ANTH150 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Reconsideration Of A Motion, Franz Boas, Ethnography
ANTH150 Lecture
II: Thinking Anthropologically
Obesity in the City
• Why might a minority, single mother, living in an inter-city context be obese?
• Cheaper fast food
• Education levels
• Not much fresh food in CBD
• Fresh food expensive
• Culture of eating out
• Time poor (food prep and exercise)
• Emotional eating
• Sedentary work
• Gym expense
• Density of fast food to areas
• Metabolism
• Stress
Penis Theft
• Hypoerinvolution
• Power of suggestion
• Idiom of distress
History of Anthropolgy
• Travel writing
• Herodotus (484-425 BCE)
• Relatively objective
Interest in Other Groups
• Object of pity or contempt
• Entertainment
• Interest in values
The Professionalisation of Anthropology
• Wealth and disparity
• Occupational specialisation
• Leisure class and “gentlemen scholars”
• Increase in trade and conquest
Modern Anthropology
• Anthropology needed science
• Early on, evolutionary theory shaped explanations
• Most early anthropologists never did fieldwork
Evolution Theory
• Society moves in specific directions
• Therefore, early social evolutionists saw society as progressing to higher and higher levels
• As a result, they concluded that their own cultural attitudes and behaviours were more
advanced than those of earlier societies
Ethnography
• An ethnography provides an account of a particular community or culture
• A process of observing a culture from their point of view
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Document Summary
History of anthropolgy: travel writing, herodotus (484-425 bce, relatively objective. Interest in other groups: object of pity or contempt, entertainment. The professionalisation of anthropology: wealth and disparity, occupational specialisation, leisure class and gentlemen scholars . Modern anthropology: anthropology needed science, early on, evolutionary theory shaped explanations, most early anthropologists never did fieldwork. Ethnography: an ethnography provides an account of a particular community or culture, a process of observing a culture from their point of view. Bronislaw malinowski (1884-1942: a key person in the development of ethnographic methods. Characteristics of ethnographic research: conducted in natural settings, gives a holistic view of people in their environment, gets at local perspectives, describes and interprets, guided by broader questions, rather than a hypothesis, focused on meaning. Franz boas (1858-1942: before malinowski"s time, cultures and societies were described in evolutionary terms, this ranking of societies changed with franz boas; the father of american anthropology.