Anthropology 101/Exam 1/Ole Miss/Delerme Questions and Answers

Anthropology - the study of human societies and the human past Culture - the complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, arts, customs, social institutions, morals, and achievements of a social group - patterns for living that enable us to function as recognizably human Enculturation - the gradual adaptation of the characteristics and norms of a culture or group by a person or another culture Explicit Culture - cultural practices and knowledge that people can easily talk about, such as clothing styles, respect, behavior, etc. Tacit Culture - Cultural practices and knowledge that people usually lack words for Ethnography - the process of discovering and describing a particular culture/fieldwork/a descriptive work produced from the study and systematic recording of human cultures Naïve Realism - the belief that people everywhere see the world in the same way/the human tendency to believe that we see the world around us objectively/that people who disagree with us must be uninformed or irrational Ethnocentrism - evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one's own culture Worldview - the set of beliefs about fundamental aspects of reality that ground and influence all your perceiving, thinking, knowing, and doing Epistemology - your worldview consists of this: the study of knowledge and knowledge production Religion - the cultural knowledge of the supernatural used to cope with the ultimate problems of human existence Magic - the practices and strategies that people use to gain control over the supernatural Ritual - prescribed behaviors in which there is no empirical connection between the means and the desired end; not rational Routine - a course of action that is regularly followed Rite of Passage - ritual events that mark changes in a person's social position; developed by Victor Turner Rite of Passage: Separation - an individual leaving his or her group and experiencing a symbolic "death" Rite of Passage: Liminality - a period of ambiguity during a person's transition between status and another; a time of seclusion Rite of Passage: Incorporation - rejoining the group with a new "adult status" Communitas - collective passage rites, which create a community spirit and feeling of togetherness Fetish - an object believed to have supernatural powers; the primitive belief that godly powers can inhere in inanimate things Taboo - opposite of a ritual--things you should not do Pilgrimage - in all religions is a pre-eminently a journey of the religious imagination; constitutes a physical movement from one place to another, but also involves spiritual movement