Foundations of Culture
Study of human similarities, differences, and culture
Anthropology
Institutions and processes that teach and reinforce common beliefs, values, and orientations among members of a community
Generation of Similarity
the process by which members of a society pass on culture to new generations
Enculturation
Occur when people who operate under different forms of common sense interact
Cultural Misunderstandings
People tend to define what they are accustomed to as normal, comparison allows for the questioning of normalcy
Comparative
Learned system of meanings through which people orient themselves in the world
Culture
Political and social organizations with the power to regulate behavior
Organization of Difference
The acquisition of cultural knowledge that takes place within institutions specifically designed for this purpose, such as schools, apprenticeships, and on-the-job training
Formal Learning
The unpleasant, even traumatic, feeling people get when the rules and understandings by which they have organized their lives do not apply
Culture Shock
Anthropologists assume that all aspects of life are intertwined
Holistic
Something that stands for something else to someone in some respect
Symbolic Culture
Can change over time, changing conditions in a number of ways, changing environmental, economic, political, and social conditions, internal and external pressures
Adaptative
Learning that we engage in simply by watching, listening, and participating in everyday activities
Informal Learning
The most encompassing level of cultural integration, comprising organized assumptions people have about the structure of the universe. A model of reality that people use to orient themselves in the world.
Worldview
Anthropology is an empirical science in which data is collected through observation and interaction
Cooperatively understood but not equally distributed across the population
Shared Culture
People encounter one another through trade, migration, and warfare, as well as through mediated forms of communication such as the circulation of tech, art, books, and movies.
Diffusion of Ideas
Cultural learning that shapes our bodies and unconscious behaviors, including such things as how we speak, how we move, how we eat, and our comfort level in relation to the proximity of other people
Embodiment
everyday activities of people in a particular community, as well as the artifacts they employ
Cultural Practices
This is how empirical data is gathered, includes a variety of methods
Fieldwork
A set of unstated assumptions we share with others in our community
Common Sense
The flows of symbols across the global landscape
Intercultural Relations
The underlying mechanism that generates meaningful human action
Cultural Logics
Long-term engagements with a host community, anthropologist enters into everyday life with the community
Participant Observation