Sample records for cultural anthropology

  1. Subdisciplines of Anthropology: A Modular Approach. Cultural Anthropology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kassebaum, Peter

    Designed for use as supplementary instructional material in a cultural anthropology course, this learning module introduces the idea that anthropology is composed of a number of subdisciplines and that cultural anthropology has numerous subfields which are the specialty areas for many practicing anthropologists. Beginning with a general discussion…

  2. Anthropological Theory: A Modular Approach. Cultural Anthropology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kassebaum, Peter

    Designed for use as supplementary instructional material in a cultural anthropology course, this learning module introduces the student to various theoretical perspectives, terms, and influential figures within the field of anthropology. The following historical and conceptual influences on anthropological theory are discussed: (1) the Greek…

  3. Psychological Anthropology: A Modular Approach. Cultural Anthropology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kassebaum, Peter

    Designed for use as supplementary instructional material in a cultural anthropology course, this learning module traces the history of psychological anthropology, introducing various schools and perspectives within the field of psychology. First, a discussion is provided of biological determinism, examining its historical development and the…

  4. [Cultural anthropology of traditional Chinese medicine].

    PubMed

    Wan, Xia; Liu, Jian-ping; Ai, Yan-ke; Li, Liu-ji

    2008-07-01

    Biological, psychological and sociological model of medicine substantializes the old model lacking the social humane attributes. The new medical model makes people take medical anthropology into research and highly evaluate traditional medical system. Cultural anthropology of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is part of medical anthropology with three major characteristics: wide research scope, specificity, and integration. It has developed its own research methods, such as field investigation, comprehensive inspection and comparison study. Cultural anthropology provides an efficient research method for TCM, and its application would further develop TCM theory and form comprehensive evaluation on TCM effects.

  5. Anthropology and cultural neuroscience: creating productive intersections in parallel fields.

    PubMed

    Brown, R A; Seligman, R

    2009-01-01

    Partly due to the failure of anthropology to productively engage the fields of psychology and neuroscience, investigations in cultural neuroscience have occurred largely without the active involvement of anthropologists or anthropological theory. Dramatic advances in the tools and findings of social neuroscience have emerged in parallel with significant advances in anthropology that connect social and political-economic processes with fine-grained descriptions of individual experience and behavior. We describe four domains of inquiry that follow from these recent developments, and provide suggestions for intersections between anthropological tools - such as social theory, ethnography, and quantitative modeling of cultural models - and cultural neuroscience. These domains are: the sociocultural construction of emotion, status and dominance, the embodiment of social information, and the dual social and biological nature of ritual. Anthropology can help locate unique or interesting populations and phenomena for cultural neuroscience research. Anthropological tools can also help "drill down" to investigate key socialization processes accountable for cross-group differences. Furthermore, anthropological research points at meaningful underlying complexity in assumed relationships between social forces and biological outcomes. Finally, ethnographic knowledge of cultural content can aid with the development of ecologically relevant stimuli for use in experimental protocols.

  6. Culture Shock and Anthropological Fieldwork.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barker, David Read

    The document reviews literature on the effects of culture shock and suggests reasons that anthropological writings seldom deal with the subject. Definitions of culture shock begin with the writings of anthropologist Kalvero Oberg, who first introduced the term in the mid 1950s. Oberg wrote that culture shock is precipitated by the anxiety that…

  7. A Conceptual/Cross-cultural Model for Teaching Anthropology in the Elementary School.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dynneson, Thomas L.

    A conceptual/cross-cultural model, developed to help elementary teachers cope with the problems of initiating cultural, ethnic, or anthropology studies, is presented in five sections. (1) A brief description of the structure and methodology of anthropology defines in outline form the fields of cultural and social anthropology, physical…

  8. Agriculture: A Modular Approach. Cultural Anthropology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kassebaum, Peter

    Designed for use as supplementary instructional material in a cultural anthropology course this learning module introduces the student to some of the major trends associated with agriculture and its impact upon cultural evolution and complexity. The first section of the module describes major innovations such as animal power, irrigation and the…

  9. Economic Systems: A Modular Approach. Cultural Anthropology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kassebaum, Peter

    Designed for use as supplementary instructional material in a cultural anthropology course, this learning module uses a systems approach to allow students to see the connections and similarities which most cultural groups share on the basis of the type of economic organization that they exhibit. The module begins with a general discussion of…

  10. [Functional somatic syndromes from the view of cultural anthropology].

    PubMed

    Nakagami, Ayako; Tsujiuchi, Takuya

    2009-09-01

    The functional somatic syndromes have acquired major socio-cultural and political dimensions. Socio-cultural factors clearly affect symptoms, suffering, and disability perception and reporting. And knowledge of explanatory models of bodily distress for patients from different cultural backgrounds is useful in the establishment of a stable doctor -patient relationship. FSS may be an operational category to bridge between medical explanatory model and patient's model. According to medical anthropology, sickness has two faces; illness and disease. "Disease" is the problem from the practitioner's perspective, and "illness" is the human experience of symptoms and suffering. In this paper, the anthropological research on chronic fatigue syndrome as "not real" illness experience was described.

  11. Anthropology and Popular Culture: A Case Study.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Estes, Jack

    The study of popular culture in the United States is an appropriate anthropological endeavor, as evidenced in a case study of the volcanic eruption of Mt. St. Helens in Oregon. By examining its popular arts, anthropologists gain understanding of the culture and its people. For example, an analysis of reactions to the Mt. St. Helens eruption…

  12. [Biology and culture: a dimension of collaboration between anthropology and epidemiology].

    PubMed

    Song, Leiming; Wang, Ning

    2016-01-01

    Biology is the important basis of epidemiological study. Based on biology, psychology, social and cultural factors can influence human's health and disease incidence. The medical mode has changed from "biomedical mode" to "bio-psycho-social medical model" , but culture factor was neglected somewhat during this process, so paying attention to culture factor in anthropologic study and using it as biologic basis in epidemiologic study might be a dimension of collaboration between of anthropology and epidemiology.

  13. Kinship and Social Groups: A Modular Approach. Cultural Anthropology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kassebaum, Peter

    Designed for use as supplementary instructional material in a cultural anthropology course, this learning module introduces commonly employed terms used in the study of kinship and social groups. Conceptual categories used to describe the social structures of society are defined first, including culture, material culture, nonmaterial culture,…

  14. 77 FR 46114 - Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-08-02

    ... Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico... Anthropology, in consultation with the Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico, has determined that a collection of... cultural affiliation with the cultural items should contact the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at the...

  15. 78 FR 19308 - Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of Denver Museum of Anthropology...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-03-29

    ...-PPWOCRADN0] Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of Denver Museum of Anthropology... Museum of Anthropology, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, has determined that the... Museum of Anthropology. DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a cultural...

  16. Social Stratification: A Modular Approach. Cultural Anthropology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kassebaum, Peter

    Designed for use as supplementary instructional material in a cultural anthropology course, this learning module introduces students to the basic concepts of social stratification, one of the more controversial areas of contemporary social theory. An overview is provided of the explanations that have been put forth by social philosophers for…

  17. 77 FR 23501 - Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Item: University of Denver Department of Anthropology and...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-04-19

    ... Cultural Item: University of Denver Department of Anthropology and Museum of Anthropology, Denver, CO... Anthropology and Museum of Anthropology, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, has determined... University of Denver Department of Anthropology and Museum of Anthropology. DATES: Representatives of any...

  18. Cultural Models of Domestic Violence: Perspectives of Social Work and Anthropology Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Collins, Cyleste C.; Dressler, William W.

    2008-01-01

    This study employed a unique theoretical approach and a series of participant-based ethnographic interviewing techniques that are traditionally used in cognitive anthropology to examine and compare social work and anthropology students' cultural models of the causes of domestic violence. The study findings indicate that although social work…

  19. Anthropology and International Business Research Methods in DBA Teaching: Frameworks for Cultural Awareness.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Whiteley, Alma

    2001-01-01

    Discusses the rationale for introducing anthropology into a doctoral-level international business research methods course. Describes three anthropological frameworks designed for the course: a cultural awareness model adapted from G. Morgan's (1980) idea of paradigmatic orthodoxy; key organizing principles; and a mapping model allowing researchers…

  20. 76 FR 28068 - Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-13

    ... Cultural Items: Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI AGENCY: National Park Service... Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, that meet the definition of unassociated... funerary objects should contact Carla Sinopoli, Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor...

  1. Cross-Cultural Psychiatry in the Field: Collaborating with Anthropology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Folmar, Steven; Palmes, Guy K.

    2009-01-01

    Psychiatric and anthropological collaborations have produced robust literatures on varied topics but there are challenges in the working relation between these two fields. A research into how cultures deal with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders in Afghanistan is discussed to highlight the challenges in the working relations between…

  2. Culturing the adolescent brain: what can neuroscience learn from anthropology?

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    Cultural neuroscience is set to flourish in the next few years. As the field develops, it is necessary to reflect on what is meant by ‘culture’ and how this can be translated for the laboratory context. This article uses the example of the adolescent brain to discuss three aspects of culture that may help us to shape and reframe questions, interpretations and applications in cultural neuroscience: cultural contingencies of categories, cultural differences in experience and cultural context of neuroscience research. The last few years have seen a sudden increase in the study of adolescence as a period of both structural and functional plasticity, with new brain-based explanations of teenage behaviour being taken up in education, policy and medicine. However, the concept of adolescence, as an object of behavioural science, took shape relatively recently, not much more than a hundred years ago and was shaped by a number of cultural and historical factors. Moreover, research in anthropology and cross-cultural psychology has shown that the experience of adolescence, as a period of the lifespan, is variable and contingent upon culture. The emerging field of cultural neuroscience has begun to tackle the question of cultural differences in social cognitive processing in adults. In this article, I explore what a cultural neuroscience can mean in the case of adolescence. I consider how to integrate perspectives from social neuroscience and anthropology to conceptualize, and to empirically study, adolescence as a culturally variable phenomenon, which, itself, has been culturally constructed. PMID:19959484

  3. Anthropology and America

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goldschmidt, Walter

    1976-01-01

    Traces anthropology as a discipline from its origins in the 19th century to the present, defines the areas of interest of physical and cultural anthropologists, reviews major anthropological works, and identifies contributions made to American anthropology by sociology, psychology, and economics. (Author/DB)

  4. Theory and method at the intersection of anthropology and cultural neuroscience

    PubMed Central

    Brown, Ryan A.

    2010-01-01

    Anthropologists have become increasingly interested in embodiment—that is, the ways that socio-cultural factors influence the form, behavior and subjective experience of human bodies. At the same time, social cognitive neuroscience has begun to reveal the mechanisms of embodiment by investigating the neural underpinnings and consequences of social experience. Despite this overlap, the two fields have barely engaged one another. We suggest three interconnected domains of inquiry in which the intersection of neuroscience and anthropology can productively inform our understanding of the relationship between human brains and their socio-cultural contexts. These are: the social construction of emotion, cultural psychiatry, and the embodiment of ritual. We build on both current research findings in cultural neuroscience and ethnographic data on cultural differences in thought and behavior, to generate novel, ecologically informed hypotheses for future study. In addition, we lay out a specific suggestion for operationalizing insights from anthropology in the context of cultural neuroscience research. Specifically, we advocate the development of field studies that use portable measurement technologies to connect individual patterns of biological response with socio-cultural processes. We illustrate the potential of such an approach with data from a study of psychophysiology and religious devotion in Northeastern Brazil. PMID:19965815

  5. Theory and method at the intersection of anthropology and cultural neuroscience.

    PubMed

    Seligman, Rebecca; Brown, Ryan A

    2010-06-01

    Anthropologists have become increasingly interested in embodiment-that is, the ways that socio-cultural factors influence the form, behavior and subjective experience of human bodies. At the same time, social cognitive neuroscience has begun to reveal the mechanisms of embodiment by investigating the neural underpinnings and consequences of social experience. Despite this overlap, the two fields have barely engaged one another. We suggest three interconnected domains of inquiry in which the intersection of neuroscience and anthropology can productively inform our understanding of the relationship between human brains and their socio-cultural contexts. These are: the social construction of emotion, cultural psychiatry, and the embodiment of ritual. We build on both current research findings in cultural neuroscience and ethnographic data on cultural differences in thought and behavior, to generate novel, ecologically informed hypotheses for future study. In addition, we lay out a specific suggestion for operationalizing insights from anthropology in the context of cultural neuroscience research. Specifically, we advocate the development of field studies that use portable measurement technologies to connect individual patterns of biological response with socio-cultural processes. We illustrate the potential of such an approach with data from a study of psychophysiology and religious devotion in Northeastern Brazil.

  6. 76 FR 28066 - Notice of Intent To Repatriate a Cultural Item: Museum of Anthropology at Washington State...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-13

    ... Cultural Item: Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University, Pullman, WA AGENCY: National Park... possession of the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University, Pullman, WA, that meets the... notice. One lot of stone, bone, and glass beads was given to the Museum of Anthropology at Washington...

  7. Culture, Education, Anthropology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Varenne, Herve

    2008-01-01

    This article argues that the anthropology of education must focus on what people do to educate themselves outside the constraints constituting the problematics of schooling. Anthropologists must do this precisely to fulfill their public role as legitimate participants in the conversations about understanding and transforming schooling. When…

  8. Cultural anthropology approach to psychopathology of Muslim murderer.

    PubMed

    Okada, T; Satoh, S; Morita, N; Konishi, T; Nakamura, T; Tanaka, H; Oda, S

    1994-03-01

    We report a case involving a 31-year-old Islamic male who murdered his associate under particular circumstances. We took the opportunity to test psychiatrically this man who has been diagnosed in his mother country as a schizophrenic. He came to Japan and was working as a laborer. He is an earnest practicing Muslim. We took an interest in this case because of his bizarre behavior previous to the actual crime. We are interested in the actual method of the murder in relation to Mr. A's cultural and religious background. We demonstrated the significance of the religious cultural knowledge relative to the indigenous ritual for expelling satan and the Islamic pilgrimage to Mekka (Hajj). We conclude that a cultural anthropological and religious viewpoint is necessary in objectively understanding the sources of suffering in patients with mental illness who are from foreign countries.

  9. Culture in the mind's mirror: how anthropology and neuroscience can inform a model of the neural substrate for cultural imitative learning.

    PubMed

    Losin, Elizabeth A Reynolds; Dapretto, Mirella; Iacoboni, Marco

    2009-01-01

    Cultural neuroscience, the study of how cultural experience shapes the brain, is an emerging subdiscipline in the neurosciences. Yet, a foundational question to the study of culture and the brain remains neglected by neuroscientific inquiry: "How does cultural information get into the brain in the first place?" Fortunately, the tools needed to explore the neural architecture of cultural learning - anthropological theories and cognitive neuroscience methodologies - already exist; they are merely separated by disciplinary boundaries. Here we review anthropological theories of cultural learning derived from fieldwork and modeling; since cultural learning theory suggests that sophisticated imitation abilities are at the core of human cultural learning, we focus our review on cultural imitative learning. Accordingly we proceed to discuss the neural underpinnings of imitation and other mechanisms important for cultural learning: learning biases, mental state attribution, and reinforcement learning. Using cultural neuroscience theory and cognitive neuroscience research as our guides, we then propose a preliminary model of the neural architecture of cultural learning. Finally, we discuss future studies needed to test this model and fully explore and explain the neural underpinnings of cultural imitative learning.

  10. 78 FR 34129 - Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of Michigan, Museum of Anthropology...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-06-06

    ... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Park Service [NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-13042; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000] Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of Michigan, Museum of Anthropology... County, MI. In 1924, these items were sold to the University of Michigan, Museum of Anthropology, by Rev...

  11. An anthropological approach to teaching health sciences students cultural competency in a field school program.

    PubMed

    Hutchins, Frank T; Brown, Lori DiPrete; Poulsen, Keith P

    2014-02-01

    International immersion experiences do not, in themselves, provide students with the opportunity to develop cultural competence. However, using an anthropological lens to educate students allows them to learn how to negotiate cultural differences by removing their own cultural filters and seeing events through the eyes of those who are culturally different. Faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Global Health Institute believed that an embedded experience, in which students engaged with local communities, would encourage them to adopt this Cultural Competency 2.0 position. With this goal in mind, they started the Field School for the Study of Language, Culture, and Community Health in Ecuador in 2003 to teach cultural competency to medical, veterinary, pharmacy, and nursing students. The program was rooted in medical anthropology and embraced the One Health initiative, which is a collaborative effort of multiple disciplines working locally, nationally, and globally to obtain optimal health for people, animals, and the environment. In this article, the authors identify effective practices and challenges for using a biocultural approach to educating students. In a semester-long preparatory class, students study the Spanish language, region-specific topics, and community engagement principles. While in Ecuador for five weeks, students apply their knowledge during community visits that involve homestays and service learning projects, for which they partner with local communities to meet their health needs. This combination of language and anthropological course work and community-based service learning has led to positive outcomes for the local communities as well as professional development for students and faculty.

  12. Anthropological Methods of Formation of University Students' Spiritual and Moral Culture

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kurbanov, Rashad A.; Nikonova, Elina I.; Gurbanov, Ramin A.; Svechnikova, Natalia V.; Tumarov, Konstantin B.; Marin, Evgeniy M.

    2016-01-01

    The relevance of the study is reasoned by the increasing complexity of life activity in modern society, which results in distortion of the moral and value criteria and norms. The purpose of the article is to reveal anthropological methods of formation of university students' spiritual and moral culture. The leading approach to the study is the…

  13. Annual Review of Anthropology. Volume 10. 1981.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Siegel, Bernard J., Ed.; And Others

    This book contains 15 essays which provide an overview of the state of the art in the discipline of anthropology, including archaelology, biological anthropology, linguistics, regional studies, and cultural-social anthropology. Most of the authors are professors and researchers from departments of anthropology in colleges and universities. Topics…

  14. Medical anthropology and the physician assistant profession.

    PubMed

    Henry, Lisa R

    2015-01-01

    Medical anthropology is a subfield of anthropology that investigates how culture influences people's ideas and behaviors regarding health and illness. Medical anthropology contributes to the understanding of how and why health systems operate the way they do, how different people understand and interact with these systems and cultural practices, and what assets people use and challenges they may encounter when constructing perceptions of their own health conditions. The goal of this article is to highlight the methodological tools and analytical insights that medical anthropology offers to the study of physician assistants (PAs). The article discusses the field of medical anthropology; the advantages of ethnographic and qualitative research; and how medical anthropology can explain how PAs fit into improved health delivery services by exploring three studies of PAs by medical anthropologists.

  15. Teaching Anthropology at the College Level

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moore, Dward A., Jr.; And Others

    1976-01-01

    Presents two articles: "Modular Flexibility in an Individualized Introductory Cultural Anthropology Course," by Daniel D. Whitney and Patrick J. Dubbs, and, "Physical Anthropology as a Laboratory Science Course in a Community College," by Yechiel M. Lehavy. The former describes an individualized approach to anthropology, whereas the latter…

  16. Annual Review of Anthropology, Volume 5.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Siegel, Bernard J., Ed.; And Others

    Seventeen articles focus on current research interests of anthropologists. The volume is part of a five-year project designed to identify interesting directions in physical, linguistic, archaeological, social, and cultural anthropology. Covering a wide range of anthropological subjects, the articles discuss a history of physical anthropology,…

  17. Anthropology at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Feer, Michael

    1976-01-01

    Describes a one-semester general anthropology course designed primarily for interested juniors and seniors as well as six courses which have students "do" anthropology in a way that serves to teach them the field and "interests the kid," e.g. courses in cultural anthropology, archaeology, physical anthropology and school ethnography. (Author/JM)

  18. Teaching Anthropology to "Nonelite" Students: A Beginning Discussion.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Newman, Stanley M.

    1990-01-01

    Describes a strategy for designing an introductory course in cultural anthropology for "nonelite" students. Discusses the thematic approach to teaching anthropology. Emphasis is placed on the importance of using the culture concept as an analytical tool to understand culturally different behaviors. (JS)

  19. Applying Medical Anthropology: Developing Diabetes Education and Prevention Programs in American Indian Cultures.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Olson, Brooke

    1999-01-01

    Medical anthropology provides a broader contextual framework for understanding complex causal factors associated with diabetes among American Indians and how to minimize these factors in education/treatment programs. Discusses historical, epidemiological, and genetic considerations in American Indian diabetes; cultural factors related to foods,…

  20. Social Anthropology and Social Science History

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    In the 1970s, when the social science history movement emerged in the United States, leading to the founding of the Social Science History Association, a simultaneous movement arose in which historians looked to cultural anthropology for inspiration. Although both movements involved historians turning to social sciences for theory and method, they reflected very different views of the nature of the historical enterprise. Cultural anthropology, most notably as preached by Clifford Geertz, became a means by which historians could find a theoretical basis in the social sciences for rejecting a scientific paradigm. This article examines this development while also exploring the complex ways cultural anthropology has embraced—and shunned—history in recent years. PMID:26549914

  1. Cultural Relevance and Educational Issues: Readings in Anthropology and Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ianni, Francis A. J., Ed.; Storey, Edward, Ed.

    The recent activity of anthropologists whose primary interest are in education and of educators whose orientation is anthropological suggests this division of labor: The first division, "anthropology and education," is the most expansive and the least specific. A second, "anthropology in education," concerns the anthropological presence, whether…

  2. Contributions of Anthropology to the Study of Adolescence

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schlegel, Alice; Hewlett, Bonnie L.

    2011-01-01

    Adolescence researchers can turn to anthropology to learn the methods of ethnography and cultural comparisons, and they can mine its large database of information on cultures worldwide. But anthropology's single most important contribution is the concept of culture, the mosaic of a group's learned and shared, or at least understood, beliefs,…

  3. Anthropology: A Student's Guide to Reference Sources.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Slavin, Suzy M., Comp.

    The guide identifies approximately 100 anthropology source materials in the reference department of McLennan Library at McGill University. It was designd to help students doing anthropological research and to illustrate the variety of materials on social and cultural anthropology in the McLennan Library. Physical anthropolgy, linguistics, and…

  4. Alternative Databases for Anthropology Searching.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brody, Fern; Lambert, Maureen

    1984-01-01

    Examines online search results of sample questions in several databases covering linguistics, cultural anthropology, and physical anthropology in order to determine if and where any overlap in results might occur, and which files have greatest number of relevant hits. Search results by database are given for each subject area. (EJS)

  5. Introduction to Anthropology. Social Studies: 0425.13.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    La Roe, Margaret E.

    The curriculum guide outlines a course in anthropology for grades 9-12. Having completed the course, the student will be able to (1) describe in general terms the social science of anthropology; (2) demonstrate the concept of culture through definition and examples; (3) identify some important goals of anthropology; (4) describe the various fields…

  6. Anthropology: Guide to Reference Sources.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mason, Mary G., Ed.

    More than 80 anthropology source materials concentrating on cultural and social anthropology are cited in this annotated bibliography. Materials, located in the McLennan Library at McGill University (Montreal), are listed according to type of material. Library of Congress call numbers are presented; dates of publication range from 1950 to 1985.…

  7. Anthropology in cognitive science.

    PubMed

    Bender, Andrea; Hutchins, Edwin; Medin, Douglas

    2010-07-01

    This paper reviews the uneven history of the relationship between Anthropology and Cognitive Science over the past 30 years, from its promising beginnings, followed by a period of disaffection, on up to the current context, which may lay the groundwork for reconsidering what Anthropology and (the rest of) Cognitive Science have to offer each other. We think that this history has important lessons to teach and has implications for contemporary efforts to restore Anthropology to its proper place within Cognitive Science. The recent upsurge of interest in the ways that thought may shape and be shaped by action, gesture, cultural experience, and language sets the stage for, but so far has not fully accomplished, the inclusion of Anthropology as an equal partner. Copyright © 2010 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  8. ANTHROPOLOGY AT WAR: ROBERT H. LOWIE AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE CULTURE CONCEPT, 1904 to 1954.

    PubMed

    Bargheer, Stefan

    2017-03-01

    The concept of culture used in American anthropology has fundamentally transformed throughout the first half of the twentieth century. The changing resonance of the work of Robert H. Lowie offers revealing insights into this development. Lowie was part of the first generation of students of Franz Boas that highlighted the importance of individual variation for the study of both primitive and civilized societies. Yet, its initial resonance notwithstanding, the culture concept that prevailed in the discipline went into a different direction as the result of anthropologists' involvement in the war effort. It was advanced by the second generation of Boas' students such as Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead, who stressed the homogeneity of cultures. The contrast highlights the diversity of approaches available within anthropology in the first half of the century and the crucial impact of World War II in determining which of these possibilities became institutionalized in the decades after the war. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. Cultural psychology as a bridge between anthropology and cognitive science.

    PubMed

    Fryberg, Stephanie A

    2012-07-01

    The theory and methods of cultural psychology begin with the assumption that psychological processes are socioculturally and historically grounded. As such, they offer a new approach for understanding the diversity of human functioning because they (a) question the presumed neutrality of the majority group perspective; (b) take the target's point-of-view (i.e., what it means to be a person in a particular context); (c) assume that there is more than one viable way of being a competent or effective person; and (d) provide a road map for understanding and reducing social inequities. As illustrated in this essay, a cultural psychological approach provides a bridge between anthropology and the cognitive sciences, and in so doing it offers an alternative set of explanations and interventions for group differences. Copyright © 2012 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  10. Forensic archaeology and anthropology : An Australian perspective.

    PubMed

    Oakley, Kate

    2005-09-01

    Forensic archaeology is an extremely powerful investigative discipline and, in combination with forensic anthropology, can provide a wealth of evidentiary information to police investigators and the forensic community. The re-emergence of forensic archaeology and anthropology within Australia relies on its diversification and cooperation with established forensic medical organizations, law enforcement forensic service divisions, and national forensic boards. This presents a unique opportunity to develop a new multidisciplinary approach to forensic archaeology/anthropology within Australia as we hold a unique set of environmental, social, and cultural conditions that diverge from overseas models and require different methodological approaches. In the current world political climate, more forensic techniques are being applied at scenes of mass disasters, genocide, and terrorism. This provides Australian forensic archaeology/anthropology with a unique opportunity to develop multidisciplinary models with contributions from psychological profiling, ballistics, sociopolitics, cultural anthropology, mortuary technicians, post-blast analysis, fire analysis, and other disciplines from the world of forensic science.

  11. [Care and anthropology: a thinking process].

    PubMed

    Rohrbach Viadas, Cécilia

    2007-09-01

    Caring for human beings, calls for relating unity and diversity in order to respect the equality of cultures and to recognize their cultural differences. Cultural difference is, however, privileged by recent publications within the culture caring domain, based on cultural relativism and disregarding the unity of humanity, transcultu-ral nursing theory is the case. For this reason, some historical elements related to the two original anthropological theories are included in this text to understand the philosophical and ethical implications of transcultural nursing theory. The objective of this article is to analyse six recent publications within the caring and anthropology field, through a reflexive method identifying two different caring traditions and demonstrating their philosophical and ethical reach for caring practice.

  12. Anthropology: Discipline Analysis. Women in the Curriculum Series.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lamphere, Louise

    This essay examines the ways in which anthropology, as a discipline, currently reflects ongoing scholarship on gender, race, ethnicity, social class, and sexual orientation. It argues that feminist anthropology since the 1970s has become an important subdiscipline, primarily within cultural anthropology, but also with a growing impact on…

  13. Anthropology and addiction: an historical review.

    PubMed

    Singer, Merrill

    2012-10-01

    This paper reviews the world anthropology of drugs and alcohol use literature, identifying key issues addressed by anthropologists, methods and theoretical models in use, trends in focus over time and future directions. Papers and books that comprise the literature were identified through computer search using the keywords: ethnography of drug use (and variants, e.g. drug ethnography, qualitative approaches in drug research), ethnography of drinking, anthropology and drug use, and anthropology and drinking. Search engines included Google Scholar, EBSCOHost, AnthroSource and PubMed. Identified sources were read and integrated into the review. The literature search identified a rich and growing literature on the anthropology of drinking and drug use. The research and published literature on the anthropology of drug use has grown and diversified since the 1970s, found acceptance in the wider multi-disciplinary domain of alcohol and drug studies and developed beyond the socio-cultural model to include life-style, critical medical anthropology and experiential explanatory models. Anthropological research has helped to shape the field of addiction science, e.g. ethnographic studies show that the lived worlds and self-identities of drug users have cultural order and socially constructed purpose and meaning, and experiential research shows that some addictions or aspects of addictions can be affirmative, creative and sustainable, at least at the individual level. The human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome pandemic has significantly increased anthropological research on drug-related issues world-wide. © 2012 The Author, Addiction © 2012 Society for the Study of Addiction.

  14. On Teaching Anthropology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Poyer, Lin

    1983-01-01

    An anthropology professor discusses the three major educational objectives of her introductory college course. She wants her students to understand cultural relativism, the meaning of race, and the reality of evolution. (RM)

  15. Culture-bound syndrome and a culturally sensitive approach: from a viewpoint of medical anthropology.

    PubMed

    Shimoji, A; Miyakawa, T

    2000-08-01

    Some aspects of the culture-bound syndrome are presented for discussion. From the psychiatric and medical anthropological viewpoints, kamidaari is described as an initiatory illness for seeing a shaman, and focus on clinical realities developing between different therapeutic subcultures in the same culture and the complementary practices of two epistemological ones, namely, the shamanistic and modern psychiatric system in the shamanistic climate. It is suggested that the culture-bound syndrome that reflects cultural influences on disease patterns and renders them difficult to place in a universal classificatory system should be seen as a vernacular bricolage or as tactics used by people within the web of their own local culture of origin. Therapists who treat patients in a cross-epistemological milieu should be aware of the subcultural-epistemological issues that may affect the clinical process. It should be recognized that, depending on the nature of a particular psychiatric crisis, the clinical encounter is straddling the boundaries of multiple clinical realities. At every stage in the clinical field, there is an intersection, consonance, or interruption of rejoinders in the open dialog by all those engaged in the clinical time. Aspects of climatic, culturally sensitive psychotherapy will be described, and the concept of the culture-bound syndrome will be reconsidered. Our approach could be seen as 'situation- and fudo-bound'.

  16. Tracking Porters: Learning the Craft of Techno-Anthropology.

    PubMed

    Bruun, Maja Hojer; Krause-Jensen, Jakob; Saltofte, Margit

    2015-01-01

    Anthropology attempts to gain insight into people's experiential life-worlds through long-term fieldwork. The quality of anthropological knowledge production, however, does not depend solely on the duration of the stay in the field, but also on a particular way of seeing social situations. The anthropological perspective is grounded in socio-cultural theory and forged by a distinct relativist or contextualist epistemological stance. The point is to understand events, concepts and phenomena from the insiders' point of view and to show how this view relates to the particular social and cultural context. In this chapter, we argue that although anthropology has its specific methodology - including a myriad of ethnographic data-gathering tools, techniques, analytical approaches and theories - it must first and foremost be understood as a craft. Anthropology as craft requires a specific 'anthropological sensibility' that differs from the standardized procedures of normal science. To establish our points we use an example of problem-based project work conducted by a group of Techno-Anthropology students at Aalborg University, we focus on key aspects of this craft and how the students began to learn it: For two weeks the students followed the work of a group of porters. Drawing on anthropological concepts and research strategies the students gained crucial insights about the potential effects of using tracking technologies in the hospital.

  17. The Puerto Ricans: Culture Change and Language Deviance. Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology, Number 51.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leavitt, Ruby Rohrlich

    This anthropological study examines whether sociocultural factors are basic to the etiology of stuttering through (1) an investigation of the incidence of stuttering in a single ethnic group, Puerto Rican rural migrants living in two different cultural milieus (San Juan and New York City), and (2) a comparison of the sociocultural variables in the…

  18. Space colonization as a tool for teaching anthropology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Melchionne, Thomas L.; Rosen, Steven L.

    1986-08-01

    One hundred years of anthropological research has sought to discover the properties of human nature. This research bears directly on the problem of creating new societies in alien environments. Space colonization presents theoretical and practical problems which anthropology can help solve. These problems and the attempt to solve them can be used in the classroom as a vehicle for teaching both ethnology and physical anthropology. In such a course students would explore the findings of both cultural and biosocial anthropology, and use these findings to construct a space colony which has reasonable prognosis for survival.

  19. Budget Anthropology. Integrating Anthropology Concepts into a Social Studies Curriculum. Report No. 78-6.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fraker, G. Alan

    Materials developed by high school anthropology students to investigate and explain American culture are presented. The purpose of the handbook is to aid social studies classroom teachers as they develop and implement educational programs on the American way of life within the context of global culture. The activities presented in the handbook can…

  20. Exploring Anthropology’s Value to Military Strategy Since 2000

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-04-01

    anthropological study of military culture, MA2 : anthropological study for the military, in endeavors such as the Human Terrain System concept, where teams of...Anthropology The AAA has judged MA2 as the least ethical category of military anthropology by means of its code of ethics, CEAUSSIC reports, and...open debates on its blog. The lighting rod system most associated with MA2 is the Human Terrain Team, (HTT) employed under the Human Terrain System

  1. [Understanding and intervention: a dimension of collaboration of anthropology and epidemiology].

    PubMed

    Song, Lei-Ming; Wang, Ning

    2012-10-01

    'Epidemiological intervention' involves many social and cultural contents and can be recognized as a social cultural practice. If we know more about the relevant social cultural background of the objects on intervention measures and intervention, the goals would more successful and effective be reached. Since anthropology is specialized in understanding relevant social and cultural contents, the understanding of anthropology should be viewed both as important prerequisite and foundation of the epidemiological intervention programs.

  2. Anthropological Diplomacy: Case Studies in the Applications of Anthropology to International Relations. Studies in Third World Societies, Publication Number Twenty-One.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Magnarella, Paul J., Ed.

    Six articles in this volume focus on anthropological diplomacy--the study of the theory and practice of peace and conflict resolution among societies, based on knowledge of a society's fundamental cultural premises. The first article, by Ronald Cohen, considers questions pertinent to anthropological diplomacy, including the impact of diverse…

  3. Millennial medical anthropology: from there to here and beyond, or the problem of global health.

    PubMed

    Gaines, Atwood D

    2011-03-01

    While much of Medical Anthropology was and is what we can call "Normal" (following Kuhn) Medical Anthropology, I coined the term Millennial Medical Anthropology for that branch of the discipline that, in the 1990s, was departing from the Normal research paradigms and was deserving of a distinct sobriquet. This paper considers the Strong Program in Medical Anthropology's Millennial Medical Anthropology and its key subdivisions, the Cultural Studies of Science and Cultural Bioethics. Specifically it considers Medical Anthropology's movement from the past into an ethical future wherein Normal Biomedicine, Bioethics and Global Health are problematized. This provides the basis for the construction of a truly anthropological global health (i.e., Global, Global Health or Global Health 2.0).

  4. Anthropology of the Classroom: Cultural Diversity, Its Meaning and Significance for Human Understanding, Communication and Student Interaction.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    London, Clement B.G.

    Rapid sociocultural and technological changes in American society demand that concomitant changes in education be made, based on a holistic view of the vast number of factors that affect education and life. Cultural anthropology, which emphasizes both holistic observation and analysis of micro situations, lends itself to the research approach…

  5. Space migrations: Anthropology and the humanization of space

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Finney, Ben R.

    1992-01-01

    Because of its broad evolutionary perspective and its focus on both technology and culture, anthropology offers a unique view of why we are going into space and what leaving Earth will mean for humanity. In addition, anthropology could help in the humanization of space through (1) overcoming socioculture barriers to working and living in space, (2) designing societies appropriate for permanent space settlement, (3) promoting understanding among differentiated branches of humankind scattered through space, (4) deciphering the cultural systems of any extraterrestrial civilizations contacted.

  6. 76 FR 44947 - Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, Ann...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-07-27

    ... the appropriate Indian tribe, has determined that the items meet the definition of sacred objects and.... Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the sacred objects may... of Anthropology, Ann Arbor, MI, that meet the definition of sacred objects under 25 U.S.C. 3001. This...

  7. Ecce Homo: Science and Society Need Anthropological Collections.

    PubMed

    Sholts, Sabrina B; Bell, Joshua A; Rick, Torben C

    2016-08-01

    Scientific collections are crucial to understanding the biological and cultural diversity of the Earth. Anthropological collections document the human experience and the interactions between people, ecosystems, and organisms. Unfortunately, anthropological collections are often poorly known by the public and face a variety of threats to their permanent care and conservation. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  8. Anthropological Contributions to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vakoch, D. A.

    2009-12-01

    Three recent annual conferences of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) have included symposia on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). This paper reviews these symposia, which dealt with themes associated with the overarching AAA conference themes for each year: in 2004, the SETI session addressed Anthropology, Archaeology, and Interstellar Communication: Science and the Knowledge of Distant Worlds; in 2005, it dealt with Historical Perspectives on Anthropology and SETI; and in 2006, the session examined Culture, Anthropology, and SETI. Among the topics considered in these symposia were analogues for contact with extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI), examining anthropologists’ experience in the field encountering other cultures-past and present. Similarly, the methodologies of archaeologists provide analogies for making contact with temporally distant civilizations, based on reconstructions from fragmentary information. Case studies helped make such analogies concrete in the symposia. The challenges of comprehending intelligences with different mental worlds was explored through a study of the meetings of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, for example, while the decryption of Mayan hieroglyphics provided lessons on understanding others of own species.

  9. Human evolution across the disciplines: spotlights on American anthropology and genetics.

    PubMed

    Sommer, Marianne

    2012-01-01

    When thinking about human evolution across the disciplines, terms such as "anthropological genetics" or "genetic anthropology" that brazenly defy the existence of the two-cultures divide seem to promise important insights. They refer to the application of genetic techniques to the past of humankind and human groups, a fact emphasized most strongly by the expression "genetic history." Such daring linguistic alliances have been forming since 1962 when the name "molecular anthropology" was introduced in the American context. This was an opportune moment for biochemists and physical chemists to enter anthropology, because in the U.S. a rapprochement between the fields was aimed for. However, a belief in and a discourse of a hierarchy of disciplines structured along the lines of methodology and epistemic object worked as an obstacle to the achievement of transdisciplinarity. Especially the DNA-sequence, initially approached through the proxy of the protein, was regarded as the most informative historical document due to its distance from the environment and its amenability to rigorous scientific techniques. These notions had a particular power at a time when anthropology was confronted with its legacy of race science. For some, the perceived objectivity of the new molecular approaches and the neutrality of molecules would render anthropology more natural-scientific and by inference less culturally contaminated. Others, to the contrary, believed that this legacy demanded a holistic and ethically reflexive anthropology. The different perceptions thus went along with different understandings of such crucial terms as "anthropology" and "history." In the paper, I revisit interfaces between different anthropological fields in the U.S. context and suggest that the beliefs in a hierarchy of approaches as well as in a nature free from culture embodied in the DNA-sequence has worked as one of the primary obstacles to an integration of these fields.

  10. Medical anthropology: toward a third moment in social science?

    PubMed

    Dressler, W W

    2001-12-01

    This article about medical anthropology was inspired by the work of Pierre Bourdieu, specifically, his efforts to reconcile the antinomy of a "social structuralist" and a "cultural constructivist" perspective. These perspectives are often opposed in the literature, but, in Bourdieu's view, human life cannot be studied without taking into account both how individuals are situated within and constrained by social structures and how those individuals construct an understanding of and impose meaning on the world around them. I argue that the special subject matter of medical anthropology--human health--demands that a synthetic approach be taken in our theory and research. I illustrate this argument with examples from my own research on social and cultural factors associated with blood pressure, and I point to other examples of this synthesis in medical anthropology. The results of this research hold promise for the continuing refinement of culture theory.

  11. Anthropology, tooth wear, and occlusion ab origine.

    PubMed

    Young, W G

    1998-11-01

    The purpose of this essay is to emphasize that anthropology, the study of man in his environments, is a potent tool for scientific discovery and inspiration in dental science. It attempts to capture flashes of creative anthropological insight which have illuminated studies of tooth wear and occlusion in the past. While it documents contributions, understandings, and misunderstandings from Australian and New Zealand dentists, it is not a hagiography. The real saint of this essay is the Australian aborigine. For when men and women are understood in their environments, much is learned from them which challenges preconceptions of our dental science culture. The essay concludes that new, contemporary Australian culture needs to be studied by anthropological approaches if we are to understand how dental erosion is exacerbating tooth wear and damaging the occlusions of contemporary Australians. Much remains to be discovered about contemporary lifestyles, habits, and diets that lead to dental erosion, the principal cause of contemporary tooth wear in this part of the world.

  12. Innovation and Diffusion--An Anthropological View.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    du Toit, Brian M.

