F) I realized that Anthropology is used in my everyday life. Without anthropology we probably would not have come as far as we have today. While taking this course i have found my self thinking oh ya i learned about that in anthro the other day. In school i noticed it the most. I think that the concepts of anthro are so brilliant, of we didnt study people, other cultures, and ways of life, nothing would ever work out it seems. No one would ever be able to understand another society/culture, and we probably would not be even as advanced technologically either. I think that one of the best ways to learn is by comparing with other people. Because of the fact that we somewhat understood other cultures in other countries, we have been able to advance our technology, help them if needed, help ourselves, and become "allies." ( if u you will) Also i think that people would be so much more judgemental and close minded. Anthropology allows us to get insite into other countries, or even the way that people think that are different then others. For example, not only can we understand more about gender/sex, which is a huge issue here in our own country, but also about life, traditions, rules, power, ethnography, etc... in other countries and cultures. Throughout the course of this semester i have learned so much reguarding other cultures and have become much more aware of things that are going on and more open minded to things that i have not yet learned about. It is not fair to be bias against things that one is unaware of, this is one of the things i learned through this class that i thought was really so important to understand and do.
G) One of the things that i have noticed about anthtopology that i think is a major weakness is the fact that it is really hard to disreguard your own culture when learning and studing about another. It is just our human nature, and the way we were taught (our culture) to believe what we were taught our whole lives. It is difficult not to have biases. For example, it would be very hard to go to another country that believes that eating dogs, cats, hourses, etc... is ok and done on a regular basis. Being an anthropologist and studing this would be so difficult i think. Here we strongly believe that eating your house pets is not at all an ok thing to do, let alone good tasting. If it was me in this situation i dont think i could eat something like that just because of the culture that i was raised in, i would feel so bad that i was eating a dog or cat, a pet!!! Even for an professional anthropologist i think that this would be an extremley hard thing to just accept and be open minded to. On the other hand anthro has so many strengths. We learn so so much about other cultures and ways of life. In order for us to grow better as a person and a country we need to learn, no just about ourselves, but about other ways of life and thoughts, perceptions, rules, and cultures; and anthropology gives us the tools that we need to succede in this.
H) i used wikipedia, and what i have really learned from this class.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Power and Control
A) I believe that there are many different definitions of power but to me it is about having the ability to make someone think, feel, act, do what you want, etc... To me this sort of sound like describing manipulation, but i fell that this is the best way to define power. Control on the other hand is much different. Control is basically having control over other people, one example is like laws or constant rules. There are two different types of control though, formal mechanisms of social control, and informal mechanisms of social control. Formal mechanisms is more along the lines of what i defined contol as, laws rules etc... Informal is differen though, it is more "laid back" persay, it is more based off of costums traditions and normalities.
B) I am a gymnastics coach, so i myself seem to be using power every day, with the children that i coach. I have one particular class that i have to use my power with especially. I coach a class with 8 three year old girls and boys, 6 girls and 2 boys. This in particulas is the craziest class that i have ever coached. In order to keep the children safe we rotate around stations set up in the gym, but being only 2-3 years old, usually they have other plans. Most commonly they are running around the gym like crazy people... and i have to figure out how to contain them while being nice. Sometimes i end up with one kid over my shoulder and 2 in my arms bring them back to the group of kids in the station who are not actually doing gymnastics but running the station like it is a speed way. :) Latley i have found that just telling them to do something doesnt work at all, so this is where i use my power. I found that if i tell them "if you guys all listen very nicely and try hard doing your gymnastics, and stay with the group then we can have extra play time on the trampoline and in the foam pit at the end of class" Most of the time the bribe works and they listen nicely and class runs smoothly. But everyonce in awhile i have to tell them that if they are not going to listen to me then they dont need to do gymnastics any more today and they can sit and watch everyone else have play time, while they sit upstairs with mom or dad. This more harsh bribe works very well also. In my case i think that power over the children is very necessary :)
C) I think that studying power and control from an anthropological standpoint is very important and i think would be very interesting, epecially studing children and their parents, coaches, teachers etc...I think that it is so amazing that what these kids are learning in the gym, not only gymnastics but life skills; determination, listening, politeness, honesty, and more. They will grow up with these skills learned by parents, teachers, etc... From an anthropologist point of view, i think that it would be very benificial to learn to only about the kids, but about what the parents are teaching them, through their power.
