Anthropology 315Third World Cultures

• Dr. Siemens• Office-Sierra Hall 240M• Office Telephone (818) 677-4931

• Office Hours– Tuesday and Thursday 8:20-9:20AM 3:30-4PM

– and by appointment• Email stephen.siemens@csun.edu

3x5 Card

• Name• Reason for Class• Previous Anthropology• Email Address• Is there a particular Third World Culture of interest to you?

• Anything else you want Dr. Siemens to know about you and your interests.

THE SCOPE OF ANTHROPOLOGY

What anthropologists have you heard of?

What did they study?

Harrison Ford as fictional Indiana Jones

Mary Leakey Discovered Oldest

Footprints

Louis Leakey found fossil humans

Jane Goodall was first to study chimpanzees in the wild.

Jane Goodall still works for Chimpanzee conservation.

Dian Fossey was first to study gorillas in the wild.

Sigourney Weaver as Dian Fossey

Margaret Mead with Samoan Girls

Deborah Tannen

David Maybury-Lewis(right) Host of PBS series Millenium”

Also founder of the human rights group “Cultural Survival”

Sam Dunn used

anthropological

training in heavy metal documentary• Takes holistic view:

religion, gender, social, global and historical perspectives.

• Main obstacle was convincing artists he was sympathetic. – Metal artists gave thoughtful

responses.– Some appeared hostile on

camera but friendly off camera.

• Anthropological approach was not first choice.

Chicago Tribune 4-14-06

Anthropologists You may have Heard of

• Indiana Jones*

• Mary Leakey• Louis Leakey• Jane Goodall• Dian Fossey• Margaret Mead• Deborah Tannen• David Maybury-Lewis• Sam Dunn

• Explore Ruins (fictional)• Fossil Hunter• Fossil Hunter• Chimpanzees• Gorillas• Samoan Girls• American Women and Men Talking

• Xavante Rights• Heavy Metal Music

*Fictitious anthropologist

Anthropologists in the News

Anthropologists contribute to American

society as well as to the international community

of scholars

Maira Martinez• Forensic Anthropologist• Identifying victims of political massacres

• Families accompany her sometimes• LA Times August 4 A7

Jane MacLaren Walsh

• Studied Crystal Skull donated to Smithsonian

• Skull was made with modern tools

• Skull lacks prehistoric style features

• LA Times June 8, 2008

• Studied Japanese consumer culture– Worked in Tokyo

convenience stores• Japanese buy exotic

Colombian Giant beetles.– Heads resemble samurai

headgear– $350/Giant beetle

• LA Times 5-21-08 A4

• Biodiversity valuable to Colombian, German Viasus, left

• Colombia plans to market more biodiversity

Gavin Whitelaw

Diana FullwileyHarvard

• Analyses genetic markers to connect African-Americans to ancestral populations and African-American kin.– "At most, you're getting 1% of your ancestry…”

• Raymond A. Winbush– “paternal DNA linked him to the Bubi, a people

indigenous to Equatorial Guinea on Central Africa's Atlantic coast, and his maternal DNA linked him to the Tikar people of adjoining Cameroon. He also carried markers common in people of Dutch, French, British and German origin.”

– "The discovery helped me to locate myself more psychologically," he said. "It's all kind of wrapped up in the idea of locating oneself in history."

• LA Times 5-4-08 A6

Richard Applegate• Wrote Samala dictionary from John P. Harrington’s notes– Samala is a Chumash Language• Chumash are native people of Los Angeles

• Santa Barbara Independent 4-24-08

• Chumash financed dictionary• Chumash are relearning

language– Last native speaker of Samala

died 1965

J.P. Harrington

Anthropologists in the News

• Maira Martinez

• Jane MacLauren Walsch

• Gavin Whitelaw• Diana Fullwiley

• Richard Applegate

• Identifying Colombian Political Victims

• Crystal Skulls

• Japanese Consumerism• African Genetic Markers• Chumash Language

Anthropologists for Our Readings

Trobriands(Weiner)

Mbuti(Turnbull)

Turnbull-Mbuti, Weiner-Trobriands, Flint & de Waal -DarfurEvans-Pritchard and Siemens-Azande

DarfurFlint&deWaal

Colin Turnbull

Mbuti (Sua)

Mitsuo IchikawaMbuti (Sua)

Robert Bailey-Mbuti (Efe)Justin Kendrick-

Mbuti

Bronislaw Malinowski Trobriand Fieldwork and

Functionalism

Annette Weiner Trobriands

Darfur, Sudan

• Julie Flint and Alex de Waal used research on Dor village by anthropologist Adam Abdul-Jalil Musa

Edward Evans-

Pritchard Azande

Siemens Observes Azande Magic

Anthropologists for Our Readings

• Colin Turnbull• Mitsuo Ichikawa• Robert Bailey• Justin Kendrick• Annette Weiner• Bronislaw Malinowski• Adam Abdul-Jalil Musa• Julie Flint and Alex de Waal

• Edward Evans-Pritchard

• Stephen Siemens

• Mbuti Pygmies• Mbuti Pygmies• Mbuti Pygmies• Mbuti Pygmies• Trobriand Islanders• Trobriand Islanders• Darfur• Darfur• Azande• Azande

Why are all of these called

anthropologists?

Anthropology Defined• Anthropology is the study of human beings in a holistic manner.– Holism means appreciating totalities as more than mere combinations of parts.

– There are two ways anthropology is holistic.•1) Comprehensiveness. Because anthropology is holistic its study includes all humans of all places and all times.

•2) Interrelatedness. Because anthropology is holistic any human group should be studied in its entirety, finding connections among economics, politics, religion, language, etc.

Nature and Nurture• A hundred years ago anthropology was the same as “racial” studies.– Biological determinism was the prevailing view.

– Eugenics was popular.•Eugenics seeks to “improve” a population by identifying those with “good” genes and promoting their reproduction. Those with “bad” genes are prevented from reproducing. – Nazi extermination of Jews was eugenics.

•Eugenics is inhumane and mistaken about genetics.

Cultural Determinism

• Franz Boas argued that the important sources of human variation were learned rather than inherited.– Boas changed the prevailing view to cultural determinism.

• Boas decreased the importance of biology to anthropology and increased the importance of learned culture.

Anthropological Subfields

First four subfields are results of differences in

methods.• Physical (or Biological) Anthropology• Archeology• Linguistic Anthropology• Cultural Anthropology• Applied Anthropology intersects the first four.– Has practical as well as intellectual goals.

Physical Anthropology

• Physical Anthropology uses biological methods.

Physical anthropology studies human origin, related species & variation.

Archeology• Archeology uses excavation methods and sampling.– Archeology studies artifacts.

• Artifacts are objects made by humans.

Linguistic Anthropolog

y• Linguistic Anthropology uses linguistic methods.

• Linguistic anthropology studies language in use.

Cultural Anthropology• Cultural Anthropology uses participant observation.– Cultural anthropology studies cultures of living people.

• This class is about cultural anthropology.

Applied Anthropology• Intersects cultural, physical, linguistic

and archeological anthropology.• Works with organizations to solve problems

using anthropology: business, government, non-governmental organizations.– Creates commonality among practitioners

• Marietta L. Baba (right) as worked with major corporations such as Motorola.

• Current interest is in globally distributed work groups.

• Network analysis reveals rifts that hinder productivity.