    This chapter presents the anthropological theory of innovation and diffusion, and applies it to the problem of implementing planned change within the instructional development process. The work of Barnett and others on culture and planned culture change is described and applied to the educational system and the classroom environment. Barnett's…

  13. Applying anthropology to eliminate tobacco-related health disparities.

    PubMed

    Goldade, Kate; Burgess, Diana; Olayinka, Abimbola; Whembolua, Guy Lucien S; Okuyemi, Kolawole S

    2012-06-01

    Disparities in tobacco's harm persist. Declines in smoking among the general population have not been experienced to the same extent by vulnerable populations. Innovative strategies are required to diminish disparities in tobacco's harm. As novel tools, anthropological concepts and methods may be applied to improve the design and outcomes of tobacco cessation interventions. We reviewed over 60 articles published in peer-reviewed journals since 1995 for content on anthropology and smoking cessation. The specific questions framing the review were: (a) "How can lessons learned from anthropological studies of smoking improve the design and effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions?" (b) How can anthropology be applied to diminish disparities in smoking cessation? and (c) How can qualitative methods be used most effectively in smoking cessation intervention research? Three specific disciplinary tools were identified and examined: (a) culture, (b) reflexivity, and (c) qualitative methods. Examining culture as a dynamic influence and understanding the utilities of smoking in a particular group is a precursor to promoting cessation. Reflexivity enables a deeper understanding of how smokers perceive quitting and smoking beyond addiction and individual health consequences. Qualitative methods may be used to elicit in-depth perspectives on quitting, insights to inform existing community-based strategies for making behavior changes, and detailed preferences for cessation treatment or programs. Anthropological tools can be used to improve the effectiveness of intervention research studies targeting individuals from vulnerable groups. Synthesized applications of anthropological concepts can be used to facilitate translation of findings into clinical practice for providers addressing tobacco cessation in vulnerable populations.

  14. We Must Fight the Militarization of Anthropology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gonzalez, Roberto J.

    2007-01-01

    When students take introductory courses in cultural anthropology, they learn the techniques necessary for understanding daily life in peasant villages or among bands of hunter-gatherers. Professors teach them about the importance of building rapport with informants, the insights gained from cultural immersion, and the benefits of linguistic…

  15. At the crossroads of anthropology and epidemiology: current research in cultural psychiatry in the UK.

    PubMed

    Dein, Simon; Bhui, Kamaldeep Singh

    2013-12-01

    Cultural psychiatry research in the UK comprises a broad range of diverse methodologies, academic disciplines, and subject areas. Methodologies range from epidemiological to anthropological/ethnographic to health services research; mixed methods research is becoming increasingly popular, as are public health and health promotional topics. After briefly outlining the history of cultural psychiatry in the UK we will discuss contemporary research. Prominent themes include: the epidemiology of schizophrenia among Africans/Afro-Caribbeans, migration and mental health, racism and mental health, cultural identity, pathways to care, explanatory models of mental illness, cultural competence, and the subjective experiences of healthcare provision among specific ethnic groups such as Bangladeshis and Pakistanis. Another strand of research that is attracting increasing academic attention focuses upon the relationship between religion, spirituality, and mental health, in particular, the phenomenology of religious experience and its mental health ramifications, as well as recent work examining the complex links between theology and psychiatry. The paper ends by appraising the contributions of British cultural psychiatrists to the discipline of cultural psychiatry and suggesting promising areas for future research.

  16. At the crossroads of anthropology and epidemiology: Current research in cultural psychiatry in the UK

    PubMed Central

    Bhui, Kamaldeep Singh

    2013-01-01

    Cultural psychiatry research in the UK comprises a broad range of diverse methodologies, academic disciplines, and subject areas. Methodologies range from epidemiological to anthropological/ethnographic to health services research; mixed methods research is becoming increasingly popular, as are public health and health promotional topics. After briefly outlining the history of cultural psychiatry in the UK we will discuss contemporary research. Prominent themes include: the epidemiology of schizophrenia among Africans/Afro-Caribbeans, migration and mental health, racism and mental health, cultural identity, pathways to care, explanatory models of mental illness, cultural competence, and the subjective experiences of healthcare provision among specific ethnic groups such as Bangladeshis and Pakistanis. Another strand of research that is attracting increasing academic attention focuses upon the relationship between religion, spirituality, and mental health, in particular, the phenomenology of religious experience and its mental health ramifications, as well as recent work examining the complex links between theology and psychiatry. The paper ends by appraising the contributions of British cultural psychiatrists to the discipline of cultural psychiatry and suggesting promising areas for future research. PMID:24114263

  17. The Centrality of Philosophical Anthropology to (a Future) Environmental Ethics.

    PubMed

    Gare, Arran

    2016-01-01

    While environmental ethics has successfully established itself in philosophy, as presently conceived it is still largely irrelevant to grappling the global ecological crisis because, as Alasdair MacIntyre has argued, ethical philosophy itself is in grave disorder. MacIntyre's historically oriented recovery of virtue ethics is defended, but it is argued that even MacIntyre was too constrained by received assumptions to overcome this disorder. As he himself realized, his ideas need to be integrated and defended through philosophical anthropology. However, it is suggested that current defenders of philosophical anthropology have not done it justice. To appreciate its importance it is necessary accept that we are cultural beings in which the core of culture is the conception of what are humans. This is presupposed not only in thought but in social practices and forms of life. This was understood by Aristotle, but modernity has been straightjacketed by the Seventeenth Century scientific revolution and Hobbes' philosophical anthropology, identifying knowledge and with techno-science and eliminating any place for questioning this conception of humans. The only conception of humanity that could successfully challenge and replace Hobbes' philosophical anthropology, it is argued, is Hegel's philosophical anthropology reformulated and developed on naturalistic foundations. This involves subordinating science to a reconceived humanities with a fundamentally different role accorded to ethics, placing it at the center of social life, politics and economics and at the centre of the struggle to transform culture and society to create an ecologically sustainable civilization.

  18. Applying Anthropology to Eliminate Tobacco-Related Health Disparities

    PubMed Central

    Burgess, Diana; Olayinka, Abimbola; Whembolua, Guy Lucien S.; Okuyemi, Kolawole S.

    2012-01-01

    Introduction: Disparities in tobacco’s harm persist. Declines in smoking among the general population have not been experienced to the same extent by vulnerable populations. Innovative strategies are required to diminish disparities in tobacco’s harm. As novel tools, anthropological concepts and methods may be applied to improve the design and outcomes of tobacco cessation interventions. Methods: We reviewed over 60 articles published in peer-reviewed journals since 1995 for content on anthropology and smoking cessation. The specific questions framing the review were: (a) “How can lessons learned from anthropological studies of smoking improve the design and effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions?” (b) How can anthropology be applied to diminish disparities in smoking cessation? and (c) How can qualitative methods be used most effectively in smoking cessation intervention research? Results: Three specific disciplinary tools were identified and examined: (a) culture, (b) reflexivity, and (c) qualitative methods. Examining culture as a dynamic influence and understanding the utilities of smoking in a particular group is a precursor to promoting cessation. Reflexivity enables a deeper understanding of how smokers perceive quitting and smoking beyond addiction and individual health consequences. Qualitative methods may be used to elicit in-depth perspectives on quitting, insights to inform existing community-based strategies for making behavior changes, and detailed preferences for cessation treatment or programs. Conclusions: Anthropological tools can be used to improve the effectiveness of intervention research studies targeting individuals from vulnerable groups. Synthesized applications of anthropological concepts can be used to facilitate translation of findings into clinical practice for providers addressing tobacco cessation in vulnerable populations. PMID:22271609

  19. Bruner's Search for Meaning: A Conversation between Psychology and Anthropology

    PubMed Central

    Mattingly, Cheryl; Lutkehaus, Nancy C.; Throop, C. Jason

    2010-01-01

    We introduce a special issue of Ethos devoted to the work of Jerome Bruner and his careerlong attempts to seek innovative ways to foster a dialogue between psychology and anthropology. The articles in this special issue situate Bruner's meaning-centered approach to psychology and his groundbreaking work on narrative in the broader context of the developmental trajectory of both of fields of inquiry. Bruner's work has been enormously influential in the subfields of cultural psychology and psychological anthropology, especially because of his important contributions to our understanding of the intimate relationship between culture and mind. We examine Bruner's past and ongoing engagement with such luminary figures as Lev Vygotsky, Jean Piaget, Alfred Kroeber, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and Clifford Geertz to highlight points of convergence and tension between his version of cultural psychology and contemporary theorizing and practice in psychological anthropology. We also review his practical and theoretical contributions to the fields of medicine, law, and education. PMID:20706551

  20. 77 FR 52058 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Longyear Museum of Anthropology, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-08-28

    ... Inventory Completion: Longyear Museum of Anthropology, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Longyear Museum of Anthropology has completed an... cultural affiliation with the human remains should contact the Longyear Museum of Anthropology at the...

  1. Anthropological film: a scientific and humanistic resource.

    PubMed

    Soren, E R

    1974-12-20

    More than a scientific endeavor but not strictly one of the humanities either, anthropology stands between these basic kinds of intellectual pursuit, bridging and contributing to both. Not limited to natural history, anthropology touches art, historical process, and human values, drawing from the materials and approaches of both science and humanities. This professional interest in a broad understanding of the human condition has led anthropologists to adapt and use modern cameras and films to inquire further into the variety of ways of life of mankind and to develop method and theory to prepare anthropological film as a permanent scientific and humanistic resource. Until quite recently the evolution of human culture and organization has diverged in the hitherto isolated regions of the world. Now this divergence has virtually ceased; we are witnessing an unprecedented period in human history-one where cultural divergence has turned to cultural convergence and where the varieties of independently evolved expressions of basic human potential are giving way to a single system of modern communications, transport, commerce, and manufacturing technology. Before the varieties of ways of life of the world disappear, they can be preserved in facsimile in anthropological films. As primary, undifferentiated visual information, these films facilitate that early step in the creation of new knowledge which is sometimes called humanistic and without which scientific application lies dormant, lacking an idea to test. In keeping with the two scholarly faces of anthropology, humanistic and scientific, anthropological films may provide material permitting both humanistic insight and the more controlled formulations of science. The lightweight filming equipment recently developed has been adapted by anthropologists as a tool of scholarly visual inquiry; methods of retrieving visual data from changing and vanishing ways of life have been developed; and new ways to reveal human beings

  2. Anthropology. SSEC Publication No. 106.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bohannan, Paul

    The major concepts, structure, and methods of anthropology are presented for persons concerned with teaching or constructing new curriculum approaches. Man is a mammalian, social, and cultural animal, who has needs that are satisfied through social relationships. Because these relationships are repetitive, they form a structure. This social…

  3. Historic perspectives from anthropology. Reflections proposed to Transcultural Nursing.

    PubMed

    Rohrbach Viadas, Cecilia

    2015-01-01

    History brings together meanings related to earlier periods, being aware of the past as a panorama to reread the present. Madeleine Leininger presented in 1970 an implicit and respectful message to the Nursing Profession when introducing Nursing and Anthropology. Two Worlds to Blend. Implicitly: Nursing you disregard culture. This article shows the absence of the history of anthropology and of nursing within Transcultural Nursing and it includes how education has influenced theoretic, methodological, and comparative approaches giving researchers the responsibility to decide their fundamentals. Berthoud (2001) has inspired the anthropological and historic perspectives of the author, thus universalism, relativism, and comparison are presented.

  4. [A anthropological critique of the ethic of care].

    PubMed

    Bertrand, Aliénor

    2011-03-01

    This article is a critique of the anthropology of vulnerability and of the needs on which the ethics of care are based. Firstly, this critique confronts the universal postulate of the anthropology of vulnerability to the history of the anthropology of illness. The latter manages to build up a specific disciplinary field in refusing the supervision of the medical sciences and the implicit principle to consider illness as an universal fact. The paper refers to the anthropology of nature and Philippe Descola's work in order to develop a comparative study of the systems of representations, including the naturalism of biomedicine as a model among others. It then presents the descriptions of the representations of vulnerability and the needs which are linked to the four main ontologies defined by anthropology of nature, animism, totemism, analogy and naturalism, and gives a new light to the anthropology on which the ethics of care rest. That anthropology of vulnerability could be an involuntary factor in order to make societies conform to an hygienic constraint. The ethics of care would therefore benefit greatly in freeing themselves from anthropology of vulnerability and focus on their original contextualism; in particular, they would benefit of the knowledge of the limits of naturalism at their basis. It will also allow them to provide a new tool for engineering social transformations in a time, the beginning of XXI century, when cultures happen to mix.

  5. SOCIAL SCIENCE EDUCATION CONSORTIUM. PUBLICATION 106, ANTHROPOLOGY.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    BOHANNAN, PAUL

    A CURRICULUM GUIDE OUTLINES THE MAJOR CONCEPTS, STRUCTURE, AND METHODS OF ANTHROPOLOGY FOR GRADES K-6. THE FOLLOWING UNIT AREAS ARE INCLUDED--(1) NEEDS AND NEED SATISFACTION, (2) HUMAN PERSONALITY, (3) SOCIAL GROUPS, (4) SOCIAL NETWORKS, (5) HUMAN CULTURE, (6) CHANGE AND EVOLUTION, AND (7) CURRENT CULTURAL CHANGES. A SUMMARY CHART PRESENTS A FLOW…

  6. The field of medical anthropology in Social Science & Medicine.

    PubMed

    Panter-Brick, Catherine; Eggerman, Mark

    2018-01-01

    Conceptually and methodologically, medical anthropology is well-positioned to support a "big-tent" research agenda on health and society. It fosters approaches to social and structural models of health and wellbeing in ways that are critically reflective, cross-cultural, people-centered, and transdisciplinary. In this review article, we showcase these four main characteristics of the field, as featured in Social Science & Medicine over the last fifty years, highlighting their relevance for an international and interdisciplinary readership. First, the practice of critical inquiry in ethnographies of health offers a deep appreciation of sociocultural viewpoints when recording and interpreting lived experiences and contested social worlds. Second, medical anthropology champions cross-cultural breadth: it makes explicit local understandings of health experiences across different settings, using a fine-grained, comparative approach to develop a stronger global platform for the analysis of health-related concerns. Third, in offering people-centered views of the world, anthropology extends the reach of critical enquiry to the lived experiences of hard-to-reach population groups, their structural vulnerabilities, and social agency. Finally, in developing research at the nexus of cultures, societies, biologies, and health, medical anthropologists generate new, transdisciplinary conversations on the body, mind, person, community, environment, prevention, and therapy. As featured in this journal, scholarly contributions in medical anthropology seek to debate human health and wellbeing from many angles, pushing forward methodology, social theory, and health-related practice. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. 77 FR 32983 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Department of Anthropology Museum at the University of California...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-06-04

    ... Inventory Completion: Department of Anthropology Museum at the University of California, Davis, Davis, CA AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Department of Anthropology Museum... culturally affiliated with the human remains may contact the Department of Anthropology Museum at the...

  8. 77 FR 32991 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Department of Anthropology Museum at the University of California...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-06-04

    ... Inventory Completion: Department of Anthropology Museum at the University of California, Davis, Davis, CA AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Department of Anthropology Museum... culturally affiliated with the human remains may contact the Department of Anthropology Museum at the...

  9. [The aims of German medical anthropology in countries of the European Community].

    PubMed

    Sterly, J

    1992-07-01

    Medical Anthropology deals with the anthropological conditions of health, illness and health care in different societies and cultures, and has to be distinguished in that respect from Social and Industrial Medicine in German language countries which could be considered a kind of official and governmental medicine. While in North America Medical Anthropology has been established at nearly all universities and medical colleges during the last 25 years, corresponding activities in Germany and most other European countries have not reached university level up to now. After referring to general anthropology during the period of enlightenment and to philosophical and medical anthropology in the first half of our century, both to be considered forerunners of medical anthropology in german-speaking countries, an outline of medical anthropology in German-speaking countries, an outline of medical anthropology in the USA is given followed by a survey of questions and problems with which medical anthropology in German-speaking and other European countries has to cope, and would be confronted after the opening of the EC Market in 1993. The article concludes by briefly going into the circumstance of teaching medical anthropology in the Federal Republic of Germany.

  10. 77 FR 23499 - Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Museum of Indian Arts & Culture/Laboratory of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-04-19

    ... Cultural Items: Museum of Indian Arts & Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe... & Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico, in consultation with the appropriate Indian... contact the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico. DATES...

  11. Coming to our senses: appreciating the sensorial in medical anthropology.

    PubMed

    Nichter, Mark

    2008-06-01

    This article supports the call for the sensorially engaged anthropological study of healing modalities, popular health culture, dietary practices, drug foods and pharmaceuticals, and idioms of distress. Six concepts are of central importance to sensorial anthropology: embodiment, the mindful body, mimesis, local biology, somatic idioms of distress, and 'the work of culture'. Fieldwork in South and Southeast Asia and North America illustrates how cultural interpretations associate bodily sensations with passions (strong emotions) and anxiety states, and bodily communication about social relations. Lay interpretations of bodily sensations inform and are informed by local understanding of ethnophysiology, health, illness, and the way medicines act in the body. Bodily states are manipulated by the ingestion of substances ranging from drug foods (e.g., sources of caffeine, nicotine, dietary supplements) to pharmaceuticals that stimulate or suppress sensations concordant with cultural values, work demands, and health concerns. Social relations are articulated at the site of the body through somatic modes of attention that index bodily ways of knowing learned through socialization, bodily memories, and the ability to relate to how another is likely to be feeling in a particular context. Sensorial anthropology can contribute to the study of transformative healing and trajectories of healthcare seeking and patterns of referral in pluralistic healthcare arenas.

  12. Honors Anthropology and the Four Rs.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Farrer, Claire R.

    1990-01-01

    Describes an honors introductory cultural anthropology course taught at California State University, Chico. Discusses the course design, how course information is made relevant and reinforced, and how students have partial responsibility for the course design. Discusses the use of science fiction books to make material relevant to students. (JS)

  13. Cyber anthropology or anthropology in cyberspace.

    PubMed

    Svilicić, Niksa

    2012-03-01

    As a variety of anthropology, cyber anthropology is considered to be the fastest growing sub branch in the science. It is based on synergic effects of multimedia systems and hypermedia, using their comparative advantages. One of the least researched fields of cyber anthropology is the relationship of individuals and social groups with a multimedia document in terms of their perception of such subject. This is because the foundation of social-informatics perception in the society is created based on the evidence of a real life, whereas here the perception is established at the level of virtual, i.e. online life. The rhetorical question here is whether an identical content causes the same or different user reactions, depending on whether it was perceived offline or online, i.e. to what extend does the medium (and not the information content) dictate the user perception. In this respect the research titled "Perception of online museum content creators and actual habits of Croatian online museum visitors" can be a "case study" for the impact of "cyber potential" on the classic anthropological paradigm.

  14. Beyond critique: rethinking roles for the anthropology of mental health.

    PubMed

    Whitley, Rob

    2014-09-01

    The current supremacy of the 'bio-bio-bio' model within the discipline of psychiatry has progressively marginalized social science approaches to mental health. This situation begs the question, what role is there for the anthropology of mental health? In this essay, I contend that there are three essential roles for the anthropology of mental health in an era of biological psychiatry. These roles are to (i) provide a meaningful critique of practices, beliefs, and movements within current psychiatry; (ii) illuminate the socio-cultural, clinical, and familial context of suffering and healing regarding emotional distress/mental illness; and (iii) act as a catalyst for positive change regarding healing, services and provisions for people with emotional distress/mental illness. My argument is unified by my contention that a credible anthropology of mental health intending to make a societal contribution should offer no opposition without proposition. In other words, any critique must be counter-balanced by the detailing of solutions and proposals for change. This will ensure that the anthropology of mental health continues to contribute critical knowledge to the understanding of mental suffering, distress, and healing. Such social and cultural approaches are becoming especially important given the widespread disenchantment with an increasingly dominant biological psychiatry.

  15. [Anthropology engaged against Ebola (2014-2016): approaches, contributions and new questions].

    PubMed

    Desclaux, Alice; Anoko, Julienne

    2017-10-02

    Anthropologists contributed to the response to the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in three ways : as Ebola experts, cultural mediators between populations and caregivers, and researchers. This article presents a preliminary review of approaches, contributions and related issues based on a literature review, case studies and debates. The anthropological research discussed in this article concerns four themes : epidemiological contexts of transmission ; cultural interpretation of illness and social responses ; social construction of stakeholders' experience ; critical analysis of public health interventions. In addition to insightful contributions, particularly regarding the socio-political contexts and their interfaces with global public health measures, anthropologists tested forms of communication to facilitate access of public health actors to their results. However, these heterogeneous forms of engagement raise a number of questions, especially when they reflect anthropological interpretations that exclude any critical or reflexive dimension, or when anthropology is considered to be similar to social intervention. Nevertheless, anthropological research provides a major contribution, which could be even greater if transnational networks set up by researchers to analyse the socio-political, economic and biocultural dimensions of emerging epidemics are supported in order to improve ?preparedness? for future health crises.

  16. Anthropology and Multicultural Education: Classroom Applications. Publication 83-1.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moses, Yolanda T., Ed.; Higgins, Patricia J., Ed.

    Useful models and ideas for multicultural and cross-cultural educators at all levels who want to use anthropological concepts and processes in the classroom are provided in eight papers. Papers describe six different projects which (1) involved high school students in the collection and analysis of data about local youth cultures; (2) engaged…

  17. Anthropology and Education Quarterly. Special Issue: Anthropological Resources and Teaching.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 1977

    1977-01-01

    The theme of the journal of the Council on Anthropology and Education focuses on anthropological resources and teaching. Nine major articles comprise the special issue of the journal. The first article traces the development of the academic study and teaching of anthropology beginning in 1501. Although mentioned as early as the 1500s, anthropology…

  18. Cognitive anthropology is a cognitive science.

    PubMed

    Boster, James S

    2012-07-01

    Cognitive anthropology contributes to cognitive science as a complement to cognitive psychology. The chief threat to its survival has not been rejection by other cognitive scientists but by other cultural anthropologists. It will remain a part of cognitive science as long as cognitive anthropologists research, teach, and publish. Copyright © 2012 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  19. Why and how to include anthropological perspective into multidisciplinary research in the Polish health system.

    PubMed

    Witeska-Młynarczyk, Anna D

    2012-01-01

    The article focuses on ways in which anthropological knowledge, incorporated into multidisciplinary and multilevel research projects, can be applied for understanding health- and illness-related behaviours and functioning of the health system in Poland. It selectively presents potential theoretical and methodological contributions of the anthropological discipline to the field of applied health research, and briefly reviews selected ethnographic theories and methods for researching and interpreting socio-cultural conditioning of healing, health and illness related practices. The review focuses on the following approaches: Critical Medical Anthropology, Cultural Interpretive Theory, phenomenology, narrative analysis, and the biography of pharmaceuticals. The author highlights the need for team work and use of a holistic perspective while analyzing the health system in Poland, and underlines the need for serious attention and financial support to be given to multidisciplinary research projects of which anthropology is a part.

  20. Aging in cultural context and as narrative process: conceptual foundations of the anthropology of aging as reflected in the works of Margaret Clark and Sharon Kaufman.

    PubMed

    Perkinson, Margaret A; Solimeo, Samantha L

    2014-02-01

    Although the discipline of anthropology has much to contribute to the understanding of the nature and experience of aging, it is a relative latecomer to gerontology. After briefly discussing why this is the case, the authors discuss the contributions of two anthropologists who brought a substantive anthropological voice to gerontological discussion of aging. Examining the "ancestral roots" of the anthropology of aging, we spotlight the intellectual heritage of Margaret Clark, arguably the "mother" of this anthropological subfield, and that of Sharon Kaufman, her student, colleague, and a pioneer in her own right. Clark and Anderson's Culture and aging: an anthropological study of older Americans (1967; Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas) remains a touchstone for the concept of situated aging. This examination of value orientations and mental health of older San Franciscans is foundational for understanding aging as an interactive, socially embedded process that is adapted to specific sociocultural contexts. Research and therapies grounded in narrativity and meaning benefit from Sharon Kaufman's The ageless self: sources of meaning in late life (1986; Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press), which articulated narrative thinking as a conduit for understanding, performing, and constructing identity and meaning. Kaufman's work has ongoing relevance to gerontological research on embodiment, chronic illness, and later life social transitions. Their research has continued relevance to contemporary gerontological scholarship and practice, signaling both prevailing and emergent agendas for anthropologically informed gerontology.

  1. 76 FR 14045 - Notice of Intent To Repatriate a Cultural Item: Museum of Anthropology at Washington State...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-03-15

    ...: Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University, Pullman, WA AGENCY: National Park Service... Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University, Pullman, WA, that meets the definition of..., a copper pendant was given to the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University for intended...

  2. Anthropological Approach and Activity Theory: Culture, Communities and Institutions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lagrange, Jean-Baptiste

    2013-01-01

    The goal of this paper is to evaluate the contribution of the anthropological approach (AA) concurrently to Activity Theory (AT) in view of overarching questions about classroom use of technology for teaching and learning mathematics. I will do it first from a philosophical point of view, presenting the main notions of AA that have been used to…

  3. [Anthropology and oral health projects in developing countries].

    PubMed

    Grasveld, A E

    2016-01-01

    The mouth and teeth play an important role in social interactions around the world. The way people deal with their teeth and mouth, however, is determined culturally. When oral healthcare projects are being carried out in developing countries, differing cultural worldviews can cause misunderstandings between oral healthcare providers and their patients. The oral healthcare volunteer often has to try to understand the local assumptions about teeth and oral hygiene first, before he or she can bring about a change of behaviour, increase therapy compliance and make the oral healthcare project sustainable. Anthropology can be helpful in this respect. In 2014, in a pilot project commissioned by the Dutch Dental Care Foundation, in which oral healthcare was provided in combination with anthropological research, an oral healthcare project in Kwale (Kenia) was evaluated. The study identified 6 primary themes that indicate the most important factors influencing the oral health of school children in Kwale. Research into the local culture by oral healthcare providers would appear to be an important prerequisite to meaningful work in developing countries.

  4. Forensic anthropology in Latin America.

    PubMed

    Işcan, M Y; Olivera, H E

    2000-03-13

    Forensic anthropology has been one of the fastest growing medico-legal disciplines both in its contribution to the practical needs of the legal system and research accomplishments. New anthropological standards were developed to apply to a specific population of a region. The purpose of this paper is to analyze a large sample of anthropological forensic cases and to review pertinent literature that deals with anthropological standards developed for the population of the continent of Central and South America. Using Uruguay as an example, there was not a single office or anthropologist assigned to analyze human skeletal remains in Uruguay. In 1991 the Laboratorio de Antropología Forense at the Morgue Judicial of Montevideo was created. A total of 189 forensic anthropological cases (276 individuals) were analyzed since this date. Twenty six percent of cases involving human remains were positively identified. The majority came from the Departamento de Montevideo, the largest population district of the country. Most of the cases fell into the 60 to 69 years old age range (35%). Females represented 32% of the total. Since the establishment of the laboratory, the number of forensic cases increased considerably from 20 in 1991 to 40 in 1997. The case studies were accompanied with skull-photo superimposition and facial reconstruction when no other evidence for positive identification was available. This service provided by the laboratory was quickly known to coroners, law enforcement agencies, and other legal authorities and thus utilized not only in Uruguay but also in several other countries in the continent. Because of the obvious need for an anthropologist, there are now university programs to provide forensic anthropological education. Yet, research has lagged behind considerably. Deficiencies are obvious in basic osteological standards of estimating age, calculating stature, determining sex and assessing race that can be applied to populations of the continent

  5. Neoliberal Individualism in Dutch Universities: Teaching and Learning Anthropology in an Insecure Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bal, Ellen; Grassiani, Erella; Kirk, Kate

    2014-01-01

    This article is based on our own experiences and that of several of our colleagues teaching social and cultural anthropology in different Dutch institutions for higher learning. We focus in particular on teaching and learning in two small liberal arts and science (LAS) colleges, where anthropology makes up part of the social science curriculum…

  6. Public science of the savage mind: contesting cultural anthropology in the Cold War classroom.

    PubMed

    Milam, Erika Lorraine

    2013-01-01

    "What is human about human beings? How did they get that way? How can they be made more so?" These three questions formed the basis of a fifth-grade social studies curriculum project developed in the 1960s called Man: A Course of Study, or MACOS. In the years between the curriculum's development in the 1960s and its controversial implementation in the 1970s, two separate sets of concerns served to problematize the use of anthropological materials in public school classrooms. On the one hand, MACOS designers were wary of the possibly racist interpretations of exploring so-called "primitive" cultures in the classroom. On the other, conservative textbook reformers objected to claims that all cultural solutions to biological problems were morally equivalent. Once MACOS earned a place in national news, it came to embody both hopes for the redemption of American democratic society and fears about the violent nature of humans, depending on one's political perspective. These mixed messages eventually undermined the long-term success of the program as public science. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  7. Critical Medical Anthropology--a voice for just and equitable healthcare.

    PubMed

    Witeska-Młynarczyk, Anna

    2015-01-01

    The article presents a paradigm current in contemporary medical anthropology - Critical Medical Anthropology (CMA), which merges political-economic approaches with a culturally sensitive analysis of human behaviour grounded in anthropological methods. It is characterized by a strongly applied orientation and a devotion to improving population health and promoting health equity. The beginning of CMA dates back to the 1970s when the interdisciplinary movement called the political economy of health was developed. Today, CMA has grown into one of three major perspectives used in anthropological research devoted to health, illness and wellbeing. The author discusses the origins, key concepts and CMA's usefulness for social research, and its significance for the design of effective policies in the realm of public health. Examplary interventions and ethnographic researches are introduced and wider usage is advocated of such works and methods by bureaucrats and medical staff for understanding the patients' behavior, and the influence of social, economic and political factors on the workings of particular health systems.

  8. Finding revelation in anthropology: Alexander Winchell, William Robertson Smith and the heretical imperative.

    PubMed

    Livingstone, David N

    2015-09-01

    Anthropological inquiry has often been considered an agent of intellectual secularization. Not least is this so in the sphere of religion, where anthropological accounts have often been taken to represent the triumph of naturalism. This metanarrative, however, fails to recognize that naturalistic explanations could sometimes be espoused for religious purposes and in defence of confessional creeds. This essay examines two late nineteenth-century figures--Alexander Winchell in the United States and William Robertson Smith in Britain--who found in anthropological analysis resources to bolster rather than undermine faith. In both cases these individuals found themselves on the receiving end of ecclesiastical censure and were dismissed from their positions at church-governed institutions. But their motivation was to vindicate divine revelation, in Winchell's case from the physical anthropology of human origins and in Smith's from the cultural anthropology of Semitic ritual.

  9. Changing anthropology, changing society.

    PubMed

    Varughese, Heather

    2009-12-01

    Fifty years after the founding of the field of medical anthropology, the Society for Medical Anthropology of the American Anthropological Association held its first independent meeting on September 24-27, 2009, at Yale University.

  10. [Significance of sex and gender studies for anthropology].

    PubMed

    Kirchengast, Sylvia

    2004-09-01

    The formation of a special working group for gender studies within the German Anthropological Society (GfA) makes necessary a description of history as well as topics of gender studies within science and biological anthropology. In German speaking countries, gender studies are predominantly associated with social and cultural sciences, although very successful working groups belonging to natural sciences already exist. Unfortunately, up to now gender studies within natural sciences are often interpreted negatively and the existence of sex is denied. This may be due to the long and difficult history of gender studies in natural sciences. For a long time, pseudoscientific misinterpretations of results of gender studies were used to manifest the inferior social position of women. However, since more than thirty years respectable gender studies are integrated in social as well as natural sciences. Gender studies are integrative parts of nearly all subdisciplines of biological anthropology. The formation of a working group for gender studies within the GfA seems therefore to be useful.

  11. Changing Anthropology, Changing Society

    PubMed Central

    Varughese, Heather

    2009-01-01

    Fifty years after the founding of the field of medical anthropology, the Society for Medical Anthropology of the American Anthropological Association held its first independent meeting on September 24-27, 2009, at Yale University. PMID:20027281

  12. Anthropology for Contemporary Nurses: A Paper for Consideration.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clavner, Jerry B.; Sumodi, Veronica R.

    The integration of culturally relevant concepts into nursing education is essential for the effective delivery of health care in a modern, multi-ethnic, multi-racial, mobile society. Several key concepts from anthropology and specific areas of individual interpersonal behavior have particular relevance to nursing education. It is important, for…

  13. The Anthropology of Anthropologists.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Turner, Paul R.

    Anthropology as an academic discipline in the United States experienced an explosive growth during the late 1960's and early 1970's, when the Woodstock generation embraced anthropology. However, interest in anthropology as a discipline declined in the late 1970's and early 1980's, when the new work-oriented generation held anthropologists at arms…

  14. From forest fires to fisheries management: anthropology, conservation biology, and historical ecology.

    PubMed

    Braje, Todd J; Rick, Torben C

    2013-01-01

    Human-environmental relationships have long been of interest to a variety of scientists, including ecologists, biologists, anthropologists, and many others. In anthropology, this interest was especially prevalent among cultural ecologists of the 1970s and earlier, who tended to explain culture as the result of techno-environmental constraints. More recently researchers have used historical ecology, an approach that focuses on the long-term dialectical relationship between humans and their environments, as well as long-term prehuman ecological datasets. An important contribution of anthropology to historical ecology is that anthropological datasets dealing with ethnohistory, traditional ecological knowledge, and human skeletal analysis, as well as archeological datasets on faunal and floral remains, artifacts, geochemistry, and stratigraphic analysis, provide a deep time perspective (across decades, centuries, and millennia) on the evolution of ecosystems and the place of people in those larger systems. Historical ecological data also have an applied component that can provide important information on the relative abundances of flora and fauna, changes in biogeography, alternations in food webs, landscape evolution, and much more. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  15. Nature/culture/seawater.

    PubMed

    Helmreich, Stefan

    2011-01-01

    Seawater has occupied an ambiguous place in anthropological categories of "nature" and "culture." Seawater as nature appears as potentiality of form and uncontainable flux; it moves faster than culture - with culture frequently figured through land-based metaphors - even as culture seeks to channel water's (nature's) flow. Seawater as culture manifests as a medium of pleasure, sustenance, travel, disaster. I argue that, although seawater's qualities in early anthropology were portrayed impressionistically, today technical, scientific descriptions of water's form prevail. For example, processes of globalization - which may also be called "oceanization" - are often described as "currents," "flows," and "circulations." Examining sea-set ethnography, maritime anthropologies, and contemporary social theory, I propose that seawater has operated as a “theory machine” for generating insights about human cultural organization. I develop this argument with ethnography from the Sargasso Sea and in the Sea Islands. I conclude with a critique of appeals to water's form in social theory.

  16. [Anthropology of the individual, sex, and race in the works of Fran Gundrum Oriovčanin (1856-1919)].

    PubMed

    Kuhar, Martin; Fatović-Ferenčić, Stella

    2015-11-01

    By analysing his unpublished and published works, we have identified anthropological elements in the studies of Croatian physician Fran Gundrum Oriovčanin (1856-1919) that distinguish him as one of the rare researchers in Croatia who attempted to synthesize cultural and biological anthropology. Gundrum collected comparative data on biological characteristics of various ethnic groups, searched for a connection between biological structures and cultural development, and assessed certain social facts and customs from the perspective of medical teleology. This article presents the four most frequent anthropological issues raised in his work: anatomy and physiology of individuals, ethnic groups and "races"; attitudes on prostitution; Jews as a model of alcohol abstinence; and the "degeneration" of Western culture/civilisation. In spite of pronounced linear evolutionism, his work compares social and medical practices between Western and non-Western nations.

  17. Supernatural impotence: historical review with anthropological and clinical implications.

    PubMed

    Margolin, J; Witztum, E

    1989-12-01

    The historical and cultural background of the belief in supernatural impotence is presented, emphasizing its possible implications for clinical practice. A brief historical survey of the concept in Judaism and Christianity is followed by a short anthropological survey of supernatural impotence in different ethnic subcultures in Israel. A case demonstration exemplifies the connection between understanding the patient's cultural background and beliefs and the clinical competence of the therapist. The relationship between the clinical-therapeutic process in psychiatric practice and knowledge of the patient's cultural background and beliefs is stressed.

  18. Evolutionary approaches to cultural and linguistic diversity.

    PubMed

    Steele, James; Jordan, Peter; Cochrane, Ethan

    2010-12-12

    Evolutionary approaches to cultural change are increasingly influential, and many scientists believe that a 'grand synthesis' is now in sight. The papers in this Theme Issue, which derives from a symposium held by the AHRC Centre for the Evolution of Cultural Diversity (University College London) in December 2008, focus on how the phylogenetic tree-building and network-based techniques used to estimate descent relationships in biology can be adapted to reconstruct cultural histories, where some degree of inter-societal diffusion will almost inevitably be superimposed on any deeper signal of a historical branching process. The disciplines represented include the three most purely 'cultural' fields from the four-field model of anthropology (cultural anthropology, archaeology and linguistic anthropology). In this short introduction, some context is provided from the history of anthropology, and key issues raised by the papers are highlighted.

  19. An Evaluation of the Experimental Anthropology Program at Magee Secondary School During the Spring Semester of 1973.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moodie, Allan G.; And Others

    This study was performed to examine the effectiveness of an experimental anthropology program conducted in a secondary school. A semantic differential scale consisting of ten pairs of bipolar adjectives was administered in pre- and post-test sessions to anthropology students to measure their attitudes toward the following concepts: Culture,…

  20. Media Anthropology: A Theoretical Framework

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eiselein, E. B.; Topper, Martin

    1976-01-01

    Media anthropology, a diverse field, has involved nearly all the major subdisciplines of anthropology and most of the major media in five different areas of interaction: the study of media, reaching the public, gathering data, teaching with media, and applied media anthropology. (NQ)

  1. Future Horizons in Anthropology and Education: The View from 1976

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Textor, Robert B.

    1977-01-01

    The outgoing president of the Council on Anthropology and Education discusses "areas of substantive concern that our organization and field might wisely attempt to grow into." He focuses on cultural futuristics, global emphasis, macro approaches, quantitative methodology, political economy, dependency, exploitation, life-long and nonformal…

  2. Variability in the efficacy of psychopharmaceuticals: contributions from pharmacogenomics, ethnopsychopharmacology, and psychological and psychiatric anthropologies.

    PubMed

    Ninnemann, Kristi M

    2012-03-01

    Psychological and psychiatric anthropology have long questioned the universality of psychiatric diagnoses, bringing to light the fluidity of mental disorder, and recognizing that the experience and expression of psychopathology is influenced by complex and interacting genetic, environmental, and cultural factors. The majority of our discussions, however, have remained centered around the role of culture in shaping mental illness: drawing attention to subjective experiences of mental illness and culturally patterned modes of symptom presentation, and interrogating the cogency of universal diagnostic rubrics. Psychological and psychiatric anthropology have yet to robustly engage the broadly assumed universal validity of psychiatric medications and the ways in which they are prescribed and experienced. This article provides an introduction into the fields of pharmacogenomics and ethnopsychopharmacology, areas of inquiry seeking to understand the ways in which genetic variability occurring between, and within, large population groups influences individual ability to metabolize psychotropic medications. This piece further addresses the complex issue of psychopharmaceutical efficacy, stressing the ways in which, just as with psychopathology, medications and their outcomes are likewise influenced by the complex interactions of genes, environment, and culture. Lastly, ways in which anthropology can and should engage with the growing fields of pharmacogenomics and ethnopsychopharmacology are suggested.

  3. [The dialogues between anthropology and health: contributions to public policies].

    PubMed

    Langdon, Esther Jean

    2014-04-01

    In order to examine the development of anthropological paradigms and their dialogue with medicine, I divide the discussion into two general, but non-exclusive, approaches: one that focuses on health and disease as social and cultural experience and construction, and another that examines health from an interactional and political perspective. For the first approach, I focus on North American and French theories that find resonance in the anthropological dialogue in Brazil. For the second political approach, the discussion originates in the dialogue among anthropologists in Latin America who have been developing models to contribute to an interdisciplinary approach necessary for health policies and intervention in health. The concepts of practices in self-care and intermedicality, among others, are explored due to their contribution in anthropology to public policies in health. These anthropologists have argued that health practices should be understood through the notions of autonomy, collectivity, agency and praxis, as opposed to the notions of the biomedical perspective characterized as being universalist, biological, individualist and a-historical.

  4. Annual Review of Anthropology, Volume 7, 1978.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Siegel, Bernard J., Ed.; And Others

    The book contains 19 essays which provide an overview of the state of the art in various areas of anthropology, including applied anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, social anthropology, and economic anthropology. Most of the authors are professors and researchers from departments of anthropology in United States colleges, universities, and…

  5. Annual Review of Anthropology, Volume 6, 1977.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Siegel, Bernard J., Ed.; And Others

    The book contains 20 essays which provide an overview of the state of the art in various areas of anthropology, including applied anthropology, archaeology, physical anthropology, ethnology, linguistics, and social anthropology. Most of the authors are professors and researchers from departments of anthropology or linguistics in United States…

  6. Toward Common Ground: The Uses of Educational Anthropology in Multicultural Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Demerath, Peter; Mattheis, Allison

    2012-01-01

    This article reviews advances of interest to multicultural educators and researchers in the complementary disciplines of multicultural education and educational anthropology including the culture concept; biological and sociological conceptions of "race;" postmodern understandings of identity and subjectivity; and ethnographic accounts…

  7. History and future of visual anthropology.

    PubMed

    Svilicić, Niksa

    2011-03-01

    Visual recording of communication processes between communities or individuals by means of filming of photographing is of significant importance in anthropology, as it documents on site the specific features of various social communities in their encounter with the researcher. In terms of film industry, it is a sort of ethno-documentary pursuing originality and objectivity in recording the given subject, thus fulfilling the research mission. However, the potential of visual anthropology significantly exceeds the mere audiovisual recording of ethnologic realities. Modern methods of analysing and evaluating the role of visual anthropology suggest that it is a technical research service aimed at documenting the status quo. If the direction of proactive approach were taken, then the term ,visual anthropology' could be changed to ,anthropology of the visual,. This apparently cosmetic change of name is actually significantly more accurate, suggesting the denoted proactive swift in perceiving visual anthropology, where visual methods are employed to ,provoke< the reaction of an individual or of the community. In this way the "anthropology of the visual, is promoted to a new scientific sub-anthropological discipline.

