anthro midterm

Anthropology Midterm Unique A. Gray 02/25/2019 What is Anthropology? Drake What are the distinctive features of cultural anthropology? Use supporting evidence to discuss how Drake could have applied these features in his examination of cultural universals and generalities in the African American population during The Great Depression as detailed in the article: Reflection on Anthropology and the Black Experience. The distinctive features of cultural anthropology are: Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism. Ethnocentrism is judging other cultures by the standards of one’s own culture rather than by the standards of other cultures and cultural relativism is the idea that each culture must be understood in terms of its own values and beliefs and not by the standards of another culture. Valuing and Sustaining Diversity Cultural Anthropology Is Relevant to Careers During the great depression things were extremely tough for Afro-Americans. The rate of Afro-Americans getting hired were slim to none and their chances of getting fired were high. Inequality was at an all-time high for blacks. In the light of these features Drake could have started a group that was predominantly for Afro-American (hence a survival program) to share his expertise and knowledge to support the program, which would’ve helped ethnic minorities protect and manage their natural environment, claim rights, and protect their cultural heritage. If Drake would have started this group/program, he could teach from his point of view on the importance of race relations. Being that Drake taught at Roosevelt, he had to stick to the text book curriculum, and the text could not be reconciled with his own belief that they sometimes needed to escalate tension and to precipitate conflict. During the great depression, If Drake lead blacks in focusing on cultural relativism, that could have helped them seek out the tools that were needed to succeed and overcome their hardship. Who was Allison Davis and how did he influence Drake? In your opinion did Drake successfully apply his theories to his study/teachings? Please give evidence to support your claim. How did the impact of Resurgent Africa, Davis, and the other Black Pioneers in anthropology pave the way for the African Americans today? Please use textual evidence Allision Davis was an anthropologist. Drake was influenced by Davis’s attentiveness in the areas of social anthropology. Drake felt as if many other anthropologists, such as Quaker and Marxists, were ignoring the issues that social anthropology entailed (hence, race relations In the United States). In my opinion, Drake successfully applied his theory to his studying and teaching. He incorporated his theory through his teachings at Roosevelt college, which dealt with race “thoroughly and frankly”, even though he never taught a course specifically for race relations. The impact of Resurgent Africa, Davis, and other Black Pioneers in anthropology paved a way for the African Americans today by staying persistent in the fight for equality while facing many challenges, black demand which resulted in the increase of black study programs that appeared in over 500 colleges and universities, opening doors for more blacks to become anthropologist, and allowing Afro-Americans the same learning and degree opportunities that once wasn’t available for people of color. What is Biological Anthropology? Armelagos Compare and contrast the biological species concept and evolving species concept? Discuss how it coexists with scientific racism and the AAPA. The biological species concept (BSC) is a definition of species that focuses on reproductive capabilities: Organisms from different populations are in the same species if they can interbreed and produce fertile offspring. The evolving species concept (ESC) is a definition of species in evolution as “independently evolving lineages. Within the biological species members that are in a distinct group can only interbreed with another of it’s kind (ex: human reproducing with another human, opposite ex: a dog can’t produce with a cat), does not allow testing of fossil organisms, sexually reproduce living species. Both BSC and ESC are species, and species are always evolving. Evolving species concept can be noted in fossil records and they’re asexual. This coexist with scientific racism and the AAPA through race-mixing. Summarize Armelagos’ article. Relate the challenges that Black (African American) people face as a result scientific racism? The Armelagos article is an evaluation of two books, Histories of American Physical Anthropology in the Twentieth Century (Little and Kennedy 2010b) and A Brief History of Archaeology: Classical Times to the Twenty-First Century (Fagan 2004), by George J. Armelagos. The evaluation of the two books entails the disciplines of biological anthropology and archaeology. The article covered the topics of Franz Boaz and the founding of anthropology, the history of physical anthropology and several anthropological views of it, the founding of the AAPA, forensic anthropology, marks on race, archaeology, and bioarcheology. Due to scientific racism blacks (Negros) were made out to be defective and a type of science experiment. The text states, that Hrdlicka stated, “The real problem of the American Negro lies in his brain, and it would seem, therefore, that this organ above all others would have received scientific attention.’’ On the other hand, Caucasians we sought out to be “Normal”. Hicks and Leonard Summarize the section in Hicks and Leonard’s entitled: Political Economy and Culture. To what extent do their analysis challenge bio-anthropologist? How does the section from your textbook reading Evolutionary Selection (page 61. And pages 65-66) support some of the ideas Political Economy and Culture? In the section titled Political Economy and Culture, it is explained how culture ties in with economics and politics and shouldn’t be seen separately. The political economist conceptualizes culture and culture change and the implications of this for biocultural models. The political economist poses many challenges and questions for the bio-anthropologist. In all, the political economist did not wish to overestimate the power of anthropological ways or views but wish to be a part of the solution and not more so of the problem. The political economist wanted the anthropologist know that, “Grassroots challenges to inequality must begin not with challenging the current distribution of resources but by challenging the cultural constructions that naturalize poverty, and anthropologist should be mindful of this scholarly production.” Explain the DOHaD Hypothesis? Compare and contrast developmental plasticity with phenotypical plasticity. How do they relate to the DOHaD Hypothesis? In your opinion, is the DOHaD Hypothesis feasible? Bonus List ( yes- you may use bullet points) how the selected articles (Drake, Armelagos, Hicks and Leonard) relate to your textbook readings. In your opinion, what were some of the more impactful themes of the selected readings?