sex Tourism- Patty Kelly studied this
a. Relies on the inequalities of the globalized economy to satisfy the fantasies of tourists from developed
countries and maximize profits to corporate shareholders; its basically a sex trade, or prostitution, as
poor women come here to earn money, as this money will help release them and their families from the
hardships of life in a largely rural, underdeveloped country. Even more fantastically, they hope to meet
and marry one of these tourist men who will then help them acquire a European visa, take them away,
and help them escape poverty and their world of limited opportunities. If they can find romance along the
way, all the better; its a survival strategy
b. Example- Tourists go to an exotic country hoping to have sex with an exotic native
c. Significance- Sex tourism reinforces and reproduces the unequal relations that have previously existed
(gender, race, class, nationality) and shows us how else globalization has affected the world around us
(through uneven development) and how people are going to drastic measures to get money to help
themselves and their families
86. Sex vs. Gender
a. Sex is the biological differences between males and female. Gender is the roles of men and women and
how they are constructed in each society.
b. An example of sex would be Morphological (differences in external genitalia), Gonadal (difference in
internal gonadstestes), or Chromosomes (XX--women or XY--men) (check chromosomes to see). An
example of gender would be that in this society men are considered to be tough, good at sports, not
emotional, and muscular.
c. We learn this to help us distinguish between sex and gender. We want to show how gender is constructed
by society/culture, and that is it not due to nature.
87. Sexuality
a. Definition is the complex range of desires, beliefs, behaviors, and identities related to physical contact,
intimacy, and pleasure. It is also a system of power through which groups of people promote, maintain,
and contest ideas of what kinds of physical desires and behaviors are right, moral, appropriate and
natural and use those ideas to create unequal access to power, privileges and resources.
b. Example It is our sexual preferences or attractions, what starts your engine
c. Significance Cultures all around the world consistently tries to frame what you can and cant do to
control sexuality. Since it is a deep and profound aspect of life, one that stirs up emotion, we can multiple
systems of power at work to control that. By studying this we begin to understand and see how culture
plays more of an important role in defining and shaping our sexuality more than biology
88. Slavery
a. Definition is the practice or system of owning slaves and the placing of the idea that one race is inferior
to another which gives reasons for the domination of that particular race
b. Example Slavery in America during the 1800s
c. Significance Is a key example of racism in a particular country and the idea that because one race is
inferior to another that they should be subordinated. However, this only take account to the phenotype
differences among people and using that to account for the entire genetic makeup of that group
89. Stratification
a. Definition the uneven distribution of power, privileges and resources within a culture, It can be stratified
along the lines of gender, race, class, age, family, religion, sexuality, or legal status. Some are in the
center of culture, others marginalized, ignored, or annihilated.
b. Example Stratification of power in culture. Some are able to participate fully in culture than others
c. Significance It organizes relationships with people and creates a framework in which access to the
resources of the culture is distributed. By studying this, not only do we understand the flow and relations
of a particular culture, but also we learned that this is not fixed as it shifts over time.
90. Susie Phipps/Barack Obama
a. Definition Susie Phipps in Louisiana, she was born as white, assumed she was white, and married twice
to two white man. However, from her birth certificate she found that she was listed as colored because
one of her 32 most recent ancestors was black. Barack Obama his mother is white from Kansas, his
father is black from Kenya. However, he is considered to be an African American and not a European
American
b. Example example provided when talking about hypodescent
c. Significance Demonstrates the concept of hypodescent and how the child of the mixed parents is
assigned to the lower inferior social identity. In the case of Susie Phipps, we see it enforced by law and in
Barack Obama case, we see that it is still happening through American culture.
91. The Kiss
a. This refers to the kiss in April 2007, between American actor Richard Gere and Indian actor Shilpa Shetty.
