Applied Anthropologist: Understanding Other Cultures

Ethnography tells about a culture and the members that comprise this culture. A definition is the scientific description of the customs and individual people of a culture. The process of doing this assignment allowed me to explore another aspect of a cultural group. I was able to learn extensively about interactions between individuals and how see them as a culture. The group that comprises my ethnography is a cultural group very common to Utah. The culture I focused on was the LDS culture, to be more specific I studied a sub-culture of this group. My subculture was a group of 12 year old adolescents that are a Sunday school class in this culture.

Anthropology is split into four different sections; cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, archeology, and biological anthropology. If I were to favor one branch of anthropology, over the others, it would have to be cultural anthropology. Although, it was hard to make the decision of which branch I favored the most, I chose cultural anthropology because it gives us a greater understanding of why we are the way we are. Also, why others are the way they are.

In chapter 6 of Introducing Cultural Anthropology Howell & Paris talked about the different Modes of Subsistence. Howell & Paris described what each mode was and then described how the lifestyle affected the interaction between people and interaction between societies. They then discussed the different exchange systems and how interaction were affected by the systems. In “Church, Plaza, and Marketplace Larson talks about the interactions of cultures and beliefs. Larson discusses the issues that can arise when ministering to someone in a different culture. Larson looks into detail the issue of completion vs social acceptance and independence vs economic security. This week David Mann discuss how culture vary when it comes to the how does wealth and relationships relate. Mann goes into the role of the missionary. The missionary must understand the how exchanges take place in different cultures to most effectively best share the Gospel.

Humans are an interesting species because of the strong need humans have to fully understand what it truly means to be human. Many fields such as history, psychology, and sociology all offer a perspective in the study of humanity, but there are distinguishable from anthropology. Anthropology differs from other humanities fields due to its holistic nature, comparative research methods, and the strong emphasis on fieldwork and participant interaction. Anthropology is the study of people throughout the world, their evolutionary history, how they behave, adapt to different environments, communicate and socialize with one another. In order for anthropologists to examine the full scope of human life, they employ the four field approach that embodies the holistic nature of the field.

James P. Spradley (1979) described the insider approach to understanding culture as "a quiet revolution" among the social sciences (p. iii). Cultural anthropologists, however, have long emphasized the importance of the ethnographic method, an approach to understanding a different culture through participation, observation, the use of key informants, and interviews. Cultural anthropologists have employed the ethnographic method in an attempt to surmount several formidable cultural questions: How can one understand another's culture? How can culture be qualitatively and quantitatively assessed? What aspects of a culture make it unique and which connect it to other cultures? If

• Anthropologists study the origin, development, and customs of human beings • They may research many questions related to what it means to be human:

When I and two other people left class and walked to the Anthropology open house, we were stopped outside of the door to receive the paper. We were told we needed 6 other stamps in total to get the extra credit for the assignment. One stamp was given to use at the door.

Anthropology is defined, in the most basic terms, as the study of other cultures. This field can subsequently be divided into more specific sects, and contain more precise defining characteristics, but this definition is essentially all that is needed. Anthropology is a science that attempts to look at other cultures and draw conclusions to questions that are raised while studying. An anthropologist is someone who accepts what is presented before them and is driven by an urge to understand each presentation as thoroughly as possible. Once the concept of anthropology is accepted, one must identify the means of reaching the goal of this field. In the sect of social anthropology, this vehicle is known as

The girls I see this evening are young teens who are wearing too much makeup trying to be seen by the young boys who are wearing expensive sneakers and saggy pants. A few of the young girls I see are young mothers pushing baby strollers and conversing

In Anthropology, as the word implies, you see the physical, social, material, and cultural developments of human beings who have risen above their "place," after having been born black in the South.

of writings. And an astronomer can help explain the layout of an ancient city as well as the

Cultural Anthropology is the culture change and difference in society. The idea of Cultural Anthropology is to understand cultural traits, language, environment, and historical background. Some aspects of Cultural Anthropology include foods relationships, actions taken, insight, style and approach on how humans were able to live or exist (also known as adaptive mechanism). (O’Neil, 2002-2012). Through research studies, Anthropologist are able to establish a better perspective of society as a

What is anthropology? This is a question that can be answered in numerous ways, but we are going to define it as simple as possible. If we break the word down into its two components it means the study of human beings. “Anthropo” means human beings or human kind and “logy” or “logia” is Greek for the study or knowledge of something. When we put it all together, it is the study of human beings which can be very broad. Anthropology can be broken down into four subfields: physical anthropology, archaeology, linguistic anthropology, and cultural anthropology.

Politically we are confronted with a host of issues ranging from matters pertaining to local taxation, planning, and zoning to regional (if not global) terrorism and other manifestations of conflict. The study of geography allows us to participate and enjoy our planet. Geography gives us a sense of reference to where we live and where we may be going in relationship to where we have been. Its appreciation of the world we live in. Anthropology is the study of human kind and culture, everybody wants to know where and how humans came to be. Some examples we can apply anthropology in our daily lives would be in relating to our families, friends, co-workers, in understanding work dynamics, in understanding and communicating with teens,, and in proposing new ideas, and plans. Its unique contribution to studying the bonds of human social relations been the distinctive concept of culture.

In society today, the discipline of anthropology has made a tremendous shift from the practices it employed years ago. Anthropologists of today have a very different focus from their predecessors, who would focus on relating problems of distant peoples to the Western world. In more modern times, their goal has become much more local, in focusing on human problems and issues within the societies they live.