ANTH 1 -- Ms. Creasy -- Lesson One -- Barstow Community College

G’day (morning, afternoon, or evening)! Welcome to ANTH1, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology.

The first and subsequent lectures are not intended to replace your textbook but instead, to supplement it and to guide your reading. Included with each lecture will be a list containing items you will need to know, such as anthropological words, terms, and ideas, and possibly, names. While you need to know all the terms, this is not necessarily an all-inclusive list, rather, a guideline for types of information you should learn. Lists will appear at the very end of lecture notes.

Consider this class to be a sort of learn-while-doing course. I will offer lectures and direct you to readings, both in the textbook and online, and streaming video online, as well. Watching videos associated with the textbook can help you to associate the new terminology and ideas with real life and actual cultures. All this information will provide you with rudimentary training you will need to conduct your own small anthropological project associated with something of personal interest to you. I will be here for you at each and every step of the way, and you will have all the training you need to accomplish your task. I will help you by offering suggestions, and if needed, be chatting with you by IM or by phone. Even the quizzes and short answers are structured to help you think anthropologically and to prepare you for your project and to use anthropology is your daily life. Former students have offered some tips which are posted at http://mscreasysanth1.blogspot.com/

The first thing is: what is anthropology and why should anyone care? Many believe anthropology and archaeology (of Indiana Jones fame) are the same. Well, it is true that archaeology is a sub-discipline of anthropology but only one part of it. This course is in cultural anthropology, also known as social anthropology or sociocultural anthropology. These terms are used, interchangeably by some, to describe the study of groups of people. Although cultural anthropology is not archaeology, archaeologists may use cultural anthropology to help them understand what they find on a dig (the simple, folk term used to describe an archaeological field exercise). And cultural anthropologists may use archaeological findings to try to compare behavior in previous times to current behavior.

Archaeology, biological anthropology, and linguistic anthropology are well explained in Heider. I will add my brief definitions below. You should know how to differentiate them if, for example, you were asked in what sub-field you might find a scientist studying possible physical abuses among pre-contact Native populations (bio-anth). What sort of scientist might you expect a person to be who studied potsherds of ancient Egypt (archaeology)? So as you read, think about how this information is applied.

Speaking of applied, although I will not accept applied alone as one of the fields that most piques your interest, many believe applied anthropology constitutes yet another sub-field. This is probably because anthropologists over the past couple of decades have increasingly moved out of academia and into a wide range of jobs. Applied anthropologists now work as government employees (helping, for example, with developmental projects in third world nations), as consultants for companies that care about the impact of culture on how their employees work and how their customers think and behave. One of the key differences between applied anthropologists and the more academically inclined anthropologists is that the former look to provide insights into understanding human culture that will help in creating purposeful change, whereas the others have been largely trained to carefully document and explain patterns of behaviors and belief systems that exist out in the world. When we talk about anthropological fieldwork, you will learn that anthropologists are trained to be very cautious about minimizing the extent to which they affect the people that they study; there are no intentional efforts to change the culture of others. Applied anthropologists are hired to provide policy makers with a deep understanding of culture so that programs aimed at creating change are more likely to take hold and to respect the traditions and beliefs of the people deemed in need of some form of change.

Some reasons people study anthropology can be an interest in human development, or a curiosity about how different peoples resolve similar problems and issues such as marriage, food gathering or production, disease control, spiritual lives, child rearing, warfare, politics, etc. Heider offers good definitions and examples of anthropological sub-disciplines, but also, for a brief but nice little overview watch this video (5+ minutes):

For a good, thorough discussion of Social Anthropology, Alan MacFarlane is a world renowned and well respected Cambridge anthropologist, in England, who has become interested in how electronic media might be used to spread knowledge. His British accent may cause you to need to listen very closely. I will post a list of the names and terms he mentions that you need to know. View this video no later than the end of Week 1 (however, viewing it early may help you to understand the combination of lectures and texts assigned). Note the terms he uses that are also used in Heider (and probably, listed by me, too). Not only might those be on a quiz, but using them properly can help earn you higher grades Dr. MacFarlane’s 24.08 minute, initial discussion can be found at:

So, after reading Heider and watching MacFarlane, we understand that anthropology is holistic in nature (research takes into account the totality of human experiences), and that there are four widely accepted sub-disciplines (socio-cultural, linguistic, biological/physical, and archaeology).

Some anthropologists also study non-human primates, such as chimpanzees and orangutans. Since anthropology is the study of mankind, why would we consider a person who studied non-human primates to be an anthropologist, rather than an animal behaviorist or biologist? Keep this question in mind as you watch MacFarlane and read Heider. If this is particularly interesting to you, too, you might wish to look at some good sites on the web. Here are some highly recommended ones:

Anthropologists who study non-human primates are biological/physical anthropologists, but others within the same sub-field may also study human and other primate diseases, or the impact of environment, or human genetics (inherited traits).