During an AIDS awareness assembly, Gere grabbed Shetty and kissed her on both cheeks. Video images of
this kiss spread like wildfire across India, replayed on television and published on the front pages of
newspapers. Ignored by many, the kiss drew violent protests from others, particularly religious
fundamentalists and Hindu nationalists.
b. An example of culture varies all over the place
c. Significant because it shows how cultures vary in different places. Something considered simple in
America means something completely outrageous in india.
92. Travesti
a. Definition Effeminated male prostitutes in Brazil, who enjoy anal penetration. This group occupies a
complicated position in Brazilian culture and deal with harassment as well as drug abuse and health
problems (HIV/AIDS).
b. Example example of how gender relations are present in other cultures
c. Significance Their gender inversions are frequently featured on T.V. shows and movies. They take
female names; change their bodies to look more feminine; inject silicon into their body to become more
women-like although they do not seek to become women but want to achieve the Brazilian ideals of
feminine beauty. This sexuality expands our discussion of sexuality and gender to include transgendered
identities, which are people who choose or feel they need to embrace a gender identity different from or
sometimes opposite their biological sex.
93. US Census Form
a. Definition taken every 10 years, it is a census conducted by the government to determine the
population of the country and their backgrounds
b. Example Professor Guest showed this to us in class to explain the concept of race and how people were
grouped by ethnicity or race.
c. Significance by studying this, we see the mental maps of reality of Americans. It is USs way in grouping
and identifying different people. This is a way the idea/concept of race is being promoted. There are
no Asians until you come to the US.
94. Vitamin D
a. Definition a vitamin that is produced from sunlight in our skin
b. Example Professor Guest talked about this when we talked about human adaptation.
c. Significance this is the prime reason for the variation of colors. Because African American are in an area
that is exposed to a lot of UV light, our melanocytes produce more skin pigments called melanin which is
black that blocks the sunlight and prevent cancer. The reason why white people have whiter skin is
because there is a lack of sunlight as you go higher up, thus, you need less melanin so that we can absorb
all the UV light that we can get. This is the main cause of the variation in human skin color and the cause
of race and racism in our culture
95. White Privilege
a. Definition is the special advantages that whites get because of their race
b. Example during segregation, only whites can used the water fountain or sit in the front of the bus
c. Significance This ties in to the whole concept of race and it is a way of a certain group of people assert
powers over other groups and define the lines and differences between the two. By understand the
cultural conception of race and this, we begin to realize how absurd or flawed these ideas are
96. Whiteness
a. Definition is associated with higher net worth, higher life expectancy, lower infant mortality, low rates
of disease, higher employment rates, lower incarceration rates, greater likelihood of home mortgage and
car loan approval, and higher college enrollment. Due to slavery of the past, there is an intense
stratification along racial lines which benefit whites over others. And as a result, skin-color privilege exists
and is handed down generation to generation.
b. Example White person can get a loan quicker and approved than blacks
c. Significance Even though this country prides itself as a meritocracy a system in which people are a
product of their own efforts and where equal opportunity is available to all whiteness obscures that and
difficult for many to acknowledge. Also, this is often ignored as a racial category because whiteness has
been used as the norm against which other people of color are compared and judged
97. Wink/Twitch
a. Definition refers to the wink or the twitch of an eye by a person
b. Example N/A
c. Significance - Clifford Geetz classical example of how much of the symbolic communications is non-verbal,
action-based, and much of it is unconscious. While they both involve the same physical movement of the
eye muscles, wink carries a meaning, a meaning that can change depending on the context in which it is
made. Example flirting, or slyly signaling agreement. Deciphering the particular meaning requires a
complex collective understanding of unspoken communication in a specific cultural context
98. Zeros
a. Something that is not said; They are elements of the story or of the picture that are not told or not seen
(What is missing/Who is missing/What is not mentioned)
b. Exampleasking good questions and listening to what is said and what is not said
c. Significant because Anthropologists need to become skilled listeners that can extract information from
what is said and find out more from what is not said. Important because it offers key insights into issues
and topics to sensitive to discuss publically