D) The lecture notes gave me a good base and knowlage of what the basics of power and control really are.
B) I am a gymnastics coach, so i myself seem to be using power every day, with the children that i coach. I have one particular class that i have to use my power with especially. I coach a class with 8 three year old girls and boys, 6 girls and 2 boys. This in particulas is the craziest class that i have ever coached. In order to keep the children safe we rotate around stations set up in the gym, but being only 2-3 years old, usually they have other plans. Most commonly they are running around the gym like crazy people... and i have to figure out how to contain them while being nice. Sometimes i end up with one kid over my shoulder and 2 in my arms bring them back to the group of kids in the station who are not actually doing gymnastics but running the station like it is a speed way. :) Latley i have found that just telling them to do something doesnt work at all, so this is where i use my power. I found that if i tell them "if you guys all listen very nicely and try hard doing your gymnastics, and stay with the group then we can have extra play time on the trampoline and in the foam pit at the end of class" Most of the time the bribe works and they listen nicely and class runs smoothly. But everyonce in awhile i have to tell them that if they are not going to listen to me then they dont need to do gymnastics any more today and they can sit and watch everyone else have play time, while they sit upstairs with mom or dad. This more harsh bribe works very well also. In my case i think that power over the children is very necessary :)
C) I think that studying power and control from an anthropological standpoint is very important and i think would be very interesting, epecially studing children and their parents, coaches, teachers etc...I think that it is so amazing that what these kids are learning in the gym, not only gymnastics but life skills; determination, listening, politeness, honesty, and more. They will grow up with these skills learned by parents, teachers, etc... From an anthropologist point of view, i think that it would be very benificial to learn to only about the kids, but about what the parents are teaching them, through their power.
D) The lecture notes gave me a good base and knowlage of what the basics of power and control really are.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Trying for advanced mastery! :) sex and gender
G) When thinking of 2 different gender systems, the best example that i can think of is the difference between say females here in america, and in India. (if i understand correctly??) Here in America women are free and have many rights. We can vote, dress how we please, etc... In the Indian culture women do not have nearly as much. THey must dress head to toe cover everyday when going out, they are bearly allowed to show their face, many women wear veils. Also many of them don't work (they are not allowed to) they dont have much, if any, education because the men want to keep them inferior to them. Also in India men can marry many women and thatis just appart of their cultures. Here in America if a man were to even be with more than one women that would be severly looked down apon. I dont even think you are allowed to be married to multiple people in America. (but dont hold me to that :) I feel like india and parts of the middle east are how America used to be a long time ago,and worse. Women are so limited compared to how women live here. In india a women must be married in order to even survive. She cant get a job, so no money, no house, no food, etc... Here there are so many women that are divourced or just not married yet that have full time jobs, own their own homes and property, cars and live fine on their own. With all of this in mind i think that these systems are very differnt! and that a persons gender is persuaded very much so by the culture in which they are raised.
H) Google, and my own knowledge (my mother works with many women from India)
H) Google, and my own knowledge (my mother works with many women from India)
Sex and Gender
A) Sex is biological/physical aspect of the human body being male or female. Also it has do with what sex organs a person has, the different chromasomes and genes that differentiate bethween male and female. It is basically what determines what physical differences/ sex you are genetically, male or female.
B) Gender is more of a cultural, less biological, self proclaimed way of being male of female. A person is born with, and in a sense will always be the same sex(even with sex change) but with gender one can choose whether they think that they were really meant to be a girl or vice versa. If one decides that they were really meant to be the sex other than what they are, they can get a "sex change." Although in the outside, physically, they may look to have changed sex, they will biologically always be what they were born as.
C) I feel that they best and most apparent example of sex and gender would be a transvestite. For some people, while growing up they feel as if they should have been born as the other sex. They show more feminine or masculine traits because they feel they were meant to be that sex. In these cases a person could get a sex change. Which would physically change what sex that person was by giving them the opposite sex organs ( a male to a female or female to male). After this transformation the transvestite is now physically the other sex, but surgery is not capable of changing DNA and genes around yet so the person is only the other sex on the outside, they will always be whatever sex they were born with, despite the physical differences.