  8. A Brief History of Media Anthropology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eiselein, E. B.; Topper, Martin

    1976-01-01

    Media and anthropology have been inalienably linked since the beginning of anthropology. Anthropologists have experimented with a variety of media to communicate anthropology to new audiences. (Author)

  9. Applying Evolutionary Anthropology

    PubMed Central

    Gibson, Mhairi A; Lawson, David W

    2015-01-01

    Evolutionary anthropology provides a powerful theoretical framework for understanding how both current environments and legacies of past selection shape human behavioral diversity. This integrative and pluralistic field, combining ethnographic, demographic, and sociological methods, has provided new insights into the ultimate forces and proximate pathways that guide human adaptation and variation. Here, we present the argument that evolutionary anthropological studies of human behavior also hold great, largely untapped, potential to guide the design, implementation, and evaluation of social and public health policy. Focusing on the key anthropological themes of reproduction, production, and distribution we highlight classic and recent research demonstrating the value of an evolutionary perspective to improving human well-being. The challenge now comes in transforming relevance into action and, for that, evolutionary behavioral anthropologists will need to forge deeper connections with other applied social scientists and policy-makers. We are hopeful that these developments are underway and that, with the current tide of enthusiasm for evidence-based approaches to policy, evolutionary anthropology is well positioned to make a strong contribution. PMID:25684561

  10. Applying evolutionary anthropology.

    PubMed

    Gibson, Mhairi A; Lawson, David W

    2015-01-01

    Evolutionary anthropology provides a powerful theoretical framework for understanding how both current environments and legacies of past selection shape human behavioral diversity. This integrative and pluralistic field, combining ethnographic, demographic, and sociological methods, has provided new insights into the ultimate forces and proximate pathways that guide human adaptation and variation. Here, we present the argument that evolutionary anthropological studies of human behavior also hold great, largely untapped, potential to guide the design, implementation, and evaluation of social and public health policy. Focusing on the key anthropological themes of reproduction, production, and distribution we highlight classic and recent research demonstrating the value of an evolutionary perspective to improving human well-being. The challenge now comes in transforming relevance into action and, for that, evolutionary behavioral anthropologists will need to forge deeper connections with other applied social scientists and policy-makers. We are hopeful that these developments are underway and that, with the current tide of enthusiasm for evidence-based approaches to policy, evolutionary anthropology is well positioned to make a strong contribution. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  11. Evolutionary approaches to cultural and linguistic diversity

    PubMed Central

    Steele, James; Jordan, Peter; Cochrane, Ethan

    2010-01-01

    Evolutionary approaches to cultural change are increasingly influential, and many scientists believe that a ‘grand synthesis’ is now in sight. The papers in this Theme Issue, which derives from a symposium held by the AHRC Centre for the Evolution of Cultural Diversity (University College London) in December 2008, focus on how the phylogenetic tree-building and network-based techniques used to estimate descent relationships in biology can be adapted to reconstruct cultural histories, where some degree of inter-societal diffusion will almost inevitably be superimposed on any deeper signal of a historical branching process. The disciplines represented include the three most purely ‘cultural’ fields from the four-field model of anthropology (cultural anthropology, archaeology and linguistic anthropology). In this short introduction, some context is provided from the history of anthropology, and key issues raised by the papers are highlighted. PMID:21041203

  12. Concept of Culture. Grade 4. Teacher's Background Material: Enculturation, Cultural Variation, Culture Dynamics [And] Pupil Text [And] Pupil Study Guide [And] A Sequential Curriculum in Anthropology. Test: Form 4, Composite Form for Pre- And Post-Test. (Revised, January 1968). Publications No. 13-17 and 42.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Georgia Univ., Athens. Anthropology Curriculum Project.

    This social studies unit includes teacher background material, a student text, study guide, and composite pretest/posttest explaining and discussing cultural concepts. It is part of the Anthropology Curriculum Project and is designed to be used in grade 4. The unit objective is to provide students with a background for understanding man and his…

  13. Entangled traditions of race: Physical anthropology in Hungary and Romania, 1900-1940.

    PubMed

    Turda, Marius

    2010-01-01

    This article discusses the relationship between race and physical anthropology in Hungary and Romania between 1900 and 1940. It begins by looking at institutional developments in both countries and how these influenced the most important Hungarian and Romanian anthropologists' professional and research agendas. Drawing from a wide range of primary sources, the article reveals the significant role the concept of race played in articulating anthropological and ethnic narratives of national belonging. It is necessary to understand the appeal of the idea of race in this context. With idealized images of national communities and racial hierarchies creeping back into Eastern European popular culture and politics, one needs to understand the latent and often unrecognized legacies of race in shaping not only scientific disciplines like anthropology, but also the emergence and entrancement of modern Hungarian and Romanian nationalism.

  14. Entangled traditions of race: Physical anthropology in Hungary and Romania, 1900-1940

    PubMed Central

    Turda, Marius

    2013-01-01

    This article discusses the relationship between race and physical anthropology in Hungary and Romania between 1900 and 1940. It begins by looking at institutional developments in both countries and how these influenced the most important Hungarian and Romanian anthropologists’ professional and research agendas. Drawing from a wide range of primary sources, the article reveals the significant role the concept of race played in articulating anthropological and ethnic narratives of national belonging. It is necessary to understand the appeal of the idea of race in this context. With idealized images of national communities and racial hierarchies creeping back into Eastern European popular culture and politics, one needs to understand the latent and often unrecognized legacies of race in shaping not only scientific disciplines like anthropology, but also the emergence and entrancement of modern Hungarian and Romanian nationalism. PMID:24363494

  15. Federal repatriation legislation and the role of physical anthropology in repatriation.

    PubMed

    Ousley, Stephen D; Billeck, William T; Hollinger, R Eric

    2005-01-01

    Two laws governing the disposition of Native American human remains in museums and institutions have had a profound impact on anthropology, and especially physical anthropology. In contrast to the perception of constant conflict between Native Americans and physical anthropologists, the repatriation process based on these laws has been in large part harmonious between institutions and Native peoples in the US. Despite misconceptions, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAPGRA; 25 United States Code (U.S.C.) 3001-3013) was not intended to halt further research on Native American remains in museums. In fact, court decisions have affirmed that the documentation of human remains produces information no other methods can provide, and provides necessary evidence to be incorporated and weighed, along with other evidence, in evaluating "cultural affiliation," the legal term for the required connection from federally recognized Native American groups to their ancestors. The wide variety of osteological data collected at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), Smithsonian Institution, have proven indispensable when evaluating cultural affiliation, especially when other information sources are unhelpful or ambiguous, and provide an empirical basis for determining the ancestry of individuals whose remains will be discovered in the future. To date, the claim-driven process at the NMNH has resulted in the affiliation and repatriation of more Native American remains than any other institution in the country. Repatriation experiences at the NMNH demonstrate the changing relationships between museums and Native peoples, the continuing important contributions that physical anthropology makes to the repatriation process, and the importance of physical anthropology in understanding the recent and ancient history of North America. (c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  16. Social anthropology in INCAP.

    PubMed

    Adams, Richard N

    2010-03-01

    Social anthropology at INCAP evolved through a series of stages. The initial work in the 1950s was concerned with finding ways to make INCAP nutritional research more effective. In a second phase, emerging in the 1960s, anthropology examined the nutrition process in the population, especially as it was manifested in child care and feeding, lactation, and population growth and in the relation of economic process to nutritional progress. In the 1970s, anthropology once more became an adjunct of nutritional research. Anthropological awareness was introduced into project planning, and field studies were undertaken by way of shaping the research process to work in accord with local realities. In the 1980s and 1990s, there was a shift away from more descriptive research to research directed to supporting and facilitating specific nutrition and health behavior change.

  17. Three Cultures: The Hopi Indians of the Southwest Desert, the Indians of the Northwest Pacific Coast, and the People of Midwest U.S.A. An Anthropological Unit.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marksberry, Mary Lee

    Intended to acquaint fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-grade children with the concept of culture, this anthropology unit focuses on two groups of Indians who lived in prehistoric times and present-day non-Indian families living in the Midwest. Objectives are to help students understand the behavior of the Northwest Pacific Coast Indians, the Hopi…

  18. Theory, Research, and Application in Educational Anthropology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eddy, Elizabeth M.

    1985-01-01

    Examines the historical development of educational anthropology in the context of the growth of professionalism and specialization of anthropology as a whole. Discusses several factors: 1954 Stanford Conference; organization of the Council on Anthropology and Education; changing economic support for anthropology; and modifications in…

  19. Looking at physiological anthropology from a historical standpoint.

    PubMed

    Katsuura, Tetsuo

    2005-05-01

    As one way of thinking about physiological anthropology, let us survey it from a historical viewpoint. At the beginning of the 19th century, Blumenbach, considered the father of Physical Anthropology, wrote his "Handbook of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology." The subsequent research conducted and papers written by researchers such as Broca and Martin pointed in the direction of physiological anthropology; furthermore, the research carried out by the American researchers Demon and Baker had a physiological anthropology "feel." The courses in Physiological Anthropology taught by Tokizane exerted a major influence on physiological anthropology in Japan. The precursor of the Japan Society of Physiological Anthropology, organized by Sato in 1978, was extremely significant in the effect that it had on the subsequent development of physiological anthropology. The holding of the biennial International Congress of Physiological Anthropology, along with the allocation of the Research sub-field of Physiological Anthropology in the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, would seem to suggest that the field of physiological anthropology is set to increasingly grow and evolve.

  20. Reticulate evolution and the human past: an anthropological perspective.

    PubMed

    Winder, Isabelle C; Winder, Nick P

    2014-01-01

    The evidence is mounting that reticulate (web-like) evolution has shaped the biological histories of many macroscopic plants and animals, including non-human primates closely related to Homo sapiens, but the implications of this non-hierarchical evolution for anthropological enquiry are not yet fully understood. When they are understood, the result may be a paradigm shift in evolutionary anthropology. This paper reviews the evidence for reticulated evolution in the non-human primates and human lineage. Then it makes the case for extrapolating this sort of patterning to Homo sapiens and other hominins and explores the implications this would have for research design, method and understandings of evolution in anthropology. Reticulation was significant in human evolutionary history and continues to influence societies today. Anthropologists and human scientists-whether working on ancient or modern populations-thus need to consider the implications of non-hierarchic evolution, particularly where molecular clocks, mathematical models and simplifying assumptions about evolutionary processes are used. This is not just a problem for palaeoanthropology. The simple fact of different mating systems among modern human groups, for example, may demand that more attention is paid to the potential for complexity in human genetic and cultural histories.

  1. Annual Review of Anthropology. Volume 8, 1979.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Siegel, Bernard J., Ed.; And Others

    This book contains 23 essays which provide an overview of the state of the art in the discipline of anthropology, including applied anthropology, archaeology, ethnology, social anthropology, and linguistics. Most of the authors are professors and researchers from departments of anthropology in United States colleges and universities. Topics of the…

  2. Culture and Identity: Critical Considerations for Successful State-building Endeavors

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-05-21

    cultures. The literature consulted was largely based on anthropological and political science research both of which also included references to...ambiguity. 79 For the purposes of this research and analysis, the definitions of culture offered by the political science and anthropological ...is both a metaquestion, and 80 Claude Lévi-Strauss, “Social Structure” in Anthropology Today

  3. Anthropology. Teacher's Resource Packet.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Museum of Natural History.

    This document is a collection of materials developed for the Smithsonian Institution/George Washington University Anthropology for Teachers Program. The program was established to encourage junior and senior high school teachers to integrate anthropology into their social studies and science classes. The materials include several bibliographies:…

  4. [Man's place and anthropology in bioethics].

    PubMed

    Tomar Romero, Francisca

    2013-01-01

    From the analysis of its epistemological status, the article focuses on the philosophical fundament of bioethics, stressing the need for an authentic anthropology as a reference or starting point. Being an applied ethics, the first fundament of bioethics is in ethics. It shows how only personalistic ethics, which takes as reference the nature or essence of man, can offer objective and universal criteria. Philosophical anthropology studies man as a whole, in an integral manner, from the perspective of its nature or fundamental aspects of his being. It analyzes the distinction and relationship between the philosophical anthropology and the positive anthropologies, as well as with the physical, human and social sciences. Finally, it reflects on the current anthropological crisis and its ethical consequences.

  5. [Social anthropology and anthropologists of the past and present: from exoticism and the imagined reciprocity to everyday inequalities].

    PubMed

    Neufeld, María Rosa

    2012-01-01

    In this article we examine two moments in anthropology. First we characterize anthropology as a subject specialized in the study of "the others", which developed in those countries that led the European and North American colonial expansion. We underline the links that existed between this historical context, the features of ethnography -the theoretic-methodological approach developed by anthropologistsand the concept of culture, that became the core of this discipline. Secondly, we intend to further the understanding of some trends of contemporary anthropology: the fact that nowadays anthropologists work on the societies they belong to, their operations (documenting the undocumented, unveiling dayliness, de-naturalizing), which find their roots in earlier anthropology. It also highlights the shift of focus from reciprocity relations to power and inequity relations. Finally it sheds light on some original developments in Latin American anthropology, considering some cases in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.

  6. Utopian Education and Anti-Utopian Anthropology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Papastephanou, Marianna

    2013-01-01

    This article explores the connection of education, utopia and anthropology, aiming to tease out some educational implications of anti-utopian anthropological essentialism and to show why these should be staved off. It will be shown how an anthropology that tarnishes human nature operates and how it affects educational intervention in the shaping…

  7. [Anthropology at the heart of medicine].

    PubMed

    Vidal, Laurent

    2008-10-01

    Anthropology and medicine share many concerns, but have had trouble collaborating in the past. The anthropologist has had to plead both with his colleagues and physicians to move beyond a < culturalist > vision that would confine him to the study of traditional or alternative medicines and representations of populations and the sick. The anthropologist's approach perceived as intrusive has also raised fears in the medical world. These reciprocal misunderstandings and stereotypes need to be overcome by an anthropology that studies the practices and knowledge of modern medicine as they are elaborated daily. Anthropology will dialogue with medicine without judging it. In its turn, medicine will open its sites of healing and teaching to the anthropologist. Anthropology at the heart of medicine is organized around the idea that the paths and expectations of health professionals reflect the specicifities of the local system of health. The individual dimensions of practices cannot be divorced from the functioning of structures of health and decision. Finally, like any other kind of anthropology, medical anthropology must scrutinize its own methods and ethics in a critical way.

  8. A history of forensic anthropology.

    PubMed

    Ubelaker, Douglas H

    2018-04-01

    Forensic anthropology represents a dynamic and rapidly evolving complex discipline within anthropology and forensic science. Academic roots extend back to early European anatomists but development coalesced in the Americas through high-profile court testimony, assemblage of documented collections and focused research. Formation of the anthropology section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in 1972, the American Board of Forensic Anthropology in 1977/1978 and other organizational advances provided important stimuli for progress. While early pioneers concentrated on analysis of skeletonized human remains, applications today have expanded to include complex methods of search and recovery, the biomechanics of trauma interpretation, isotopic analysis related to diet and region of origin, age estimation of the living and issues related to humanitarian and human rights investigations. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. The Partnership of Public Health and Anthropology.

    PubMed

    Jelenc, Marjetka

    2016-06-01

    Public health focuses on health of the population and it is concerned with threats to health based on population health analysis. Anthropology covers most aspects that concern human beings. Both sciences converge on community and this fact represents a foundation for the partnership between public health and anthropology. Biological/medical anthropology is one of the highly developed fi elds of anthropology and the most important for public health.

  10. Education science and biological anthropology.

    PubMed

    Krebs, Uwe

    2014-01-01

    This contribution states deficits and makes proposals in order to overcome them. First there is the question as to why the Biological Anthropology--despite all its diversifications--hardly ever deals with educational aspects of its subject. Second it is the question as to why Educational Science neglects or even ignores data of Biological Anthropology which are recognizably important for its subject. It is postulated that the stated deficits are caused by several adverse influences such as, the individual identity of each of the involved single sciences; aspects of the recent history of the German Anthropology; a lack of conceptual understanding of each other; methodological differences and, last but not least, the structure of the universities. The necessity to remedy this situation was deduced from two groups of facts. First, more recent data of the Biological Anthropology (e.g. brain functions and learning, sex specificity and education) are of substantial relevance for the Educational Science. Second, the epistemological requirements of complex subjects like education need interdisciplinary approaches. Finally, a few suggestions of concrete topics are given which are related to both, Educational Science and Biological Anthropology.

  11. Contemporary Culture: A Model for Teaching a Culture's Heritage.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carr, Tom

    Current approaches to teaching culture which have adapted the anthropological model to contemporary life situations can serve as a guide to the organization of traditional civilization course material, from which exercises can be developed. Culture instruction should incorporate a cross-cultural dimension, be authentically contemporary, and be…

  12. Teaching the Anthropology of Tourism.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Graburn, Nelson H. H.

    1980-01-01

    Explains the organization and objectives of a college level anthropology course devoted to various aspects of tourism. Topics discussed include course content, graduate students and contemporary research on tourism, and the role of tourism in the anthropology curriculum. (DB)

  13. Cultural initiation of medical doctors.

    PubMed

    Zsinkó-Szabó, Zoltán; Lázár, Imre

    2013-12-01

    Eighteen years experience of teaching medical anthropology at a Hungarian medical school offers insight into the dynamics of interference between the rationalist epistemological tradition of biomedicine as one of the central paradigms of modernism and the cultural relativism of medical anthropology, as cultural anthropology is considered to be one of the generators of postmodern thinking. Tracing back the informal "prehistory" of our Institute, we can reveal its psychosomatic, humanistic commitment and critical basis as having represented a kind of counterculture compared with the technocrats of state-socialist Hungary's health ideology. The historical change and socio-cultural transition in Hungary after 1989 was accompanied by changes in the medical system as well as in philosophy and in the structure of the teaching of social sciences. The developing pluralism in the medical system together with the pluralism of social ideologies allowed the substitution of the dogmatic Marxist-Leninist framework with the more pragmatic and empiricist behavioral sciences including medical sociology and medical anthropology. The conflict between the initiation function of the hard preclinical training of the first two years, and the reflective, relativistic and critical narrative on "biomedicine as culture bound entity" constructed by medical anthropology during the second year of medical training is discussed. We also submit our fieldwork data gained as a result of a two year investigation period focusing on diverse initiation types of "would be" physicians. The main proportion of our data derives from individual semi structured deep interviews together with focus group interviews carried out with medical students of upper years. Finally, the role of medical anthropology in the "rite of passage" of becoming a medical doctor is summarized, paying attention to their field work reports and the risks and gains in this process.

  14. [Anthropology, gender, and contemporary nursing].

    PubMed

    Lillo Crespo, Manuel

    2002-12-01

    We live in an age when decisive changes occur. Social changes in the field of Genre and Work Cultures will take on a crucial role regarding the development of Nursing. New technological advances, and a higher degree of specialization in the Nursing field, as well as the increase in the number of nursing professionals coming from the male genere, enter into conflict with traditional social structures and act as intellectual tools which are necessary to acquire a critical understanding of the times in which we live, where an anthropological evaluation of the Genre factor is essential as a beginning principle in order to explain the subordination of nursing professionals as this has existed up until our times.

  15. Making Sense of HIV in Southeastern Nigeria Fictional Narratives, Cultural Meanings, and Methodologies in Medical Anthropology

    PubMed Central

    Winskell, Kate; Brown, Peter J.; Patterson, Amy E.; Burkot, Camilla; Mbakwem, Benjamin C.

    2018-01-01

    Fictional narratives have rarely been used in medical anthropological research. This article illustrates the value of such narratives by examining how young people in southeastern Nigeria navigate the cultural resources available to them to make sense of HIV in their creative writing. Using thematic data analysis and narrative-based methodologies, it analyzes a sample (N = 120) from 1,849 narratives submitted by Nigerian youth to the 2005 Scenarios from Africa scriptwriting contest on the theme of HIV. The narratives are characterized by five salient themes: tragedy arising from the incompatibility of sex outside marriage and kinship obligations; female vulnerability and blame; peer pressure and moral ambivalence; conservative Christian sexual morality; and the social and family consequences of HIV. We consider the strengths and limitations of this narrative approach from a theoretical perspective and by juxtaposing our findings with those generated by Daniel Jordan Smith using standard ethnographic research methods with a similar Igbo youth population. [HIV, Igbo, youth, narrative, methodology] PMID:23804317

  16. Second nature: on Gramsci's anthropology.

    PubMed

    Pizza, Giovanni

    2012-04-01

    The aim of this paper is to convey the relevance of a Gramscian perspective in medical anthropology, stressing his anti-essentialist way of reasoning about 'nature'. The author claims that Gramsci's understandings of the bodily life of the state can deconstruct naturalized realities in ways that are helpful for the ethnographer engaged in the political anthropology of embodiment and the management of health, persons, and life itself. The paper is presented in three parts. An attempt is made, first, to frame the relevance of Gramsci for Italian medical anthropology and second, to explore the components of the Gramscian concept of 'second nature' within the perspective that he himself calls 'an anthropology'. Third, an example is given of how the proposed Gramscian insights could inform an ethnography on the biopolitical aspects for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease, which is currently being carried out in Perugia.

  17. Anthropology 101 and English 101: Ethnography as Data Source and Text.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnsen, John H.

    At Utica College, Anthropology 101 seeks to help students begin to detect ethnocentrism in themselves and others, to get an understanding of the varieties of cultural systems, and to see their own society as simply one example of shapes a society can take. An "ethnography project" is a useful device in advancing these goals. Students are…

  18. CULTURAL COMPETENCE AND PSYCHOTHERAPY: APPLYING ANTHROPOLOGICALLY INFORMED CONCEPTIONS OF CULTURE

    PubMed Central

    Lakes, Kimberley; López, Steven R.; Garro, Linda C.

    2013-01-01

    The authors apply two contemporary notions of culture to advance the conceptual basis of cultural competence in psychotherapy: Kleinman’s (1995) definition of culture as what is at stake in local, social worlds, and Mattingly and Lawlor’s (2001) concept of shared narratives between practitioners and patients. The authors examine these cultural constructs within a clinical case of an immigrant family caring for a young boy with an autism-spectrum disorder. Their analysis suggests that the socially based model of culture and the concept of shared narratives have the potential to broaden and enrich the definition of cultural competence beyond its current emphasis on the presumed cultural differences of specific racial and ethnic minority groups. PMID:22122131

  19. Budget Anthropology: A Unit Sampler.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fraker, G. Alan

    Creative and inexpensive teaching suggestions for high school anthropology courses are presented. They are chosen specifically for programs which cannot afford expensive curriculum materials. All activities demonstrate the application of universal anthropological principles to the American society. Seven areas which reflect the general functions…

  20. Disciplining the Discipline: Anthropology and the Pursuit of Quality Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gonzalez, Norma

    2004-01-01

    Disciplinary knowledge in anthropology occupies a unique position in relation to quality education: anthropology in education and the anthropology of education. This essay differentiates between anthropology as a field, as a repository of content and disciplinary knowledge (anthropology in education), and anthropology as a tool, as a theoretical…

  1. Global Health, Medical Anthropology, and Social Marketing: Steps to the Ecology of Collaboration.

    PubMed

    Whiteford, Linda

    2015-06-01

    Anthropology and global health have long been a focus of research for both biological and medical anthropologists. Research has looked at physiological adaptations to high altitudes, community responses to water-borne diseases, the integration of traditional and biomedical approaches to health, global responses to HIV/AIDS, and more recently, to the application of cultural approaches to the control of the Ebola epidemic. Academic anthropology has employed theory and methods to extend knowledge, but less often to apply that knowledge. However, anthropologists outside of the academy have tackled global health issues such as family planning and breast-feeding by bringing together applied medical anthropology and social marketing. In 2014, that potent and provocative combination resulted in the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida being made the home of an innovative center designed to combine academic and applied anthropology with social marketing in order to facilitate social change. This article discusses how inter- and intra-disciplinary research/application has led to the development of Florida's first World Health Organization Collaborating Center (WHO CC), and the first such center to focus on social marketing, social change and non-communicable diseases. This article explains the genesis of the Center and presents readers with a brief overview, basic principles and applications of social marketing by reviewing a case study of a water conservation project. The article concludes with thoughts on the ecology of collaboration among global health, medical anthropology and social marketing practitioners.

  2. Reflections on anatomy and physical anthropology.

    PubMed

    Tobias, P V

    1978-06-24

    The close and ineluctable links between anatomy and physical anthropology are explored. The relevance of many aspects of physical anthropology in the teaching of anatomy to medical and dental students is stressed. It is suggested that, since physical anthropology is one of the frontier fields in anatomical research today, it may help to attract personnel to anatomy departments which in most parts of the world are suffering from a serious shortage of suitably qualified people to teach gross anatomy.

  3. 75 FR 14461 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-03-25

    ... Museum of Anthropology professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Confederated Tribes... Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History/Oregon State Museum of Anthropology, Eugene, OR AGENCY... Museum of Natural and Cultural History/Oregon State Museum of Anthropology, Eugene, OR. The human remains...

  4. Transnational nurse migration: future directions for medical anthropological research.

    PubMed

    Prescott, Megan; Nichter, Mark

    2014-04-01

    Transnational nurse migration is a serious global health issue in which inequitably distributed shortages hinder health and development goals. This article selectively reviews the literature on nurse migration that has emerged from nursing, health planning, and the social sciences and offers productive directions for future anthropological research. The literature on global nurse migration has largely focused on push/pull economic logic and the concept of brain drain to understand the causes and effects of nurse migration. These concepts obscure political-economic, historical, and cultural factors that pattern nurse migration and influence the complex effects of nurse migration. Global nurse care chain analysis helps illuminate the numerous nodes in the production and migration of nurses, and management of this transnational process. Examples are provided from the Philippines and India to illustrate ways in which this analysis may be deepened, refined and rendered more critical by anthropological research. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Anthropology and Jobs. A Guide for Undergraduates.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bernard, H. Russell; Sibley, Willis E.

    Focus in this anthropology career guide is on suggestions about how to combine a degree in anthropology with supplementary training in order to qualify for a variety of positions after undergraduate study. A series of steps which the undergraduate major in anthropology might pursue to prepare for employment are outlined, and the significance of…

  6. Anthropology and International Business. Studies in Third World Societies. Publication Number Twenty-Eight.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Serrie, Hendrick, Ed.

    The range and possibilities of "business anthropology" are explored in fourteen papers. The papers are presented in an order designed to illustrate five major roles for anthropologists interested in working with business: (1) conducting cross-cultural orientation programs for business personnel working in foreign countries or with different…

  7. Equity from an Anthropological Perspective. Research and Development Series No. 214M.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schwartz, Henrietta

    This paper focuses on issues related to the cultural aspects of sex equity and schooling in American society. It begins with a framework of assumptions that relate the discipline of anthropology to concepts of equity. Education or schooling is discussed as a special form of socialization, and four operational elements are cited that are displayed…

  8. [Education on medical anthropology and intercultural health in Mexico: from the 20th century cultural indigenism to the 21st century interculturality].

    PubMed

    Campos-Navarro, Roberto

    2010-03-01

    The study of the health/disease/healthcare process from the socio-medical aspect is the field of the medical anthropology. In Mexico, this medical specialty had its origins at the end of the 19th century. Since then, many educational reforms occurred associated to the political processes and the recognition and better understanding of Mexican pluricultural society; allowing expansion, diversification and consolidation of medical anthropology as an specialty. This review presents the historical evolution of the academic courses on this field, the educators that influenced its consolidation, and the current situation of the available academic programs on medical anthropology. The diversity of specialties from those health sciences that are associated to medical anthropology is emphasized.

  9. Anthropology for the nuclear age

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mandelbaum, D.G.

    An anthropological approach to preparing for a turning point in the nuclear age as a result of a large-scale accident or act of terrorism suggests three areas for preliminary study: institutional changes that would reinforce international structures to be more effective in preserving the peace and would redirect military institutions toward that end; cultural changes that would deal with the fears and perceptions of citizens within each nation to find new ways of communication and conflict resolution, but keeping in mind the major class, religious, regional, and ethnic groupings; and global forces that would deal with population pressures. These preliminarymore » studies would need revision after the nuclear event to incorporate the new circumstances. 15 references.« less

  10. Anthropological Diplomacy: Issues and Principles. Studies in Third World Societies, Publication Number Twenty.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zamora, Mario D.; And Others

    The focus of this volume is anthropological diplomacy: the promotion of peace and prevention of war by knowing, understanding, and appreciating the basic affirmations of society. Eight articles examine the role of race, language, and culture in inter-ethnic and international relations. Vinson Sutlive, Jr. examines the interrelationship of race and…

  11. Digital-Visual-Sensory-Design Anthropology: Ethnography, Imagination and Intervention

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pink, Sarah

    2014-01-01

    In this article I outline how a digital-visual-sensory approach to anthropological ethnography might participate in the making of relationship between design and anthropology. While design anthropology is itself coming of age, the potential of its relationship with applied visual anthropology methodology and theory has not been considered in the…

  12. Reflections on the future of anthropology.

    PubMed

    Sosa, Richard

    2009-12-01

    In his plenary session entitled Five Questions on the Future, Harvard anthropologist Arthur Kleinman capitalized on the 2009 Society for Medical Anthropology Conference's theme of Medical Anthropology at the Intersections to speculate on the future of the discipline.

  13. Reflections on the Future of Anthropology

    PubMed Central

    Sosa, Richard

    2009-01-01

    In his plenary session entitled Five Questions on the Future, Harvard anthropologist Arthur Kleinman capitalized on the 2009 Society for Medical Anthropology Conference’s theme of Medical Anthropology at the Intersections to speculate on the future of the discipline. PMID:20027285

  14. Pathological gambling in Montreal's Chinese community: an anthropological perspective.

    PubMed

    Papineau, Elisabeth

    2005-01-01

    Pathological gambling has been identified as a major issue in Montreal's Chinese community. A variety of sources attest to the fact that, though we live in an increasingly heterogeneous society, the services provided to minority communities for preventing and treating pathological gambling are inadequate. An anthropological approach that takes into account cultural characteristics of one's community could lead to better strategies for acknowledgement, definition, diagnosis and treatment of pathological gambling among culturally different communities. Research paths that could help to provide effective treatment and services to specific populations are suggested. An overview of the way the Chinese view gambling, pathological gambling and treatment is presented. The concepts of fate, destiny and luck in Chinese thought, as well as Montreal's Chinese community social norms related to gambling are then described. The incorporation of those cultural understandings in future studies and treatment attempts is suggested.

  15. [Contribution of Stein's Anthropology to Personalistic Bioethics].

    PubMed

    Robles Morejón, Jeannette Beatriz

    2016-01-01

    Dr. Juan Manuel Burgos proposes ″a challenge″ to whom aims to consolidate the dignity of the human person as the center of a thought structure. Burgos presents a well-founded trilogy, citing Wojtyla, Sgreccia and he himself, as a perfect combination to support personalist bioethics. However, the possibility of giving a solid anthropological support to this bioethics remains open provided that a substantial list of personalistic authors is revised. This research seeks to collate Stein's anthropological proposal to personalist bioethics needs expressed by Burgos. The study aims to prove how Stein's anthropology can be assembled to the characteristics of personalism, and thus infer that more specific levels of the personalist bioethics can be based on this anthropology.

  16. Deviance as Pedagogy: From Nondominant Cultural Capital to Deviantly Marked Cultural Repertoires

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dixon-Román, Ezekiel J.

    2014-01-01

    Background/Context: Pierre Bourdieu's concept of cultural capital has been employed extensively in sociological, educational, and anthropological research. However, Bourdieu's conceptualization of cultural capital has often been misread to refer only to "high status" or dominant cultural norms and resources at the cost of…

  17. Applied Anthropology and the Grade Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gonzalez, Nancie L.

    1973-01-01

    Three kinds of training experience for teaching Man: A Course of Study'' were tested: (1) a 3-week intensive anthropology workshop; (2) a 1-week intensive workshop in prepared materials use; and (3) a workshop in both anthropology and the use of prepared materials. (NQ)

  18. 77 FR 51563 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-08-24

    ... Anthropology and the Burke Museum professional staff in consultation with representatives of Catawba Indian... culturally affiliated with the human remains may contact the Burke Museum acting on behalf of the University..., Burke Museum, University of Washington, Box 353010, Seattle, WA 98195, telephone (206) 685-3849...

  19. Molecular anthropology in the genomic era.

    PubMed

    Destro-Bisol, Giovanni; Jobling, Mark A; Rocha, Jorge; Novembre, John; Richards, Martin B; Mulligan, Connie; Batini, Chiara; Manni, Franz

    2010-01-01

    Molecular Anthropology is a relatively young field of research. In fact, less than 50 years have passed since the symposium "Classification and Human Evolution" (1962, Burg Wartenstein, Austria), where the term was formally introduced by Emil Zuckerkandl. In this time, Molecular Anthropology has developed both methodologically and theoretically and extended its applications, so covering key aspects of human evolution such as the reconstruction of the history of human populations and peopling processes, the characterization of DNA in extinct humans and the role of adaptive processes in shaping the genetic diversity of our species. In the current scientific panorama, molecular anthropologists have to face a double challenge. As members of the anthropological community, we are strongly committed to the integration of biological findings and other lines of evidence (e.g. linguistic and archaeological), while keeping in line with methodological innovations which are moving the approach from the genetic to the genomic level. In this framework, the meeting "DNA Polymorphisms in Human Populations: Molecular Anthropology in the Genomic Era" (Rome, December 3-5, 2009) offered an opportunity for discussion among scholars from different disciplines, while paying attention to the impact of recent methodological innovations. Here we present an overview of the meeting and discuss perspectives and prospects of Molecular Anthropology in the genomic era.

  20. New perspectives in forensic anthropology.

    PubMed

    Dirkmaat, Dennis C; Cabo, Luis L; Ousley, Stephen D; Symes, Steven A

    2008-01-01

    A critical review of the conceptual and practical evolution of forensic anthropology during the last two decades serves to identify two key external factors and four tightly inter-related internal methodological advances that have significantly affected the discipline. These key developments have not only altered the current practice of forensic anthropology, but also its goals, objectives, scope, and definition. The development of DNA analysis techniques served to undermine the classic role of forensic anthropology as a field almost exclusively focused on victim identification. The introduction of the Daubert criteria in the courtroom presentation of scientific testimony accompanied the development of new human comparative samples and tools for data analysis and sharing, resulting in a vastly enhanced role for quantitative methods in human skeletal analysis. Additionally, new questions asked of forensic anthropologists, beyond identity, required sound scientific bases and expanded the scope of the field. This environment favored the incipient development of the interrelated fields of forensic taphonomy, forensic archaeology, and forensic trauma analysis, fields concerned with the reconstruction of events surrounding death. Far from representing the mere addition of new methodological techniques, these disciplines (especially, forensic taphonomy) provide forensic anthropology with a new conceptual framework, which is broader, deeper, and more solidly entrenched in the natural sciences. It is argued that this new framework represents a true paradigm shift, as it modifies not only the way in which classic forensic anthropological questions are answered, but also the goals and tasks of forensic anthropologists, and their perception of what can be considered a legitimate question or problem to be answered within the field.

  1. Improving minority blood donation: anthropologic approach in a migrant community.

    PubMed

    Grassineau, Dominique; Papa, Kassim; Ducourneau, Axel; Duboz, Priscillia; Boëtsch, Gilles; Chiaroni, Jacques

    2007-03-01

    As a result of blood group polymorphism, distinctive blood types have evolved in populations around the world. In countries with large migrant populations, finding rare blood types for transfusion can be challenging. This is especially true for sub-Saharan African immigrants living in countries with predominantly European populations. This problem is further compounded by hereditary disorders such as sickle cell disease and by traditional cultural values that discourage routine donation. The purpose of this report is to describe the drive to recruit more safe rare blood type donors in a Comorian immigrant community living in Marseilles, France. With a culturally adapted message developed on an anthropologic approach and working in close collaboration with scientific and medical members of the Comorian community, it is proposed that this population be sensitized with the gift of blood. Targeted collection of specific sub-Saharan African blood types was achieved. Taking into account the high rate of infectious markers among products collected in this targeted collection, however, it was decided to promote blood donation in this minority by addressing people directly toward our principal blood center site. Since setup of this adapted communication, regular donors present themselves spontaneously without community pressure. Infectious markers rate is then equal to general blood donor population's rate. The results of this drive demonstrate the utility of an anthropologic approach and cultural mediation in identifying donors with specific blood types in migrant communities and recruiting second-generation donors. The techniques described in this study could also be applied to collection of other tissues including organs and peripheral blood progenitor cells in minorities.

  2. Can Anthropology Revolutionize Public School Curriculum? A Position Paper on the Emerging Role of Anthropology in Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dynneson, Thomas L.

    Anthropology has the potential to influence and change current patterns of curriculum organization in the public schools. Assuming that secondary schools isolate and compartmentalize knowledge, that history dominates the social studies/social sciences to the detriment of the field, that anthropology incorporates specialists from many disciplines…

  3. Anthropology, organ transplantation and the immune system: resituating commodity and gift exchange.

    PubMed

    Kierans, Ciara

    2011-11-01

    This article reflects on contributions from medical anthropology to our understanding of the bio-social and bio-political implications of renal transplantation. Taking up the idea of transplantation as a 'complex', a vast assemblage of people, places, practices and procedures which intersect medical, social and cultural domains, I point to a reliance in the anthropological literature on overly pre-determined conceptual frameworks, organised around a distinct polarisation between organ giving and receiving, where one side (supply) takes analytical, and indeed moral, precedence over the other (receipt). These frameworks tend to fail us when it comes to thinking about the wider social, cultural and political implications of transplant technologies. In an attempt to offer a less polarised view, I draw attention to the material and symbolic role of the immune system in transplantation and the ways in which it simultaneously shapes opportunities for procurement and the lived realities of recipiency. This helps us see the many complex ways in which suffering and inequality are constituted all along the variegated chains of supply and demand that are internal to, and made possible by, transplantation practices themselves. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Film and television in Croatia today: production, new technologies and the relationship with visual anthropology.

    PubMed

    Svilicić, Niksa; Vidacković, Zlatko

    2013-03-01

    This paper seeks to explain some of the most important recent production and technological changes that have affected the relationship between television and film, especially in Croatia, from the aspect of the development of visual anthropology. In the production segment, special attention was given to the role of Croatian television stations in the production of movies, "splitting" the movies into mini-series, interrupting movies with commercial breaks, and to television movies turned into feature films. This paper tries to perceive and define the structure of methodical processes of visual anthropology (reactive process). The development of photographic and film technology and the events which led to the rapid development of visual culture also point to the inseparable duality of observing visual anthropology within reactive and proactive processes, which are indirectly closely related to the technical aspects of these processes. Defining the technical aspect of visual anthropology as such "service" necessarily interferes with the author's approach in the domain of the script and direction related procedures during pre-production, on the field and during post-production of the movie. The author's approach is important because in dependence on it, the desired spectrum of information "output", susceptible to subsequent scientific analysis, is achieved. Lastly, another important segment is the "distributive-technological process" because, regardless of the approach to the anthropologically relevant phenomenon which is being dealt with in an audio-visual piece of work, it is essential that the work be presented and viewed adequately.

  5. Anthropology of health in Brazil: a border discourse.

    PubMed

    Langdon, Esther Jean; Follér, Maj-Lis

    2012-01-01

    This article traces the development of anthropological research on health in Brazil in light of discussions on modernity/coloniality and world anthropologies. Originating in the 1970s, stimulated by external and internal pressures for scientific production and along with the expansion of graduate programs, a network of anthropologists has consolidated and multiplied in Brazil. We describe the development of research groups, meetings, and publications in order to characterize Brazilian anthropology of health as a research program that distinguishes itself from North Atlantic medical anthropology. We examine the visibility and circulation of references in academic publications to explore the participation of Brazilians in the global discourse and, more specifically, in the North-South dialogue. From a comparative perspective, we argue that anthropological investigations of health reflect a perspective and ethos distinctive to Brazil and its historical and political processes.

  6. Integrating Anthropology in Elementary Social Studies.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zachlod, Michelle

    2000-01-01

    Discusses how anthropology can be integrated into the social studies classroom focusing on second and fifth grade levels. Demonstrates how different subject areas can be integrated with anthropology, such as history, geography, science, mathematics, and art. Covers topics such as foods, American Indian folklore, moonsticks, and myths and legends.…

  7. Anthropology in the Pre-Collegiate Curriculum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Collier, Malcolm; Dethlefsen, Edwin S.

