The Culture Concept

Discussion 1: The Culture Concept First, explain what anthropologists mean when we make a distinction between “Culture” and “culture(s)” (culture with a capital C vs. culture with a lowercase c). According to our textbook, what do some people say is problematic about “culture(s)”? What connections do you see between the issues with Culture/cultures described in our textbook and the TED talk by Anthropologist Wade Davis? Second, explain why cultural relativity is so important to anthropologists. How can cultural relativity improve outsiders’ understanding of female genital cutting? Finally, feel free to discuss anything you thought was interesting from the reading and/or the TED Talk by Wade Davis. Your post must be written in your own words. Remember to name your sources. If you summarize something from the textbook, you can say, "according to our textbook." However, if you use quotes from the textbook or any other source, be sure to put them in quotation marks, state where they are from, and include the page number. Discussion 2: Culture Change No unread replies. No replies. Culture change is an often overlooked aspect in discussions of culture. What does the case of Kiowa Christianity (described in the reading) and the experiences of Benneth and Jethro (depicted in the film, Papuans: Between Two Worlds) reveal about human cultural processes over time? Your post must be written in your own words. Remember to name your sources. If you summarize something from the textbook, you can say, "according to our textbook." However, if you use quotes from the textbook or any other source, be sure to put them in quotation marks, state where they are from, and include the page number. Your initial post (2 paragraphs) is due by Wednesday at midnight, and you must respond to at least two classmates by Friday at midnight. (One of your responses can be to a classmate (or myself as the instructor) who responded to your original post.) In your post, remember to answer all aspects of the discussion prompt. Week 7: Culture Experience the Culture of the Kunas Indians - Panama City, Panama This week we focus on "culture," the central concept of the discipline. We also consider ethnographic methods used by cultural anthropologists. When we use the term "culture" in everyday life, we tend to use it loosely. Being such a central concept, there are numerous ways scholars define culture that are more specific than how it is used in everyday conversation. Our book gives one definition: "Sets of learned behaviors and ideas that humans acquire as members of society. Humans use culture to adapt to and transform the world in which they live" (Lavenda and Schultz, 2015: 230). My favorite definition of culture is as follows: a system of meanings and practices for understanding and acting in the world. Defining what we mean by culture is an ongoing discussion in anthropology. Our reading for this week, Chapter 8, explains some of the issues raised by various ways of talking about culture, and we'll explore these in our first discussion this week. Additionally, the TED Talk by anthropologist Wade Davis, which replaces a mini-lecture this week, could be thought of as an elaborated description of many aspects of culture to consider. For cultural anthropologists, the challenge becomes: how do we study a concept as complex as culture. Our answer is that we use ethnography, a unique method which is discussed in our other reading for this week Module 3: On Ethnographic Methods in our textbook. Ethnography raises a number of issues including ethnocentrism and cultural relativity. We discussed ethnocentrism a bit in the first week of class, and we will discuss cultural relativity in our first discussion this week as well. The two definitions of culture I included in the first paragraph complement each other, but my favorite definition puts more emphasis on the process of culture. As you'll read in Chapter 8, culture is always undergoing change; it's dynamic, not static; it involves processes. We'll explore this aspect of culture by watching the film Papuans: Between Two Worlds (2013) and discussing it in our second discussion for this week. If you would like to explore more definitions of culture, check out CARLA (Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition) (Links to an external site.). [An interesting discussion of enculturation and hearing loss is provided by Grace Keyes at this website (Links to an external site.). Site has moved, and the new site is temporarily not working... I will update when it's fixed.] Dennis O’Neil of Palomar College presents a detailed overview of the process of socialization (Links to an external site.) and how it shapes our world view and our personalities. Casey High’s Agency and Anthropology: Selected Bibliography (Links to an external site.) provides resources for understanding the powerful but enigmatic concept of agency which is discussed in our chapter for this week. Russian Cultural Festival Assigned Reading: Chapter 8 of the textbook Here is a picture of pages 244-245 of the 3rd edition; you may need this for the second discussion this week: Kiowa Christianity Ch 8.jpgView in a new window Module 3 of the textbook ("On Ethnographic Methods") Assigned Film: (Links to an external site.)Watch the film, Papuans: Between Two Worlds (2013): https://ez.sccd.ctc.edu:443/login?url=http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=151365&xtid=58551 (Links to an external site.) The film is accessible through our library (click the link). You'll be required to login with your name and ID number. You should only have one login page. Mini-Lecture: Please watch this TED Talk by anthropologist Wade Davis. His talk gives a good introduction to how anthropologists think of "culture." http://youtu.be/bL7vK0pOvKI (Links to an external site.) undefined