D) I believe that sex/gender dichotomy is very useful in today's society and culture. It is best to refer to a person as what gender they perceive themselves to be. For example, at school or work it is best to refer to someone with the sex that they have been changed to (transvestite) him or her/she or he, or perceive themselves as, no matter what their biological sex is.
E) I am very open to the matter, and i think that the difference between sex and gender are very important. I feel that if we have the technology to help someone with their gender issues surgically than we should. If a little girl is born and grows up to be more ont he tom boy side, and later on in life she decides that she really feels that she should have been born the other sex ( a boy) then she should be able to do something about it, and get a sex change. Although having a sex change does not fully mean that the sex of that person has changed, they will forever be what they were born as because of genes and chromasomes, but i am sure that it makes a substancial difference in the life of that person, they are finally who they really feel they should be. With all of this in mind i am still really not sure if sex influences gender, i believe it has many different cases. For someone like i described in my above example, i dont believe that sex is inluencing their gender, but for othe people, sometimes i think that people get really confuse about what gender they are and dont really no. In this case if kind of feel that it is different. Over all though i feel that a person sex doesn't really influence their gender to that great of an extent. In the "olden days" sex might have influenced gender much more, because things like that were not as accpted in culture back then, but in todays culture people usually dont hink to much of it.
F) i thought that Dr. Archers notes and the link called sex and gender were the most helpfull for me :)
B) Gender is more of a cultural, less biological, self proclaimed way of being male of female. A person is born with, and in a sense will always be the same sex(even with sex change) but with gender one can choose whether they think that they were really meant to be a girl or vice versa. If one decides that they were really meant to be the sex other than what they are, they can get a "sex change." Although in the outside, physically, they may look to have changed sex, they will biologically always be what they were born as.
C) I feel that they best and most apparent example of sex and gender would be a transvestite. For some people, while growing up they feel as if they should have been born as the other sex. They show more feminine or masculine traits because they feel they were meant to be that sex. In these cases a person could get a sex change. Which would physically change what sex that person was by giving them the opposite sex organs ( a male to a female or female to male). After this transformation the transvestite is now physically the other sex, but surgery is not capable of changing DNA and genes around yet so the person is only the other sex on the outside, they will always be whatever sex they were born with, despite the physical differences.
D) I believe that sex/gender dichotomy is very useful in today's society and culture. It is best to refer to a person as what gender they perceive themselves to be. For example, at school or work it is best to refer to someone with the sex that they have been changed to (transvestite) him or her/she or he, or perceive themselves as, no matter what their biological sex is.
E) I am very open to the matter, and i think that the difference between sex and gender are very important. I feel that if we have the technology to help someone with their gender issues surgically than we should. If a little girl is born and grows up to be more ont he tom boy side, and later on in life she decides that she really feels that she should have been born the other sex ( a boy) then she should be able to do something about it, and get a sex change. Although having a sex change does not fully mean that the sex of that person has changed, they will forever be what they were born as because of genes and chromasomes, but i am sure that it makes a substancial difference in the life of that person, they are finally who they really feel they should be. With all of this in mind i am still really not sure if sex influences gender, i believe it has many different cases. For someone like i described in my above example, i dont believe that sex is inluencing their gender, but for othe people, sometimes i think that people get really confuse about what gender they are and dont really no. In this case if kind of feel that it is different. Over all though i feel that a person sex doesn't really influence their gender to that great of an extent. In the "olden days" sex might have influenced gender much more, because things like that were not as accpted in culture back then, but in todays culture people usually dont hink to much of it.
F) i thought that Dr. Archers notes and the link called sex and gender were the most helpfull for me :)
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Globalization!!!!