    1968-01-01

    The paper suggests steps for developing an anthropology curriculum at the secondary level and offers an excerpt from an experimental teacher's guide. The development involves four steps: selection of the most significant topics from the rich mass of anthropological information, identification of the relevance of each topic to the high school…

  8. Allostatic load and biological anthropology.

    PubMed

    Edes, Ashley N; Crews, Douglas E

    2017-01-01

    Multiple stressors affect developing and adult organisms, thereby partly structuring their phenotypes. Determining how stressors influence health, well-being, and longevity in human and nonhuman primate populations are major foci within biological anthropology. Although much effort has been devoted to examining responses to multiple environmental and sociocultural stressors, no holistic metric to measure stress-related physiological dysfunction has been widely applied within biological anthropology. Researchers from disciplines outside anthropology are using allostatic load indices (ALIs) to estimate such dysregulation and examine life-long outcomes of stressor exposures, including morbidity and mortality. Following allostasis theory, allostatic load represents accumulated physiological and somatic damage secondary to stressors and senescent processes experienced over the lifespan. ALIs estimate this wear-and-tear using a composite of biomarkers representing neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, metabolic, and immune systems. Across samples, ALIs are associated significantly with multiple individual characteristics (e.g., age, sex, education, DNA variation) of interest within biological anthropology. They also predict future outcomes, including aspects of life history variation (e.g., survival, lifespan), mental and physical health, morbidity and mortality, and likely health disparities between groups, by stressor exposures, ethnicity, occupations, and degree of departure from local indigenous life ways and integration into external and commodified ones. ALIs also may be applied to similar stress-related research areas among nonhuman primates. Given the reports from multiple research endeavors, here we propose ALIs may be useful for assessing stressors, stress responses, and stress-related dysfunction, current and long-term cognitive function, health and well-being, and risk of early mortality across many research programs within biological anthropology. © 2017 American

  9. Should anthropology be part of cognitive science?

    PubMed

    Beller, Sieghard; Bender, Andrea; Medin, Douglas L

    2012-07-01

    Anthropology and the other cognitive science (CS) subdisciplines currently maintain a troubled relationship. With a debate in topiCS we aim at exploring the prospects for improving this relationship, and our introduction is intended as a catalyst for this debate. In order to encourage a frank sharing of perspectives, our comments will be deliberately provocative. Several challenges for a successful rapprochement are identified, encompassing the diverging paths that CS and anthropology have taken in the past, the degree of compatibility between (1) CS and (2) anthropology with regard to methodology and (3) research strategies, (4) the importance of anthropology for CS, and (5) the need for disciplinary diversity. Given this set of challenges, a reconciliation seems unlikely to follow on the heels of good intentions alone. Copyright © 2012 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  10. Some Guidelines for the Development of Curriculum for Applied Anthropology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clavner, Jerry

    Applied anthropology seeks to integrate anthropological values and knowledge with a rational approach to policy decision-making. This paper discusses some of the barriers faced by those who care about anthropology and are concerned with making a viable space for the discipline in the college curriculum. Anthropology teachers need to further refine…

  11. Bayes in biological anthropology.

    PubMed

    Konigsberg, Lyle W; Frankenberg, Susan R

    2013-12-01

    In this article, we both contend and illustrate that biological anthropologists, particularly in the Americas, often think like Bayesians but act like frequentists when it comes to analyzing a wide variety of data. In other words, while our research goals and perspectives are rooted in probabilistic thinking and rest on prior knowledge, we often proceed to use statistical hypothesis tests and confidence interval methods unrelated (or tenuously related) to the research questions of interest. We advocate for applying Bayesian analyses to a number of different bioanthropological questions, especially since many of the programming and computational challenges to doing so have been overcome in the past two decades. To facilitate such applications, this article explains Bayesian principles and concepts, and provides concrete examples of Bayesian computer simulations and statistics that address questions relevant to biological anthropology, focusing particularly on bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology. It also simultaneously reviews the use of Bayesian methods and inference within the discipline to date. This article is intended to act as primer to Bayesian methods and inference in biological anthropology, explaining the relationships of various methods to likelihoods or probabilities and to classical statistical models. Our contention is not that traditional frequentist statistics should be rejected outright, but that there are many situations where biological anthropology is better served by taking a Bayesian approach. To this end it is hoped that the examples provided in this article will assist researchers in choosing from among the broad array of statistical methods currently available. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  12. A formal anthropological view of motivation models of problematic MMO play: achievement, social, and immersion factors in the context of culture.

    PubMed

    Snodgrass, Jeffrey G; Dengah, H J Francois; Lacy, Michael G; Fagan, Jesse

    2013-04-01

    Yee (2006) found three motivational factors-achievement, social, and immersion-underlying play in massively multiplayer online role-playing games ("MMORPGs" or "MMOs" for short). Subsequent work has suggested that these factors foster problematic or addictive forms of play in online worlds. In the current study, we used an online survey of respondents (N = 252), constructed and also interpreted in reference to ethnography and interviews, to examine problematic play in the World of Warcraft (WoW; Blizzard Entertainment, 2004-2013). We relied on tools from psychological anthropology to reconceptualize each of Yee's three motivational factors in order to test for the possible role of culture in problematic MMO play: (a) For achievement, we examined how "cultural consonance" with normative understandings of success might structure problematic forms of play; (b) for social, we analyzed the possibility that developing overvalued virtual relationships that are cutoff from offline social interactions might further exacerbate problematic play; and (c) in relation to immersion, we examined how "dissociative" blurring of actual- and virtual-world identities and experiences might contribute to problematic patterns. Our results confirmed that compared to Yee's original motivational factors, these culturally sensitive measures better predict problematic forms of play, pointing to the important role of sociocultural factors in structuring online play.

  13. Toward a medical anthropology of sensations: definitions and research agenda.

    PubMed

    Hinton, Devon E; Howes, David; Kirmayer, Laurence J

    2008-06-01

    In this article, we outline the importance of a medical anthropology of sensations for theories of psychopathology and psychological healing. We define what is meant by ;sensation' (differentiating monomodal and polymodal sensations) and describe some of the mechanisms that generate and amplify sensations. We propose the heuristic use of the concepts of sensation schemas, sensation interpretants, and sensation scripts. We argue against the naive assumption that sensation experience is the same across cultures. Finally, we consider how healing may occur through 'sensation semiosis.'

  14. Anthropology in a postcolonial colony: Helen I. Safa's contribution to Puerto Rican ethnography.

    PubMed

    Duany, Jorge

    2010-01-01

    This article assesses Helen I. Safa's legacy to anthropological thought in Puerto Rico. The first part of the article locates Safa's research on the Island within a long tradition of fieldwork by U.S. scholars since the early twentieth century. More recent research, conducted mostly by Puerto Rican women anthropologists and other social scientists, has expanded upon Safa's insights on gender and work. The second part of the essay analyzes Safa's major empirical work, The Urban Poor of Puerto Rico: A Study in Development and Inequality. Above all, this book helped overcome the theoretical impasse over the culture of poverty that characterized much of urban anthropology during the 1960s and 1970s. The article concludes with an appraisal of the relevance of Safa's work for the ethnography of contemporary Puerto Rico.

  15. Using Fiction to Teach Introductory Anthropology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ellenbaum, Charles O.

    A discussion of the role of fiction in a college level anthropology course is divided into two sections. The first section describes several advantages of using fiction rather than a text to teach anthropology. Teacher and students share more or less equally in the teaching process with this approach. The teacher is no longer an authority on a…

  16. Utilization of Standardized Mental Health Assessments in Anthropological Research: Possibilities and Pitfalls.

    PubMed

    Mendenhall, Emily; Yarris, Kristin; Kohrt, Brandon A

    2016-12-01

    In the past decade anthropologists working the boundary of culture, medicine, and psychiatry have drawn from ethnographic and epidemiological methods to interdigitate data and provide more depth in understanding critical health problems. But rarely do these studies incorporate psychiatric inventories with ethnographic analysis. This article shows how triangulation of research methods strengthens scholars' ability (1) to draw conclusions from smaller data sets and facilitate comparisons of what suffering means across contexts; (2) to unpack the complexities of ethnographic and narrative data by way of interdigitating narratives with standardized evaluations of psychological distress; and (3) to enhance the translatability of narrative data to interventionists and to make anthropological research more accessible to policymakers. The crux of this argument is based on two discrete case studies, one community sample of Nicaraguan grandmothers in urban Nicaragua, and another clinic-based study of Mexican immigrant women in urban United States, which represent different populations, methodologies, and instruments. Yet, both authors critically examine narrative data and then use the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale to further unpack meaning of psychological suffering by analyzing symptomatology. Such integrative methodologies illustrate how incorporating results from standardized mental health assessments can corroborate meaning-making in anthropology while advancing anthropological contributions to mental health treatment and policy.

  17. Utilization of Standardized Mental Health Assessments in Anthropological Research: Possibilities and Pitfalls

    PubMed Central

    Mendenhall, Emily; Yarris, Kristin; Kohrt, Brandon A.

    2017-01-01

    In the past decade anthropologists working the boundary of culture, medicine, and psychiatry have drawn from ethnographic and epidemiological methods to interdigitate data and provide more depth in understanding critical health problems. But rarely do these studies incorporate psychiatric inventories with ethnographic analysis. This article shows how triangulation of research methods strengthens scholars’ ability (1) to draw conclusions from smaller data sets and facilitate comparisons of what suffering means across contexts; (2) to unpack the complexities of ethnographic and narrative data by way of interdigitating narratives with standardized evaluations of psychological distress; and (3) to enhance the translatability of narrative data to interventionists and to make anthropological research more accessible to policymakers. The crux of this argument is based on two discrete case studies, one community sample of Nicaraguan grandmothers in urban Nicaragua, and another clinic-based study of Mexican immigrant women in urban United States, which represent different populations, methodologies, and instruments. Yet, both authors critically examine narrative data and then use the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale to further unpack meaning of psychological suffering by analyzing symptomatology. Such integrative methodologies illustrate how incorporating results from standardized mental health assessments can corroborate meaning-making in anthropology while advancing anthropological contributions to mental health treatment and policy. PMID:27553610

  18. 76 FR 9049 - Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-02-16

    ... Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA, that meet the definitions of sacred objects and/or objects of cultural..., anthropological literature, and expert opinion, one cultural item is considered to be a sacred object (Wolf Helmet... considered to be both sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony (Ganook Hat, NA6864; Noble Killer Hat...

  19. [Pitfalls of anthropological typology].

    PubMed

    Bednarek, Jarosław; Rogalla, Urszula; Grzybowski, Tomasz

    2009-01-01

    The essence of anthropological typology is to classify people as belonging to anthropological types according to predetermined sets of morphological traits. The authors of the concept claim that traits characteristic of a given type are monogenic and have a Mendelian inheritance pattern. According to these assumptions, it is possible to unambiguously determine hair or eye color, etc. on the basis of scull characteristics only. Such a solution could be of a great importance in identification based on the skeleton but for the fact that the concept contradicts the current body of knowledge of population genetics or evolutionary biology analyses. It is widely known that the vast majority of morphological traits is determined by a complex of cooperating genes. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that genetic distances between populations are low, while most of the diversity is attributed to intrapopulation variation. Therefore, rejecting the classic concept of race seems to be justified. For this reason, today it is more reasonable to use the panel of SNP markers (AIMs) in identification of unknown individuals while aiming at prediction of their ethnic ancestry rather than to believe in the scientific value of anthropological typology.

  20. Culturalizing Achievement Goal Theory and Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zusho, Akane; Clayton, Karen

    2011-01-01

    This article is primarily designed to provide a cultural analysis of the literature on achievement goals. First, an overview of the four dominant approaches to the study of culture--namely, cross-cultural psychology, cultural psychology, indigenous psychology, and psychological anthropology--is offered. Second, we analyze the extant body of…

  1. Perspectives and Plans for Graduate Studies. 8. Anthropology 1974.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Council of Ontario Universities, Toronto.

    At the present time there are two graduate programs in anthropology in Ontario. An examination of the 3-year plans submitted in 1972 revealed that several universities in Ontario were proposing master's work in anthropology. It was decided to place master's work in anthropology under provisional embargo until a "mini-planning assessment"…

  2. Outline of Basic Concepts in Anthropology. Publication No. 1.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Georgia Univ., Athens. Anthropology Curriculum Project.

    This teaching aid outlines basic anthropological concepts described in the various units of the Anthropology Curriculum Project. The outline of important concepts to be learned is intended to be used by the teacher in conjunction with the other instructional materials in each unit. The introduction defines anthropology, its branches and purposes.…

  3. 76 FR 73663 - Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Washington State University, Museum of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-11-29

    ... Cultural Items: Washington State University, Museum of Anthropology, Pullman, WA AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Washington State University, Museum of Anthropology (WSU... Anthropology, Pullman, WA 99164-4910, telephone (509) 335-4314. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given...

  4. Towards non-reductionistic medical anthropology, medical education and practitioner-patient-interaction: the example of Anthroposophic Medicine.

    PubMed

    Heusser, Peter; Scheffer, Christian; Neumann, Melanie; Tauschel, Diethart; Edelhäuser, Friedrich

    2012-12-01

    To develop the hypothesis that reductionism in medical anthropology, professional education and health care influences empathy development, communication and patient satisfaction. We identified relevant literature and reviewed the material in a structured essay. We reflected our hypothesis by applying it to Anthroposophic Medicine (AM), an example of holistic theory and practice. Reductionism in medical anthropology such as in conventional medicine seems to lead to a less empathetic and less communicative health care culture than holism such as in CAM disciplines. However, reductionism can be transformed into a systemic, multi-perspective holistic view, when the emergent properties of the physical, living, psychic, spiritual and social levels of human existence and the causal relations between them are more carefully accounted for in epistemology, medical anthropology and professional education. This is shown by the example of AM and its possible benefits for communication with and satisfaction of patients. A non-reductionistic understanding of the human being may improve communication with patients and enhance patient benefit and satisfaction. Interdisciplinary qualitative and quantitative studies are warranted to test this hypothesis and to understand the complex relations between epistemology, medical anthropology, education, health care delivery and benefit for patients. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. An Integrated Approach to Diabetes Prevention: Anthropology, Public Health, and Community Engagement.

    PubMed

    Page-Reeves, Janet; Mishra, Shiraz I; Niforatos, Joshua; Regino, Lidia; Bulten, Robert

    2013-01-01

    Diabetes is an enormous public health problem with particular concern within Hispanic communities and among individuals with low wealth. However, attempts to expand the public health paradigm to include social determinants of health rarely include analysis of social and contextual factors considered outside the purview of health research. As a result, conceptualization of the dynamics of diabetes health disparities remains shallow. We argue that using a holistic anthropological lens has the potential to offer insights regarding the nature of the interface between broader social determinants, health outcomes and health disparity. In a primarily Hispanic, immigrant community in Albuquerque, New Mexico, we conducted a mixed methods study that integrates an anthropological lens with a community engaged research design. Our data from focus groups, interviews, a survey and blood sampling demonstrate the need to conceptualize social determinants more broadly, more affectively and more dynamically than often considered. These results highlight a need to include, in addition to individual-level factors that are traditionally the focus of public health and more innovative structural factors that are currently in vogue, an in-depth, qualitative exploration of local context, social environment, and culture, and their interactions and intersectionality, as key factors when considering how to achieve change. The discussion presented here offers a model for culturally situated and contextually relevant scientific research. This model achieves the objectives and goals of both public health and anthropology while providing valuable insights and mechanisms for addressing health disparity such as that which exists in relation to diabetes among Hispanic immigrants in New Mexico. Such an approach has implications for how research projects are designed and conceptualizing social determinants more broadly. The discussion presented provides insights with relevance for both disciplines.

  6. On being a Gulf veteran: an anthropological perspective

    PubMed Central

    Kilshaw, Susie

    2006-01-01

    There is no doubt that Gulf service has affected the well-being of some of the members of the UK armed forces who served in that conflict, yet the reason for this remain unclear. At present, the debate surrounding Gulf War Syndrome (GWS) has become stagnant and highly polarized. This paper argues that a new perspective is needed to further improve our understanding of the problem and suggests that the methods and theories of anthropology, with its focus on nuances and subtleties, can provide new insights. Data were generated from 14 months of ethnographic fieldwork in the UK including participant observation, semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Anthropology provides a unique way of approaching and understanding somatic symptoms and suggests that GWS symptom reporting can be seen as a form of communication. The work focuses on the sufferers' accounts, the symptoms themselves and the context within which we find them in order to better understand what was being expressed and commented upon. Although necessary to contextualize GWS through situating it among other emergent illnesses and widespread health beliefs, this paper shows there is a need to bring back the particular. This work seeks to make sense of the cultural circumstances, specific and general, which gave rise to the illness. PMID:16687272

  7. Neuroanthropology: a humanistic science for the study of the culture-brain nexus.

    PubMed

    Domínguez Duque, Juan F; Turner, Robert; Lewis, E Douglas; Egan, Gary

    2010-06-01

    In this article, we argue that a combined anthropology/neuroscience field of enquiry can make a significant and distinctive contribution to the study of the relationship between culture and the brain. This field, which can appropriately be termed as neuroanthropology, is conceived of as being complementary to and mutually informative with social and cultural neuroscience. We start by providing an introduction to the culture concept in anthropology. We then present a detailed characterization of neuroanthropology and its methods and how they relate to the anthropological understanding of culture. The field is described as a humanistic science, that is, a field of enquiry founded on the perceived epistemological and methodological interdependence of science and the humanities. We also provide examples that illustrate the proposed methodological model for neuroanthropology. We conclude with a discussion about specific contributions the field can make to the study of the culture-brain nexus.

  8. Forensic anthropology and mortuary archaeology in Lithuania.

    PubMed

    Jankauskas, Rimantas

    2009-12-01

    Forensic anthropology (in Lithuania, as everywhere in Eastern Europe, traditionally considered as a narrower field--forensic osteology) has a long history, experience being gained both during exhumations of mass killings during the Second World War and the subsequent totalitarian regime, investigations of historical mass graves, identification of historical personalities and routine forensic work. Experts of this field (usually a branch of forensic medicine) routinely are solving "technical" questions of crime investigation, particularly identification of (usually dead) individuals. Practical implementation of the mission of forensic anthropology is not an easy task due to interdisciplinary character of the field. On one hand, physical anthropology has in its disposition numerous scientifically tested methods, however, their practical value in particular legal processes is limited. Reasons for these discrepancies can be related both to insufficient understanding of possibilities and limitations of forensic anthropology and archaeology by officials representing legal institutions that perform investigations, and sometimes too "academic" research, that is conducted at anthropological laboratories, when methods developed are not completely relevant to practical needs. Besides of answering to direct questions (number of individuals, sex, age, stature, population affinity, individual traits, evidence of violence), important humanitarian aspects--the individual's right for identity, the right of the relatives to know the fate of their beloved ones--should not be neglected. Practical use of other identification methods faces difficulties of their own (e.g., odontology--lack of regular dental registration system and compatible database). Two examples of forensic anthropological work of mass graves, even when the results were much influenced by the questions raised by investigators, can serve as an illustration of the above-mentioned issues.

  9. The new biological anthropology: bringing Washburn's new physical anthropology into 2010 and beyond--the 2008 AAPA luncheon lecture.

    PubMed

    Fuentes, Agustin

    2010-01-01

    Nearly 60 years ago, Sherwood Washburn issued a call for a "New Physical Anthropology," a transition from measurement and classification toward a focus on the processes and mechanisms of evolutionary change. He advocated multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to the understanding of human behavior, biology, and history. Many interpret this as a call for a practice that is both biological and anthropological. Is this what we do? Are we biological anthropologists yet? In this essay, I explore what we, Physical Anthropologists, as a discipline are doing in the context of a New Physical Anthropology, where we might be headed, and why this discussion is crucial to our relevance. Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  10. Native Indian Youth in Museums: Success in Education at the U.B.C. Museum of Anthropology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rowan, Madeline Bronsdon

    In 1979, the Native Indian Youth in Museums project began placing Musqueam teenagers in the University of British Columbia's Museum of Anthropology to teach them about traditional coastal Indian culture, and train them to share this information with museum visitors. Co-sponsored by the Native Indian Youth Advisory Society and the Native Youth…

  11. Searching for "voices": feminism, anthropology, and the global debate over female genital operations.

    PubMed

    Walley, C J

    1997-08-01

    This article lays the groundwork for a feminist and anthropological political response to female genital "operations" that transcends the current debate over the phenomenon, which is couched in terms of cultural relativism or of politically-informed outrage. After an introduction, the study considers the politics involved in assigning a name to the procedure and explains the author's reason for choosing female genital "operation" over the more commonly used "circumcision," "mutilation," or "torture." In the next section, clitoridectomy is contextualized through a recounting of the circumstances under which the procedure was performed in the western Kenyan village of Kikhome in 1988. This discussion focuses on the ceremonies surrounding the circumcisions of young men and women, the author's attempts to discover how the young women involved really felt about the tradition, and a review of the anthropological literature on the significance and impact of these practices. The analysis then examines the international controversy surrounding female genital mutilation and provides an overview of the colonial discourse on female genital mutilation in Africa to expose 1) the origins of justifications for colonial dominance in the dominance of non-Western women by non-Western men and 2) the fact that use of cultural arguments that fuse women and tradition can support culturally-defined power relationships. The article concludes with a consideration of who is qualified to speak out against female genital mutilation given the fact that all women and all debates are the products of longstanding, tenacious power relationships.

  12. Anthropology. Teacher Edition. Revised [and] Student Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stark, Rebecca

    The teacher and student editions of this book introduce students to the subject of anthropology and the subfields into which it is divided. Students learn about the beginnings of anthropology as an outgrowth of the curiosity stimulated by the Age of Exploration and how it grew into the basic field it is today. Students examine the origins and…

  13. Bamboozled: A Visual Culture Text for Looking at Cultural Practices of Racism

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parks, Nancy S.

    2004-01-01

    Over the past decade art educators have engaged in a dialogue about a reconceptualization of art education theory and practice. This reconceptualization has roots in cultural studies, anthropology, and critical theory. One focus has been on the notion of art as visual culture. This article is organized into four sections. The first section looks…

  14. Managing Across Cultures: A Learning Framework.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilson, Meena S.; And Others

    An approach to managing personnel across cultures is outlined. A framework is provided to help the supervisor become aware of beliefs and values that underlie the workplace preferences of managers in the United States and of other cultures. It integrates research in anthropology, cross-cultural psychology, and international business management. An…

  15. [Anthropological medicine: myth and reality].

    PubMed

    Bataille, M

    1995-01-01

    After discussing the term "anthropologist doctor", the author describes the hard job of the psychiatrist in the penitentiary in Lantin. From the historical account of the penitentiary anthropology service, he establishes that this service has never had the necessary financial means to create and run laboratories of penitentiary anthropology, especially after the law for social defence was voted and enforced. He fears that, for want of money, the creation now of observation and treatment services would reduce the time one could spend working with prisoners in psychiatric wards. He deals briefly with the condition of psychopaths and drug-addicts in prisons.

  16. Anthropology: Contemporary Perspectives. [And] Instructor's Manual to Accompany Anthropology: Contemporary Perspectives.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hunter, David E., Ed.; Whitten, Phillip, Ed.

    Forty-seven articles comprise this reader designed for beginning college students and instructors in an introductory anthropology course. Original contributions from both anthropologists and non-anthropologists are reprinted. The readings, drawn primarily from the popular press but including some of the discipline's "classical" articles, are…

  17. Sherwood Washburn's New physical anthropology: rejecting the "religion of taxonomy".

    PubMed

    Mikels-Carrasco, Jessica

    2012-01-01

    Many physical anthropologists and nearly all of those studying primatology today can trace their academic genealogy to Sherwood Larned Washburn. His New physical anthropology, fully articulated in a 1951 paper, proposed that the study of hominid evolution must link understandings of form, function, and behavior along with the environment in order most accurately to reconstruct the evolution of our ancestors. This shift of concentration from strictly analyzing fossil remains to what Washburn termed adaptive complexes challenged not only Washburn's predecessors, but also led Washburn to critique the very system of academia within which he worked. Collaboration across multiple disciplines, linking the four fields of anthropology in order to understand humans and application of our understandings of human evolution to the betterment of society, are the hallmarks of Washburnian anthropology. In this paper I will explore how Washburn's New physical anthropology led him to not only change the research direction in physical anthropology, but also to challenge the academia within which he worked. I will conclude by reflecting on the prospects of continuing to practice Washburnian Anthropology.

  18. Culture and Cognition in Information Technology Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holvikivi, Jaana

    2007-01-01

    This paper aims at explaining the outcomes of information technology education for international students using anthropological theories of cultural schemas. Even though computer science and engineering are usually assumed to be culture-independent, the practice in classrooms seems to indicate that learning patterns depend on culture. The…

  19. The GenoChip: A New Tool for Genetic Anthropology

    PubMed Central

    Elhaik, Eran; Greenspan, Elliott; Staats, Sean; Krahn, Thomas; Tyler-Smith, Chris; Xue, Yali; Tofanelli, Sergio; Francalacci, Paolo; Cucca, Francesco; Pagani, Luca; Jin, Li; Li, Hui; Schurr, Theodore G.; Greenspan, Bennett; Spencer Wells, R.

    2013-01-01

    The Genographic Project is an international effort aimed at charting human migratory history. The project is nonprofit and nonmedical, and, through its Legacy Fund, supports locally led efforts to preserve indigenous and traditional cultures. Although the first phase of the project was focused on uniparentally inherited markers on the Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), the current phase focuses on markers from across the entire genome to obtain a more complete understanding of human genetic variation. Although many commercial arrays exist for genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping, they were designed for medical genetic studies and contain medically related markers that are inappropriate for global population genetic studies. GenoChip, the Genographic Project’s new genotyping array, was designed to resolve these issues and enable higher resolution research into outstanding questions in genetic anthropology. The GenoChip includes ancestry informative markers obtained for over 450 human populations, an ancient human (Saqqaq), and two archaic hominins (Neanderthal and Denisovan) and was designed to identify all known Y-chromosome and mtDNA haplogroups. The chip was carefully vetted to avoid inclusion of medically relevant markers. To demonstrate its capabilities, we compared the FST distributions of GenoChip SNPs to those of two commercial arrays. Although all arrays yielded similarly shaped (inverse J) FST distributions, the GenoChip autosomal and X-chromosomal distributions had the highest mean FST, attesting to its ability to discern subpopulations. The chip performances are illustrated in a principal component analysis for 14 worldwide populations. In summary, the GenoChip is a dedicated genotyping platform for genetic anthropology. With an unprecedented number of approximately 12,000 Y-chromosomal and approximately 3,300 mtDNA SNPs and over 130,000 autosomal and X-chromosomal SNPs without any known health, medical, or phenotypic

  20. The GenoChip: a new tool for genetic anthropology.

    PubMed

    Elhaik, Eran; Greenspan, Elliott; Staats, Sean; Krahn, Thomas; Tyler-Smith, Chris; Xue, Yali; Tofanelli, Sergio; Francalacci, Paolo; Cucca, Francesco; Pagani, Luca; Jin, Li; Li, Hui; Schurr, Theodore G; Greenspan, Bennett; Spencer Wells, R

    2013-01-01

    The Genographic Project is an international effort aimed at charting human migratory history. The project is nonprofit and nonmedical, and, through its Legacy Fund, supports locally led efforts to preserve indigenous and traditional cultures. Although the first phase of the project was focused on uniparentally inherited markers on the Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), the current phase focuses on markers from across the entire genome to obtain a more complete understanding of human genetic variation. Although many commercial arrays exist for genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping, they were designed for medical genetic studies and contain medically related markers that are inappropriate for global population genetic studies. GenoChip, the Genographic Project's new genotyping array, was designed to resolve these issues and enable higher resolution research into outstanding questions in genetic anthropology. The GenoChip includes ancestry informative markers obtained for over 450 human populations, an ancient human (Saqqaq), and two archaic hominins (Neanderthal and Denisovan) and was designed to identify all known Y-chromosome and mtDNA haplogroups. The chip was carefully vetted to avoid inclusion of medically relevant markers. To demonstrate its capabilities, we compared the FST distributions of GenoChip SNPs to those of two commercial arrays. Although all arrays yielded similarly shaped (inverse J) FST distributions, the GenoChip autosomal and X-chromosomal distributions had the highest mean FST, attesting to its ability to discern subpopulations. The chip performances are illustrated in a principal component analysis for 14 worldwide populations. In summary, the GenoChip is a dedicated genotyping platform for genetic anthropology. With an unprecedented number of approximately 12,000 Y-chromosomal and approximately 3,300 mtDNA SNPs and over 130,000 autosomal and X-chromosomal SNPs without any known health, medical, or phenotypic

  1. Welcome home, Descartes! rethinking the anthropology of the body.

    PubMed

    Ecks, Stefan

    2009-01-01

    For many scholars, the Cartesian mind/body split is one of the fundamental mistakes of the Western scientific tradition. Anthropologists who study notions of the body in cultures around the world regularly take Descartes as their point of departure. Many also suggest that breaking free from Descartes is politically liberating: if the mindful body could be rediscovered, society could move away from its materialist, positivist, and commodity-fetishizing ways. Beyond the Body Proper is anthropology's best and most comprehensive anti-Cartesian manifesto to date. This volume brings together some of the finest studies on the cultural and historical diversity of bodies and minds. Yet anthropologists' blanket rejection of the mind/body dualism seems politically self-defeating. If anthropologists want to criticize racism, gender hierarchies, or discrimination against disabled people, they need to believe that the mind is independent from the body. In other words, they need to uphold the Cartesian split.

  2. Race, ethnicity, and racism in medical anthropology, 1977-2002.

    PubMed

    Gravlee, Clarence C; Sweet, Elizabeth

    2008-03-01

    Researchers across the health sciences are engaged in a vigorous debate over the role that the concepts of "race" and "ethnicity" play in health research and clinical practice. Here we contribute to that debate by examining how the concepts of race, ethnicity, and racism are used in medical-anthropological research. We present a content analysis of Medical Anthropology and Medical Anthropology Quarterly, based on a systematic random sample of empirical research articles (n = 283) published in these journals from 1977 to 2002. We identify both differences and similarities in the use of race, ethnicity, and racism concepts in medical anthropology and neighboring disciplines, and we offer recommendations for ways that medical anthropologists can contribute to the broader debate over racial and ethnic inequalities in health.

  3. Where there is no patient: an anthropological treatment of a biomedical category.

    PubMed

    Harvey, T S

    2008-12-01

    This work anthropologically applies the concept of 'personhood' to the Western biomedical patient role, and through cross-cultural comparisons with wellness-seeker roles (e.g. among the Maya of Guatemala and others) it seeks to discern the implications for global healthcare of assuming the universality of the "patient" role. Here, particular ethnographic attention is given to the presumption of the "patient" role in places and situations where, because of cultural and linguistic variation in local wellness-seeker roles and practices, there may be no "patient." It is hoped that establishing the biomedical patient role (with the clinical expectations, communicative and comportment practices that prefigure it) as acquired rather than intuitive, will help redirect cultural competence to the acquisition of patienthood, broadening it from an endless accrual of cultural inventories by physicians. Also it aims to shift existing biomedical associations of cultural variations in wellness-seeking away from a priori assessments of clinical defiance towards deeper understandings of the kinds of cultural differences that may make the difference treatment outcomes.

  4. History, research and practice of forensic anthropology in Thailand.

    PubMed

    Traithepchanapai, Pongpon; Mahakkanukrauh, Pasuk; Kranioti, Elena F

    2016-04-01

    Forensic anthropology is an increasingly developing discipline born about a century ago in the United States with the objective to contribute the knowledge of bone biology and physical anthropology to the emerging needs of the court of law. The development of research in biological and forensic anthropology has made rapid progress worldwide in the past few years, however, in most countries--with the exception of the United States--forensic anthropology work is still considered within the duties of the forensic pathologist. This paper attempts to summarise the history and development of forensic anthropology in Thailand by providing information on past and current research and practice that can help forensic practitioners to apply existing methods in forensic cases and mass disasters. It is hoped that the lessons learned from the tsunami catastrophe and the emerging need for positive identification in medicolegal settings will lead to rapid advances in education, training and professional engagement of anthropologists from the forensic departments and the law enforcement agencies in Thailand. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Mexican American Televison: Applied Anthropology and Public Television

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eiselein, E. B.; Marshall, Wes

    1976-01-01

    Fiesta Project provides a classic example of action anthropology in broadcasting. The project involved the research and production of a Spanish language public television series designed to attract, retain, and realistically help a Mexican American audience in southern Arizona. The project used anthropological research in initial program…

  6. Cannibalism, kuru and anthropology.

    PubMed

    Lindenbaum, Shirley

    2009-01-01

    This essay discusses the image and practice of cannibalism in a wide range of studies. It also presents the anthropological research on kuru which led to the proposal that cannibalism had enabled transmission of the infectious agent, as well as doubts about the hypothesis, and the assertion by some that cannibalism as a socially approved custom did not exist. The figure of the cannibal as an icon of primitivism took form in the encounter between Europe and the Americas. Cannibalism was to become the prime signifier of "barbarism" for a language of essentialized difference that would harden into the negative racism of the nineteenth century. Anthropological and medical research now challenge the derogatory image of the cannibal as we learn more about the many past consumers of human flesh, including ourselves.

  7. The Importance of Culture for Developmental Science

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Keller, Heidi

    2012-01-01

    In this essay, it is argued that a general understanding of human development needs a unified framework based on evolutionary theorizing and cross-cultural and cultural anthropological approaches. An eco-social model of development has been proposed that defines cultural milieus as adaptations to specific socio-demographic contexts. Ontogenetic…

  8. "Monkeys, babies, idiots" and "primitives": nature-nurture debates and philanthropic foundation support for American anthropology in the 1920s and 1930s.

    PubMed

    Biehn, Kersten Jacobson

    2009-01-01

    There has been a long discussion among historians about the impact that foundation policies had on the development of the social sciences during the interwar era. This discussion has centered on the degree to which foundation officers, particularly from the Rockefeller boards, exercised a hegemonic influence on research. In this essay, I argue that the field of American cultural anthropology has been neglected and must be reconsidered as a window into foundation intervention in nature-nurture debates. Despite foundation efforts to craft an anthropology policy that privileged hereditarian explanations, I contend that cultural anthropologists were committed to proving the primacy of "nurture," even when that commitment cost them valuable research dollars. It was this commitment that provided an essential bulwark for the discipline. Ironically, it was the need to negotiate with foundations about the purpose of their research that helped cultural anthropologists to articulate their unique, and thus intrinsically valuable, approach to nature-nurture debates.

  9. [The anthropology of women in the Orthodox Jewish community of Antwerpen: identity, emancipation and integration].

    PubMed

    Longman, C

    2010-01-01

    This contribution contains a synthesis of the results of two socio-cultural anthropological research projects among Orthodox Jewry concerning the 'identity', 'emancipation' and 'integration' of women. First the meaning of female religiosity from the perspective of strictly Orthodox, including Chassidic, women is discussed. Whereas in the public and institutional religious sphere men are the paradigmatic "Orthodox Jews", due to the sacralisatie of daily life, religious roles for women are not less extensive or any less important but are predominantly situated in the private and domestic sphere. It is argued that from an anthropological and gender critical perspective, women's religious gender identity therefore cannot be straightforwardly interpreted as either "oppressed" nor "emancipator". The second study concerns Jewish Orthodox women (ranging from strictly to modern Orthodox) in Antwerp who transgress religious gender norms by studying or working in the surrounding secular society. Their life stories show very different trajectories of encounters with the "outside world" that are sometimes enriching yet sometimes also experienced in terms of intercultural conflicts. It is concluded that maintaining cultural identity, next to emancipation and integration from within the Orthodox Jewish community is not impossible, but that this requires minimal mutual dialogue and understanding.

  10. Applications of Space-Age Technology in Anthropology

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1991-01-01

    The papers in this volume were presented at a conference entitled, 'Applications of Space-Age Technology in Anthropology,' held November 28, 1990, at NASA's Science and Technology Laboratory. One reason for this conference was to facilitate information exchange among a diverse group of anthropologists. Much of the research in anthropology that has made use of satellite image processing, geographical information systems, and global positioning systems has been known to only a small group of practitioners. A second reason for this conference was to promote scientific dialogue between anthropologists and professionals outside of anthropology. It is certain that both the development and proper application of new technologies will only result from greater cooperation between technicians and 'end-users.' Anthropologists can provide many useful applications to justify the costs of new technological development.

  11. Gods, Germs, and Petri Dishes: Toward a Nonsecular Medical Anthropology.

    PubMed

    Roberts, Elizabeth F S

    2016-01-01

    This commentary calls on medical anthropology to become programmatically non-secular. Despite recent anthropological critiques of secularity, within and outside of anthropology, most contemporary medical anthropologists continue to leave deities and religiosity out of their examinations of healing practices, especially in their accounts of biomedicine. Through a critical, relational constructionist lens, which traces how all entities are both constructed and real, a non-secular medical anthropology would insist that when deities are part of medical practice, they are integral to analysis. Importantly then, within the symmetrical nature of this same constructionist lens, biomedical entities like germs and petri dishes need to be accounted for just as much as deities.

  12. Public Anthropology as Public Pedagogy: An Autobiographical Account

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Beck, Sam

    2011-01-01

    This autobiographical account provides a historical map of landmarks in the author's personal and professional life that led him to his present understanding of public anthropology as public pedagogy and vice versa. He indicates that his experiences led him to study sociocultural anthropology to investigate learning from experience, a foundational…

  13. The Teaching of Anthropology: Problems, Issues, and Decisions.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kottak, Conrad Phillip, Ed.; White, Jane J., Ed.; Furlow, Richard H., Ed.; Rice, Patricia C., Ed.

    This volume brings together the insights of more than 40 contributors who demonstrate that anthropology has timely, important, and enduring messages for students and the public. The book provides the first comprehensive examination of teaching issues across all the subfields of anthropology since the 1963 publication of "The Teaching of…

  14. Popular Culture in the Junior College Library

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lonergan, David; Ayers, Meredith

    2015-01-01

    Popular culture is extremely influential in both academe and society at large. However, formal disciplinary study of popular culture lags far behind that influence. Anthropology, film studies, history, musicology, and sociology are only some of the disciplines that frequently include popular culture as a research focus. This article advises on how…

  15. Human Images: A Communications Approach to Culture.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chalfen, Richard

    The premise of this 14 week anthropology course is that endeavors by the mass media should be understood as cultural enterprises. Students will examine the means by which anthropologists, photographers, filmmakers, writers, new reporters or other observers translate their observations of another culture to members of their own culture. The Eskimo…

  16. Anthropology. CUNY Panel: Rethinking the Disciplines. Women in the Curriculum Series.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mencher, Joan P.; Nash, June; Francis-Okongwu, Anne; Susser, Ida.

    This collection of four essays examines the ways in which anthropology, as a discipline, reflects ongoing scholarship on gender, race, ethnicity, social class, and sexual orientation. In "The Impact of Gender Studies on Anthropology," Joan P. Mencher reviews the effects of gender studies on physical anthropology, archeology, and…

  17. A Program for High School Social Studies: Anthropology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haviland, Pam

    GRADES OR AGES: High School. SUBJECT MATTER: Anthropology. ORGANIZATION AND PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: The guide covers three units: 1) "The Study of Man"; 2) "Introduction to Physical Anthropology," including the process of evolution, descent and change in time, chronology of events, dawn of man, fossil man, race, and definitions of race; and 3)…

  18. Anthropology - Ecology. [Project ECOLogy ELE Pak, Skidmore Pak].

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Skidmore, Margaret

    This is one of a series of units for environmental education developed by the Highline Public Schools. The unit may be used as an introduction to the study of anthropology, the influence of ecology on the study of anthropology, and an introduction to the physical school environment. For best results, it should be used at the beginning of the…

  19. Native-View Paradigms: Multiple Cultures and Culture Conflicts in Organizations.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gregory, Kathleen L.

    1983-01-01

    After reviewing organizational culture studies done in industrial settings, this paper proposes a native-view paradigm from anthropology for exploring the multiple perspectives of participants in large organizations and describes a study--of Silicon Valley technical professionals' native views--that applies the methods of ethnoscience ethnography.…

  20. Anthropological perspectives on money management: considerations for the design and implementation of interventions for substance abuse.

    PubMed

    Carpenter-Song, Elizabeth

    2012-01-01

    There remains a long-standing argument regarding the need for money management strategies to control poor spending habits among people with substance use disorders. The objective was to review issues relevant to the design and implementation of money-management-based interventions for substance abuse. Using a comparative, cross-cultural framework of anthropology, this manuscript examines three challenges for the design and implementation of money management interventions for substance abuse: (i) clients may not trust mental health centers to manage their money, (ii) clients may have different economic perspectives from clinicians and researchers, and (iii) clients may obtain substances through informal networks of exchange. This article clarifies the inherently complex symbolic and social dimensions of money and addiction and illustrates the need for researchers and clinicians to be mindful of the cultural assumptions that underlie money management interventions for substance abuse. Using an anthropological approach toward understanding the issues surrounding money management for individuals struggling with addiction and mental illness has the potential to strengthen the design and implementation of money-management-based interventions in a manner that is acceptable and meaningful for this target population.

  1. An Anthropological Perspective: Another Dimension to Modern Dental Wear Concepts

    PubMed Central

    Kaidonis, John A.; Ranjitkar, Sarbin; Lekkas, Dimitra; Townsend, Grant C.