When anthropologists study language acquisition, or compare language traits from one culture to other(s), or seek to understand if there are non-verbal signs that enable communication within a group or between groups, those are linguistic anthropologists.

Archaeologists are the ones who dig. Although they once tended to dig up artifacts in far away places, now they may also only dig through waste in a modern city, the study of which is called garbology. Archaeologists may also be searching for evidence of early man, or the evolution of primates. As if this isn’t already huge enough, some anthropologists study the planet in pre-historic times (paleo-anthropologists)!

All anthropologists work in every part of the world that has ever contained human beings and across both historic (written records) and pre-historic time. Some work in times earlier than those, too.

Chapter one of your textbook introduces you to three important concepts that are central to anthropology: ethnocentrism, cultural relativism and holism. Make sure you understand each of these. Let me briefly give you my definition of each.

Nearly everyone on the planet engages in ethnocentrism. We look at everything measured against what we know and understand, in the way we know and understand it. We often think in terms of what we deem "natural" but what is actually the way we are socialized (taught to fit into the place where we are). In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, bureaucrats tried to outlaw a ceremonial proceeding on the Pacific Northwest Coast, called the potlatch. Each potlatch is initiated by its family’s hamatsa (an initiate into a secret society where young men are "possessed" by the spirit of Bakbakwalanuksiwie [bahk bahk wall uh nuke seh way], also known as the Cannibal Bird). The hamatsa’s dance portrays the young man, first, as cannibalistic and then, with the help from his family, his humanity returns. The performance displays the young man’s power gained during his ordeal, but more importantly, that nothing proceeds until humanity has won out over the bestial nature of the Cannibal Bird. Outsiders, mainly Indian agents and missionaries, saw and reported only the supposed cannibalism that was dramatized, and used that as one of the reasons to force government to demand Northwest Coast peoples to abandon their "primitive" practices. They didn’t see what the Native people saw or understood. The bureaucrats, agents, and missionaries were ethnocentric.

On one part of the coast, then, came Franz Boas, an anthropologist. After spending some time with the Kwakiutl (one band of the Kwakwaka’wakw [kwah kwah key walk] First Nation), he fought for them to be able to continue their potlatches, especially since their economic, political, and social structures, food and material goods distribution, and other behaviors were fully integrated in the potlatch. He witnessed and came to understand how the hamatsa was a performance that pays homage to the force of one’s humanity over a possible animalistic nature, particularly when one has the help of one’s family. Boas was considering the ceremony from a viewpoint of cultural relativism.

Early explorers and colonizers tended to be exposed to bits and pieces of other cultures. In addition to considering their own culture to be the one and only superior one in the world (don’t we all?), this piecemeal perspective tended to add to their ethnocentric views. For the few who tried to understand the Other from their own point of view and to see how everything fit, something that might seem odd, or silly, or scary if it were plunked down in the middle of a European city, made perfect sense from within the culture from which it came. Furthermore, trying to change one sub-system (like the potlatch) has effects on other sub-systems within a culture. So, as anthropologists, we make every effort to view a whole, including all the sub-systems (economics, religion, gender roles, food production, etc.) and that concept is called holism. Watch the clip The Goddess and the Computer to get a better idea how important holism can be. If you do not have the DVD, click on the title above.

Anthropology	ethnography
Fieldwork	ethnology
Ethnographic present ("e.p.")	Holistic
Participant-observation	Cultural relativity
Ethnocentrism	Material culture
Linguistic anthropology	Biological or physical anthropology
Cultural anthropology	Archaeology
Applied anthropology	garbology
Artifact	Multicultural

NOTE: The point of discussion questions is to generate discussion in a way that helps us to see how anthropology is engrained in our lives. DQ responses are due Friday in order to assure there is material for discussion (responding to another’s post) no later than Monday, which is the end of our week.

Responses should demonstrate understanding of the discussion topic as presented in the text and/or lectures. Answering the questions this way should help contextualize the topic and promote understanding of the concepts.

Participation requires substantive replies that show an understanding of the material AND which help to continue the discussion. Kudos, back-patting, and other forms of "atta-boys" are not unwelcomed but they do not count toward Participation. In other words, it is nice if you say, "Nice post," but it doesn’t count.

This is a good time and place to practice in-text citations, too, and learning how to use others’ words and ideas without accidently committing plagiarism. I do not disallow the use of Wikipedia; however, if our text explains someone one way and Wikipedia explains it differently, the text is determined to be the (more) correct explanation.

Introduction: Why did you enroll in this course and how does it fit into your educational goals? (This will entail telling the class what your intended major or education program is. You may also state what your post-graduate goals are with regard to a career or other aspiration). 5 points

Participation is responding to at least one other students’ post. DQ response and Participation may not be on the same day. 5 points

When you copy your responses over to the DQ thread on the course website, please do not include the questions.