A) Wow i thought that i knew what globalization was but really it is much much more. Globalization is essentially the unification of the world into one big single society that functions together. It allows the entire world to be able to trade together, make global wide investments, the spread of technology, capital flows, and migration can occur. Now the different cultures and types of people all have the opportunity to live wherever they please.(wikipedia) Globalization does have its positives and negatives though. Globalization is like opening up all trade lines, which makes trading much more cost effective, because everything can be done globally. Which is definitely look at as a positive. But one the negative thoughts on it is that in the long run, it makes the rich richer, and the poor poorer. *** :) (that reminds me of that Santana song maria maria, they say something like... and as the rich keep getting richer, the poor keep getting poorer.) :) sorry off track just a little :) oops
B) I found that one place that globalization is impacting greatly is India. First of all it explained how since India opened up their country in the early 90's the tariff rates have reduces greatly. These are the percentages that they gave. "The Indian tariff rates reduced sharply over the decade from a weighted average of 72.5% in 1991-92 to 24.6 in 1996-97.Though tariff rates went up slowly in the late nineties it touched 35.1% in 2001-02. India is committed to reduced tariff rates. Peak tariff rates are to be reduced to be reduced to the minimum with a peak rate of 20%, in another 2 years most non-tariff barriers have been dismantled by march 2002, including almost all quantitative restrictions."(http://economics.about.com/od/globalizationtrade/l/aaglobalization.htm) Also they talked about how globalization is effecting the growth rates. In 2003-2004 (this study is a little old) India was the largest growing population after China. Before that though from 1990 to 1997 the growth rate went up over 70 %. That is a huge amount and the global economy helped boost the numbers that high. But shortly after that they took a huge dive and went the lowest that they had ever been, which was 4.3% in 2002- 2003. This was because of the great water drought that they were in. Although in 2003-2004 the growth rates were expected to go back up to 70%. Also this website talked about the extreme amounts of poverty, new technology, and the proposal, made by Bush, to eliminate all tariffs on manufactured goods by the year 2015. It thought that this was a very informational website and i really enjoyed learning about globalization from another countries point of view, and learning a lot more about globalization.
C) One thing that i noticed that really screams GLOBALIZATION :) is toys and trinkets. I cant even count how many things i have looked at and read "made in China" or "made in Indonesia." I think that this is totally a sign of globalization in my community. We import so many of our toys from china and foreign countries because of the trade availability(caused by globalization) If i go to the local Target, or any store that sells toys, and look on the back of a toy, a good amount of them will say made in china, etc... because it is cheaper to manufacture them in other countries and then ship them here to America.
D) notes from Professor Archer, and Google (searching globalization impacts)
B) I found that one place that globalization is impacting greatly is India. First of all it explained how since India opened up their country in the early 90's the tariff rates have reduces greatly. These are the percentages that they gave. "The Indian tariff rates reduced sharply over the decade from a weighted average of 72.5% in 1991-92 to 24.6 in 1996-97.Though tariff rates went up slowly in the late nineties it touched 35.1% in 2001-02. India is committed to reduced tariff rates. Peak tariff rates are to be reduced to be reduced to the minimum with a peak rate of 20%, in another 2 years most non-tariff barriers have been dismantled by march 2002, including almost all quantitative restrictions."(http://economics.about.com/od/globalizationtrade/l/aaglobalization.htm) Also they talked about how globalization is effecting the growth rates. In 2003-2004 (this study is a little old) India was the largest growing population after China. Before that though from 1990 to 1997 the growth rate went up over 70 %. That is a huge amount and the global economy helped boost the numbers that high. But shortly after that they took a huge dive and went the lowest that they had ever been, which was 4.3% in 2002- 2003. This was because of the great water drought that they were in. Although in 2003-2004 the growth rates were expected to go back up to 70%. Also this website talked about the extreme amounts of poverty, new technology, and the proposal, made by Bush, to eliminate all tariffs on manufactured goods by the year 2015. It thought that this was a very informational website and i really enjoyed learning about globalization from another countries point of view, and learning a lot more about globalization.
C) One thing that i noticed that really screams GLOBALIZATION :) is toys and trinkets. I cant even count how many things i have looked at and read "made in China" or "made in Indonesia." I think that this is totally a sign of globalization in my community. We import so many of our toys from china and foreign countries because of the trade availability(caused by globalization) If i go to the local Target, or any store that sells toys, and look on the back of a toy, a good amount of them will say made in china, etc... because it is cheaper to manufacture them in other countries and then ship them here to America.
D) notes from Professor Archer, and Google (searching globalization impacts)
Language, Speech, and Discourse
A) The connections between language and culture are very important. First of all language is one of the big influences on culture. Many things that make up a certain culture are learned through language, whether it be vocal or not. Languages is part of the process in which culture is passed on through generations. Also, language is a huge part of culture because most cultures speak different languages. Not only is the language different though, but phrases, words, voice fluctuations, saying a word with the stress of a letter in a different way or place, and much more. Really the connection is so important. It has been studied for many years, how language was different years and years ago. How language began, and how much it has influenced our culture and world today.
