Lecture 2

Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

I. Review what we discussed on day one.

A. Four fields of anthropology (Physical/Bio; Archaeology, Linguistic, Cultural).

B. Cultural Anthropology

C. Why take anthropology?

What can be achieved by doing this?

Tolerance

Diversity

Adaptability

II. Important Anthropological Concepts

A. HOLISM:

B. Ethnocentrism

C. Cultural Relativism:

D. Emic / Etic

III. Anthropology and Science

A. Hypothesis

B. Theory

IV. A Brief History of Anthropological Fieldwork

A. Armchair Anthropology

B. The Revolution of Evolutionists Theory

C. Bronislaw Malinowski

D. Malinowski’s work led to three rules of fieldwork that ethnographers follow to this day.

1. Live with the people

2. Learn the language

3. Do participant observation: a method of fieldwork aimed at an equal balance between participation in community life and objective observation.

E. Problems with fieldwork:

1) Culture shock and re-entry shock

2) Getting the truth: requires spending a lot of time with people to build trust.

3) Gender bias: who do people prefer to talk with? People identify with gender of the anthro.