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Lecture Topic
Examining Culture
Before we take a more in-depth look into cultural anthropology, we must take a
moment to first define what exactly is meant by culture. In a non-scientific way
culture refers to such personal refinements as classical music, the fine arts,
cuisine, and philosophy. So an example of this theory, a person is considered
more cultured if he listens to Bach rather than Ricky Martin or to make this
example more nationalistic, a person is said to be cultured if he listens to Nusrat
Fateh Ali rather than Abrar-ul- Haq. However anthropologists use this term in a
much more broader term than the average man. Anthropologists dont
differentiate between the cultured people and un-cultured people.
All people have culture according to the anthropological definition.
We will define culture as every thing people have, think, and do as members of a
society. This definition can be most useful since the three verbs correspond to
the three major components of culture. That is, everything people have refers to
material possessions, everything people think refers to the things they carry
around in their
heads, such as ideas, values, and attitudes; and everything people do refers too
behavior patterns. Thus, all cultures compromise material objects, ideas, values,
and
attitudes; and patterned ways of behaving.
Just to give you better understanding of culture, let us look at some of its main
attributes:
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All people have a culture
Culture comprises material objects; ideas, values and attitudes; and
patterned ways of behaving
Culture is a shared phenomenon
For a thing, behavior or idea to be classified as being cultural, its must have a
meaning
shared by most people in a society. Because people share a common culture,
they are
able to predict, with-in limits, how others will think and behave. Cultural
influences are reinterpreted and thus do not yield uniform effects.
Culture is Learned
One very important factor to remember about culture is that its learned. If we
stop to think about it a loot of what we do during our waking hours is learned.
Brushing our teeth, eating three times a day, attending school, tying our show
laces, these are all actions that we had to learn and yet they are an integral part
of our culture.
Cultural Universals
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we think of Eskimos, we think of them laden with furs. Humans can now even live
in outer space or under water for limited periods of time.
Cultures are logical and coherent systems shaped by particular contexts. Various
parts of culture are interconnected. Yet culture is more than a sum of its parts.
Problem-Oriented Research
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c Impact Assessor: measuring or assessing the effect of a particular
project or policy.
Ethical Implications
Useful Terms
Implications: results
Ethical: moral
Suggested Readings
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Chapters 2 and 3 in Cultural Anthropology: An Applied Perspective by
Ferrarro and/or Chapter 13 in Anthropology by Ember and Pergrine
Internet Resources
In addition to reading from the textbook, please visit the following website for this
lecture:
Applied Anthropology
http://www.indiana.edu/~wanthro/applied.htm
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