B and C) In the course material, i thought that the Speech Act Theory was the most interesting approaches. The speech act says that, "when we say something, we are actually doing something."(course materials, speech act) When we are saying something, we are doing more than just talking. We are making expectations and relationships. What is said in a certain circumstance can change the way that things happen, or the outcome of the event. For example, if some one is trying to rent or buy a house and everything is undetermined so far, they are not sure if they are going to be able to get the house maybe because someone else is also interested, but then when the owner/landlord of the house says that you got it and the home is now yours, or yours to rent, it is not just saying it. It changes things and now those people own the home or are going to live in it. I think that that example works for the speech act. I really liked the example from someone else in this class about being on trail. When you are int he courtroom you are not guilty or innocent, but the moment the judge says "guilty" or "innocent" it changes everything. That person is either going to jail or going home happy.
D) I choose the Speech Act. I believe that it is really interesting, and such a valuable and common thing in every day life. I have never heard of the speech act before taking this class but now realize that it is used so much in everyday life. Like in my last example i when a judge "issues the command" that a person is guilty, or innocent, it changes the circumstances and relationships within just a sentence. The person is now either going home or going to jail(if the crime is big enough). Or on not such a serious note if a owner of a house says to you, that the house is now yours, it is not just a simple sentence. He just changed what will be happening in the future, he changed the expectation with his simple utterance. The speech act relates to me very closely. I am gymnastics coach for preschoolers up to competitive team gymnastics. Now when i am talking to my preschoolers i have to be really nice and use a "uppity" happy voice and explain things very quickly for them to understand and stay focused on what we are learning and doing in class. So i have to change the tone of my voice in order for them to listen, and get things done. On the other hand, when i am coaching the team girls (ages 9 to 16) i have to be very firm and yell at them a lot more. I have to be much meaner to them in order for them to go for certain skills, or get things done. They don't respond well unless i raise my voice and tell them repeatedly. It is amazing that even though it is the same sport coaching is so different with the different ages and levels. I think that language is such an important thing in our culture ans life today, an i think that it is amazing that things explained in the Speech act theory are as they are. It is amazing how much power language really has.
E) On this section i really thought that Professor Archer's notes really helped me out them most. They made it easier for me to understand and easy to compare the to different topics, the SWH and the speech act theory.
B and C) In the course material, i thought that the Speech Act Theory was the most interesting approaches. The speech act says that, "when we say something, we are actually doing something."(course materials, speech act) When we are saying something, we are doing more than just talking. We are making expectations and relationships. What is said in a certain circumstance can change the way that things happen, or the outcome of the event. For example, if some one is trying to rent or buy a house and everything is undetermined so far, they are not sure if they are going to be able to get the house maybe because someone else is also interested, but then when the owner/landlord of the house says that you got it and the home is now yours, or yours to rent, it is not just saying it. It changes things and now those people own the home or are going to live in it. I think that that example works for the speech act. I really liked the example from someone else in this class about being on trail. When you are int he courtroom you are not guilty or innocent, but the moment the judge says "guilty" or "innocent" it changes everything. That person is either going to jail or going home happy.
D) I choose the Speech Act. I believe that it is really interesting, and such a valuable and common thing in every day life. I have never heard of the speech act before taking this class but now realize that it is used so much in everyday life. Like in my last example i when a judge "issues the command" that a person is guilty, or innocent, it changes the circumstances and relationships within just a sentence. The person is now either going home or going to jail(if the crime is big enough). Or on not such a serious note if a owner of a house says to you, that the house is now yours, it is not just a simple sentence. He just changed what will be happening in the future, he changed the expectation with his simple utterance. The speech act relates to me very closely. I am gymnastics coach for preschoolers up to competitive team gymnastics. Now when i am talking to my preschoolers i have to be really nice and use a "uppity" happy voice and explain things very quickly for them to understand and stay focused on what we are learning and doing in class. So i have to change the tone of my voice in order for them to listen, and get things done. On the other hand, when i am coaching the team girls (ages 9 to 16) i have to be very firm and yell at them a lot more. I have to be much meaner to them in order for them to go for certain skills, or get things done. They don't respond well unless i raise my voice and tell them repeatedly. It is amazing that even though it is the same sport coaching is so different with the different ages and levels. I think that language is such an important thing in our culture ans life today, an i think that it is amazing that things explained in the Speech act theory are as they are. It is amazing how much power language really has.