    2012-01-01

    For many years, research on tooth wear by dental academics has been diametrically opposite to that of anthropological research, with each discipline having a different understanding as to the nature of the wear processes. Dental focus revolved around preventive and restorative considerations while the anthropological focus was a biological understanding related to human evolution, diet, environment, form, and function and included all the craniofacial structures. Introducing the anthropological perspective into modern dentistry gives an insight into the “bigger picture” of the nature and extent of tooth wear. By combining anthropological evidence with clinical knowledge and experience, it is most likely to provide the best-informed and biologically based approach to the management of tooth wear in modern societies. PMID:23304146

  2. Stigma, community, ethnography: Joan Ablon's contribution to the anthropology of impairment-disability.

    PubMed

    Shuttleworth, Russell P; Kasnitz, Devva

    2004-06-01

    Joan Ablon has helped establish the anthropology of impairment-disability and significantly contributed to the role of anthropology in disability studies. In this article, we review the development of and situate Ablon's ethnographic research in the anthropology of impairment-disability. We then address various methodological issues in her work including her ethnographic approach, her grounding in action anthropology and her support for the development of the academic study of disability in anthropology and the careers of disabled anthropologists. The next section of the article examines Ablon's use of the notion of stigma, her understanding of community, and her engagement with disability rights. As examples of themes important to disability studies, we present her discussion of the implications of the ideal of the body beautiful, and gender differences in negotiating intimacy for people with physical differences. We close with a discussion of the future of an anthropology of impairment-disability.

  3. Anthropology from a Kantian point of view: toward a cosmopolitan conception of human nature.

    PubMed

    Louden, Robert B

    2008-12-01

    Anthropology was a new field of study when Kant first began lecturing on it in 1772, and Kant himself was the first academic to teach regular courses in this area. As is well known, his own approach to anthropology is self-described as 'pragmatic', and Kant's pragmatic anthropology differs markedly from the anthropologies that other early contributors to the new discipline were advocating. In this essay I focus on a fundamental feature of Kant's anthropology that has been under-appreciated in previous discussions; namely, the particular conception of human nature that he believes anthropology, when pursued properly, leads to. I call this conception a cosmopolitan conception of human nature. In addition to establishing the central importance of this idea for Kant's project in anthropology, I also try in this essay to unravel some of its ambiguities and tensions as well as to highlight its underlying moral motives. The cosmopolitan conception of human nature that is central to Kant's anthropology is a further indication of the significance of his anthropology for ethics.

  4. Conceptualizing the Role of Culture in Political Change.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aronoff, Myron J.

    Using as a point of departure anthropologist Clifford Geertz's study of culture with special emphasis on political change, the paper develops a theoretical framework for studying the relationship between culture and political change. A major objective of this anthropological approach to the study of political culture is to help political…

  5. Applied Anthropology in Broadcasting

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eiselein, E. B.

    1976-01-01

    Three different applied media anthropology projects are described. These projects stem from the broadcasters' legal need to know about the community (community ascertainment), the broadcasters' need to know about the station audience (audience profile), and the broadcasters' desire to change a community (action projects). (Author)

  6. Material of Geographic Import in the National Anthropological Archives.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Glenn, James R.

    Presenting specific examples of the manuscripts, cartographic materials, and pictorial materials found in the National Anthropological Archives, this paper describes Archive holdings (in such areas as archeology, linguistics, physical anthropology, and various branches of ethnology) which are dated from 1850 to the present and are representative…

  7. The Review of and Reaction to Selected Anthropology Projects by Professional Anthropologists.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dynneson, Thomas L.; Taylor, Bob L.

    The main concern of this paper is to determine the accuracy and representativeness of anthropology material from: Anthropology Curriculum Project (ACP); Education Development Center's Man A Course of Study (MACOS); Materials and Activities for Teachers and Children (MATCH); University of Minnesota's Project Social Studies; Anthropology Curriculum…

  8. Beyond multispecies ethnography: Engaging with violence and animal rights in anthropology

    PubMed Central

    2017-01-01

    Anthropologists have mediated between discriminated communities and outsiders, helping to influence public opinion through advocacy work. But can anthropological advocacy be applied to the case of violence against nonhumans? Ethical inquiries in anthropology also engage with the manifold ways through which human and nonhuman lives are entangled and emplaced within wider ecological relationships, converging in the so-called multispecies ethnography, but failing to account for exploitation. Reflecting on this omission, this article discusses the applicability of engaged anthropology to the range of issues from the use of nonhumans in medical experimentation and food production industry, to habitat destruction, and in broader contexts involving violence against nonhumans. Concluding that the existing forms of anthropological engagement are inadequate in dealing with the massive scale of nonhuman abuse, this article will suggest directions for a radical anthropology that engages with deep ecology, animal rights, animal welfare, and ecological justice. PMID:29081571

  9. Beyond multispecies ethnography: Engaging with violence and animal rights in anthropology.

    PubMed

    Kopnina, Helen

    2017-09-01

    Anthropologists have mediated between discriminated communities and outsiders, helping to influence public opinion through advocacy work. But can anthropological advocacy be applied to the case of violence against nonhumans? Ethical inquiries in anthropology also engage with the manifold ways through which human and nonhuman lives are entangled and emplaced within wider ecological relationships, converging in the so-called multispecies ethnography, but failing to account for exploitation. Reflecting on this omission, this article discusses the applicability of engaged anthropology to the range of issues from the use of nonhumans in medical experimentation and food production industry, to habitat destruction, and in broader contexts involving violence against nonhumans. Concluding that the existing forms of anthropological engagement are inadequate in dealing with the massive scale of nonhuman abuse, this article will suggest directions for a radical anthropology that engages with deep ecology, animal rights, animal welfare, and ecological justice.

  10. If anthropology is global, then so are its ethical dilemmas.

    PubMed

    Yoon, S Y

    2000-01-01

    This paper reviews three personal situations of the author as a student: an NGO activist in the women's movement and a UN official working on women's health and tobacco. Each situation, the kinds of ethical issue posed and lessons for the future direction of ethics in anthropology are outlined. The paper argues that applied anthropology is embedded in the position of the field of anthropology within the politics of the State and that this defines the parameters of individual choice. Contradictions in ethical situations and decision-making are posed by changing from the distant observer to active involvement and these may not be resolved by logic alone. Furthermore, governance and defining global ethical standards such as for the behavior of the tobacco multinational corporations is a fascinating new realm for anthropological ethical resolve.

  11. Physical anthropology in 1918 and the founding of the U.S. journal.

    PubMed

    Little, Michael A

    2018-04-01

    In 1918, the first issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology was prepared and distributed by Aleš Hrdlička, the Curator of Physical Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution. This was a singular act, both in the general and specific sense. It was the first journal of physical anthropology published in the United States, and it was a sole effort by Hrdlička, who was committed to promoting and recognizing physical anthropology as a new science in America. On this 100th anniversary of the founding of the journal, Hrdlička's efforts were successful: physical/biological anthropology is a strong and timely discipline that represents a major area of scientific research today. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  12. Anthropology (1878–1892).

    PubMed

    Kerr, Ashley

    2017-03-01

    In the late nineteenth century, Argentine intellectual elites turned to world’s fairs as a place to contest myths of Latin American racial inferiority and produce counternarratives of Argentine whiteness and modernity. This essay examines Argentine anthropological displays at three expositions between 1878 and 1892 to elucidate the mechanisms and reception of these projects. Florentino Ameghino, Francisco Moreno, and others worked deliberately and in conjunction with political authorities to erase the indigenous tribes from the national identity, even while using their bodies and products to create prehistory and garner intellectual legitimacy. Comparison of the three fairs also demonstrates how the representation of Amer-Indians and their artifacts shifted in accordance with local political needs and evolving international theories of anthropogenesis. The resulting analysis argues for the importance of considering the former colonies of the Global South in understanding the development of pre-twentieth-century anthropology and world’s fairs, particularly when separating them from their imperial context.

  13. Reflections on the Cultural Dimensions of Educational Administration.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Berrell, Mike; Gloet, Marianne

    1999-01-01

    Draws on social anthropology, educational administration, and neoinstitutionalism studies to explore educational administration in a cross-cultural setting. Discusses effects of cultural differences on organizational behavior in an Australian-Malaysian collaboration in higher education in Malaysia. The Australian subculture failed to become…

  14. Language and Culture

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kramsch, Claire

    2014-01-01

    This paper surveys the research methods and approaches used in the multidisciplinary field of applied language studies or language education over the last fourty years. Drawing on insights gained in psycho- and sociolinguistics, educational linguistics and linguistic anthropology with regard to language and culture, it is organized around five…

  15. 76 FR 36152 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Western Michigan University, Anthropology Department, Kalamazoo...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-06-21

    ...: Western Michigan University, Anthropology Department, Kalamazoo, MI; Correction AGENCY: National Park... human remains and associated funerary objects. Western Michigan University, Department of Anthropology... may contact the Western Michigan University, Department of Anthropology. Disposition of the human...

  16. 77 FR 11582 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Central Washington University Department of Anthropology...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-02-27

    ...: Central Washington University Department of Anthropology, Ellensburg, WA AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Central Washington University Department of Anthropology has... Central Washington University Department of Anthropology. Repatriation of the human remains and associated...

  17. 76 FR 36149 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Western Michigan University, Department of Anthropology...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-06-21

    ...: Western Michigan University, Department of Anthropology, Kalamazoo, MI AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: Western Michigan University, Department of Anthropology, has completed... contact the Western Michigan University, Department of Anthropology. Disposition of the human remains and...

  18. Masters of their Conditions III: Clinical applications of theater anthropology in cultural psychiatry

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Body learning gives actors basic structures and references that enable them to codify their actions in a script or score. With this score, acquired through training, performing and transmitting, actors who work with theater anthropology methodology offer strategies and tools that healers can use with their patients. This actor’s score has inspired a mode of working with patients both to understand the case history and guide the course of therapy. In this approach, patients are like authors who want to act out their dramaturgy, but who need a director-healer to organize the story and help them build their healing process. Together, patient and therapist work on stage to advance the treatment, at the same time enhancing their strategies and methods for collaboration. PMID:24077898

  19. 76 FR 36145 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Western Michigan University, Department of Anthropology...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-06-21

    ...: Western Michigan University, Department of Anthropology, Kalamazoo, MI AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: Western Michigan University, Department of Anthropology, has completed..., Department of Anthropology. Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Indian...

  20. Introducing Contemporary Anthropology: A Team-Taught Course for Large Classes.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Plotnicov, Leonard

    1985-01-01

    Describes a method of teaching large sections of college introductory anthropology by members of the anthropology faculty giving their best lectures. Presents details of how such a course was initiated, operated, and evaluated at the University of Pittsburgh. (KH)

  1. Culture and emotion regulation.

    PubMed

    Ford, Brett Q; Mauss, Iris B

    2015-06-01

    While anthropological research has long emphasized cultural differences in whether emotions are viewed as beneficial versus harmful, psychological science has only recently begun to systematically examine those differences and their implications for emotion regulation and well-being. Underscoring the pervasive role of culture in people's emotions, we summarize research that has examined links between culture, emotion regulation, and well-being. Specifically, we focus on two questions. First, how does culture lead individuals to regulate their emotions? And second, how does culture modulate the link between emotion regulation and well-being? We finish by suggesting directions for future research to advance the study of culture and emotion regulation.

  2. Course Syllabus--Culture, Science and Technology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Coleman, Sam

    1988-01-01

    Presents a course syllabus and requirements for an anthropology course on the cross-cultural analysis of the relationships between technology, science, and social organization. Provides daily topics, suggested text readings, and reference articles. (MVL)

  3. Organizational Change, Leadership and Learning: Culture as Cognitive Process.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lakomski, Gabriele

    2001-01-01

    Examines the claim that it is necessary to change an organization's culture in order to bring about organizational change. Considers the purported causal relationship between the role of the leader and organizational learning and develops the notion of culture as cognitive process based on research in cultural anthropology and cognitive science.…

  4. Rosetta Phase II: Measuring and Interpreting Cultural Differences in Cognition

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-07-31

    approaches are used to capture culture. First, anthropology and psychiatry adopt research methods that focus on specific groups or individuals...Classical anthropology provides information about behaviors, customs, social roles, and social rules based on extended and intense observation of single...This training goes beyond rules and procedures so that military personnel can see events through the eyes of adversaries or host nationals. They must

  5. Macro-evolutionary studies of cultural diversity: a review of empirical studies of cultural transmission and cultural adaptation.

    PubMed

    Mace, Ruth; Jordan, Fiona M

    2011-02-12

    A growing body of theoretical and empirical research has examined cultural transmission and adaptive cultural behaviour at the individual, within-group level. However, relatively few studies have tried to examine proximate transmission or test ultimate adaptive hypotheses about behavioural or cultural diversity at a between-societies macro-level. In both the history of anthropology and in present-day work, a common approach to examining adaptive behaviour at the macro-level has been through correlating various cultural traits with features of ecology. We discuss some difficulties with simple ecological associations, and then review cultural phylogenetic studies that have attempted to go beyond correlations to understand the underlying cultural evolutionary processes. We conclude with an example of a phylogenetically controlled approach to understanding proximate transmission pathways in Austronesian cultural diversity.

  6. Macro-evolutionary studies of cultural diversity: a review of empirical studies of cultural transmission and cultural adaptation

    PubMed Central

    Mace, Ruth; Jordan, Fiona M.

    2011-01-01

    A growing body of theoretical and empirical research has examined cultural transmission and adaptive cultural behaviour at the individual, within-group level. However, relatively few studies have tried to examine proximate transmission or test ultimate adaptive hypotheses about behavioural or cultural diversity at a between-societies macro-level. In both the history of anthropology and in present-day work, a common approach to examining adaptive behaviour at the macro-level has been through correlating various cultural traits with features of ecology. We discuss some difficulties with simple ecological associations, and then review cultural phylogenetic studies that have attempted to go beyond correlations to understand the underlying cultural evolutionary processes. We conclude with an example of a phylogenetically controlled approach to understanding proximate transmission pathways in Austronesian cultural diversity. PMID:21199844

  7. Beyond the 'new cross-cultural psychiatry': cultural biology, discursive psychology and the ironies of globalization.

    PubMed

    Kirmayer, Laurence J

    2006-03-01

    The 'new cross-cultural psychiatry' heralded by Kleinman in 1977 promised a revitalized tradition that gave due respect to cultural difference and did not export psychiatric theories that were themselves culture bound. In the ensuing years, the view of culture within anthropology has continued to change, along with our understanding of the relationship of biological processes to cultural diversity, and the global political economic contexts in which mental health care is delivered. This article considers the implications of these new notions of culture, biology and the context of practice for theory in cultural psychiatry. The future of cultural psychiatry lies in advancing a broad perspective that: (a) is inherently multidisciplinary (involving psychiatric epidemiology, medical anthropology and sociology, cognitive science and social psychology), breaking down the nature/culture dichotomy with an integrative view of culture as a core feature of human biology, while remaining alert to cultural constructions of biological theory; (b) attends to psychological processes but understands these as not exclusively located within the individual but as including discursive processes that are fundamentally social; and (c) critically examines the interaction of both local and global systems of knowledge and power. Globalization has brought with it many ironies for cultural psychiatry: Transnational migrations have resulted in cultural hybridization at the same time as ethnicity has become more salient; the call for evidence-based medicine has been used to limit the impact of cultural research; and cultural psychiatry itself has been co-opted by pharmaceutical companies to inform marketing campaigns to promote conventional treatments for new populations. Cultural psychiatry must address these ironies to develop the self-critical awareness and flexibility needed to deliver humane care in shifting contexts.

  8. Counting bodies? On future engagements with science studies in medical anthropology.

    PubMed

    Yates-Doerr, Emily

    2017-08-01

    Thirty years ago, Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Margaret Lock outlined a strategy for 'future work in medical anthropology' that focused on three bodies. Their article - a zeitgeist for the field - sought to intervene into the Cartesian dualisms characterizing ethnomedical anthropology at the time. Taking a descriptive and diagnostic approach, they defined 'the mindful body' as a domain of future anthropological inquiry and mapped three analytic concepts that could be used to study it: the individual/phenomenological body, the social body, and the body politic. Three decades later, this paper returns to the 'three bodies'. It analyses ethnographic fieldwork on chronic illness, using a rescriptive, practice-oriented approach to bodies developed by science studies scholars that was not part of the initial three bodies framework. It illustrates how embodiment was a technical achievement in some practices, while in others bodies did not figure as relevant. This leads to the suggestion that an anthropology of health need not be organized around numerable bodies. The paper concludes by suggesting that future work in medical anthropology might embrace translational competency, which does not have the goal of better definitions (better health, better bodies, etc.) but the goal of better engaging with exchanges between medical and non-medical practices. That health professionals are themselves moving away from bodies to embrace 'planetary health' makes a practice-focused orientation especially crucial for medical anthropology today.

  9. [Theories of evolution shaping Victorian anthropology. The science-politics of the X-Club, 1860-1872].

    PubMed

    Gondermann, Thomas

    2008-01-01

    This paper discusses the role that a group of evolutionists, the X-Club, played in the epistemic and institutional transformation of Victorian anthropology in the 1860s. It analyses how anthropology has been brought into line with the theory of evolution, which gained currency at the same time. The X-Club was a highly influential pressure group in the Victorian scientific community. It campaigned for the theory of evolution in several fields of the natural sciences and had a considerable influence on the modernization of the sciences. Yet, this club also intervened in the anthropological discourse of these years. The X-Club's meddling with anthropology led to the latter's evolutionary turn. The introduction of an evolutionary agenda into Victorian anthropology depended not only on the X-Club's theoretical contributions but also on the structural reformation of the discipline. Its campaigns also aimed at marginalizing the proponents of pre-evolutionary anthropology in its institutions and led to the foundation of a new organization in anthropology: The Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. Thus, evolutionary anthropology emerged in the 1860s also as the result of science-politicking rather than just from the transmission of evolutionary concepts through discourse.

  10. Cultural Development. Social Studies: Course II-Unit II. Teacher's Manual.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, Ellen K.

    This teachers guide for a secondary course on cultural development builds upon earlier sequential learning courses and deals with concepts and generalizations drawn from the field of anthropology. Primary objectives are to develop students' understanding and awareness of culture. Five sections comprise this 10-week course. The nature of culture is…

  11. 76 FR 28078 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Western Michigan University, Anthropology Department, Kalamazoo, MI

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-13

    ...: Western Michigan University, Anthropology Department, Kalamazoo, MI AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: Western Michigan University, Anthropology Department, has completed an... University, Anthropology Department. Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the...

  12. 76 FR 28077 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Western Michigan University, Anthropology Department, Kalamazoo, MI

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-13

    ...: Western Michigan University, Anthropology Department, Kalamazoo, MI AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: Western Michigan University, Department of Anthropology, has completed... contact the Western Michigan University, Department of Anthropology. Disposition of the human remains to...

  13. 77 FR 34987 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-06-12

    ... of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology's professional staff in consultation with the... Inventory Completion: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, University of... of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology has completed an inventory of human remains in...

  14. Portraits of Benvenuto Cellini and Anthropological Methods of Their Identification

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nasobin, Oleg

    2016-01-01

    Modern methods of biometric identification are increasingly applied in order to attribute works of art. They are based on developments in the 19th century anthropological methods. So, this article describes how the successional anthropological methods were applied for the identification of Benvenuto Cellini's portraits. Objective comparison of…

  15. [Healthcare and culture, between diversity and universality].

    PubMed

    Debout, Christophe

    2010-01-01

    Interrelations exist between people's behaviour and the reasons for it as explained by culture. The healthcare theory put forward by the American nurse Madeleine Leininger, at the end of the 1970s, integrates anthropology Identifying and understanding the patient's culture enables nursing care to be adapted to the patient's own view of his/her disease.

  16. Teaching Urban Anthropology: An Experiential Approach.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miracle, Andrew W., Jr.

    1981-01-01

    Discusses the curriculum design and instructional goals of an undergraduate urban anthropology service course with a heterogeneous student composition. Compares the pedagogical techniques used with Bruner's theory of instruction. (CJM)

  17. 75 FR 36671 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Western Michigan University, Anthropology Department, Kalamazoo, MI

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-06-28

    ... University, Anthropology Department, Kalamazoo, MI AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice... objects in the possession of Western Michigan University, Anthropology Department, Kalamazoo, MI. The... funerary objects should contact LouAnn Wurst, Department of Anthropology, Western Michigan University, 1005...

  18. 75 FR 5105 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Western Michigan University, Anthropology Department, Kalamazoo, MI

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-02-01

    ... University, Anthropology Department, Kalamazoo, MI AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice... objects in the possession of Western Michigan University, Anthropology Department, Kalamazoo, MI. The... analysis. Dr. Robert Sundick, a physical anthropologist in the Anthropology Department at Western Michigan...

  19. The Culture-Area Concept: Does it Diffract Anthropological Light?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Howard, James H.

    1975-01-01

    It is contended that the consistent employment of the culture area theory by several generations of anthropologists, historians, and writers on American Indian art has tended to create a highly unrealistic and rigid picture of American Indian Cultures in the eyes of both the public and the Indian people themselves. (JC)

  20. The Rise of Class Culture Theory in Educational Anthropology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Foley, Douglas

    2010-01-01

    This article chronicles how the ideas of neo-Weberians, Marxists, feminists, and critical race thinkers have merged to create a new cultural production or class culture paradigm of schooling. Reviews of recent ethnographic work illustrates how the articulations among class, race, gender, and sexual identity practices in schools are studied without…

  1. 77 FR 23502 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Denver Department of Anthropology and Museum of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-04-19

    ...: University of Denver Department of Anthropology and Museum of Anthropology, Denver, CO AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The University of Denver Department of Anthropology and Museum of Anthropology, Denver, CO, has completed an inventory of human [[Page 23503

  2. The Closing of the "Bazaar of Cultures": Anthropology as Scapegoat.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Klass, Morton

    1990-01-01

    Notes Allan Bloom's attack on anthropologists and the concept of cultural relativism. Rejects the idea that the study of other cultures leads to giving up one's own culture. Suggests that Bloom represents a nativistic revitalization movement which has found that anthropologists make excellent scapegoats. (EVL)

  3. Building Cross-Cultural Competence: A Handbook for Teachers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mangan, Michael

    The handbook presents guidelines for cross-cultural understanding and communication to assist teachers in culturally and linguistically diverse classes. The guidelines are presented in the form of suggestions in ten areas: (1) become familiar with basic concepts in anthropology, sociology, and related disciplines, and use the knowledge to build an…

  4. 78 FR 59962 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Anthropology...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-09-30

    ....R50000] Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Anthropology... Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Anthropology, has completed an inventory of human remains and associated... request to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Anthropology. If no additional...

  5. 76 FR 14057 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Wyoming, Anthropology Department, Human Remains...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-03-15

    ...: University of Wyoming, Anthropology Department, Human Remains Repository, Laramie, WY AGENCY: National Park... Anthropology Department, Human Remains Repository, Laramie, WY. The human remains and associated funerary... the human remains was made by University of Wyoming, Anthropology Department, Human Remains Repository...

  6. The Psychiatric Cultural Formulation: Applying Medical Anthropology in Clinical Practice

    PubMed Central

    Aggarwal, Neil Krishan

    2014-01-01

    This paper considers revisions to the DSM-IV Outline for Cultural Formulation from the perspective of clinical practice. First, the paper explores the theoretical development of the Cultural Formulation. Next, a case presentation demonstrates challenges in its actual implementation. Finally, the paper recommends a set of questions for the clinician on barriers to care and countertransference. The development of a standardized, user-friendly format can increase the Cultural Formulation’s utilization among all psychiatrists beyond those specializing in cultural psychiatry. PMID:22418398

  7. History in the gene: negotiations between molecular and organismal anthropology.

    PubMed

    Sommer, Marianne

    2008-01-01

    In the advertising discourse of human genetic database projects, of genetic ancestry tracing companies, and in popular books on anthropological genetics, what I refer to as the anthropological gene and genome appear as documents of human history, by far surpassing the written record and oral history in scope and accuracy as archives of our past. How did macromolecules become "documents of human evolutionary history"? Historically, molecular anthropology, a term introduced by Emile Zuckerkandl in 1962 to characterize the study of primate phylogeny and human evolution on the molecular level, asserted its claim to the privilege of interpretation regarding hominoid, hominid, and human phylogeny and evolution vis-à-vis other historical sciences such as evolutionary biology, physical anthropology, and paleoanthropology. This process will be discussed on the basis of three key conferences on primate classification and evolution that brought together exponents of the respective fields and that were held in approximately ten-years intervals between the early 1960s and the 1980s. I show how the anthropological gene and genome gained their status as the most fundamental, clean, and direct records of historical information, and how the prioritizing of these epistemic objects was part of a complex involving the objectivity of numbers, logic, and mathematics, the objectivity of machines and instruments, and the objectivity seen to reside in the epistemic objects themselves.

  8. 'Freud's speculations in ethnology': A reflection on anthropology's encounter with psychoanalysis.

    PubMed

    Rivera, Patrick S

    2017-06-01

    In the early 20th century, many analysts - Freud and Ernest Jones in particular - were confident that cultural anthropologists would demonstrate the universal nature of the Oedipus complex and other unconscious phenomena. Collaboration between the two disciplines, however, was undermined by a series of controversies surrounding the relationship between psychology and culture. This paper re-examines the three episodes that framed anthropology's early encounter with psychoanalysis, emphasizing the important works and their critical reception. Freud's Totem and Taboo began the interdisciplinary dialogue, but it was Bronislaw Malinowski's embrace of psychoanalysis - a development anticipated through a close reading of his personal diaries - that marked a turning point in relations between the two disciplines. Malinowski argued that an avuncular (rather than an Oedipal) complex existed in the Trobriand Islands. Ernest Jones' critical dismissal of this theory alienated Malinowski from psychoanalysis and ended ethnographers' serious exploration of Freudian thought. A subsequent ethnographic movement, 'culture and personality,' was erroneously seen by many anthropologists as a product of Freudian theory. When 'culture and personality' was abandoned, anthropologists believed that psychoanalysis had been discredited as well - a narrative that still informs the historiography of the discipline and its rejection of psychoanalytical theory. Copyright © 2017 Institute of Psychoanalysis.

  9. Traditional Media and Indigenous Culture: Rethinking Developmental Relationships.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roe, Robert C.

    Over 60 years of American anthropological and sociological research writings have erected a concept of culture that restricts its role in planned change models to one of active or tacit resistance to change. As an alternative, this paper suggests that the substitution of a contemporary, dynamic conceptualization of culture as developed by…

  10. Teaching Anthropology as Science at the Junior High School Level

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Decanay, Al, Jr.

    1977-01-01

    Describes an elective anthropology course of eighth grade students taught in 1974-75 and 1975-76. The course was offered as part of the science rather than social studies program, and emphasized physical anthropology and archaeology with laboratory and field methods. The content was within the grasp of motivated average and above average eighth…

  11. Current status and perspectives of the development of dental research in biological anthropology of Argentina: introduction and conclusions of the symposium.

    PubMed

    Luna, Leandro H; Bernal, Valeria

    2011-10-01

    This paper describes and discusses the research in the field of dental anthropology in Argentina. It has been presented at the symposium entitled "The development of dental research in Argentine Biological Anthropology: current status and perspectives", coordinated by the authors at the IX National Meeting of Biological Anthropology of Argentina, Puerto Madryn, 20th-23rd October 2009. The aim of the symposium was to present new results and future prospects of this discipline in the country and to create a forum for discussion of current research within this field. Six contributions that focused on the study of teeth from different perspectives and analysed bioarchaeological samples from different areas of Argentina (Central Highlands, Pampa and Patagonia) were presented. After the presentations, a discussion about the state of the art of dental research in the country was generated, in which the need for the generation of methodological consensus on the criteria for the evaluation of the variables considered was stated, so that research conducted in different areas can be compared. In short, the contributions of this symposium provide insights into the diversity of dental anthropology in contemporary Argentina and the potential of these types of studies to gain important information about biological and cultural aspects of the native populations in the country. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  12. Material proximities and hotspots: toward an anthropology of viral hemorrhagic fevers.

    PubMed

    Brown, Hannah; Kelly, Ann H

    2014-06-01

    This article outlines a research program for an anthropology of viral hemorrhagic fevers (collectively known as VHFs). It begins by reviewing the social science literature on Ebola, Marburg, and Lassa fevers and charting areas for future ethnographic attention. We theoretically elaborate the hotspot as a way of integrating analysis of the two routes of VHF infection: from animal reservoirs to humans and between humans. Drawing together recent anthropological investigations of human-animal entanglements with an ethnographic interest in the social production of space, we seek to enrich conceptualizations of viral movement by elaborating the circumstances through which viruses, humans, objects, and animals come into contact. We suggest that attention to the material proximities-between animals, humans, and objects-that constitute the hotspot opens a frontier site for critical and methodological development in medical anthropology and for future collaborations in VHF management and control. © 2014 by the American Anthropological Association.

  13. The origins of American physical anthropology in Philadelphia.

    PubMed

    Mann, Alan

    2009-01-01

    With its location on a river with easy access to the sea, its central placement between the English speaking colonies to the north and south and its trading connections with the western frontier, there were many reasons Philadelphia became one of the most important towns of prerevolutionary America. In the early 1770s, it was the site of the first meeting organized to deal with the perceived inequities of the British government toward the colonies. It was where Thomas Jefferson wrote much of the Declaration of Independence, whose soaring statements reflecting the Age of Enlightenment spoke of the equality of all men. It was to this debate, centered on just who was included in this declaration that the origins of physical anthropology in America can be traced. Notable men in the early phases of this disputation included Samuel Stanhope Smith and especially Samuel George Morton, considered the founder of American physical anthropology. The American School of Anthropology, which argued for the polygenic origins of human races was substantially founded on Morton's work. Recent accusations that Morton manipulated data to support his racist views would appear unfounded. The publication of The Origin of Species in 1859 and the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862-63 effectively ended the earlier debates. By the time of the American Civil War, 1861-65, physical anthropology was beginning to explore other topics including growth and development and anthropometry. Copyright 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  14. Why did Kant reject physiological explanations in his anthropology?

    PubMed

    Sturm, Thomas

    2008-12-01

    One of Kant's central tenets concerning the human sciences is the claim that one need not, and should not, use a physiological vocabulary if one studies human cognitions, feelings, desires, and actions from the point of view of his 'pragmatic' anthropology. The claim is well known, but the arguments Kant advances for it have not been closely discussed. I argue against misguided interpretations of the claim, and I present his actual reasons in favor of it. Contemporary critics of a 'physiological anthropology' reject physiological explanations of mental states as more or less epistemologically dubious. Kant does not favor such ignorance claims--and this is for the good, since none of these claims was sufficiently justified at that time. Instead, he develops an original irrelevance thesis concerning the empirical knowledge of the physiological basis of the mind. His arguments for this claim derive from his original and, up to now, little understood criticism of a certain conception of pragmatic history, related to his anthropological insights concerning our ability to create new rules of action, the social dynamics of human action, and the relative inconstancy of human nature. The irrelevance thesis also changes his views of the goal and methodology of anthropology. Kant thereby argues for a distinctive approach in quest for a general 'science of man'.

  15. Anthropology and Openmindedness: A Restructuring of the Social Studies Curriculum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dynneson, Thomas L.

    The potential use of anthropology for restructuring both the general curriculum and social studies is discussed. Anthropology could work as an organizer because it is a broad based discipline and relates to the natural sciences, fine arts, language arts, and humanities, as well as to the social sciences. By the beginning of the 21st century, major…

  16. Forensic anthropology in Europe: an assessment of current status and application.

    PubMed

    Kranioti, Elena; Paine, Robert

    2011-01-01

    Forensic anthropology is the discipline that traditionally deals with the examination of human remains for legal purposes and it derives from the fields of anatomy, physical anthropology and forensic medicine. For more than a century, forensic anthropologists in the United States have been offering their services in the court of law complementing the medico-legal investigation of other forensic professionals. The current status in European countries is presented here. The development of forensic anthropology varies significantly among the countries of Europe. Whereas some countries show a long history of research activity in the forensic sciences, including forensic anthropology (i.e. France, Germany and Spain), others are exhibiting a recent, rapid development (i.e. United Kingdom). In some cases, forensic anthropologists are employed within the academic realm (i.e. U.K., Denmark, Portugal, Turkey), forensic institutions (Netherlands) or government organizations (Spain, Hungary), although the vast majority of them remain limited to freelance activities on a sporadic basis. Often, European scientists that deal with skeletal remains come from nonphysical anthropology disciplines such as archaeology, forensic medicine and biology. In many cases they do not have adequate training equivalent to the forensic anthropologists in the USA. Naturally, without common training and a common legal system, an accreditation system for Europe will be difficult to implement.

  17. The Paradox of Culture in a Globalized World

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jones, Rodney H.

    2013-01-01

    Much of the work in intercultural communication studies in the past decade, especially in the field of applied linguistics, has been devoted to "disinventing" the notion of culture. The problem with the word "culture" as it has been used in anthropology, sociology, and in everyday life, it has been pointed out, is that it is…

  18. 77 FR 5841 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-02-06

    ...: Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Anthropology has... contact the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Anthropology. Repatriation of the human...

  19. Reflections on John Monaghan's "Computer Algebra, Instrumentation, and the Anthropological Approach"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blume, Glen

    2007-01-01

    Reactions to John Monaghan's "Computer Algebra, Instrumentation and the Anthropological Approach" focus on a variety of issues related to the ergonomic approach (instrumentation) and anthropological approach to mathematical activity and practice. These include uses of the term technique; several possibilities for integration of the two approaches;…

  20. Anthropological Methods Relevant for Journalists.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bird, S. Elizabeth

    1987-01-01

    Discusses the relevance of the anthropological or ethnographic approach to journalism. Suggests ways that an appreciation of this methodology can help journalism students become more effective and perceptive in their future careers by nudging them out of the commonsense work perspective and requiring greater empathy and involvement with sources.…

  1. A Course Evolves-Physical Anthropology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Neil, Dennis

    2001-01-01

    Describes the development of an online physical anthropology course at Palomar College (California) that evolved from online tutorials. Discusses the ability to update materials on the Web more quickly than in traditional textbooks; creating Web pages that are readable by most Web browsers; test security issues; and clarifying ownership of online…

  2. 75 FR 435 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-01-05

    ... Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice... and control of the Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. The human... Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst professional staff in consultation with representatives of...

  3. 78 FR 5198 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-24

    ... Inventory Completion: University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA AGENCY: National... Anthropology, has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with... of Washington, Department of Anthropology. Disposition of the human remains to the Indian tribes...

  4. 78 FR 2429 - Notice of Inventory Completion: The Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-11

    ... Inventory Completion: The Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University, Pullman, WA AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Museum of Anthropology has completed an... contact the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University. Repatriation of the human remains...

  5. 76 FR 73664 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Washington State University, Museum of Anthropology, Pullman, WA

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-11-29

    ...: Washington State University, Museum of Anthropology, Pullman, WA AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Washington State University, Museum of Anthropology (WSU) has completed an... University, Museum of Anthropology, Pullman, WA 99164-4910, telephone (509) 335-4314. SUPPLEMENTARY...

  6. 77 FR 74868 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-12-18

    ... Inventory Completion: Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA AGENCY: National... Anthropology has completed an inventory of human remains, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes... the human remains may contact the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Anthropology...

  7. 75 FR 14463 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-03-25

    ... Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice... University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA. The human remains were removed from... University of Washington, Department of Anthropology and Burke Museum staff in consultation with...

  8. 76 FR 43714 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Oregon State University Department of Anthropology, Corvallis, OR

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-07-21

    ... State University Department of Anthropology, Corvallis, OR AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Oregon State University Department of Anthropology has completed an... contact the Oregon State University Department of Anthropology. Repatriation of the human remains to the...

  9. 75 FR 41883 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Museum of Anthropology, Washington State University Pullman, WA

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-07-19

    ... Anthropology, Washington State University Pullman, WA AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice... associated funerary objects in the possession and control of the Museum of Anthropology, Washington State... made by Museum of Anthropology, Washington State University, professional staff in consultation with...

  10. 76 FR 28072 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-13

    ... remains was made by University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology professional staff...: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA AGENCY: National Park... in the possession of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology...

  11. Choosing a Field: How Graduate Student Choices of Field Sites Reflect Different Ideas of "Real" Anthropology in Colombia and the United States

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Macia, Laura

    2012-01-01

    This paper examines the decisions and motivations of graduate students in cultural anthropology when defining the field sites and topics of their final projects. The decisions among students at the Universidad de los Andes in Colombia are contrasted with those at the University of Pittsburgh in the United States. A review of recent final projects…

  12. Eighth Grade Social Studies. An Experimental Program in Geography and Anthropology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hanson, James; And Others

    GRADES OR AGES: Grade 8. SUBJECT MATTER: Geography and Anthropology. ORGANIZATION AND PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: The introductory material includes descriptions of geography and anthropology as disciplines, the basic course objectives, techniques for evaluating objectives and a student self-evaluation form. The guide covers six units: 1) "What Kind of…

  13. 78 FR 19297 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-03-29

    ...-PPWOCRADN0] Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA..., Department of Anthropology, has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in... Burke Museum acting on behalf of the University of Washington, Department of Anthropology. Disposition...

  14. 78 FR 45957 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Columbia University, Department of Anthropology, New York, NY

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-07-30

    ....R50000] Notice of Inventory Completion: Columbia University, Department of Anthropology, New York, NY... Anthropology, has completed an inventory of human remains, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes... August 29, 2013. ADDRESSES: Dr. Nan Rothschild, Department of Anthropology, Columbia University, New York...

  15. 78 FR 11673 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-02-19

    ... Inventory Completion: University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA AGENCY: National... Anthropology, has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with... Anthropology. Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Indian tribes stated...

  16. 78 FR 2432 - Notice of Inventory Completion: The Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-11

    ... Inventory Completion: The Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University, Pullman, WA AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Museum of Anthropology has completed an... objects may contact the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University. Repatriation of the human...

  17. 78 FR 25471 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-05-01

    ....R50000] Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA..., Department of Anthropology, has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in... Burke Museum acting on behalf of the University of Washington, Department of Anthropology. Disposition...

  18. 78 FR 5200 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-24

    ... Inventory Completion: University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA AGENCY: National... Anthropology, has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with... acting on behalf of the University of Washington, Department of Anthropology. Disposition of the human...

  19. 77 FR 46116 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-08-02

    ... Anthropology and San Diego Museum of Man professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Pueblo... Inventory Completion: Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Maxwell Museum of Anthropology has completed...

  20. 78 FR 19301 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-03-29

    ...-PPWOCRADN0] Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology... Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology has completed an inventory of human remains, in... Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Repatriation of the human remains to the Indian tribes stated...

  1. 78 FR 45961 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Denver Museum of Anthropology, Denver, CO

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-07-30

    ... of Denver Museum of Anthropology professional staff in consultation with representatives of the....R50000] Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Denver Museum of Anthropology, Denver, CO AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The University of Denver Museum of Anthropology...

  2. 78 FR 45962 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Denver Museum of Anthropology, Denver, CO

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-07-30

    ... Museum of Anthropology professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Hualapai Indian....R50000] Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Denver Museum of Anthropology, Denver, CO AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The University of Denver Museum of Anthropology...

  3. 77 FR 74871 - Notice of Inventory Completion: The Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-12-18

    ... Inventory Completion: The Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University, Pullman, WA AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Museum of Anthropology has completed an... objects may contact the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University. Repatriation of the human...

  4. Appraising forensic anthropology in the Philippines: Current status and future directions.

    PubMed

    Go, Matthew C

    2018-07-01

    The increasing significance of forensic anthropology in the 21st century, yet unequitable worldwide distribution of expertise, necessitates a stocktaking of the discipline on a local scale. The purpose of this work is to appraise the current state of forensic anthropology in the Philippines and provide the rationale for its further development within the country. Recent efforts in research, education, and legislation that seek to boost Philippine forensic anthropology specifically and forensic sciences generally are highlighted. Furthermore, this work hopes to serve as a springboard for future students, scholars, and practitioners seeking to advance the field in the Philippines. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Physical anthropology of Tarahumara Indians of northern Mexico.

    PubMed

    Drusini, A; Tommaseo, M

    1981-09-01

    During an anthropological mission in northern Mexico, 108 individuals of both sexes, belonging to the ethnic group of Tarahumara of the district of Norogachi were examined. Anthropometric characters and some physiological and medical data were taken. In this paper our anthropometric data are compared with those of the same population, taken in 1898 by Hrdlicka and in 1925-26 by Basauri. Thus it results that their cephalic index increased, while the reduction of their bizygomatic diameter shows a process of slenderization (according to Debetz). From a physiological point of view it is interesting to observe the high percentage of tasters of P.T.C. lowest concentration, the absence of evident dischromatopsies, the presence of a moderate eosinophilia probably due to parasitosis. Finally, it is opportune to observe the presence of blood in the urine of 15.7% of males, probably connected with a cultural factor, that is kick-ball foot race on long distances.

  6. [Progress in Application of Measuring Skeleton by CT in Forensic Anthropology Research].

    PubMed

    Miao, C Y; Xu, L; Wang, N; Zhang, M; Li, Y S; Lü, J X

    2017-02-01

    Individual identification by measuring the human skeleton is an important research in the field of forensic anthropology. Computed tomography (CT) technology can provide high-resolution image of skeleton. Skeleton image can be reformed by software in the post-processing workstation. Different skeleton measurement indexes of anthropology, such as diameter, angle, area and volume, can be measured on section and reformative images. Measurement process is barely affected by human factors. This paper reviews the literatures at home and abroad about the application of measuring skeleton by CT in forensic anthropology research for individual identification in four aspects, including sex determination, height infer, facial soft tissue thickness measurement and age estimation. The major technology and the application of CT in forensic anthropology research are compared and discussed, respectively. Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Forensic Medicine.

  7. 78 FR 22286 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-04-15

    ....R50000] Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA..., Department of Anthropology, has completed an inventory of human remains, in consultation with the appropriate... acting on behalf of the University of Washington, Department of Anthropology. If no additional requestors...

