Personal aspects of the material culture

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Students can comment on especially the social, behavioral, ideological (e.g. beliefs), and very personal aspects of the material culture around them, which they are of course noticing more because of the emphasis in an archaeology class. You might consider these questions about the material of your everyday life:

 

Questions: 

1. what different artifacts did you use or see today that you do not normally?

2. How did an artifact take on new meaning today?

3. What symbolism is inherent in some everyday artifacts in your life today that an archaeologist/outsider would not know about?

4. What items did you use in the course of the day, and where are they deposited?

5. What might be the most confusing aspects of your life for future archaeologists if your house were buried in a volcanic eruption right now?

 

Perspectives on the cultural construction of gender and sexuality

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This week, we’ve learned about anthropological and historical perspectives on the cultural construction of gender and sexuality, as well as changing frameworks for understanding the complexities of sex itself. As described in the lecture, anthropologists talk about gender as a performance, rather than simply identity. We do gender according to norms, roles, and ideologies that we learn – and unlearn.

This assignment asks you to draft guidelines for a Martian visitor who is trying to learn more about gender.  Drawing on your own experiences as a member of the human community:

  1. What does the Martian need to know about doing gender?
    • (Note: you do not need to share your own gender identity to answer this question; you can instruct them according to your understanding of any gender)
  2. How do people in your community get enculturated into gender roles?
    • Where can the Martian find helpful advice and examples on doing gender? What kinds of sources/spaces/materials might provide further insight and detail?
  3. Why might your instructions to the Martian differ from someone else’s guidelines about gender?

New evolutionary adaptions

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Drawing from the readings of this assignment. What will be the future implications for attempting to advance and modernize cultures that don’t need or benefit from our development, and will this have an impact on the global economy? Will other societies come up with a better solution, and will there be new evolutionary adaptions that will come about, such as antibodies to diseases?

Heterosexual and monogamous union

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The proponents of “traditional” marriage often claim that a heterosexual and monogamous union is the most “natural” form of marriage (implying that non-conventional forms of marriage are “unnatural”). Have monogamy and heterosexual unions been the only or dominant forms of marriages worldwide? Please incorporate information from the chapters on marriage and family in your response.

What does anthropology tell us about the purpose and function of marriage across cultures?

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A lot of the opposition to same-sex families comes from religious people who consider these families as violating their religious beliefs (about the meaning and purpose of marriage). Do you think a multicultural society should base its definition of marriage on a religious foundation? What does anthropology tell us about the purpose and function of marriage across cultures?

Have you ever read or heard of any social scientific findings regarding media and aggressive behavior?

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Have you ever read or heard of any social scientific findings regarding media and aggressive behavior? If you have, do you believe what social science has told you about this controversial issue? Why or why not?

How can the concept of ’emergent authenticity” be used

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How can the concept of ’emergent authenticity” be used, or how is it used, to understand the significance of the production of local cultural forms for tourist consumption as discussed in the Cohodas and Medina readings? In your response, you should consider: 1) Cohodas’ discussion of the local significance of Elizabeth Hickox’ production of curio baskets; and 2) Medina’s discussion of the production of Maya cultural forms in Belize. You should consider, Where appropriate, how the concept of emergent authenticity could help us understand how meanings of ‘authenticity’ could be applied to these cultural forms by both producers (artisans) and consumers (tourists).

Discuss a specific solution to the Challenge of Surveying U.S. Latinos

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Discuss a specific solution to the Challenge of Surveying U.S. Latinos, make a recommendation to address this, and discuss why your recommendation would work.

What if any demographic changes do you see in Latino/a populations: where are they moving, are they moving away from traditional areas, are they living in urban or rural settings, what other data do you find interesting? How are we to factor segregation into our analysis – by this I mean does segregation help explain any of the phenomena you’ve noted?

Important cultural concepts of the world-view of patients

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Based on your study of oriental medicine, what are the two most important cultural concepts of the world-view of patients of this system that would need to be understood by biomedical doctors if they are also treating the same patients in US hospitals? For example, some cultures do not recognize the same symptoms as treatable health problems and don’t seek biomedical care for them.

Cultural anthropology which deals with human biology and behavior

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Respond and interact regarding points made in this discussion using these two examples.

 

EXAMPLE 1

Prompt A:

This research falls under cultural anthropology which deals with human biology and behavior in the past and present, with an emphasis on the evolutionary processes that shape them. This field of study encompasses a wide range of topics such as the study of human fossils, the genetic and physiological differences between human populations, the relationship between biology and culture, and the adaptation of humans to different environments.

 

Prompt B:

This research falls under archaeology anthropology that studies past human societies by analyzing the physical remnants of those societies, including artifacts, structures, and other environmental evidence. It covers the study of human history from the earliest human origins to recent historical periods, which allows archaeologists to reconstruct and understand the diverse range of human societies. The anthropologist in question is using this method to investigate the effects of the Spanish missionization of Native Californians between 1776 and 1830, with a particular focus on how the native population navigated their cultural identity and retained traditional practices while dealing with the colonial forces.

 

Prompt C: 

This research falls under cultural anthropology. Is a discipline within anthropology that studies the aspects of culture in human societies, including beliefs, customs, social organization, and material culture. As a discipline, it offers a holistic approach to understanding human society, culture, and behavior. In this research, the methods of cultural anthropology are applicable in understanding the impact of gender communication on family interactions.  Moreover, by focusing on one specific aspect of culture which is communication, and how it impacts relationships within a family, the anthropologist can gain a better insight into how gender roles and expectations may shape the communication and interactions within the family setting.

 

Prompt D:

This research falls under biological anthropology. Briefly, it explores the relationship between human biology, culture, and environment. The goal of biological anthropology is to examine and understand the patterns of human evolution and the biological and cultural factors that have shaped human populations over time. By comparing the amount of genetic variation present in Y-chromosomes from different groups of men, anthropologists can infer when and how those populations diverged from one another and can gain insight into the patterns of human migration throughout history.

 

EXAMPLE 2

Prompt A

For this description, the primary anthropological field is Cultural. Food and how we eat it is a large part of culture. It is mentioned that nutritional value was part of the study ( even if only in belief), this might overlap into biological anthropology if part of the study includes the actual nutritional value on them, and their culture. When studying this topic the outside disciplines I would want to consult would be nutrition as food always has a nutritional impact, agriculture since how soybean is grown may affect why or how much they eat, as well as history to know the historical context of soybean in Hong Kong.

 

Prompt B

For this description, the primary anthropological field is Archeology. There is excavation involved which is the main component of Archeology. Since the Anthropologist is interested in the identity of the Natives and how they balanced their traditions with the colonial influences this research has overlap with Cultural Anthropology, there will be lots of comparison with the cultures involved. When studying these sites an outside discipline that should be consulted would be history, the specific historical context of the area would be helpful in understanding the finding or even finding additional sites for excavation.

 

Prompt C

For this description, the primary field is linguistic anthropology. The research is being specifically done on communication which will be linguistic research. There is an overlapping field of cultural anthropology. Gender and how families interact with different genders and gender roles within the family depends much on cultural context. When studying this scenario outside disciplines that should be consulted would be communications, and linguistics.

 

Prompt D

For the study in this description the primary field is biological anthropology. The study of genetics falls under the biological field of anthropology. This is the only scenario that an overlap of a second field of anthropology doesn’t seem as obvious, at least to me. I think archeology could be involved after the fact to help  determine distance and time from the results of this study. For this scenario the outside disciplines that I would want to consult would be geography, and history since they will prove very useful to determine migrations over time.