E) On this section i really thought that Professor Archer's notes really helped me out them most. They made it easier for me to understand and easy to compare the to different topics, the SWH and the speech act theory.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Perspective and Experiance
A) Ethnocentrism focuses mostly on the idea, that when people are looking at other cultures they tend to bring their own culture in and compare it the the studied culture. Obviously people are attached to their way of thinking or their culture, but when looking at, or studying another culture it is not fair to think of his or her culture as more important or better than the other culture. If this happens then the newly studied culture will not be learned a thoroughly or correctly. For example, in other countries women are not allowed to show their face or really any skin in public. They must wear veils on their faces and cover up their bodies when going into the public. In our culture we don't do that at all, many girls wear short skirt or shirts and show lots of skin in public. So to us in our culture that seems weird to us, but to them they must do it.
B) Culture shock is really just what it sound like it would be. It is when someone leaves their own culture behind, possibly for a vacation or moving maybe, and goes to another country where the culture is very different form the one that they are familiar with and used to at home. Culture shock is when a person enters that knew culture they are say excited and open tho the things that are going on around them because it is all knew, different, and exciting. Then sometimes they will become more anxious, because everything is so different form what they were used to at home, and they are not familiar with the way that things are done in this knew culture yet. Then eventually they become familiar and maybe accustomed to this new culture and it become more of a norm for the. Also there can be reverse culture shock. This is when a person becomes used or accustomed to a new visited culture, and then comes back home to the original culture that they had previously known.
C) Culture is a very big part of the whole world, and people and their experiences and perspectives are greatly influenced by it. People start to think that their culture is the "right" way to do things and that other cultures beliefs and thoughts are "wrong" or weird. Which i snot right because there are so many different cultures that make up this world and none of them are "wrong" or "right" they are all just different ways of thinking. This could definitely change a persons experience somewhere or perspective on a place.
D) There is really no way to stop ethnocentrism. It is something that is going to happen know matter what. People are aware of it, but there really isn't much that can be done, which is a major problem. There is always going to be people that think it is stupid that people in other parts of the wold do things differently then they do. Like not allowing women to show their face or skin in public. Because of the fact that there is most likely going to be eethnocentrism, it is almost inevitale that culture shock will also occur. So it seems that we are sort of setting ourselves up in this vicious cycle of culture shock and ethnocentrism.
E) On a more positive note, cultural relativism is a possible solution to our problem of ethnocentrism and culture shock. Cultural relativism requires a reasearcher to look at and study a different culture with more of an open mind. They must have the idea that they are not comparing this different culture to their own in a way that they assume that their culture is better and more right. But instead must think of it as comparing it to the "normal" culture that they are used to and know. This way more can be learned about this different culture and more can be understood. Using this method of cultural relativism, and being more open minded and non judgemental, will help overcome culture shock much easier.
F) I think that if people had a more open mind to what other people were doing, especially if it is part of their culture, it would be so much better. Like i said earlier, why should it matter to some people that some women in other countries arent allowed to show skin or parts of their face. That is a part of their culture and cannot be changed by a single person, especially one not apart of that culture. People just need to accept what other cultures do, even if they do not totally agree with it themselves. Just keeping an open mind will help this situation of culture shock and ethnocentrism a lot.
G) i thought that the wikipedia cites were a big help. It is easier for me to define and get the just of what the topic is about from reading the information given on the page.
B) Culture shock is really just what it sound like it would be. It is when someone leaves their own culture behind, possibly for a vacation or moving maybe, and goes to another country where the culture is very different form the one that they are familiar with and used to at home. Culture shock is when a person enters that knew culture they are say excited and open tho the things that are going on around them because it is all knew, different, and exciting. Then sometimes they will become more anxious, because everything is so different form what they were used to at home, and they are not familiar with the way that things are done in this knew culture yet. Then eventually they become familiar and maybe accustomed to this new culture and it become more of a norm for the. Also there can be reverse culture shock. This is when a person becomes used or accustomed to a new visited culture, and then comes back home to the original culture that they had previously known.