  8. 75 FR 52364 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Department of Anthropology and Ethnic Studies, University of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-08-25

    ... Anthropology and Ethnic Studies, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV AGENCY: National Park Service... and associated funerary objects in possession of the Department of Anthropology & Ethnic Studies... assessment of the human remains was made by the Department of Anthropology & Ethnic Studies, University of...

  9. 78 FR 5201 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-24

    ... Inventory Completion: University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA AGENCY: National... Anthropology, has completed an inventory of human remains, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes..., Department of Anthropology. Disposition of the human remains to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if...

  10. 77 FR 65404 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-10-26

    ... Inventory Completion: Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM; Correction... affiliated with the human remains may contact the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. Repatriation of the human..., Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, MSC01 1050, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001...

  11. 78 FR 19298 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-03-29

    ...-PPWOCRADN0] Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Washington, Department of Anthropology, Seattle, WA..., Department of Anthropology, has completed an inventory of human remains, in consultation with the appropriate... Washington, Department of Anthropology. Disposition of the human remains to the Indian tribes stated below...

  12. 77 FR 65403 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-10-26

    ... Inventory Completion: Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM AGENCY... affiliated with the human remains may contact the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. Repatriation of the human..., Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, MSC01 1050, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001...

  13. 76 FR 56468 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-09-13

    ...: Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico has... contact the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico. Repatriation of the human remains to...

  14. Confessions of an Anthropological Poser

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shorter, David Delgado

    2011-01-01

    This article presents the author's confessions about being an anthropological poser. He shares a series of short fragments that evidence the ways he has drawn the line around his work. He draws some lessons about how to work collaboratively and effectively as Natives, scholars, and Native scholars. He closes this confession by admitting that he…

  15. Seeking a rapprochement between anthropology and the cognitive sciences: a problem-driven approach.

    PubMed

    Whitehouse, Harvey; Cohen, Emma

    2012-07-01

    Beller, Bender, and Medin question the necessity of including social anthropology within the cognitive sciences. We argue that there is great scope for fruitful rapprochement while agreeing that there are obstacles (even if we might wish to debate some of those specifically identified by Beller and colleagues). We frame the general problem differently, however: not in terms of the problem of reconciling disciplines and research cultures, but rather in terms of the prospects for collaborative deployment of expertise (methodological and theoretical) in problem-driven research. For the purposes of illustration, our focus in this article is on the evolution of cooperation. Copyright © 2012 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  16. Islamic Pedagogy and Embodiment: An Anthropological Study of a British Madrasah

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hardaker, Glenn; Sabki, Aishah Ahmad

    2015-01-01

    This anthropological study of a higher education British Madrasah was undertaken to increase our awareness of the spectrum of sensory experiences that shape Islamic pedagogy. We started our anthropological study from an Islamic premise of the inseparable nature of knowledge and the sacred. Pedagogy is defined as not a matter of simple methods and…

  17. The Development of Man and His Culture: Old World Prehistory. Grade 5. Teacher Guide [And] Pupil Text [And] Pupil Guide [And] Teacher Background Material [And] A Sequential Curriculum in Anthropology. Test Form 5, Composite Form for Pre- and Post-Test. Revised, January 1968. Publications No. 25, 31, 23, 24 and 43.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Potterfield, James E.; And Others

    This social studies unit includes a teaching guide, student text, study guide, teacher background material, and composite pretest/posttest covering archaeological methods, evolution, fossils and man, and development of culture during the prehistoric periods in the Old World. It is part of the Anthropology Curriculum Project and is designed for…

  18. Anthropology, knowledge-flows and global health.

    PubMed

    Feierman, S; Kleinman, A; Stewart, K; Farmer, D; Das, V

    2010-01-01

    Global health programmes are damaged by blockages in the upward flow of information from localities and regional centres about realities of professional practice and about patients' lives and conditions of treatment. Power differentials between local actors and national or international decision-makers present further obstacles to effective action. Anthropological research and action, in its most effective current forms, make important contributions to these issues. This research often continues over the long term, intensively. It can be multi-sited, studying actors at local, national and international levels simultaneously. It studies the relative knowledge and power of impoverished patients and global decision-makers, all within a single frame. By doing so, anthropological research is capable of providing new and important insights on the diverse meanings of patient decision-making, informed consent, non-compliance, public health reporting, the building of political coalitions for health and many other issues.

  19. Epidemiological reflections of the contribution of anthropology to public health policy and practice.

    PubMed

    Porter, John D H

    2006-01-01

    Academic disciplines like anthropology and epidemiology provide a niche for researchers to speak the same language, and to interrogate the assumptions that they use to investigate problems. How anthropological and epidemiological methods communicate and relate to each other affects the way public health policy is created but the philosophical underpinnings of each discipline makes this difficult. Anthropology is reflective, subjective and investigates complexity and the individual; epidemiology, in contrast, is objective and studies populations. Within epidemiological methods there is the utilitarian concept of potentially sacrificing the interests of the individual for the benefits of maximizing population welfare, whereas in anthropology the individual is always included. Other strengths of anthropology in the creation of public health policy include: its attention to complexity, questioning the familiar; helping with language and translation; reconfiguring boundaries to create novel frameworks; and being reflective. Public health requires research that is multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary. To do this, there is a need for each discipline to respect the 'dignity of difference' between disciplines in order to help create appropriate and effective public health policy.

  20. [The biolaw anthropological basis. A philosofical reflection of biolaw].

    PubMed

    Chávez-Fernández Postigo, José

    2015-01-01

    From a basic terminological clarification, we seek to examine briefly what can be acknowledged as the two biggest attempts of foundation in the Biolaw contemporary area, that of the Kantian tradition and that of the anthropological and metaphysical realism. Through a critical examination of the first one, we attempt to show that only from a freedom or an autonomy assumed from the anthropological and metaphysical realism, is possible to hold a Biolaw as a true impervious limit against the technological power regarding human life and human procreation.

  1. Cultural Consensus and Cultural Diversity: A Mixed Methods Investigation of Human Service Providers' Models of Domestic Violence

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Collins, Cyleste C.; Dressler, William W.

    2008-01-01

    This study uses mixed methods and theory from cognitive anthropology to examine the cultural models of domestic violence among domestic violence agency workers, welfare workers, nurses, and a general population comparison group. Data collection and analysis uses quantitative and qualitative techniques, and the findings are integrated for…

  2. Minority Education: Anthropological Perspectives. Social and Policy Issues in Education: The University of Cincinnati Series.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jacob, Evelyn, Ed.; Jordan, Cathie, Ed.

    This volume presents an overview of current anthropological thinking on the education of minority students, bringing the perspectives of educational anthropology to bear on understanding minority education and resolving its inequities. At the core of the book are some papers from an invited session of the American Anthropological Association in…

  3. Kant and the development of the human and cultural sciences.

    PubMed

    Makkreel, Rudolf A

    2008-12-01

    Starting with Kant's doubts about psychology as a natural science capable of explaining human behavior, several alternative attempts to conceive of human life, culture and history are examined. Kant proposes an anthropology that will be a commonly useful human science rather than a universally valid natural science. This anthropology relates to philosophy as a mode of world-cognition. Special attention is given to how Kant's theory of right can help define our appropriate place in a communal world. The different ways in which Wilhelm Dilthey and Hermann Cohen respond to Kant's idea of legitimate appropriation are also considered. The various tasks that descriptive elucidation, explanation, reflective understanding, characterization and interpretation can perform for the human and cultural sciences are examined throughout the essay.

  4. Theory and methods in cultural neuroscience

    PubMed Central

    Hariri, Ahmad R.; Harada, Tokiko; Mano, Yoko; Sadato, Norihiro; Parrish, Todd B.; Iidaka, Tetsuya

    2010-01-01

    Cultural neuroscience is an emerging research discipline that investigates cultural variation in psychological, neural and genomic processes as a means of articulating the bidirectional relationship of these processes and their emergent properties. Research in cultural neuroscience integrates theory and methods from anthropology, cultural psychology, neuroscience and neurogenetics. Here, we review a set of core theoretical and methodological challenges facing researchers when planning and conducting cultural neuroscience studies, and provide suggestions for overcoming these challenges. In particular, we focus on the problems of defining culture and culturally appropriate experimental tasks, comparing neuroimaging data acquired from different populations and scanner sites and identifying functional genetic polymorphisms relevant to culture. Implications of cultural neuroscience research for addressing current issues in population health disparities are discussed. PMID:20592044

  5. Strange, incredible and impossible things: the early anthropology of Reginald Scot.

    PubMed

    Littlewood, Roland

    2009-06-01

    Reginald Scot has been acclaimed as an early rationalist for his critical consideration of witchcraft in 1584. At the same time, the Discoverie of Witchcraft appears organized much as later classic anthropological monographs. This article considers whether his methods and writing might indeed correspond to what we recognise as the procedures of medical or psychiatric anthropology.

  6. [Contributions to a feminist anthropology of health: the study of the menstrual cycle].

    PubMed

    Rodríguez, Maribel Blázquez; Gallardo, Eva Bolaños

    2017-01-01

    Medical or Health Anthropology focused on the study of women continues to be a main area of anthropological study in Spain. The contributions of two referential figures in feminist health anthropology, Marcia Inhorn and Mari Luz Esteban, are applied to review the findings of a qualitative research study on the menstrual cycle carried out through 20 interviews with women between the ages of 16 and 44 years, between 2013 and 2014, in the municipality of Madrid. The analysis shows that menstruation is a clear example of the reproductive essentialization of women, of biological reductionism, of the medicalization of women's bodies and, above all, of the standardization of bodies. The visibilization and questioning of these assumptions through the voices of the women interviewed highlight the importance of this field within medical anthropology.

  7. Reanalysis of Korean War Anthropological Records to Support the Resolution of Cold Cases.

    PubMed

    Wilson, Emily K

    2017-09-01

    Re-investigation of previously unidentified remains from the Korean War has yielded 55 new identifications, each with corresponding records of prior anthropological analyses. This study compares biological assessments for age at death, stature, and ancestry across (i) anthropological analyses from the 1950s, (ii) recent anthropological analyses of those same sets of remains, and (iii) the reported antemortem biological information for the identified individual. A comparison of long bone measurements from both the 1950s and during reanalysis is also presented. These comparisons demonstrate commonalities and continuing patterns of errors that are useful in refining both research on Korean War cold case records and forensic anthropological analyses performed using methods developed from the 1950s identifications. Published 2017. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

  8. To Mould or to Bring Out? Human Nature, Anthropology and Educational Utopianism

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Papastephanou, Marianna

    2014-01-01

    Against narrow understandings of educational research, this article defends the relevance of philosophical anthropology to ethico-political education and contests its lack of space in the philosophy of education. My approximation of this topic begins with comments on philosophical anthropology; proceeds with examples from the history of…

  9. 76 FR 36151 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-06-21

    ... of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, has completed an inventory... the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan. Repatriation of the human remains to the tribe...

  10. 77 FR 23507 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University, Pullman, WA

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-04-19

    ... of Anthropology at Washington State University, Pullman, WA AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University has completed an... contact the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University. Repatriation of the human remains to...

  11. 78 FR 64007 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Denver Department of Anthropology and Museum of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-10-25

    ....R50000] Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Denver Department of Anthropology and Museum of Anthropology, Denver, CO; Correction AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice; correction. SUMMARY: The University of Denver Museum of Anthropology has corrected an inventory of human remains and...

  12. 78 FR 78379 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University, Pullman, WA

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-12-26

    ....R50000] Notice of Inventory Completion: Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University, Pullman, WA AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Museum of Anthropology at... the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University. If no additional requestors come forward...

  13. [Physical anthropology studies at Keijo Imperial University Medical School].

    PubMed

    Kim, Ock-Joo

    2008-12-01

    Medical research during the Japanese Colonial Period became systematic and active after the Keijo Imperial University Medical School was established in 1926. Various kinds of research were conducted there including pharmacological, physiological, pathological and parasitological research. The Keijo Imperial University was give a mission to study about Korea. Urgent topics for medical research included control of infectious diseases, hygiene and environmental health that might have affected colonizing bodies of the Japanese as well as the colonized. The bodies of Koreans had been studied by Japanese even before the establishment of the University. The Keijo Imperial University research team, however, organized several field studies for physical anthropology and blood typing research at the national scale to get representative sampling of the people from its north to its south of the Korean peninsula. In the filed, they relied upon the local police and administrative power to gather reluctant women and men to measure them in a great detail. The physical anthropology and blood typing research by the Japanese researchers was related to their eagerness to place Korean people in the geography of the races in the world. Using racial index R.I.(= (A%+AB%)/(B%+AB%)), the Japanese researchers put Koreans as a race between the Mongolian and the Japanese. The preoccupation with constitution and race also pervasively affected the medical practice: race (Japanese, Korean, or Japanese living in Korea) must be written in every kind of medical chart as a default. After the breakout of Chinese-Japanese War in 1937, the Keijo Imperial University researchers extended its physical anthropology field study to Manchuria and China to get data on physics of the people in 1940. The Japanese government and research foundations financially well supported the Keijo Imperial University researchers and the field studies for physical anthropology in Korea, Manchuria and China. The physical

  14. Anthropology: Focus Upon Ethnic Studies.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York State Education Dept., Albany. Bureau of General Education Curriculum Development.

    This course syllabus is designed to serve as the basis for a one-semester, 12th grade anthropology course or a one-year, 12th grade ethnic studies course. As such it can be used as the culminating course in a kindergarten-grade 12 sequence. The ethnic studies component is based on data collected by an Italo-American Curriculum Studies Project and…

  15. Modern morphometry: new perspectives in physical anthropology.

    PubMed

    Mantini, Simone; Ripani, Maurizio

    2009-06-01

    In the past one hundred years physical anthropology has recourse to more and more efficient methods, which provide several new information regarding, human evolution and biology. Apart from the molecular approach, the introduction of new computed assisted techniques gave rise to a new concept of morphometry. Computed tomography and 3D-imaging, allowed providing anatomical description of the external and inner structures exceeding the problems encountered with the traditional morphometric methods. Furthermore, the support of geometric morphometrics, allowed creating geometric models to investigate morphological variation in terms of evolution, ontogeny and variability. The integration of these new tools gave rise to the virtual anthropology and to a new image of the anthropologist in which anatomical, biological, mathematical statistical and data processing information are fused in a multidisciplinary approach.

  16. 76 FR 80392 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, Ann Arbor, MI

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-12-23

    ...: University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, Ann Arbor, MI AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION... Michigan officials and its Museum of Anthropology professional staff in consultation with representatives... accessioned into the Museum of Anthropology. Between 2007 and 2009 the remains were inventoried at the...

  17. Culture and Commerce in France: An Anthropological Approach.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Normand, Guessler

    A cooperative effort of the School of Business and the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Toledo (Ohio) developed a program to provide an opportunity for business students to develop (1) foreign language skills for effective communication and performance in international trade and (2) an awareness of the importance of culture and its…

  18. Humans, brains, and their environment: marriage between neuroscience and anthropology?

    PubMed

    Northoff, Georg

    2010-03-25

    How do we define ourselves as humans and interact with our various environments? Recently, neuroscience has extended into other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, questioning the existence of distinct disciplines like anthropology, which describes the relationship between humans and their various environments. However, rather than being incorporated into neuroscience, anthropology may be considered complementary, and a marriage of the two disciplines can provide deep insight into these fundamental questions. (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. It's Not the Culture of Poverty, It's the Poverty of Culture: The Problem with Teacher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ladson-Billings, Gloria

    2006-01-01

    The preparation of novice teachers is dominated by psychological notions almost to the exclusion of other social science paradigms. The perspective that is least likely to be evident in teacher preparation is that of anthropology. However, prospective and novice teachers regularly and loosely use the word "culture" as an explanation for student…

  20. Significance of genome-wide association studies in molecular anthropology.

    PubMed

    Gupta, Vipin; Khadgawat, Rajesh; Sachdeva, Mohinder Pal

    2009-12-01

    The successful advent of a genome-wide approach in association studies raises the hopes of human geneticists for solving a genetic maze of complex traits especially the disorders. This approach, which is replete with the application of cutting-edge technology and supported by big science projects (like Human Genome Project; and even more importantly the International HapMap Project) and various important databases (SNP database, CNV database, etc.), has had unprecedented success in rapidly uncovering many of the genetic determinants of complex disorders. The magnitude of this approach in the genetics of classical anthropological variables like height, skin color, eye color, and other genome diversity projects has certainly expanded the horizons of molecular anthropology. Therefore, in this article we have proposed a genome-wide association approach in molecular anthropological studies by providing lessons from the exemplary study of the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium. We have also highlighted the importance and uniqueness of Indian population groups in facilitating the design and finding optimum solutions for other genome-wide association-related challenges.

  1. Regulating Emotions and Aiming for a Ph.D.: Excerpts from "Anthropology Matters"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hovland, Ingie

    2012-01-01

    In this article I will present a range of experiences of graduate socialisation that have been discussed in past articles in the journal "Anthropology Matters". These are the experiences of social anthropology Ph.D. students in the United Kingdom. The overarching theme for the article is "regulating emotions", and the excerpts…

  2. Stones and Bones: A Laboratory Approach to Physcial Anthropology, Grades 7-12.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anisman, Milton S.

    This packet provides sample lessons from the program "Stones and Bones: A Laboratory Approach to Physical Anthropology." The samples are from the unit of 20 lessons that are investigative-oriented for students to explore anthropological topics. Unit 1, "In Search of Human Ancestors. How We Study Our Past: Stories Told by…

  3. The Introductory Anthropology Course: A Multi-Track Approach for Community College Instruction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Foster, Daniel J.

    1976-01-01

    Asserts that the most basic types of understandings that students should gain from the beginning anthropology course could be grouped into two broad categories based upon two very important precepts of anthropology: overcoming anthropocentrism and combating ethnocentrism. Using this as a guide, two lists of course objectives were compiled and the…

  4. Historical Trends in Graduate Research and Training of Diplomates of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology.

    PubMed

    Bethard, Jonathan D

    2017-01-01

    The history of forensic anthropology has been documented by numerous scholars. These contributions have described the work of early pioneers in the field and have described important milestones, such as the founding of the Physical Anthropology Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) in 1972 and the American Board of Forensic Anthropology (ABFA) in 1977. This paper contributes to the growing literature on the history of forensic anthropology by documenting the academic training of all individuals who have been granted diplomate status by the ABFA (n = 115). Doctoral dissertation titles were queried to discern broad patterns of research foci. A total of 39 doctoral granting institutions have trained diplomates and 77.3% of board-certified forensic anthropologists wrote dissertations involving skeletal biology, bioarchaeology, or forensic anthropology. Board-certified forensic anthropologists are a broadly trained group of professionals with far-reaching anthropological interests and expertise. © 2016 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

  5. 76 FR 73670 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, Ann Arbor, MI

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-11-29

    ...: University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, Ann Arbor, MI AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION... Museum of Anthropology NAGPRA collections staff in consultation with representatives of the Bay Mills... Anthropology purchased the human remains from Reverend L. P. Rowland in November of 1924 as part of a larger...

  6. Virtual anthropology.

    PubMed

    Weber, Gerhard W

    2015-02-01

    Comparative morphology, dealing with the diversity of form and shape, and functional morphology, the study of the relationship between the structure and the function of an organism's parts, are both important subdisciplines in biological research. Virtual anthropology (VA) contributes to comparative morphology by taking advantage of technological innovations, and it also offers new opportunities for functional analyses. It exploits digital technologies and pools experts from different domains such as anthropology, primatology, medicine, paleontology, mathematics, statistics, computer science, and engineering. VA as a technical term was coined in the late 1990s from the perspective of anthropologists with the intent of being mostly applied to biological questions concerning recent and fossil hominoids. More generally, however, there are advanced methods to study shape and size or to manipulate data digitally suitable for application to all kinds of primates, mammals, other vertebrates, and invertebrates or to issues regarding plants, tools, or other objects. In this sense, we could also call the field "virtual morphology." The approach yields permanently available virtual copies of specimens and data that comprehensively quantify geometry, including previously neglected anatomical regions. It applies advanced statistical methods, supports the reconstruction of specimens based on reproducible manipulations, and promotes the acquisition of larger samples by data sharing via electronic archives. Finally, it can help identify new, hidden traits, which is particularly important in paleoanthropology, where the scarcity of material demands extracting information from fragmentary remains. This contribution presents a current view of the six main work steps of VA: digitize, expose, compare, reconstruct, materialize, and share. The VA machinery has also been successfully used in biomechanical studies which simulate the stress and strains appearing in structures. Although

  7. Modernizing Evolutionary Anthropology : Introduction to the Special Issue.

    PubMed

    Mattison, Siobhán M; Sear, Rebecca

    2016-12-01

    Evolutionary anthropology has traditionally focused on the study of small-scale, largely self-sufficient societies. The increasing rarity of these societies underscores the importance of such research yet also suggests the need to understand the processes by which such societies are being lost-what we call "modernization"-and the effects of these processes on human behavior and biology. In this article, we discuss recent efforts by evolutionary anthropologists to incorporate modernization into their research and the challenges and rewards that follow. Advantages include that these studies allow for explicit testing of hypotheses that explore how behavior and biology change in conjunction with changes in social, economic, and ecological factors. In addition, modernization often provides a source of "natural experiments" since it may proceed in a piecemeal fashion through a population. Challenges arise, however, in association with reduced variability in fitness proxies such as fertility, and with the increasing use of relatively novel methodologies in evolutionary anthropology, such as the analysis of secondary data. Confronting these challenges will require careful consideration but will lead to an improved understanding of humanity. We conclude that the study of modernization offers the prospect of developing a richer evolutionary anthropology, by encompassing ultimate and proximate explanations for behavior expressed across the full range of human societies.

  8. Optimal Foraging Theory and the Racecar Driver: The Impact of Student-Centered Learning on Anthropological Pedagogy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mazur-Stommen, Susan

    2006-01-01

    This article contributes to the field of anthropological pedagogy, adding to recent articles regarding needed change in anthropology teaching methods. All have in common the practice of anthropology in the classroom. The author used the theory of optimal foraging to encourage students to operationalize human behavior. The economic benefit that…

  9. Gender-Bending Anthropological Studies of Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stambach, Amy

    1999-01-01

    Outlines some future research directions in anthropology and education as they relate to gender issues. Studying how gender and education can be linked to more general values embedded in social organization seems an important area to explore. An example would be exploring how the teacher-student relationship reflects gendered relations of…

  10. [Impact of Anthropologic Psychiatry on Psychiatrie-Enquete and Psychiatric Reform in West Germany].

    PubMed

    Söhner, Felicitas; Becker, Thomas; Fangerau, Heiner

    2017-07-01

    Objectives Analysis of the perception of effects of anthropological psychiatry on the Psychiatrie-Enquete and psychiatric reform in the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). Methods Qualitative content analysis of expert interviews and systematic literature search. Results Literary sources and expert interviews point to the impact of the anthropologic concept on discourse on and approach to those suffering from mental illness. The attention focused on the visualisation of material-social and subjective living conditions of persons with mental illness. Reform approaches of anthropological psychiatrists were perceived as a basis for the development of social psychiatry. Academic departments of psychiatry in Frankfurt (Zutt, Kulenkampff) and Heidelberg (von Baeyer, Kisker, Häfner) were considered important centres of innovation and reform. Conclusion The thinking of phenomenological-anthropological psychiatry was understood as a facilitator of the Psychiatrie-Enquete and psychiatric reform in West Germany. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  11. Designing for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI): A Design Anthropological Perspective.

    PubMed

    Collier, Guy; Kayes, Nicola; Reay, Stephen; Bill, Amanda

    2017-01-01

    This paper will present a design anthropological perspective on an ongoing project called 'Living Well with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)'. The project explores how people with MCI (and their families) manage and respond to changes in their memory and thinking. One of the primary aims of this project is to design an online resource that will support people to 'Live Well' within the context of possible cognitive decline. The resource was originally proposed to function as a kind of online community, where users could both share and learn about home-grown strategies for managing the cognitive changes associated with MCI in everyday life. Much of this project has been guided by the methodological approach of design anthropology, which encourages project researchers and stakeholders to critically examine underlying assumptions and conceptual frameworks, which in this case revolve around the disputed MCI category. In this paper we will provide some background to the Living Well project before highlighting a number of key insights attained from design anthropology.

  12. Acculturation and Its Discontents: A Case for Bringing Anthropology Back into the Conversation

    PubMed Central

    Guarnaccia, Peter J.; Hausmann-Stabile, Carolina

    2016-01-01

    Anthropologists’ contribution to the study of cultural change is urgent in light of the increasing number of people of different backgrounds who are migrating around the globe and settling in new communities, and the opportunities and challenges that come along with that process. By examining the anthropological literature on acculturation going back to the 1936 Memorandum by Redfield, Linton and Herskovits, this paper reviews and assesses the discipline’s perspective on acculturation, and lays out the case for why it is critical for anthropologists to re-engage the concept. Although other disciplines, particularly psychology and sociology, have dominated the field of acculturation research more recently, they mostly have done so with a narrow focus. While it is important to acknowledge the pitfalls of anthropology’s past study of acculturation, there are important features of the acculturation construct that continue to be relevant. Among these are the study of acculturation as a process that is multidimensional; the investigation of how different kinds of power affect the acculturation process; the impacts of attitudes, actions and policies of the receiving group on how acculturation proceeds; the role of “real history” in understanding processes of acculturation; and the global perspective on these processes. We suggest ways in which anthropologists can reignite the field of acculturation research by engaging with Redfield, Linton and Herskovits’ framework and subsequent anthropological literature. PMID:27595125

  13. Political myths and totalitarianism: an anthropological analysis of their causal interrelationship.

    PubMed

    Svilicić, Niksa; Maldini, Pero

    2014-06-01

    This paper discusses the key political, anthropological and socio-cultural functions of political myths in the appearance and functioning of totalitarian regimes. A special emphasis is put on structural elements of the myth (mythemes) and the mythic content (narratives) in the processes of artificial construction of a new society (community) based on the myth-inspired ideological postulates. The paper argues that the establishment of totalitarianism marked a certain anthropological devolution. This devolution, in turn, proceeds through the deconstruction of civil society as an organic social sphere and the artificial construction of a new political community based on ideological postulates and political myths. In support of this assertion, it is first shown how the mythical narratives--transformed into political concepts and programs--were the basis of (re)interpretation of the world, society and individual, and essentially determined the nature and functioning of the totalitarian regimes. Then, the specific political myths are analyzed and compared, as well as their content and origin, and particularly their dual function. It in turn is analyzed in the framework of the classical society-community dichotomy, where the (civil) society is founded socio-politically on the social contract, and the (political) community socio-anthropologically on political myth. In a situation of identity and legitimacy crisis, anomie and the weakening of social cohesion--the characteristic conditions of the great economic and political crisis of the early twentieth century that enabled the emergence of totalitarianism--society as a contracting community does not work. A strong need for meaning (at the individual and societal level) affects the citizens' susceptibility to (political) concepts of (re)constitution of (political) community with which they can identify. Right there, totalitarian movements use the cohesive power of the political myth that replaces the rationally based

  14. Cultural relativism and psychiatric illness.

    PubMed

    Fabrega, H

    1989-07-01

    Psychiatry has had a long-standing association with sociology and, especially, cultural anthropology. These social sciences have been influential in developing the concept of cultural relativism and applying it to psychiatry, sometimes in a challenging way and with much detriment. The concept has been used by some antipsychiatrists in attempts to discredit psychiatric practice. Contemporary psychiatrists endorsing a form of biological determinism have tended to either disregard the concept or judge it as trivial if not nonsensical. This study describes the concept of cultural relativism, reviews its applications to illness, and analyzes its implications from a historical and theoretical point of view. Its varied aspects, power, and limitations are discussed.

  15. Is there really such a thing as "one health"? Thinking about a more than human world from the perspective of cultural anthropology.

    PubMed

    Wolf, Meike

    2015-03-01

    Today's era of globalization is characterized by intensified interspecies encounters, growing ecological concerns and the (re-)emergence of infectious diseases, manifesting themselves in the interplay of medical and biological, but also social, cultural and political processes. One health approaches - which combine multidisciplinary efforts to stimulate collaborations between different health professionals such as veterinarians, medical practitioners, biologists, and public health professionals - can be understood as a response to this complex interconnectedness. Integrating a social science perspective might prove beneficial to this endeavor. This essay locates the one health discussion on disease ecologies in a more than human world within recent developments in cultural and medical anthropology that focus on the entanglements between health and a multitude of animals, plants or microbes, as they are characteristic of a globalized modernity. The paper aims to examine the social dimensions of human-animal-disease-interactions, claiming that disease is a biocultural phenomenon and that social factors generally play a crucial role in the emergence, spread and management of (infectious) disease. Consequently, it will be argued that there is a need to rethink our objects of inquiry and any given assumptions of human health, the human body or the constitution of "the global" as such. Incorporating the social sciences into one health approaches can help address topics such as consumption patterns, human-animal behavior or environmental conflicts in a novel way and on a grander scale than ever before. Yet, a greater sensitivity to context may entail some skepticism about the idea of one health - not in spite of the complex entanglements between humans, environments, animals and pathogens, but precisely because of them. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Anthropology with Activism: Settling Its Value

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hull, Glynda A.

    2014-01-01

    This response to Katherine Schultz's Presidential Address to the Council on Anthropology and Education explores the themes of temporality and reflexivity in activist scholarship, with Schultz's research as prime example. The need to take action to address a crisis, juxtaposed to the counter need to take time for scholarly reflection and…

  17. 76 FR 54485 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the University of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-09-01

    ... A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, CA AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the University... associated funerary objects may contact the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the University of...

  18. ["Group" and organization: a dimension of collaboration of anthropology and epidemiology].

    PubMed

    Song, Lei-ming; Wang, Ning

    2012-04-01

    "Group" is a key concept in epidemiological research and "organization" is a core concept in anthropology. Group takes focus on the specific characteristics of the subjects, while organization takes focus on the relationship between the objects. For the characteristics and relationship of the objects that interacting with each other, the two concepts could be complementary in specific studies, and this will be the basic dimension of Interdisciplinary collaboration of anthropology and epidemiology.

  19. Heart in anatomy history, radiology, anthropology and art.

    PubMed

    Marinković, S; Lazić, D; Kanjuh, V; Valjarević, S; Tomić, I; Aksić, M; Starčević, A

    2014-05-01

    Anthropologic, artistic and medical significance of heart inspired usto undertake this multidisciplinary study. Amongst the 24 obtained echocardiograms and phonograms, 1 was used for a Photoshop processing. In addition, over 20,000 art work reproductions were examined in this study. Artistic and symbolic presentation of heart started some 15,000 years ago. First heart models were made by the Egyptian and Olmec civilisations. Ancient cultures regarded heart as the seat of the soul, spirit and intelligence. First anatomical and artistic images of heart were created by Leonardo da Vinci in the15th century, and first wax models by the Italian anatomists in the 17th century. Mediaeval religious symbolism of heart was replaced in the Renaissance and later on mainly by its role in the romantic love. Anatomical heart art continued in the 18th and 19th centuries through the works of Sénac, Cloquet, Hirschfeldand Bourgery. Some modern artists, such as Dalí, Kahlo, Rivera, Warhol, Ivanjicki, Vital, Kober and Mastrlova, created the anatomical heart images or sculptures, whereas some others, such as Duchamp, Klee, Miró, Matisse and Dine, presented heart symbol in their artworks. New radiologic technologies produce fine images of heart, some of which are similar to the works of modern artists. Heart biology and symbolism have had a tremendous influence on our culture, including art and medical sciences. New radiologic techniques and computer technology have produced such images of heart, which substantially improved diagnosis, but also enhanced the heart aesthetics.

  20. 76 FR 43716 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Oregon State University Department of Anthropology, Corvallis, OR

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-07-21

    ... State University Department of Anthropology, Corvallis, OR AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Oregon State University Department of Anthropology has completed an... contact [[Page 43717

  1. Persistence and Cultural Maintenance Correlates of Change Obstruction.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McGill, Jerrie L. B.

    This dissertation suggests that persistence in concert with the force of resistance, exists within individual educators and the educational subsystem, and operates to maintain existing sociocultural structures. Anthropological explanations of the change process were examined with an indication that within the wider cultural milieu the educational…

  2. Post-traumatic stress disorder and urban violence: an anthropological study.

    PubMed

    Da Silva-Mannel, Juliana; Andreoli, Sérgio Baxter; Martin, Denise

    2013-10-25

    The study aimed to understand how "distress" is experienced by patients with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the social-cultural context of São Paulo, Brazil, an urban environment marked by social inequality and high levels of violence. A qualitative study was conducted between 2008 and 2010 with PTSD patients (F43.1, ICD-10, 1997) who had been victims of robberies and kidnappings in São Paulo. Dense ethnographic observations were carried out, as well as in-depth semi-structured interviews with ten adult patients. The analysis method used was based on anthropology. The results show that it is particularly important to distinguish between perceptions of different forms of the experience of social suffering and perceptions of health and illness held by victims and biomedical experts. The cause of PTSD is more often associated with the personal problems of the victim than with the specific traumatic event. The distress described in terms of what is considered a "normal" reaction to violence and what is considered a symptom of PTSD. The findings indicate that the diagnostic of PTSD can be understood in relation to the different contexts within a culture. The ethnographic approach serves not only to illuminate individual suffering but also the social suffering experienced by the residents of São Paulo.

  3. The Teaching of Anthropology: A Comparative Study.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lombard, Jacques

    1984-01-01

    College-level anthropology teaching in various countries, including Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Yugoslavia, is compared. Terminology is examined and historical background is provided. Also discussed are educational crises, the organization of teaching, and teaching methods. (RM)

  4. [Interfaces between anthropology and the disciplines of the health area: a search for new conceptual approaches].

    PubMed

    Raynaut, Claude

    2006-06-01

    In studying how societies consider and deal with the human body both as a symbolic as well as a biological entity, anthropology situates itself at the nexus of two axes. These occupy a central epistemological space in the discipline and consist of: the analysis of social facts, ranging from their manifestations in the lives of individuals, to those manifested in the collective life of groups; and the observation of reality, ranging from its material to its immaterial or ideal aspects. This singular position enriches the anthropology of health and opens up theoretical and methodological perspectives that go beyond those of medical anthropology and the anthropology of illness in their restricted focus upon the social parameters of biological disorders, the causes of suffering, and misfortune. This paper attempts to reflect upon examples which encompass the above two axes showing how the anthropology of health can improve our understanding.

  5. Nonsecular Medical Anthropology.

    PubMed

    Whitmarsh, Ian; Roberts, Elizabeth F S

    2016-01-01

    A nonsecular medical anthropology insists on the ways medicine and science have constituted 'the secular' itself through the 'secular self'-how medical knowing has been used to craft the secular political subject. As James Boon noted, too often in social theory, "religion gets safely tucked away-restricted theoretically to 'meaning' rather than power" (1998:245). The authors of the six articles in this special issue 'untuck' religiosity from within the norms and numbers of medicine itself, and examine how 'secular' medicine has relied on religious traditions to produce political secularity. These articles demonstrate that 'secular' medicine relies on religious others whose exclusion bespeaks latent religious commitments of citizenship in the modern political realm of health.

  6. Material Proximities and Hotspots: Toward an Anthropology of Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers

    PubMed Central

    Brown, Hannah; Kelly, Ann H

    2014-01-01

    This article outlines a research program for an anthropology of viral hemorrhagic fevers (collectively known as VHFs). It begins by reviewing the social science literature on Ebola, Marburg, and Lassa fevers and charting areas for future ethnographic attention. We theoretically elaborate the hotspot as a way of integrating analysis of the two routes of VHF infection: from animal reservoirs to humans and between humans. Drawing together recent anthropological investigations of human–animal entanglements with an ethnographic interest in the social production of space, we seek to enrich conceptualizations of viral movement by elaborating the circumstances through which viruses, humans, objects, and animals come into contact. We suggest that attention to the material proximities—between animals, humans, and objects—that constitute the hotspot opens a frontier site for critical and methodological development in medical anthropology and for future collaborations in VHF management and control. PMID:24752909

  7. From application to implication in medical anthropology: political, historical and narrative interpretations of the world of sickness and health.

    PubMed

    Nunes, Mônica de Oliveira

    2014-01-01

    This article reviews some of the current writing on medical anthropology, and is guided by political orientation/implication in the choice of its study targets, its analysis and its construction of solutions for the problems investigated. Starting from the narratives of anthropologists, it goes on to show the historical and socio-political bases characteristic of the subject in their countries of origin or migration. Within a general overview of the three principal contemporary trends - critical medical anthropology, the anthropology of suffering and the anthropology of biopower - the focus is on theoretical and thematic choices to meet the demand for "politicization" of the anthropological debate in the field of health, on the basis of which an "implied" medical anthropology is advocated.

  8. Towards a psycho-anthropological view of religious violence.

    PubMed

    Esmail, Aziz

    2007-06-01

    Understanding the phenomenon of religious violence requires a theoretical approach to the task. Ideally, the theoretical framework must integrate (1) the insights of neurobiology and ethnology elucidating the roots of aggression in the organism and its manifestations in animal behaviour, (2) the expression of these in human violence, which requires careful attention to linguistic and other expressions in culture, (3) the special role of religious representations in this connection, and (4) the mechanisms, in time and place, whereby the role of religion in the maintenance of cultural order is reversed, and becomes an ally of violence. Psychological theories, like the psychoanalytic school, have a contribution to make to this end. But they also exhibit limitations. The most compelling anthropological theory to date is René Girard's, which focuses on mimetic desire, violence, its resolution through scapegoating and subsequent enactment in ritual. The sacred is seen to lie at the origins of cultural order. But it also harbours a potential for a resurgence of the violence it conceals. Other researchers have shown how certain features of modernity unwittingly fuel violence through the promulgation of stereotypical, group identities. Contemporary Islamist violence (Jihadism) offers a case-study for these theoretical axioms. The example is not peculiar or sui generis. Rather it illustrates, more widely, the nature of the sacred and its relation to history. The Islamic tradition and modern Muslim history also provide a template for an analytic understanding of religious symbols, and their degradation into symbols of a typically modern demand for recognition of ego and group orientated identities. This psychosocial configuration necessarily escapes the attention of the actors, and because of the nominal persistence of old symbols, may also escape the attention of observers. To expose and explain these discrepancies is one of the central tasks of analysis in the proposed

  9. Anthropology for the Schools: An Analysis of Selected Anthropology Curriculum Projects and Units with Content Ratings by Professional Anthropologists.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dynneson, Thomas L.

    This thesis examines anthropology teaching materials for public schools in light of their characteristics -- subject content, rationale and objectives, antecedent conditions, evaluation, background of materials development -- and the determination of their accuracy and representation. The study also serves as a guide to types of anthropology…

  10. In Face of Growing Stress and Conservatives' Attacks, Cultural-Studies Scholars Ponder Future Directions.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Coughlin, Ellen K.

    1989-01-01

    Cultural studies, an amalgam of literature, social history, sociology, anthropology, and media studies, looks at the intersection of culture and politics. The discipline is still evolving and has drawn criticism, but proponents do not want it to become too institutionalized at the risk of losing its critical integrity. (MSE)

  11. A Flexible Pre-Major Model for British Columbia Departments of Anthropology. Final Report

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hinbest, Jerry

    2007-01-01

    The Sociology/Anthropology Articulation Committee has engaged in a project resulting in tandem reports for each of the respective disciplines, which identify flexible pre-majors for both Sociology and Anthropology and summarize the specific types of courses that must be taken by students to allow them to transfer into third year of a major. A…

  12. 76 FR 14058 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Wyoming, Anthropology Department, Human Remains...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-03-15

    ...: University of Wyoming, Anthropology Department, Human Remains Repository, Laramie, WY AGENCY: National Park... Repository, Laramie, WY. The human remains were removed from the east side of the Big Horn Mountains in the... made by University of Wyoming, Anthropology Department, Human Remains Repository, professional staff in...

  13. [Communique on the present status and future of anthropology taken from the meeting of department heads and principle scientists from the Society of Anthropology (GfA)].

    PubMed

    Rühli, F; Schiefenhivel, W

    2009-09-01

    The primary goal discussed is to strengthen the scientifically important research discipline of anthropology in the coming years by reinforcing its position in the German university system as a trans-disciplinary field and to edify its image within the public eye. Like many other branches of science, anthropology has witnessed a number of profound changes in the university sphere in recent years. In addition to increased reliance on monetary funding, the fundamental structure of research and teaching in the university sector, the product of centuries-old development, is experiencing a transition phase and progressively operating ever more under the influence of"excellence monitoring" as well as the "Bologna" process. Financial cuts have led to the termination of once fix job positions at all levels, whereby the loss of mid-level positions requisite for a healthy and functional junior academic environment, such as post-doc jobs, is particularly unsettling. The still tangible burden of recent historical events and small number of prominent representatives in the field are problematic, however, the primary concern today involves the seemingly imminent closure of established anthropological centres and discontinuation of department chair positions. Fortunately, this ominous trend does not apply to all leading university departments, many of which are engaged in innovative and novel concepts, and has resulted in their general acceptance and the fortification of anthropology programs. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly difficult to secure adequate funding for projects from money givers such as the DFG, mainly because of the relatively small size of the field. Specialization within the field at the university level obviously poses a serious problem for such a small holistic discipline (with regards to problem statements and methodology). The definition of anthropology as an entity is complicated by external influences such as newly developing research interests that

  14. Culture and Commerce in France: An Anthropological/Sociological Approach.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Normand, Guessler

    1986-01-01

    The University of Toledo developed a course, primarily for its undergraduate business administration students, to hone their awareness of how business practices and approaches are shaped by culture. The course also aims to give students the opportunity to function effectively in the increasingly international environment of business. An outline…

  15. The forensic anthropology legacy of T. Dale Stewart (1901-1997).

    PubMed

    Ubelaker, D H

    2000-03-01

    T. Dale Stewart (1901-1997) began his Smithsonian career as a temporary aide to Ales Hrdlicka (1869-1943) in 1924. At the time of his death in 1997, he was regarded world-wide as an authority who led the professional development of American forensic anthropology. He was a prodigious researcher, best known for his meticulous attention to detail, balanced scientific judgment, keen sense of research design, and ability for synthesis. Stewart's publications, extensive casework for the FBI and others, his court testimony, publications, professional contacts, and organizational activity merit him a prominent place in the history of American forensic anthropology.

  16. Anthropology's "Spoiler Role" and "New" Multicultural Textbooks.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wolcott, Harry F.

    1981-01-01

    Publishers' requests to review educators' manuscripts on the pedagogy of pluralism have prompted the author to write this paper in which he takes on the anthropological "spoiler role," contradicting generalizations in the texts by providing exceptions from ethnographic research. Admitting to some personal biases about education texts in general…

  17. Culturally Adapted Psychotherapy and the Legitimacy of Myth: A Multilevel Model, Direct Comparison Meta-Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Benish, Steven G.

    2010-01-01

    Culturally adapted psychotherapy has potential to improve psychotherapy outcomes for ethnic and racial minorities and solve a decades-long conundrum that alteration of specific ingredients does not improve psychotherapy outcomes. Adaptation of the cultural explanation of illness, known as the anthropological Myth in universal healing practices…

  18. Virtual anthropology: useful radiological tools for age assessment in clinical forensic medicine and thanatology.

    PubMed

    Dedouit, Fabrice; Saint-Martin, Pauline; Mokrane, Fatima-Zohra; Savall, Frédéric; Rousseau, Hervé; Crubézy, Eric; Rougé, Daniel; Telmon, Norbert

    2015-09-01

    Virtual anthropology consists of the introduction of modern slice imaging to biological and forensic anthropology. Thanks to this non-invasive scientific revolution, some classifications and staging systems, first based on dry bone analysis, can be applied to cadavers with no need for specific preparation, as well as to living persons. Estimation of bone and dental age is one of the possibilities offered by radiology. Biological age can be estimated in clinical forensic medicine as well as in living persons. Virtual anthropology may also help the forensic pathologist to estimate a deceased person's age at death, which together with sex, geographical origin and stature, is one of the important features determining a biological profile used in reconstructive identification. For this forensic purpose, the radiological tools used are multislice computed tomography and, more recently, X-ray free imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound investigations. We present and discuss the value of these investigations for age estimation in anthropology.

  19. Human Conditions. The Cultural Basis of Educational Developments.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    LeVine, Robert A.; White, Merry I.

    Based on anthropological and historical inquiry, this book proposes and illustrates a new approach to the comparative analysis of educational policy. It investigates cultural conceptions of human potential as they inform social and economic goals of education by reviewing the transitions of Western countries, Japan, and the People's Republic of…

  20. Cultural Analysis of Mathematical Content in Teacher Education: The Case of Elementary Arithmetic Theorems

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Guala, Elda; Boero, Paolo

    2017-01-01

    This paper deals with the competence of Cultural (epistemological, historical and anthropological) Analysis of the Content (CAC), which is important for teachers' awareness and autonomy when dealing with educational choices in a changing cultural and institutional context. We report on an 18-hour intervention in a teacher education course at the…

  1. Cable Television: Applied Anthropology in a New Town

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Topper, Martin D.; Wilson, W. Leigh

    1976-01-01

    The anthropologist's role in using cable television as a tool of applied anthropology in a new town was examined. The project's purpose was to give a group of people a new usage for a communications medium. (Author/NQ)

  2. Early Medieval Muslim Graves in France: First Archaeological, Anthropological and Palaeogenomic Evidence

    PubMed Central

    Pemonge, Marie-Hélène; Hubert, Christophe; Groppi, Alexis; Houix, Bertrand; Deguilloux, Marie-France; Breuil, Jean-Yves

    2016-01-01

    The rapid Arab-Islamic conquest during the early Middle Ages led to major political and cultural changes in the Mediterranean world. Although the early medieval Muslim presence in the Iberian Peninsula is now well documented, based in the evaluation of archeological and historical sources, the Muslim expansion in the area north of the Pyrenees has only been documented so far through textual sources or rare archaeological data. Our study provides the first archaeo-anthropological testimony of the Muslim establishment in South of France through the multidisciplinary analysis of three graves excavated at Nimes. First, we argue in favor of burials that followed Islamic rites and then note the presence of a community practicing Muslim traditions in Nimes. Second, the radiometric dates obtained from all three human skeletons (between the 7th and the 9th centuries AD) echo historical sources documenting an early Muslim presence in southern Gaul (i.e., the first half of 8th century AD). Finally, palaeogenomic analyses conducted on the human remains provide arguments in favor of a North African ancestry of the three individuals, at least considering the paternal lineages. Given all of these data, we propose that the skeletons from the Nimes burials belonged to Berbers integrated into the Umayyad army during the Arab expansion in North Africa. Our discovery not only discusses the first anthropological and genetic data concerning the Muslim occupation of the Visigothic territory of Septimania but also highlights the complexity of the relationship between the two communities during this period. PMID:26910855

  3. Some anthropologic characteristics of elite female handball players at different playing positions.

    PubMed

    Rogulj, Nenad; Srhoj, Vatromir; Nazor, Mirjana; Srhoj, Ljerka; Cavala, Marijana

    2005-12-01

    Differences in motor and psychologic variables according to playing positions were analyzed in a sample of 53 elite female handball players, members of junior and senior national team. Motor status included 8 variables for assessment of explosive strength of landing and throwing, agility, speed strength, movement frequency, and flexibility. Psychologic status was analyzed through 4 dimensions according to Eysenck: extroversion, psychotic behavior, neurotic behavior, and lie. The anthropologic features analyzed showed statistically significant differences. Considering motor abilities, differences were recorded in the variables for assessment of speed strength, agility and leg movement frequency, where wings predominated, whereas goalkeepers showed predominance in flexibility. In psychologic status, differences were present in the variable for assessment of extroversion, which was most pronounced in wings, whereas psychotic behavior was more expressed in those at pivot position. The differences were primarily consequential to the selection of players of a specific anthropologic profile for particular playing positions. The hypothesis of the impact of kinesiologic specificities of a particular playing position on the formation of the players' anthropologic profile should be scientifically tested. Study results may found application in training and contest practice, especially in forming anthropologic models for particular positions during the process of player selection.

  4. The mandible and its foramen: anatomy, anthropology, embryology and resulting clinical implications.

    PubMed

    Lipski, M; Tomaszewska, I M; Lipska, W; Lis, G J; Tomaszewski, K A

    2013-11-01

    The aim of this paper is to summarise the knowledge about the anatomy, embryology and anthropology of the mandible and the mandibular foramen and also to highlight the most important clinical implications of the current studies regarding anaesthesia performed in the region of the mandible. An electronic journal search was undertaken to identify all the relevant studies published in English. The search included MEDLINE and EMBASE databases and years from 1950 to 2012. The subject search used a combination of controlled vocabulary and free text based on the search strategy for MEDLINE using key words: 'mandible', 'mandibular', 'foramen', 'anatomy', 'embryology', 'anthropology', and 'mental'. The reference lists of all the relevant studies and existing reviews were screened for additional relevant publications. Basing on relevant manuscripts, this short review about the anatomy, embryology and anthropology of the mandible and the mandibular foramen was written.

  5. Challenges and Questions Concerning "Culturally-Sensitive Design"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perkins, Ross A.

    2008-01-01

    Since the inception of the field of anthropology, scholars have debated a definition for the word "culture." The number of definitions available and the diverging schools of thought means that there is little hope for consensus on the issue, if in fact consensus need be reached. But such an impasse poses a dilemma for people who are involved with…

  6. Practical Life: The Keystone of Life, Culture, and Community

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ramani, Uma

    2013-01-01

    Uma Ramani's characterization of practical life is philosophical and anthropological, suggesting that "human history is the story of the evolution of our practical life activities." Practical life is a collaborative activity that creates community and culture. One's adaptation to life through the daily work of ordering our environment…

  7. Bare Bones: An Introduction to Physical Anthropology. Alternative Techniques for Teaching Physical Anthropology to Learning Disabled Students in the University.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sands, Catherine J. MacMillan

    The booklet describes approaches to teaching learning disabled students introductory physical anthropology, as related by a professor involved in the Higher Education for Learning Disabled Students (HELDS) program. The author suggests ways to identify LD students through observation of short attention span, restlessness, and marked discrepancies…

  8. Anthropology and School Reform: To Catalog or Critique?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hess, G. Alfred, Jr.

    1992-01-01

    Discusses anthropology's role in policy-relevant educational research, drawing on experiences in evaluating Chicago (Illinois) city schools' restructuring. Questions raised by case studies in school restructuring include qualitative researchers' role in studying educational policy, issues of objectivity in policy research, and networking…

  9. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Urban Violence: An Anthropological Study

    PubMed Central

    Da Silva-Mannel, Juliana; Andreoli, Sérgio Baxter; Martin, Denise

    2013-01-01

    The study aimed to understand how “distress” is experienced by patients with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the social-cultural context of São Paulo, Brazil, an urban environment marked by social inequality and high levels of violence. A qualitative study was conducted between 2008 and 2010 with PTSD patients (F43.1, ICD-10, 1997) who had been victims of robberies and kidnappings in São Paulo. Dense ethnographic observations were carried out, as well as in-depth semi-structured interviews with ten adult patients. The analysis method used was based on anthropology. The results show that it is particularly important to distinguish between perceptions of different forms of the experience of social suffering and perceptions of health and illness held by victims and biomedical experts. The cause of PTSD is more often associated with the personal problems of the victim than with the specific traumatic event. The distress described in terms of what is considered a “normal” reaction to violence and what is considered a symptom of PTSD. The findings indicate that the diagnostic of PTSD can be understood in relation to the different contexts within a culture. The ethnographic approach serves not only to illuminate individual suffering but also the social suffering experienced by the residents of São Paulo. PMID:24284352

  10. The development of anthropology and colonial policy in the Netherlands: 1800-1960.

    PubMed

    Ellen, R F

    1976-10-01

    Although there have been studies of both Dutch colonial policy in the Indies and the development of anthropology in the Netherlands, there has been no systematic examination of the historical relations between them. This paper attempts this for a period of 160 years from the collapse of the Dutch East India Company to the birth of an independent Indonesian state. During this time, the need of successive governments for information on subject peoples was matched by the requirements of scholars for suitable conditions and locations for their work. As Dutch anthropology emerged in the nineteenth century and developed in the twentieth it was closely related to the prevailing political climate--state capitalism, liberal, and ethical policies. The analysis shows how there is a 'fit' between these and certain dominant anthropological styles and interests, principally in the form of empiricism, customy law studies, "Leiden" structuralism, and functionalism.

  11. Virtual anthropology (VA): a call for glasnost in paleoanthropology.

    PubMed

    Weber, G W

    2001-08-15

    The adventurous scientist, with a hat protecting him from the fierce sun as he travels from one remote place to another, hunting for fossils of our ancestors, has been a part of the romantic imagination associated with anthropological research in the 20th Century. This picture of the paleoanthropologist still retains a grain of truth. Indeed, many new sites were discovered under troublesome conditions in the recent past and have added substantial information about our origins. But on another front, probably less sensational but no less important, are contributions stemming from the analysis of the already discovered fossils. With the latter, a rapid evolution in anthropologic research took place concurrently with advances in computer technology. After ambitious activities by a handful of researchers in some specialized laboratories, a methodologic inventory evolved to extract critical information about fossilized specimens, most of it preserved in the largely inaccessible interior as unrevealed anatomic structures. Many methodologies have become established but, for various reasons, access to both the actual and the digitized fossils is still limited. It is time for more transparency, for a glasnost in paleoanthropology. Herein are presented some answers to the question of how a high-tech approach to anthropology can be integrated into a predominantly conservative field of research, and what are the main challenges for development in the future. Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  12. A Review of Language: The Cultural Tool by Daniel L. Everett

    PubMed Central

    Weitzman, Raymond S.

    2013-01-01

    Language: The Cultural Tool by Daniel Everett covers a broad spectrum of issues concerning the nature of language from the perspective of an anthropological linguist who has had considerable fieldwork experience studying the language and culture of the Pirahã, an indigenous Amazonian tribe in Brazil, as well as a number of other indigenous languages and cultures. This review focuses mainly on the key elements of his approach to language: language as a solution to the communication problem; Everett's conception of language; what makes language possible; how language and culture influence each other.

  13. 76 FR 28073 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Logan Museum of Anthropology, Beloit College, Beloit, WI

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-13

    ... Museum of Anthropology, Beloit College, Beloit, WI AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION... the Logan Museum of Anthropology, Beloit College, Beloit, WI. The human remains were removed from... of the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native American human remains...

  14. 76 FR 28075 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Logan Museum of Anthropology, Beloit College, Beloit, WI

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-13

    ... Museum of Anthropology, Beloit College, Beloit, WI AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION... funerary objects in the possession of the Logan Museum of Anthropology, Beloit College, Beloit, WI. The.... 3003(d)(3). The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the museum, institution...

  15. Incarnational Immersion-Based Learning in Cultural Contexts: A Charity Model

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Trokan, John

    2005-01-01

    The Religious Pastoral Studies and Behavioral Sciences Departments of a Midwestern college have collaborated in offering academic courses in theology and anthropology that include service immersion experiences with people of diverse cultures in South Dakota, North Carolina, New Mexico, Kentucky, and Honduras. This paper explores the incarnational…

  16. Teaching Geographic Field Methods to Cultural Resource Management Technicians

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mires, Peter B.

    2004-01-01

    There are perhaps 10,000 technicians in the United States who work in the field known as cultural resource management (CRM). The typical field technician possesses a bachelor's degree in anthropology, geography, or a closely allied discipline. The author's experience has been that few CRM field technicians receive adequate undergraduate training…

  17. Claiming space for an engaged anthropology: spatial inequality and social exclusion.

    PubMed

    Low, Setha M

    2011-01-01

    I use the concept of “engaged anthropology” to frame a discussion of how “spatializing culture” uncovers systems of exclusion that are hidden or naturalized and thus rendered invisible to other methodological approaches. “Claiming Space for an Engaged Anthropology” is doubly meant: to claim more intellectual and professional space for engagement and to propose that anthropology include the dimension of space as a theoretical construct. I draw on three fieldwork examples to illustrate the value of the approach: (1) a Spanish American plaza, reclaimed from a Eurocentric past, for indigenous groups and contemporary cultural interpretation; (2) Moore Street Market, an enclosed Latino food market in Brooklyn, New York, reclaimed for a translocal set of social relations rather than a gentrified redevelopment project; (3) gated communities in Texas and New York and cooperatives in New York, reclaiming public space and confronting race and class segregation created by neoliberal enclosure and securitization.

  18. Bangladesh History, Society and Culture: An Introductory Bibliography of Secondary Materials. South Asia Series, Occasional Paper No. 22.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bertocci, Peter J., Comp.

    A list of descriptive scholarly works relevant to Bangladesh are compiled in an introductory bibliography for nonspecialist users that describes essential aspects of Bangladesh's history, society, and culture. History is emphasized, but the listing also includes documents about social/cultural anthropology, sociology, demography, economics,…

  19. Culture at work: Family therapy and the culture concept in post-World War II America.

    PubMed

    Weinstein, Deborah F

    2004-01-01

    During the 1950s and 1960s, the concept of culture had currency beyond the disciplinary boundaries of anthropology and sociology. This article takes up a clinical example of the invocation of the culture concept by examining how early family therapists such as Nathan Ackerman, Murray Bowen, and Don Jackson used culture as a category of analysis during the formative years of their new field. The culture concept played an integral role in the processes by which family therapists simultaneously defined the object of their research and treatment, the family, and built their new field. Their varied uses of culture also contained tensions and contradictions, most notably between universal and relativist views of family and psychopathology and between views of family therapy as a conservative force for maintaining the nuclear family or a progressive force for overcoming social inequality. Copyright 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  20. Culture and the Immune System: Cultural Consonance in Social Support and C-reactive Protein in Urban Brazil.

    PubMed

    Dressler, William W; Balieiro, Mauro C; Ribeiro, Rosane P; Dos Santos, José Ernesto

    2016-06-01

    In this article, we examine the distribution of a marker of immune system stimulation-C-reactive protein-in urban Brazil. Social relationships are associated with immunostimulation, and we argue that cultural dimensions of social support, assessed by cultural consonance, are important in this process. Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals, in their own beliefs and behaviors, approximate shared cultural models. A measure of cultural consonance in social support, based on a cultural consensus analysis regarding sources and patterns of social support in Brazil, was developed. In a survey of 258 persons, the association of cultural consonance in social support and C-reactive protein was examined, controlling for age, sex, body mass index, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, depressive symptoms, and a social network index. Lower cultural consonance in social support was associated with higher C-reactive protein. Implications of these results for future research are discussed. © 2016 by the American Anthropological Association.

  1. Cultural neuroscience and psychopathology: prospects for cultural psychiatry

    PubMed Central

    Choudhury, Suparna; Kirmayer, Laurence J.

    2016-01-01

    There is a long tradition that seeks to understand the impact of culture on the causes, form, treatment, and outcome of psychiatric disorders. An early, colonialist literature attributed cultural characteristics and variations in psychopathology and behavior to deficiencies in the brains of colonized peoples. Contemporary research in social and cultural neuroscience holds the promise of moving beyond these invidious comparisons to a more sophisticated understanding of cultural variations in brain function relevant to psychiatry. To achieve this, however, we need better models of the nature of psychopathology and of culture itself. Culture is not simply a set of traits or characteristics shared by people with a common geographic, historical, or ethnic background. Current anthropology understands culture as fluid, flexible systems of discourse, institutions, and practices, which individuals actively use for self-fashioning and social positioning. Globalization introduces new cultural dynamics and demands that we rethink culture in relation to a wider domain of evolving identities, knowledge, and practice. Psychopathology is not reducible to brain dysfunction in either its causes, mechanisms, or expression. In addition to neuropsychiatric disorders, the problems that people bring to psychiatrists may result from disorders in cognition, the personal and social meanings of experience, and the dynamics of interpersonal interactions or social systems and institutions. The shifting meanings of culture and psychopathology have implications for efforts to apply cultural neuroscience to psychiatry. We consider how cultural neuroscience can refine use of culture and its role in psychopathology using the example of adolescent aggression as a symptom of conduct disorder. PMID:19874976

  2. Cultural neuroscience and psychopathology: prospects for cultural psychiatry.

    PubMed

    Choudhury, Suparna; Kirmayer, Laurence J

    2009-01-01

    There is a long tradition that seeks to understand the impact of culture on the causes, form, treatment, and outcome of psychiatric disorders. An early, colonialist literature attributed cultural characteristics and variations in psychopathology and behavior to deficiencies in the brains of colonized peoples. Contemporary research in social and cultural neuroscience holds the promise of moving beyond these invidious comparisons to a more sophisticated understanding of cultural variations in brain function relevant to psychiatry. To achieve this, however, we need better models of the nature of psychopathology and of culture itself. Culture is not simply a set of traits or characteristics shared by people with a common geographic, historical, or ethnic background. Current anthropology understands culture as fluid, flexible systems of discourse, institutions, and practices, which individuals actively use for self-fashioning and social positioning. Globalization introduces new cultural dynamics and demands that we rethink culture in relation to a wider domain of evolving identities, knowledge, and practice. Psychopathology is not reducible to brain dysfunction in either its causes, mechanisms, or expression. In addition to neuropsychiatric disorders, the problems that people bring to psychiatrists may result from disorders in cognition, the personal and social meanings of experience, and the dynamics of interpersonal interactions or social systems and institutions. The shifting meanings of culture and psychopathology have implications for efforts to apply cultural neuroscience to psychiatry. We consider how cultural neuroscience can refine use of culture and its role in psychopathology using the example of adolescent aggression as a symptom of conduct disorder.

  3. The Index of Vulnerability: An anthropological method linking social-ecological systems to mental and physical health outcomes.

    PubMed

    Tallman, Paula Skye

    2016-08-01

    Researchers need measures of vulnerability that are grounded in explicit theoretical and conceptual frameworks, that are sensitive to local contexts, and that are easy to collect. This paper presents the Index of Vulnerability (IoV), a quantitative yet anthropologically-informed method connecting social-ecological systems to mental and physical health outcomes. The IoV combines measures of five life domains; food insecurity, water insecurity, access to healthcare, social support, and social status. Scores on this index increase for each life domain where the individual falls into a "high risk" category. Thus, individuals with the highest IoV scores are those who are at risk across multiple life domains. This approach makes the IoV malleable to local contexts, as scholars can choose which measure of each life domain is most appropriate for their study population. An anthropological study conducted among 225 Awajún adults living in the Peruvian Amazon from March to November of 2013 showed that men with higher IoV scores had significantly lower summary fat skinfolds, lower triglyceride levels, and a greater probability of reporting moderate to severe somatic symptoms and poor perceived health. Awajún women with higher IoV scores had significantly elevated perceived stress levels and a greater probability of reporting poor perceived health and moderate to severe somatic and depressive symptoms. Importantly, comparing the IoV to its constituent parts shows that it predicts a wider range of mental and physical health outcomes than any of the life domains alone. The IoV is presented here in relation to the broader political-economic and cultural context of the Awajún, forwarding a critical biocultural approach within anthropology, and demonstrating the IoV's utility for other scholars and practitioners. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. The Epic Narrative of Intellectual Culture as a Framework for Curricular Coherence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carson, Robert N.

    This paper describes a proposed middle school curriculum designedto coordinate the major subject areas around a single coherent story line, and to tell theepic tale of the development of formal intellectual culture from its distant origins to the present day.Ourstory explores the history of scientific culture from the perspective of foundational disciplines (history,philosophy, sociology, psychology, anthropology). It examines the growth of scientific culture againstthe backdrop of the world's traditional cultures, and balances the role of the sciences against the role ofthe arts in their respective contributions to the life of the mind.

  5. The anthropology of dementia: a narrative perspective.

    PubMed

    Randall, William L

    2009-03-01

    This article draws on recent thinking in the field of narrative gerontology to lend support to Mahnaz Hashmi's "anthropological perspective" on dementia. From a narrative perspective, the relational component of human life--and thus of dementia--is underscored. Moreover, when the narrative dimensions of memory are considered, the line between "normal" and "pathological" is revealed as finer than commonly assumed.

  6. The Anthropology of Science Education Reform: An Alabama Model for Building an Integrated Stakeholder Systems Approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Denson, R. L.; Cox, G. N.

    2004-12-01

    Anthropologists are concerned with every aspect of the culture they are investigating. One of the five main branches of anthropology, socio-cultural anthropology, concerns itself with studying the relationship between behavior and culture. This paper explores the concept that changing the behavior of our culture - its beliefs and values - towards science is at the heart of science education reform. There are five institutions that socio-cultural anthropologists use to study the social organization of cultures: the educational system is only one of them. Its function - across all cultures - is to serve as a mechanism for implementing change in cultural beliefs and values. As leaders of science education reform, the Alabama model contends that we must stop the struggle with our purpose and get on with the business of leading culture change through an integrated stakeholder systems approach. This model stresses the need for the interaction of agencies other than education - including government, industry, the media and our health communities to operate in an integrated and systemic fashion to address the issues of living among a technically literate society. Twenty-five years of science education reform needs being voiced and programs being developed has not produced the desired results from within the educational system. This is too limited a focus to affect any real cultural change. It is when we acknowledge that students spend only an average of 12 percent of their life time in schools, that we can begin to ask ourselves what are our students learning the other 88 percent of their time - from their peers, their parents and the media - and what should we be doing to address this cultural crisis in these other arenas in addition to the educational system? The Alabama Math, Science and Technology Education Coalition (AMSTEC) is a non-profit 501c(3) organization operating in the state of Alabama to provide leadership in improving mathematics, science, and technology

  7. Magical realism: a cultural intervention for traumatized Hispanic children.

    PubMed

    De Rios, M D

    1997-01-01

    A case study is presented of two Spanish-speaking immigrant children who were run over in an automobile accident and hospitalized, to describe a culturally congruent play-therapy technique. Drawing on the work of Pynoos and Nader, the author argues for an anthropological approach in play therapy to create hyperaroused states for the traumatized child and to use cultural super heroes-what is termed "magical realism." Such an approach can be used with Latin American traumatized children as well as with children from other Third World countries to provide a culturally appropriate intervention to treat the psychological sequelae of trauma.

  8. Bringing political ecology into critical medical anthropology: a challenge to biocultural approaches.

    PubMed

    Baer, H A

    1996-12-01

    This essay presents an effort to incorporate the "environment" into critical medical anthropology. Rather than relying upon the multifactorial approach characteristic of medical ecology or biocultural approaches in medical anthropology, it urges critical medical anthropologists to turn to the burgeoning literature on eco-Marxism, eco-socialism, or political ecology in their efforts to develop a political ecology of health. Given that political ecologists generally advocate democratic eco-socialism as a meaningful alternative to the capitalist world system, this essay also presents a critical examination of the environmental record of post-revolutionary societies.

  9. [The Base of the Skull. Rudolf Virchow between Pathology and Anthropology].

    PubMed

    Seemann, Sophie

    2016-01-01

    Throughout his scientific career, the pathologist and anthropologist Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902) examined countless skulls, gradually changing his perspective on this object of research. Initially, he was mainly concerned with pathologically deformed skulls. From the 1850s onwards, he gradually developed a more anthropological approach, and anthropology increasingly came to dominate his scientific interest. This article shows how different influences became central for the establishment of his specific and dynamic model of the human skull development and its successful application in anthropology. Crucial for this process were Virchow's collaboration with his teacher Robert Froriep (1804-1861) in the department of pathology of the Charité, his research on cretinism and rickets, as well as his description of the base of the skull as the center of skull development. His research work was attended by and showed a reciprocal interaction with the buildup of large skull collections. This article uses Virchow's original publications on skull pathology as well as his still preserved skull specimens from the collection of the Berlin Museum of Medical History at the Charité for an integrated text and object based analysis.

  10. Anthropology and the Aged: A Preliminary Community Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Angrosino, Michael V.

    1976-01-01

    A mobile home park serving senior citizens in a large urban area was studied in anthropological perspective. The community study method permits an analysis of this park as an intermediate type of senior citizen residence. The park avoids the worst features of senior citizen life but engenders other problems. (Author)

  11. Anthropology in Agricultural Health and Safety Research and Intervention.

    PubMed

    Arcury, Thomas

    2017-01-01

    Agriculture remains a dangerous industry, even as agricultural science and technology continue to advance. Research that goes beyond technological changes to address safety culture and policy are needed to improve health and safety in agriculture. In this commentary, I consider the potential for anthropology to contribute to agricultural health and safety research by addressing three aims: (1) I briefly consider what the articles in this issue of the Journal of Agromedicine say about anthropologists in agricultural health and safety; (2) I discuss what anthropologists can add to agricultural health and safety research; and (3) I examine ways in which anthropologists can participate in agricultural health and safety research. In using their traditions of rigorous field research to understand how those working in agriculture perceive and interpret factors affecting occupational health and safety (their "emic" perspective), and translating this perspective to improve the understanding of occupational health professionals and policy makers (an "etic" perspective), anthropologists can expose myths that limit improvements in agricultural health and safety. Addressing significant questions, working with the most vulnerable agricultural communities, and being outside establishment agriculture provide anthropologists with the opportunity to improve health and safety policy and regulation in agriculture.

  12. To naturalize or not to naturalize? An issue for cognitive science as well as anthropology.

    PubMed

    Stenning, Keith

    2012-07-01

    Several of Beller, Bender, and Medin's (2012) issues are as relevant within cognitive science as between it and anthropology. Knowledge-rich human mental processes impose hermeneutic tasks, both on subjects and researchers. Psychology's current philosophy of science is ill suited to analyzing these: Its demand for ''stimulus control'' needs to give way to ''negotiation of mutual interpretation.'' Cognitive science has ways to address these issues, as does anthropology. An example from my own work is about how defeasible logics are mathematical models of some aspects of simple hermeneutic processes. They explain processing relative to databases of knowledge and belief-that is, content. A specific example is syllogistic reasoning, which raises issues of experimenters' interpretations of subjects' reasoning. Science, especially since the advent of understandings of computation, does not have to be reductive. How does this approach transfer onto anthropological topics? Recent cognitive science approaches to anthropological topics have taken a reductive stance in terms of modules. We end with some speculations about a different cognitive approach to, for example, religion. Copyright © 2012 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  13. Working with a fractional object: enactments of appetite in interdisciplinary work in anthropology and biomedicine.

    PubMed

    Christensen, Bodil Just; Hillersdal, Line; Holm, Lotte

    2017-08-01

    This paper explores the productive tensions occurring in an interdisciplinary research project on weight loss after obesity surgery. The study was a bio-medical/anthropological collaboration investigating to what extent eating patterns, the subjective experience of hunger and physiological mechanisms are involved in appetite regulation that might determine good or poor response to the surgery. Linking biomedical and anthropological categories and definitions of central concepts about the body turned out to be a major challenge in the collaborative analysis. Notably, the conception of what constitutes 'appetite' was a key concern, as each discipline has its particular definition and operationalization of the term. In response, a material-semiotic approach was chosen which allowed for a reconceptualization of appetite as a 'fractional object', engaged in multiple relations and enacted differently in each instance. This perspective produced creative contrasts and offered alternative explorations of both scientific knowledge production and anthropological practices. The paper thereby explores the interfaces between anthropology and medical science by attending to the challenges and opportunities that result from destabilising an assumed fixed and well-defined concept associated with the body.

  14. An Anthropologist Explores the Culture of Video Blogging

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Young, Jeffrey R.

    2007-01-01

    Michael L. Wesch, an assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University, was writing a paper about social networking and other interactive tools, which are collectively referred to as Web 2.0, when he decided to make use of the technology to spread his message. So he put together a short video with examples of Web 2.0…

  15. Anthropology with an Agenda: Four Forgotten Dance Anthropologists

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Richter, Katrina

    2010-01-01

    In response to postcolonial, feminist and subaltern critiques of anthropology, this article seeks to answer the question, "For whom should research be conducted, and by whom should it be used?" by examining the lives and works of four female dance anthropologists. Franziska Boas, Zora Neale Hurston, Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus used…

  16. Cultural traits as units of analysis.

    PubMed

    O'Brien, Michael J; Lyman, R Lee; Mesoudi, Alex; VanPool, Todd L

    2010-12-12

    Cultural traits have long been used in anthropology as units of transmission that ostensibly reflect behavioural characteristics of the individuals or groups exhibiting the traits. After they are transmitted, cultural traits serve as units of replication in that they can be modified as part of an individual's cultural repertoire through processes such as recombination, loss or partial alteration within an individual's mind. Cultural traits are analogous to genes in that organisms replicate them, but they are also replicators in their own right. No one has ever seen a unit of transmission, either behavioural or genetic, although we can observe the effects of transmission. Fortunately, such units are manifest in artefacts, features and other components of the archaeological record, and they serve as proxies for studying the transmission (and modification) of cultural traits, provided there is analytical clarity over how to define and measure the units that underlie this inheritance process.

  17. Japanese Culture in the United States of America; An Annotated Bibliography.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Connor, John W., Comp.

    This bibliography describes and briefly reviews, from an anthropological perspective, books and articles on the Japanese in the United States. Works cited include: (1) bibliographies; (2) general studies on Japanese Americans; (3) works dealing with the cultural heritage of the Japanese immigrant generation; (4) literature on the Japanese…

  18. Conversations between anthropology and psychiatry: drawing out the best from interdisciplinarity in global mental health.

    PubMed

    Rosso Buckton, Amanda

    2015-12-01

    Conversations between anthropologists and psychiatrists have led to new theoretical trajectories, research agendas and clinical practices as social scientists and medical practitioners forged new understandings about the interaction of culture, personhood and illness. However, the demands of global mental health, coupled with health service provision requirements, mean that mental health interventions set up with the best intentions can fail to take into account the knowledge and expertise that social sciences can contribute to a programme's success. In this paper, I reflect on conversations between an anthropologist and mental health professionals in direct reference to data analysis of an AusAID mental health capacity-building programme undertaken in the Pacific region. Social and cultural perspectives embedded within programmes can provide richer, more contextualised interventions. In drawing on the combined expertise of anthropology and psychiatry, new taken-for-granted reference points embedding cultural approaches form the basis for delivery of global mental health programmes. These perspectives include: Locating mental health programmes within development critiques. Situating the subjects of development within contextualised settings, acknowledging and respecting local knowledge, understandings and practices. A focus on interdisciplinarity as the basis for future practice in global mental health projects. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

  19. Improved knowledge retention among clinical pharmacy students using an anthropology classroom assessment technique.

    PubMed

    Whitley, Heather P; Parton, Jason M

    2014-09-15

    To adapt a classroom assessment technique (CAT) from an anthropology course to a diabetes module in a clinical pharmacy skills laboratory and to determine student knowledge retention from baseline. Diabetes item stems, focused on module objectives, replaced anthropology terms. Answer choices, coded to Bloom's Taxonomy, were expanded to include higher-order thinking. Students completed the online 5-item probe 4 times: prelaboratory lecture, postlaboratory, and at 6 months and 12 months after laboratory. Statistical analyses utilized a single factor, repeated measures design using rank transformations of means with a Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test. The CAT revealed a significant increase in knowledge from prelaboratory compared to all postlaboratory measurements (p<0.0001). Significant knowledge retention was maintained with basic terms, but declined with complex terms between 6 and 12 months. The anthropology assessment tool was effectively adapted using Bloom's Taxonomy as a guide and, when used repeatedly, demonstrated knowledge retention. Minimal time was devoted to application of the probe making it an easily adaptable CAT.

  20. The Origins of Jewish Guilt: Psychological, Theological, and Cultural Perspectives

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    The idea that guilt and Judaism are closely interlinked has a long historical legacy. After discussing recent work on anthropology and emotion focusing on shame and guilt, we examine three theories purporting to account for this link: psychoanalytic, theological, and guilt as a cultural stereotype particularly the notion of the Jewish mother. PMID:26425245

  1. Literacy in Cross-Cultural Perspective: Implications for Policy and Practice.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Street, B.

    This paper reviews some of the issues in the new literacy studies and the questions, from an anthropological perspective, of self, person, and identity that affect literacy practices. It is suggested that in discussing literacy, it is better to start from a cultural viewpoint rather than an educational one. The traditional autonomous model of…

  2. Anthropological Approach of Adherence Factors for Antihypertensive Drugs

    PubMed Central

    Sarradon-Eck, Aline; Egrot, Marc; Blance, Marie Anne; Faure, Muriella

    2010-01-01

    Objective: Uncontrolled high blood pressure leads clinicians to wonder about adherence degree among hypertensive patients. In this context, our study aims to describe and analyze patients' experience of antihypertensive drugs in order to shed light on the multiple social and symbolic logics, forming part of the cultural factors shaping personal medication practices. Methods: The medical inductive and comprehensive anthropological approach implemented is based on an ethnographic survey (observations of consultations and interviews). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 68 hypertensive patients (39 women and 29 men, between the ages of 40 and 95, of whom 52 were over 60) who had been receiving treatment for over a year. Results: Antihypertensive drugs are reinterpreted when filtered through the cultural model of physiopathology (the body as an engine). This symbolic dimension facilitates acceptance of therapy but leads to a hierarchization of other prescribed drugs and of certain therapeutic classes (diuretics). Prescription compliance does not solely depend on the patient's perception of cardiovascular risk, but also on how the patient fully accepts the treatment and integrates it into his or her daily life; this requires identification with the product, building commitment and self-regulation of the treatment (experience, managing treatment and control of side effects, intake and treatment continuity). Following the prescription requires a relationship based on trust between the doctor and patient, which we have identified in three forms: reasoned trust, emotional trust and conceded trust. Conclusion: Consideration and understanding of these pragmatic and symbolic issues by the treating physician should aid practitioners in carrying out their role as medical educators in the management of hypertension. This paper was originally published in French, in the journal Pratiques et organisation des soins 39(1): 3-12. PMID:21532764

  3. Teacher Centers as a Social Phenomenon: An Anthropological Inquiry.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Van Fleet, Alanson

    1979-01-01

    This article discusses the social and educational conditions that have supported the development of teacher centers, using a perspective from social anthropology, Malinowski's "functional" theory of institutions. Teacher centers are seen as a reflection of growing teacher power in a climate of shifting authority structures. (SJL)

  4. Cultural traits as units of analysis

    PubMed Central

    O'Brien, Michael J.; Lyman, R. Lee; Mesoudi, Alex; VanPool, Todd L.

    2010-01-01

    Cultural traits have long been used in anthropology as units of transmission that ostensibly reflect behavioural characteristics of the individuals or groups exhibiting the traits. After they are transmitted, cultural traits serve as units of replication in that they can be modified as part of an individual's cultural repertoire through processes such as recombination, loss or partial alteration within an individual's mind. Cultural traits are analogous to genes in that organisms replicate them, but they are also replicators in their own right. No one has ever seen a unit of transmission, either behavioural or genetic, although we can observe the effects of transmission. Fortunately, such units are manifest in artefacts, features and other components of the archaeological record, and they serve as proxies for studying the transmission (and modification) of cultural traits, provided there is analytical clarity over how to define and measure the units that underlie this inheritance process. PMID:21041205

  5. PREFACE: Modern Archaeoastronomy: From Material Culture to Cosmology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brown, Daniel

    2016-02-01

    The Royal Astronomical Society National Astronomy Meeting (NAM) 2014 was hosted by the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (ICG) at the University of Portsmouth. It was held from June 23-26 2014 and was sponsored by the RAS, STFC, SEPnet and Winton Capital. As part of this meeting a session stream titled Modern Archaeoastronomy: From Material Culture to Cosmology took place on Monday 23rd proposed and organized by Brian Sheen (Roseland Observatory) and Daniel Brown (Nottingham Trent University). It consisted of an illustration of the many aspects of archaeoastronomy or cultural-astronomy as it has developed and embraced areas such as anthropology, public engagement and sociology. Anita Heward (Press Officer NAM) stated that 'sessions on the history of astronomy have been a feature of many NAM programmes over the years, but NAM 2014 was the first to include a dedicated session on archaeoastronomy.' It was motivated from past decades where our understanding of astronomy of our ancestors has become more strongly based on factual data. As such it allowed researchers to identify possible traces of astronomical knowledge in archaeological remains and artefacts. Archaeoastronomy is an ideal example of the advancement in this area as well as the power of interdisciplinary work that in recent times has started to interpret these findings through cultural, anthropological and educational research. This session will offer an opportunity to present a multitude of different approaches of analyzing the perception and origins of astronomy in ancient and modern cultures, and also bring together young researchers and students in the field to present their research to a wider community.

  6. Deep pharma: psychiatry, anthropology, and pharmaceutical detox.

    PubMed

    Oldani, Michael

    2014-06-01

    Psychiatric medication, or psychotropics, are increasingly prescribed for people of all ages by both psychiatry and primary care doctors for a multitude of mental health and/or behavioral disorders, creating a sharp rise in polypharmacy (i.e., multiple medications). This paper explores the clinical reality of modern psychotropy at the level of the prescribing doctor and clinical exchanges with patients. Part I, Geographies of High Prescribing, documents the types of factors (pharmaceutical-promotional, historical, cultural, etc.) that can shape specific psychotropic landscapes. Ethnographic attention is focused on high prescribing in Japan in the 1990s and more recently in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, in the US. These examples help to identify factors that have converged over time to produce specific kinds of branded psychotropic profiles in specific locales. Part II, Pharmaceutical Detox, explores a new kind of clinical work being carried out by pharmaceutically conscious doctors, which reduces the number of medications being prescribed to patients while re-diagnosing their mental illnesses. A high-prescribing psychiatrist in southeast Wisconsin is highlighted to illustrate a kind of med-checking taking place at the level of individual patients. These various examples and cases call for a renewed emphasis by anthropology to critically examine the "total efficacies" of modern pharmaceuticals and to continue to disaggregate mental illness categories in the Boasian tradition. This type of detox will require a holistic approach, incorporating emergent fields such as neuroanthropology and other kinds of creative collaborations.