C) Culture is a very big part of the whole world, and people and their experiences and perspectives are greatly influenced by it. People start to think that their culture is the "right" way to do things and that other cultures beliefs and thoughts are "wrong" or weird. Which i snot right because there are so many different cultures that make up this world and none of them are "wrong" or "right" they are all just different ways of thinking. This could definitely change a persons experience somewhere or perspective on a place.
D) There is really no way to stop ethnocentrism. It is something that is going to happen know matter what. People are aware of it, but there really isn't much that can be done, which is a major problem. There is always going to be people that think it is stupid that people in other parts of the wold do things differently then they do. Like not allowing women to show their face or skin in public. Because of the fact that there is most likely going to be eethnocentrism, it is almost inevitale that culture shock will also occur. So it seems that we are sort of setting ourselves up in this vicious cycle of culture shock and ethnocentrism.
E) On a more positive note, cultural relativism is a possible solution to our problem of ethnocentrism and culture shock. Cultural relativism requires a reasearcher to look at and study a different culture with more of an open mind. They must have the idea that they are not comparing this different culture to their own in a way that they assume that their culture is better and more right. But instead must think of it as comparing it to the "normal" culture that they are used to and know. This way more can be learned about this different culture and more can be understood. Using this method of cultural relativism, and being more open minded and non judgemental, will help overcome culture shock much easier.
F) I think that if people had a more open mind to what other people were doing, especially if it is part of their culture, it would be so much better. Like i said earlier, why should it matter to some people that some women in other countries arent allowed to show skin or parts of their face. That is a part of their culture and cannot be changed by a single person, especially one not apart of that culture. People just need to accept what other cultures do, even if they do not totally agree with it themselves. Just keeping an open mind will help this situation of culture shock and ethnocentrism a lot.
G) i thought that the wikipedia cites were a big help. It is easier for me to define and get the just of what the topic is about from reading the information given on the page.
Ethnography continued...
I realized with thanksgiving just passed, that it is a good example of different cultures and the ethnographic method. This Thanksgiving i went to my boy friends familys house to spend our Thanksgiving. Even before we went i knew that it was going to be a much different experiance than my own familys thanksgiving. One of the first thing that i noticed was that he has a much bigger family/family gathering than my family does. He had around 20 to 25 of his immediate family there. At my familys we usually have aroung 8 to 12 people. Before eating dinner everyone helped out and all of the kids(cousins) played games. Everyone beought a dish and helped put the finish meal together. At my family house the "host" family (who evers house it is) does all of the cooking and cleaning usually, and we rotate who's house it is at every holiday. I tried to follow my boy friends lead and just do whatever he was doing. During dinner everyone kind of just had small conversations with whom ever they were near and then when done got up and just started helping clean up. At my familys usually the conversation is with everyone, probably because there is not as many people, and we have to ask to be excused when we are through with our dinner. After experiancing both very different family thanksgivings, i really like the way that things were done with his family and never really thought of it being very different for other familys, because that is what my cultural backround of it was. I think that it is cool that many people celebrate the same holiday in so many differt ways, because of the way that they were brought up doing it, their culture.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Ethnography
Ethnography is a method of research that anthropologists use. Basically ethnography is understanding another culture and their ways of life, and linking that to the specific behaviors, traditions, etc.. that they have. Anthropologists do this by immersing themselves into the culture. I think that really that is the only way to really get the full understanding. They learn to speak the language, watch closely, listen, and learn the ways of the culture. There are two techniques that anthropologists use to gain there information and knowledge. One is called the Quantitative method which is more focused on data and things that can be counted. Anthropologists use the quantitative method in order to obtain their hypothesis. For example, a survey that concludes that a patient on average has to wait 1 hour in the waiting room, of a certain doctors office, before being seen by the doctor. (Wikipedia, example #2) Another example is from the article Prostitution and the era of aids. Sterk measured many things about the prostitutes like how long they had been prostitutes, how many of them do drugs, and much more. The other method that is used is the Qualitative method. The qualitative method deals more with a deep understanding of a persons behavior, and the reasons that they behave in those certain ways, it focuses on the reasons why people make the decisions that they do and how. An example of the Qualitative method can also be found in Sterks study. This method was much different than the Quantitative. Sterk had to "become" one of them, she found out why they wanted to become prostitutes in the first place and what it is like for them. When using the ethnographic method you really have to dive in and become apart of the surroundings to really get the real understanding of everything.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
The Concepts of Culture
A) Definition of culture: The act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education./ expert care of training/acquaintance with and taste in fine arts, humanities, and broad aspects of science......(www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture)
B) Culture: Culture can be defined in tons of different ways.( i realized from reading the notes and websites) I believe that the definition of culture has a lot to do with learned behaviors. It is passed down from generations, and it becomes the norm behavior or the culture to do it. "Culture includes a societies history and traditions, it's past and therefore it's future."(Abdual Sheriff, Culture is not a luxury) For me in my life it is like my daily habits and routines. I go to gymnastics, Christmas, family traditions, language, and much more.
C) Enculturation or cultural transmission is how we learn things as we grow up. The aspects of our life that deal with culture are understood by teaching and learning them, they are not genetic. Also, it could be the way that you learn a different culture. For example if you immerse yourself into a totally different place and culture, you learn to adapt by listening, watching, studying, trial and error, but eventually it would become normal and apart of your culture.
D)
- Explicit culture is the things that we hand down from generation to generation, things that we can teach and be learned and discussed. For example, holidays. In my family we celebrate Christmas, that is apart of our culture, beliefs, and traditions. Although many other family's do it differently, and celebrate Honica, or Kwanzaa, that is apart of their cultre.
- Tactic culture is things that we learn by watching and observing. There is no discussion or teaching of it but somehow we learn that, that is what is supposed to be done, so we do it to. That is how we learn, without verbalizing. For example, learning to walk as an infant. I think that this would demonstrate tactic culture? When an infant becomes more aware of what is going on around he/she, they notice things like walking. And by trial and error begin to do it themselves. They notice that everyone around them walks and that that is the way to do it, although there is much encouragement by the parents usually :
G) I think that anthropologists analyze cultural events by enculturation. The best way to analyze is to immurse themselves into it. They learn about other cultures just the same way that we would go about it. They listen, wathch, observe, study traditons, and much more. If you immerse yourself into a different culture for a long enough time, eventually you will understand their culture and ways of life, you will learn to speak the language, and about all of the customs and tradtions etc...
H) I thought that Dr. Archers notes were the easiest to understand out of this material. I felt that i got the best grasp on the material that was in his notes, and was able to understand the websites a little easier.
Introduction to Anthroplolgy
A) Anthropology is the study of humans, or mankind. For example- who we are, why all people are so different from one another, why are we the way that we are, why do humans act and speak differently, etc...
B)There are five different general principals of anthropology.
a. archaeology
b. biological
c. linguistic
d. cultural
D)
B)There are five different general principals of anthropology.
- Global: It focuses on different groups of humans all over the globe. Ultimately the goal is to study how culture effects human experience. Also it can deal with the past. Basically it is the study which explores all of the aspects of humans.
- Holistic: Holistic means that you look at the whole picture and not just a single part, anthropologist study all of the aspects of a culture (religion, customs, politics...) and draw connections linking them together.
- Comparative: It is pretty self explanatory, we compare ourselves and our different cultures to others different than our own.
- Relative: Basically it is the study of how different cultures have different ways of thinking, and different views on things. So if we are going to compare a culture, we cannot compare it to our own, we must compare it to itself, the time period, etc...
- Empirical: the empirical method is really focused more on research and fact. It is more hands on, more evidential. The information is not assumed or scientifically guessed, but it is very factual, and opinions are formed by collected information.
a. archaeology
b. biological
c. linguistic
d. cultural
D)
- Archaeology anthropology: This is the study of people in the present but mostly in the past. The study of for example fossils, artifacts, and any remnants of happenings in the past.
- Biological or Physical Anthropology: Is basically the study of evolution. Animals, humans, etc... and how over time they adapted in order to live. Adaptions such as, body size, teeth, weight, and much more.
- Linguistic Anthropology: This is the study of language. How languages have evolved over time to what they are today, verbal language and non verbal(like sign language)
- Cultural Anthropology:This is the study of cultures, languages, nutrition, customs, and people, in the past and in the present.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Hello everybody :)
Hi! my name is Catie and i am really looking forward to this class :) i added late because of some technical difficulties but am really excited to be able to start now!
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