  7. Culture and neuroscience: additive or synergistic?

    PubMed Central

    Dapretto, Mirella; Iacoboni, Marco

    2010-01-01

    The investigation of cultural phenomena using neuroscientific methods—cultural neuroscience (CN)—is receiving increasing attention. Yet it is unclear whether the integration of cultural study and neuroscience is merely additive, providing additional evidence of neural plasticity in the human brain, or truly synergistic, yielding discoveries that neither discipline could have achieved alone. We discuss how the parent fields to CN: cross-cultural psychology, psychological anthropology and cognitive neuroscience inform the investigation of the role of cultural experience in shaping the brain. Drawing on well-established methodologies from cross-cultural psychology and cognitive neuroscience, we outline a set of guidelines for CN, evaluate 17 CN studies in terms of these guidelines, and provide a summary table of our results. We conclude that the combination of culture and neuroscience is both additive and synergistic; while some CN methodologies and findings will represent the direct union of information from parent fields, CN studies employing the methodological rigor required by this logistically challenging new field have the potential to transform existing methodologies and produce unique findings. PMID:20083533

  8. Elliptical Fourier analysis: fundamentals, applications, and value for forensic anthropology.

    PubMed

    Caple, Jodi; Byrd, John; Stephan, Carl N

    2017-11-01

    The numerical description of skeletal morphology enables forensic anthropologists to conduct objective, reproducible, and structured tests, with the added capability of verifying morphoscopic-based analyses. One technique that permits comprehensive quantification of outline shape is elliptical Fourier analysis. This curve fitting technique allows a form's outline to be approximated via the sum of multiple sine and cosine waves, permitting the profile perimeter of an object to be described in a dense (continuous) manner at a user-defined level of precision. A large amount of shape information (the entire perimeter) can thereby be collected in contrast to other methods relying on sparsely located landmarks where information falling in between the landmarks fails to be acquired. First published in 1982, elliptical Fourier analysis employment in forensic anthropology from 2000 onwards reflects a slow uptake despite large computing power that makes its calculations easy to conduct. Without hurdles arising from calculation speed or quantity, the slow uptake may partly reside with the underlying mathematics that on first glance is extensive and potentially intimidating. In this paper, we aim to bridge this gap by pictorially illustrating how elliptical Fourier harmonics work in a simple step-by-step visual fashion to facilitate universal understanding and as geared towards increased use in forensic anthropology. We additionally provide a short review of the method's utility for osteology, a summary of past uses in forensic anthropology, and software options for calculations that largely save the user the trouble of coding customized routines.

  9. Who needs 'pukka anthropologists'? A study of the perceptions of the use of anthropology in tropical public health research.

    PubMed

    Napolitano, Dora A; Jones, Caroline O H

    2006-08-01

    Over the past 50 years, there have been considerable changes both in how medical anthropologists view their relationship to tropical public health and in how tropical public health professionals view the role of anthropologists. In particular, in recent decades critical currents have emerged from an anthropology of medicine, calling for an examination of biomedicine and its conceptualisation of public health. There are parallel debates in public health about a narrow disease-focused or broader socio-cultural approach to improving population health. Based on a review of the literature and a qualitative study of the views of public health professionals and anthropologists working in tropical public health, the data presented in this paper suggest that public health professionals remain unaware of many of the contributions anthropology could make to tropical public health theory and practice. However, the objectives of a critical social science are not dissimilar to those of the broader concept of public health. We suggest that there are grounds for optimism. For those of us concerned not just with disease but also with inequities in health, the challenge is to work towards a critical tropical public health which draws as much from social science as from biomedicine, in theory and practice.

  10. [The use of anthropologic methods for studying the causes of lack of vaccination. The case of Nativitas, Xochimilco].

    PubMed

    Nigenda-López, G; Orozco-Núñez, E

    1990-01-01

    The relationship between the socio-cultural characteristics of a population and their participation in immunization programs is described in this paper. An anthropological approach was utilized to study the reasons why certain population groups do not participate in the immunization programs or do so inadequately. The study was undertaken in a community south of Mexico City. The paper contains the description of the community's contextual elements, the organization of the medical care services and the participation of the population in the immunization programs. It was found that a wide millieu of socio-cultural factors are related with people's behavior toward vaccination, such as: lack of information about diseases and vaccines, lack of trust on modern health services, and the strong influence of traditional medicine. Clear implications can be derived from the analysis with regards to the need for revision and modification of strategies of the health education programs, in order to promote a wider participation in immunization programs.

  11. Teaching Culture: Imagined Communities and National Fantasies in the O.J. Simpson Case.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Silberstein, Sandra

    2003-01-01

    Argues for a complex and contradictory presentation of culture in the language classroom. Uses theories of nationalism to examine treatment of the O.J. Simpson case. Coverage from popular news magazines is read through the lens of anthropology and of literary and social theory. (Author/VWL)

  12. Multi-cultural components and keys for European worldwide space programs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pinotti, Roberto

    1991-12-01

    The role of different cultures in space missions is considered with regard to NASA and ESA astronauts and Russian cosmonauts. The identification of all the psychological and socio-anthropological components in the behavior of human groups in space is extremely important to understand and solve different problems and obtain the mission's success. In this light, the creation of a multicultural atmosphere aboard is considered a positive aspect for future space programs, and the synthesis of European cultural elements is a definite key to develop morale and productivity.

  13. Educational Theory as Theory of Culture: A Vichian Perspective on the Educational Theories of John Dewey and Kieran Egan

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Polito, Theodora

    2005-01-01

    At the center of every well-constructed theory of education is a philosophical anthropology-reasoned speculation as to the origins on man's conditions in the history of culture, especially the particular phenomenon of consciousness that underlies historical periods. Using the lens of one of the most significant theories of culture produced, we…

  14. Anthropology in public health emergencies: what is anthropology good for?

    PubMed Central

    Beshar, Isabel; Bedford, Juliet; du Cros, Philipp; Stringer, Beverley

    2018-01-01

    Recent outbreaks of Ebola virus disease (2013–2016) and Zika virus (2015–2016) bring renewed recognition of the need to understand social pathways of disease transmission and barriers to care. Social scientists, anthropologists in particular, have been recognised as important players in disease outbreak response because of their ability to assess social, economic and political factors in local contexts. However, in emergency public health response, as with any interdisciplinary setting, different professions may disagree over methods, ethics and the nature of evidence itself. A disease outbreak is no place to begin to negotiate disciplinary differences. Given increasing demand for anthropologists to work alongside epidemiologists, clinicians and public health professionals in health crises, this paper gives a basic introduction to anthropological methods and seeks to bridge the gap in disciplinary expectations within emergencies. It asks: ‘What can anthropologists do in a public health crisis and how do they do it?’ It argues for an interdisciplinary conception of emergency and the recognition that social, psychological and institutional factors influence all aspects of care. PMID:29607097

  15. Anthropology in public health emergencies: what is anthropology good for?

    PubMed

    Stellmach, Darryl; Beshar, Isabel; Bedford, Juliet; du Cros, Philipp; Stringer, Beverley

    2018-01-01

    Recent outbreaks of Ebola virus disease (2013-2016) and Zika virus (2015-2016) bring renewed recognition of the need to understand social pathways of disease transmission and barriers to care. Social scientists, anthropologists in particular, have been recognised as important players in disease outbreak response because of their ability to assess social, economic and political factors in local contexts. However, in emergency public health response, as with any interdisciplinary setting, different professions may disagree over methods, ethics and the nature of evidence itself. A disease outbreak is no place to begin to negotiate disciplinary differences. Given increasing demand for anthropologists to work alongside epidemiologists, clinicians and public health professionals in health crises, this paper gives a basic introduction to anthropological methods and seeks to bridge the gap in disciplinary expectations within emergencies. It asks: 'What can anthropologists do in a public health crisis and how do they do it?' It argues for an interdisciplinary conception of emergency and the recognition that social, psychological and institutional factors influence all aspects of care.

  16. Improved Knowledge Retention Among Clinical Pharmacy Students Using an Anthropology Classroom Assessment Technique

    PubMed Central

    Parton, Jason M.

    2014-01-01

    Objective. To adapt a classroom assessment technique (CAT) from an anthropology course to a diabetes module in a clinical pharmacy skills laboratory and to determine student knowledge retention from baseline. Design. Diabetes item stems, focused on module objectives, replaced anthropology terms. Answer choices, coded to Bloom’s Taxonomy, were expanded to include higher-order thinking. Students completed the online 5-item probe 4 times: prelaboratory lecture, postlaboratory, and at 6 months and 12 months after laboratory. Statistical analyses utilized a single factor, repeated measures design using rank transformations of means with a Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test. Assessment. The CAT revealed a significant increase in knowledge from prelaboratory compared to all postlaboratory measurements (p<0.0001). Significant knowledge retention was maintained with basic terms, but declined with complex terms between 6 and 12 months. Conclusion. The anthropology assessment tool was effectively adapted using Bloom’s Taxonomy as a guide and, when used repeatedly, demonstrated knowledge retention. Minimal time was devoted to application of the probe making it an easily adaptable CAT. PMID:25258445

  17. Embedding the Teaching of Academic Writing into Anthropology Lectures

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mostert, Linda Ann; Townsend, Rodwell

    2018-01-01

    This paper lends support to the argument that students require a variety of teaching strategies to help them improve their academic writing. The study described here took place in 2014 in the context of embedding the teaching of academic writing into anthropology modules. The strategies implemented were microthemes, peer feedback, annotated…

  18. Anthropology, Dance, and Education: Integrated Curriculum in Social Studies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smith, Karli; Kulinna, Pamela Hodges; Vissicaro, Pegge; Fredrickson, Lynda

    2016-01-01

    The integration of dance into K-12 curriculum can help students to learn better, encouraging deeper exploration and active engagement with content knowledge. The purpose of this intervention study was to determine how the integration of dance and social studies with an anthropological framework affects student learning of content knowledge in…

  19. Report of the Anthropology Curriculum Study Project-Research Program.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parsons, T. W.; And Others

    The study evaluated an Anthropology Curriculum Study Project course, "Patterns in Human History," used with high school students in a one year field test situation. Ethnographic and cognitive components of the curriculum were examined. The specific objective of the research was to examine the behavioral effects on students, teachers, and…

  20. "The Good Child": Anthropological Perspectives on Morality and Childhood

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fechter, Anne-Meike

    2014-01-01

    Currently, there is no clearly delineated field that could be described as "the anthropology of morality". There exists, however, an increasingly visible and vocal interest in issues of morality among anthropologists. Although there has been a lack of explicit study, it has become clear that anthropologists have, in fact, been concerned…

  1. An Update on the Hazards and Risks of Forensic Anthropology, Part I: Human Remains.

    PubMed

    Roberts, Lindsey G; Dabbs, Gretchen R; Spencer, Jessica R

    2016-01-01

    This work reviews the hazards and risks of practicing forensic anthropology in North America, with a focus on pathogens encountered through contact with unpreserved human remains. Since the publication of Galloway and Snodgrass' seminal paper concerning the hazards of forensic anthropology, research has provided new information about known pathogen hazards, and regulating authorities have updated recommendations for the recognition and treatment of several infections. Additionally, forensic anthropology has gained popularity, exposing an increased number of students and practitioners to these hazards. Current data suggest many occupational exposures to blood or body fluids go unreported, especially among students, highlighting the need for this discussion. For each pathogen and associated disease, this work addresses important history, reviews routes of exposure, provides an overview of symptoms and treatments, lists decontamination procedures, and presents data on postmortem viability. Personal protection and laboratory guidelines should be established and enforced in conjunction with the consideration of these data. © 2015 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

  2. Toward an Anthropology of Insurance and Health Reform: An Introduction to the Special Issue.

    PubMed

    Dao, Amy; Mulligan, Jessica

    2016-03-01

    This article introduces a special issue of Medical Anthropology Quarterly on health insurance and health reform. We begin by reviewing anthropological contributions to the study of financial models for health care and then discuss the unique contributions offered by the articles of this collection. The contributors demonstrate how insurance accentuates--but does not resolve tensions between granting universal access to care and rationing limited resources, between social solidarity and individual responsibility, and between private markets and public goods. Insurance does not have a single meaning, logic, or effect but needs to be viewed in practice, in context, and from multiple vantage points. As the field of insurance studies in the social sciences grows and as health reforms across the globe continue to use insurance to restructure the organization of health care, it is incumbent on medical anthropologists to undertake a renewed and concerted study of health insurance and health systems. © 2016 by the American Anthropological Association.

  3. [Topic on clinical anthropology in scientific activity of docent Antanas Adomaitis].

    PubMed

    Tutkuviene, Janina

    2006-01-01

    The present paper is dedicated to docent Antanas Adomaitis, anatomist and anthropologist, former member of editorial board of journal "Medicina", on the occasion of his 65th birthday and 40 years of scientific activity. First publications of Antanas Adomatis appeared in the 1960s, and now the list of his scientific publications exceeds 140 in number. The research field of docent Antanas Adomaitis is wide and covers problems from growth and development to physical status of adult people and its changes associated with a particular period. However, his most important scientific works are in the field of clinical anthropology. Antanas Adomaitis investigated growth and maturation under pathological circumstances, body composition of adult people, prevalence of obesity, growth diversity and secular trend: in 1975 he defended his thesis entitled "Physical development and sexual maturation of children with congenital heart defects" for the degree of Doctor of Medicine, later focused on growth and development of children with congenital facial anomalies, also blind and weak-sighted children. Recently docent together with the other scientists of our Department investigates growth variety of children from different towns and rural areas of Lithuania. Antanas Adomaitis collected probably most anthropological data on Lithuanians (children and adults)--this is ponderable contribution to Lithuanian auxology and clinical anthropology, valuable material for the future researches of growth and maturation, also physical status of adult people and secular trend.

  4. Identite culturelle et francophonie dans les Ameriques (Cultural Identity and the French Language in the Americas). Series No. B-88.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baudot, Alain; And Others

    These papers, given at five general sessions and fifteen workshops, discuss the relationship between cultural identity and the French language in the Americas, and deal with the following topics: (1) French speech in Canada; (2) anthropology and cultural identity; (3) translation; (4) French in Ontario and New England; (5) sociology; (6)…

  5. [The anatomy of a reduced skull model--visualisation of Leonardo da Vinci's anthropology].

    PubMed

    Ahner, E

    2008-04-02

    The article focuses on a rare example of a miniature skull of unknown origin. The profoundness of the anatomical details, conjoint with outstanding virtuosity, reminds of Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical skull studies and asks for additional interpretation beside the emblematic "memento mori"-character. Following the miscellaneous topics of his skull studies an anatomical-anthropological interpretation is proposed. For such a project the mergence of anthropology, history of medicine and history of art was mandatory. Concerning some discrepancies within the anatomical realism, the depiction of a pathology is discussed and beyond the visualisation of a historic concept of brain function.

  6. Race and diversity in U.S. Biological Anthropology: A decade of AAPA initiatives.

    PubMed

    Antón, Susan C; Malhi, Ripan S; Fuentes, Agustín

    2018-01-01

    Biological Anthropology studies the variation and evolution of living humans, non-human primates, and extinct ancestors and for this reason the field should be in an ideal position to attract scientists from a variety of backgrounds who have different views and experiences. However, the origin and history of the discipline, anecdotal observations, self-reports, and recent surveys suggest the field has significant barriers to attracting scholars of color. For a variety of reasons, including quantitative research that demonstrates that diverse groups do better science, the discipline should strive to achieve a more diverse composition. Here we discuss the background and underpinnings of the current and historical dearth of diversity in Biological Anthropology in the U.S. specifically as it relates to representation of minority and underrepresented minority (URM) (or racialized minority) scholars. We trace this lack of diversity to underlying issues of recruitment and retention in the STEM sciences generally, to the history of Anthropology particularly around questions of race-science, and to the absence of Anthropology at many minority-serving institutions, especially HBCUs, a situation that forestalls pathways to the discipline for many minority students. The AAPA Committee on Diversity (COD) was conceived as a means of assessing and improving diversity within the discipline, and we detail the history of the COD since its inception in 2006. Prior to the COD there were no systematic AAPA efforts to consider ethnoracial diversity in our ranks and no programming around questions of diversity and inclusion. Departmental survey data collected by the COD indicate that undergraduate majors in Biological Anthropology are remarkably diverse, but that the discipline loses these scholars between undergraduate and graduate school and systematically up rank. Our analysis of recent membership demographic survey data (2014 and 2017) shows Biological Anthropology to have less

  7. FREUD, JUNG AND BOAS: THE PSYCHOANALYTIC ENGAGEMENT WITH ANTHROPOLOGY REVISITED.

    PubMed

    Kenny, Robert

    2015-06-20

    Sigmund Freud's and C. G. Jung's turn to evolutionist anthropological material after 1909 is usually seen as a logical progression of their long-term interest in such material. It is also seen that they used this material ignorant of the significant challenges to the evolutionist paradigm underpinning such material, in particular the challenges led by Franz Boas. This paper argues otherwise: that both psychologists' turnings to such material was a new development, that neither had shown great interest in such material before 1909, and that their turnings to such material, far from being taken in ignorance of the challenges to evolutionist anthropology, were engagements with those challenges, because the evolutionist paradigm lay at the base of psychoanalysis. It argues that it is no coincidence that this engagement occurred after their return from America in 1909, where they had come into first-hand contact with the challenges of Franz Boas.

  8. Minding experience: An exploration of the concept of "experience" in the early French anthropology of Durkheim, Lévy-Bruhl, and Lévi-Strauss.

    PubMed

    Throop, C Jason

    2003-01-01

    In line with the growing concern with the unexamined reliance upon the concept of "experience" in anthropology, this article explores in some detail the various usages and definitions of the concept in the work of three of early French anthropology's most influential theorists: Emile Durkheim (1858-1918), Lucien Lévy-Bruhl (1857-1939), and Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908-). With its important influence on both British and American anthropology, the early French anthropological tradition, as epitomized in the writings of these three thinkers, has indeed played a pivotal role in shaping many current taken-for-granted understandings of the concept of experience in the discipline of anthropology as a whole. In the process of exploring how experience is viewed by these three scholars, this paper will thus take some initial steps toward the historical contextualization of many of the unquestioned assumptions underpinning current understandings of experience in the discipline of anthropology and the social sciences more generally. Copyright 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. An Evaluation of the Experimental Anthropology Program at Magee Secondary School, During the Spring Semester of 1971.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clinton, A.; And Others

    An evaluation of an experimental anthropology program which was introduced to students at the Magee Secondary School is presented. The purpose of the course, a detailed course outline, and the rationale and basic generalizations of Anthropology 11E are included. A listing of required and suggested course readings as well as student reaction to the…

  10. The influence of anthropological features on ball flight speed in handball.

    PubMed

    Srhoj, Vatromir; Rogulj, Nenad; Papić, Vladan; Foretić, Nikola; Cavala, Marijana

    2012-09-01

    The purpose of this study, done on the sample of 41 students of Faculty of Kinesiologyi in Split was to determinate the differences in anthropological characteristics between students who achieved above average and students who achieved under average ball flight speed after jump shoot in handball. Anthropological characteristics were defined by 16 variables, 6 of them were used for the estimation of morphological characteristics, 7 variables for evaluation of motor characteristics and one variable each for evaluation of kinetic, kinematics and technical parameters of shooting. The significant differences were determined in variables for evaluation of longitudinal dimensionality of dominant arm, explosive strength of pull-out agility, strength of the hand grip, hand flexion ability for the ball throw-out and finally, correct and sound technique of the throw-out movement.

  11. Human cumulative culture: a comparative perspective.

    PubMed

    Dean, Lewis G; Vale, Gill L; Laland, Kevin N; Flynn, Emma; Kendal, Rachel L

    2014-05-01

    Many animals exhibit social learning and behavioural traditions, but human culture exhibits unparalleled complexity and diversity, and is unambiguously cumulative in character. These similarities and differences have spawned a debate over whether animal traditions and human culture are reliant on homologous or analogous psychological processes. Human cumulative culture combines high-fidelity transmission of cultural knowledge with beneficial modifications to generate a 'ratcheting' in technological complexity, leading to the development of traits far more complex than one individual could invent alone. Claims have been made for cumulative culture in several species of animals, including chimpanzees, orangutans and New Caledonian crows, but these remain contentious. Whilst initial work on the topic of cumulative culture was largely theoretical, employing mathematical methods developed by population biologists, in recent years researchers from a wide range of disciplines, including psychology, biology, economics, biological anthropology, linguistics and archaeology, have turned their attention to the experimental investigation of cumulative culture. We review this literature, highlighting advances made in understanding the underlying processes of cumulative culture and emphasising areas of agreement and disagreement amongst investigators in separate fields. © 2013 The Authors. Biological Reviews © 2013 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

  12. Transforming Conflict Resolution Education: Applying Anthropology alongside Your Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Avruch, Kevin

    2009-01-01

    This article describes the role graduate students can play in transforming their education in the emergent field of Conflict Analysis and Resolution, as occurs at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR), at George Mason University, Washington, DC. It also unpacks how anthropology plays a role in the education of these students at…

  13. An overview of age estimation in forensic anthropology: perspectives and practical considerations.

    PubMed

    Márquez-Grant, Nicholas

    2015-01-01

    Information on methods of age estimation in physical anthropology, in particular with regard to age-at-death from human skeletal remains, is widely available in the literature. However, the practicalities and real challenges faced in forensic casework are not always highlighted. To provide a practitioner's perspective, regarding age estimation in forensic anthropology (both in the living as well as the dead), with an emphasis on the types of cases, the value of such work and its challenges and limitations. The paper reviews the current literature on age estimation with a focus on forensic anthropology, but it also brings the author's personal perspective derived from a number of forensic cases. Although much is known about what methods to use, but not always how to apply them, little attention has been given in the literature to the real practicalities faced by forensic anthropologists, for example: the challenges in different types of scenarios; how to report age estimations; responsibilities; and ethical concerns. This paper gathers some of these aspects into one overview which includes the value of such work and the practical challenges, not necessarily with the methods themselves, but also with regard to how these are applied in the different cases where age estimation is required.

  14. Masters of their conditions: at the crossroads of health, culture and performance.

    PubMed

    Arpin, Jacques

    2003-09-01

    Achieving one's cultural or clinical identity is a matter of performance. The performing body is made through a series of apprenticeships that lead to mastery and then transmission. Performance, like culture and medicine, has its systems of learning, i.e. in the professions of the performing arts. This article examines the methodology of theater anthropology and other aspects of performance studies. Applications to intercultural work are described that make it possible for patient and healer to collaborate to master the condition.

  15. Anti-Family Fantasies in "Cutting-Edge" Anthropological Kinship Studies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shapiro, Warren

    2012-01-01

    Anthropology began as archeology--not just the archaeology of "prehistoric" human or quasi-human bones and stones, but also the study of other things presumably archaic. The most notable of these was the social life and thought of the world's remaining peoples who could be taken as proxies for those who supplied these bones and used these stones…

  16. Descent into the Maelstrom: Anthropology in the Politics of Academe.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Salovesh, Michael

    Conditions in academic employment associated with increasingly tense political struggles for anthropology departments are discussed. Personnel policies for state-supported institutions are cited as areas of major controversy and the effect of student enrollments on the setting of staffing-level parameters is emphasized. Politics internal to…

  17. Directivity: The Cultural and Educational Construction of Morality and Agency. Some Questions Arising From the Legacy of Vygotsky.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    del Rio, Pablo; Alvarez, Amelia

    1995-01-01

    Reviews mainstream psychology's reductionisms and presents working concepts for a cultural-historical perspective on directivity. Discusses research on the organization of emotions for directing human behavior in Castile from an interdisciplinary approach of psychology, anthropology, and education. (MMU)

  18. Kant's answer to the question 'what is man?' and its implications for anthropology.

    PubMed

    Cohen, Alix A

    2008-12-01

    This paper examines Kant's anthropological project and its relationship to his conception of 'man' in order to show that Kant's answer to the question 'what is man?' entails a decisive re-evaluation of traditional conceptions of human nature. I argue that Kant redirects the question 'what is man?' away from defining man in terms of what he is, and towards defining him in terms of what he does, in particular through the distinction between three levels of what I will call 'man's praxis': the levels of technicality, prudence, and morality. As soon as man is understood in terms of what he makes of himself rather than in terms of what he is, two crucial issues arise: what is the purpose of his making? And how can he reach this destination? My claim is that whilst the first question is answered by ethics and a doctrine of prudence, the second question is answered by anthropology. In this sense, anthropology plays the crucial role of identifying the worldly helps and hindrances to the realisation of man's purposes--and this is the reason why it should be understood as a 'pragmatic' discipline.

  19. Freud, Jung and Boas: the psychoanalytic engagement with anthropology revisited

    PubMed Central

    Kenny, Robert

    2015-01-01

    Sigmund Freud's and C. G. Jung's turn to evolutionist anthropological material after 1909 is usually seen as a logical progression of their long-term interest in such material. It is also seen that they used this material ignorant of the significant challenges to the evolutionist paradigm underpinning such material, in particular the challenges led by Franz Boas. This paper argues otherwise: that both psychologists' turnings to such material was a new development, that neither had shown great interest in such material before 1909, and that their turnings to such material, far from being taken in ignorance of the challenges to evolutionist anthropology, were engagements with those challenges, because the evolutionist paradigm lay at the base of psychoanalysis. It argues that it is no coincidence that this engagement occurred after their return from America in 1909, where they had come into first-hand contact with the challenges of Franz Boas. PMID:26665301

  20. Cultural Resources Survey, Harry S. Truman Dam and Reservoir Project, Missouri. Volume 8. Archeological Test Excavations: 1976

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1983-02-01

    4 1983 • i • i . _ _ _ - K -^ REPORTS OF THE CULTURAL RISOURCES SURVEY HARRY S. TRUMAN DAM AND RESERVOIR PROJECT...iMiM US Army Corps of Engineers Kansas City District m 00 CO Harry S. Truman 15am and Reservoir, Missouri American Archaeology Division...Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri - Columbia Columbia, Missouri O Cultural Resources Survey Harry S. Truman Dam and eservoir

  1. Culture in cycles: considering H.T. Odum's 'information cycle'

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abel, Thomas

    2014-01-01

    'Culture' remains a conundrum in anthropology. When recast in the mold of 'information cycles,' culture is transformed. New fault lines appear. Information is splintered into parallel or nested forms. Dynamics becomes cycling. Energy is essential. And culture has function in a directional universe. The 'information cycle' is the crowning component of H.T. Odum's theory of general systems. What follows is an application of the information cycle to the cultural domains of discourse, social media, ritual, education, journalism, technology, academia, and law, which were never attempted by Odum. In information cycles, cultural information is perpetuated - maintained against Second Law depreciation. Conclusions are that culture is in fact a nested hierarchy of cultural forms. Each scale of information production is semi-autonomous, with its own evolutionary dynamics of production and selection in an information cycle. Simultaneously, each information cycle is channeled or entrained by its larger scale of information and ultimately human-ecosystem structuring.

  2. The Transmission of Cultural Heritages: The Case of the Irish and the Italians.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Greeley, Andrew J.; McCready, William

    This paper begins with a very simple theoretical question: Do the cultural heritages of the Old World persist among children and grandchildren of the immigrants from the various European countries? Two ethnic groups--the Irish Catholics and the Italians--about whose country of origin there exists something of an anthropological and sociological…

  3. Project to Incorporate Anthropological Concepts of Human Diversity in Secondary School Social Studies Curricula (Project Anthropology). Final Report, 2/1/80 to 1/31/82.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Giannangelo, Duane M.; And Others

    Learning modules emphasizing the anthropological aspects of human and race relations to supplement social studies textbooks used in grades 7-12 were developed. The final report describes pre-project activities, module development, and project evaluation and accomplishments. Pre-project activities included media publicity, reviewing social studies…

  4. Trance, functional psychosis, and culture.

    PubMed

    Castillo, Richard J

    2003-01-01

    This paper discusses the hypothesis that the symptoms of functional psychoses can be caused by culturally structured spontaneous trances that may be reactions to environmental stress and psychological trauma. Findings are reviewed of anthropological studies of meditative trance experiences in Indian yogis characterized by divided consciousness (dissociation), religious auditory and visual hallucinations, and beliefs in their own spiritual powers. An explanation of the psychological mechanisms of meditative trance is also provided, highlighting trance-related alteration of consciousness within an Indian cultural context. It is suggested that the psychological mechanisms of meditative trance are similar in structure to spontaneous trances underlying the symptoms of some functional psychoses. Findings from cross-cultural studies are also reviewed, highlighting the effects of culture on the symptoms, indigenous diagnoses, treatments, and outcomes of functional psychoses. In non-Western cultures, transient functional psychoses with complete recovery are 10 times more common than in Western cultures. It is suggested that egocentrism and a loss of spiritual explanations for psychosis in Western cultures constructs a clinical situation in which persons with functional psychoses are treated for a biogenetic (incurable) brain disease rather than a curable spiritual illness. This difference in cultural belief systems leads to poorer outcomes for Western patients compared to non-Western patients. Recognizing cultural differences in symptoms, indigenous diagnoses, and treatment for functional psychoses can help explain the dramatic cross-cultural differences in outcome.

  5. Self-Rated Health Appraisal as Cultural and Identity Process: African American Elders' Health and Evaluative Rationales

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McMullen, Carmit K.; Luborsky, Mark R.

    2006-01-01

    Purpose: We explored self-rated health by using a meaning-centered theoretical foundation. Self-appraisals, such as self-rated health, reflect a cultural process of identity formation, whereby identities are multiple, simultaneously individual and collective, and produced by specific historical formations. Anthropological research in Philadelphia…

  6. SOCIAL, HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF TUBERCULOSIS.

    PubMed

    Mason, Paul H; Roy, Anupom; Spillane, Jayden; Singh, Puneet

    2016-03-01

    Tuberculosis (TB) researchers and clinicians, by virtue of the social disease they study, are drawn into an engagement with ways of understanding illness that extend beyond the strictly biomedical model. Primers on social science concepts directly relevant to TB, however, are lacking. The particularities of TB disease mean that certain social science concepts are more relevant than others. Concepts such as structural violence can seem complicated and off-putting. Other concepts, such as gender, can seem so familiar that they are left relatively unexplored. An intimate familiarity with the social dimensions of disease is valuable, particularly for infectious diseases, because the social model is an important complement to the biomedical model. This review article offers an important introduction to a selection of concepts directly relevant to TB from health sociology, medical anthropology and social cognitive theory. The article has pedagogical utility and also serves as a useful refresher for those researchers already engaged in this genre of work. The conceptual tools of health sociology, medical anthropology and social cognitive theory offer insightful ways to examine the social, historical and cultural dimensions of public health. By recognizing cultural experience as a central force shaping human interactions with the world, TB researchers and clinicians develop a more nuanced consideration of how health, illness and medical treatment are understood, interpreted and confronted.

  7. The archaeological record speaks: bridging anthropology and linguistics.

    PubMed

    Balari, Sergio; Benítez-Burraco, Antonio; Camps, Marta; Longa, Víctor M; Lorenzo, Guillermo; Uriagereka, Juan

    2011-01-01

    This paper examines the origins of language, as treated within Evolutionary Anthropology, under the light offered by a biolinguistic approach. This perspective is presented first. Next we discuss how genetic, anatomical, and archaeological data, which are traditionally taken as evidence for the presence of language, are circumstantial as such from this perspective. We conclude by discussing ways in which to address these central issues, in an attempt to develop a collaborative approach to them.

  8. A foetal tile from an archaeological site: anthropological investigation of human remains recovered in a medieval cemetery in Northern Italy.

    PubMed

    Licata, Marta; Rossetti, Chiara; Tosi, Adelaide; Badino, Paola

    2018-06-01

    The recovery of foetal remains is very sporadic in archaeology, especially due the scarce degree of bone mineralisation. This paper presents the singular archaeological discovery of a foetal tile preserving the bone remains, object of our anthropological examination. The foetal tile was discovered during an archaeological excavation in a medieval site (Northern Italy). The tile was analysed by CT scan and later, human remains were anthropologically examined. The archaeological investigation revealed a special ritual destined to foetuses while forensic anthropological analysis allowed estimating the gestational age near to 21-24 weeks.

  9. The development of dental research in Argentinean biological anthropology: current state and future perspectives.

    PubMed

    Bernal, V; Luna, L H

    2011-10-01

    The aim of this paper is to conduct a historical analysis of the research-oriented studies related to dental anthropology in Argentina, evaluate its current state and discuss future expectations and perspectives. In this country, anthropological studies based on analysis of dentition have been scarce and even temporarily discontinued, since they began in the late nineteenth century, simply following the course of the predominant theoretical and methodological approaches over time. Early papers, guided mainly by evolutionary ideas, were oriented towards establishing the taxonomic position of humans through the description and comparison of morphological and morphometric aspects of the dental crown and root. Later studies mainly described types of intentional modifications (i.e. dental mutilations) and tooth wear in the context of Historic-Cultural School. However, they failed to constitute valid lines of research over time. In recent years, there has been a significant change in dental studies, mainly as a result of the interest in evaluating the adaptive aspects of human populations within biocultural settings. One of the most relevant lines of studies has been the bioarchaeological analysis of health and stress indicators, such as enamel hypoplasia, caries and tooth wear in hunter-gatherer and farmer societies. More recently, the study of discrete and metric dental traits began, with a goal to contribute to the study of evolution and inter-populational biological relations among South American groups. Since teeth contain valuable information not only about the environment in which the individual lived, but also about the action of neutral and non-neutral factors on human groups, the consolidation of ongoing studies will contribute to knowledge of various aspects of the adaptation and evolution of native American populations. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  10. A Sense of Community: Collaboration in a Large Anthropology Class.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lancy, David F.; And Others

    1994-01-01

    A large introductory anthropology course at Utah State University was organized to promote collaboration among and between students and faculty. Students were divided into and worked in "clans" for the entire term. A study of the course suggests that learning and a sense of community resulted directly from this organization. (MSE)

  11. [Human remains in museums: research, preservation and communication. The experience of Turin University Museum of Anthropology and Etnography].

    PubMed

    Boano, Rosa; Grilletto, Renato; Rabino Massa, Emma

    2013-01-01

    The creation of large scientific collections has been an important development for anthropological and paleopathological research. Indeed the biological collections are irreplaceable reference systems for the biological reconstruction of past population. They also assume the important role of anthropological archives and, in the global description of man, permit the integration of historical data with those from bio-anthropolgical research. Thinking about the role of mummies and bones as scientific resources, best practice of preservation of ancient specimens should be of high priority for institution and researchers. By way of example, the authors mention their experience regarding ancient human remains preserved in the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography at the University of Turin.

  12. Freud, Bion and Kant: Epistemology and anthropology in The Interpretation of Dreams.

    PubMed

    Sandford, Stella

    2017-02-01

    This interdisciplinary article takes a philosophical approach to The Interpretation of Dreams, connecting Freud to one of the few philosophers with whom he sometimes identified - Immanuel Kant. It aims to show that Freud's theory of dreams has more in common with Bion's later thoughts on dreaming than is usually recognized. Distinguishing, via a discussion of Kant, between the conflicting 'epistemological' and 'anthropological' aspects of The Interpretation of Dreams, it shows that one specific contradiction in the book - concerning the relation between dream-work and waking thought - can be understood in terms of the tension between these conflicting aspects. Freud reaches the explicit conclusion that the dream-work and waking thought differ from each other absolutely; but the implicit conclusion of The Interpretation of Dreams is quite the opposite. This article argues that the explicit conclusion is the result of the epistemological aspects of the book; the implicit conclusion, which brings Freud much closer to Bion, the result of the anthropological approach. Bringing philosophy and psychoanalysis together this paper thus argues for an interpretation of The Interpretation of Dreams that is in some ways at odds with the standard view of the book, while also suggesting that aspects of Kant's 'anthropological' works might legitimately be seen as a precursor of psychoanalysis. Copyright © 2016 Institute of Psychoanalysis.

  13. Anthropology and the Educational "Trading Zone": Disciplinarity, Pedagogy and Professionalism

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mills, David; Huber, Mary Taylor

    2005-01-01

    This article suggests that the notion of an educational "trading zone" is an analytically helpful way of describing a space in which ideas about learning and teaching are shared within and between disciplines. Drawing on our knowledge of anthropology and the Humanities, we suggest three possible reasons for the limited development of…

  14. Patterns of Sophistication and Naivety: Some Features of Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Education. Occasional Paper No. 22.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Erickson, Frederick

    The limits and boundaries of anthropology are briefly discussed, along with a general description of lay attitudes towards the field. A research case is given to illustrate the way in which anthropological study methods can contribute to educational research. Noted among these contributions is an informed distrust that anthropologists exhibit…

  15. The Archaeological Record Speaks: Bridging Anthropology and Linguistics

    PubMed Central

    Balari, Sergio; Benítez-Burraco, Antonio; Camps, Marta; Longa, Víctor M.; Lorenzo, Guillermo; Uriagereka, Juan

    2011-01-01

    This paper examines the origins of language, as treated within Evolutionary Anthropology, under the light offered by a biolinguistic approach. This perspective is presented first. Next we discuss how genetic, anatomical, and archaeological data, which are traditionally taken as evidence for the presence of language, are circumstantial as such from this perspective. We conclude by discussing ways in which to address these central issues, in an attempt to develop a collaborative approach to them. PMID:21716806

  16. Cultural-Ecological Theory of Academic Disengagement Used to Explain a Story of Race, Culture and Education.

    PubMed

    Ogunyemi, Boluwaji

    2017-01-01

    Students of African ancestry often share an experience of being a racialized minority in the context of the educational institution. Late Professor of Anthropology John Ogbu's Cultural-ecological Theory of Academic Disengagement is employed to describe the negative responses encountered by peers in the name of academic achievement. The late Nigerian-American anthropologist John Ogbu described that it is often socially disadvantageous for black youth to prosper academically in formal education. Black students are often seen as betraying their cultural identities by aspiring to academic success and scholastic achievement and are met with repugnance by black peers. The notion of "acting white" is unnecessary, impertinent should be abandoned outright as achievement should have no color. Copyright © 2017 National Medical Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. [The anti-philosophical anthropology in the Hippocratic treatise De Vetere Medicina (On Ancient Medicine)].

    PubMed

    Imai, Masahiro

    2007-01-01

    The Hippocratic treatise De Vetere Medicina (On Ancient Medicine) has been the focus of attention among classical scholars and historians of medicine. The author attacks in ch. 20 doctors and sophists who base their own medical theories and methods on philosophical anthropology taken from the contemporary natural philosophers. Many attempts have been made to elucidate, as opposed to their philosophical inquiry into human nature, the author's way of understanding it, which still remains unclear. I draw attention to the following points to make it clear that the conceptual framework of the author's medical anthropology is different from theirs. Their philosophical inquiry into human nature has its starting point in fundamental element(s), from which human beings were originally formed. The author focuses on human beings as existent in their present states, whose conditions and functions must be investigated through interrelations between them and their external factors, such as foods and drinks. A medical investigation into the interrelations will give us a scientific idea about human body, whose constituents are taken to be a large number of humors, reacting against some external factors and accordingly making us feel pain. This may presuppose that, in the author's medical anthropology, human body is conceptually demarcated as the physical or material aspect of human being, within which all physiological events depending on external factors and the humors take place. In their philosophical anthropology, however, human body doesn't seem to have been clearly conceptualized as such, because our experience of feeling pain should be judged to take place within the actions of the fundamental element(s), which must be supposed to constitute our cognitive self.

  18. A Genealogy of Animal Diseases and Social Anthropology (1870-2000).

    PubMed

    Keck, Frédéric

    2018-03-23

    Culling, vaccinating, and monitoring animals are the three main techniques used in contemporary veterinary public health to manage animal diseases that can be transmitted to humans. Each technique is underpinned by different ontological understandings of how microbes figure in relations between humans and animals. Therefore, animal diseases are not only a question for an applied anthropology but also involve the theoretical core of the discipline: that is, understanding how social causality emerges out of physical causality. To defend this argument, the article describes what Herbert Spencer wrote about foot-and-mouth disease; what William Robertson Smith thought about sacrifice in the context of bovine tuberculosis; how Emile Durkheim took vaccination for smallpox as a metaphor for the pathologies of the social; and what Claude Lévi-Strauss wrote about mad cow disease. The conceptions of the social in the writing of these four authors are analyzed through their understanding of the risk of transmission of animal diseases to humans, moving from prevention to precaution to preparedness. © 2018 by the American Anthropological Association.

  19. Anthropology and Epidemiology: learning epistemological lessons through a collaborative venture

    PubMed Central

    Béhague, Dominique Pareja; Gonçalves, Helen; Victora, Cesar Gomes

    2009-01-01

    Collaboration between anthropology and epidemiology has a long and tumultuous history. Based on empirical examples, this paper describes a number of epistemological lessons we have learned through our experience of cross-disciplinary collaboration. Although critical of both mainstream epidemiology and medical anthropology, our analysis focuses on the implications of addressing each discipline’s main epistemological differences, while addressing the goal of adopting a broader social approach to health improvement. We believe it is important to push the boundaries of research collaborations from the more standard forms of “multidisciplinarity,” to the adoption of theoretically imbued “interdisciplinarity.” The more we challenge epistemological limitations and modify ways of knowing, the more we will be able to provide in-depth explanations for the emergence of disease-patterns and thus, to problem-solve. In our experience, both institutional support and the adoption of a relativistic attitude are necessary conditions for sustained theoretical interdisciplinarity. Until researchers acknowledge that methodology is merely a human-designed tool to interpret reality, unnecessary methodological hyper-specialization will continue to alienate one field of knowledge from the other. PMID:18833344

  20. Social Structures, Ideologies, and Culture Codes in Occupational Development of Puerto Rican Youths. Volume 1 of Final Report, Anthropological Study of Disability From Educational Problems of Puerto Rican Youths.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burnett, Jacquetta Hill

    The question of how educational failures lead to or contribute to occupational disability was studied in a youthful Puerto Rican population in an economically poor neighborhood and school district of Chicago. Anthropological field research techniques, supplemented by scheduled interviews and questionnaires, were used to collect qualitative and…