Week #2- An Introduction to Anthropology & Culture
1- Describe in your own words what is Anthropology, and what are some of the questions the discipline attempts to ask and research. What is fieldwork? How are anthropologists and scientists similar to story-tellers?
2- Define culture and the six characteristics of culture. How is culture different from the definition of ethnocentrism?
3- Cultural anthropologists focus on the way beliefs, practices, and symbols bind groups of people together and shape their world view and life ways. Thinking about your own culture, what is an example of a belief, practice, or symbol that would be interesting to study anthropologically? What do you think could be learned by studying the example you have selected?
Week #3- Archaeology
1-What is Archaeology? How is it different from History?
2- How does Reniel Rodríguez-Ramos use the jade to explain the cultural boundaries of the Caribbean?
3-What can we learn about human history from teeth? (Podcast)
The response (forum) for Week #3 is due Tuesday, February 22, 2022 during class time.
Week #4- Biological Anthropology
**Note: Begin reading on Page 9 for “Introduction to Biological Anthropology”**
1- What is human biology? What are some subfields of biological anthropology and what do they study?
2- What does it mean when the authors state that “anthropologists are scientists”? (Think of the scientific method and the questions that biological anthropologists attempt to answer)
3-How is Jason De León using Archaeology, Biological Anthropology and Ethnography to provide us a full picture of the “migrant trail”?
The response (forum) for Week #4 is due Tuesday, March 1, 2022 during class time.
Week #5- Linguistic Anthropology
1- Define language and linguistic relativity (Light, 2020)
2- What is “Mock Spanish” and “Inverted Spanglish”? Provide an example of each (Rosa, 2016)
3- How does Urciouli (1996) describe “language prejudice”?
The response (forum) for Week #5 is due Tuesday, March 8, 2022 during class time.
Week #6 – Geography and Empire
1- Why is Latin America “the region of the open veins”?
2- According to Immerwahr, what is “The Greater United States”?
The response (forum) for Week #6 is due Tuesday, March 15, 2022 during class time.
Week #7 – Race & Ethnicity
1-What are the main differences between race and ethnicity? (Mention at least three)
2-What is cultural identity? What are the three “presences” that Hall is referring to in his argument? Describe them.
3-How do Flores and Jiménez (2009) describe Afro-Latinidad in relationship to race in the US/Latin America?
The response (forum) for Week #7 is due Tuesday, March 22, 2022 during class time.
Week #8 – Diasporas and Cultural Production
1- How does Halstead present the ideologies behind gifts and gift exchange? What do these gifts represent to people who receive them (especially from family members that are currently living in the US)? Think about identity, migration, and culture.
2- Why does Hutchinson call salsa “Globalized music”? How is this connected to diasporas, geography, and cultural production?
The response (forum) for Week #8 is due Tuesday, March 29, 2022 during class time.
Week #9 – Gender & Sexuality
1- What are “the tacit subjects” that Decena (2008) describes in his article? Can you identify any similarities or parallels between Decena and the podcast “Seeking Asylum, Seeking To Stay Together” and “José”?
2- How is “The Dirty Body that Cleans” (Pinho, 2015) an example of gender and racial inequality?
The response (forum) for Week #9 is due Tuesday, April 5, 2022 during class time.
Week #10 – Culture & Economy
1-How is sugar connected to colonialism, slavery, and the Industrial Revolution? (Mintz, 1986)
2-Cacao is also a symbol of currency, but it is also used for other activities in Mesoamerican life. What other activities does McNeill describe? (Identify two of them) (McNeill, 2009)
3-Why is cacao a sign of wealth and power to the elite? (McNeill, 2009)
The response (forum) for Week #10 is due Tuesday, April 26, 2022 during class time.
Week #11 – Medical Anthropology & Health
1-What is the “Biomedical approach” in Medicine? How is it different from “Ethno-etiology”?(Henninger-Rener, 2020)
2-What is the role of curanderos in Latin America? How are they different from the traditional “Western” doctor? (Cavender & Albán, 2009)
The response (forum) for Week #11 is due Tuesday, May 3, 2022 during class time.
Week #12 – Politics & Sports
1- How do sports, such as the case of soccer in Argentina, produce “national” identities? How are these related to masculinity? (Archetti, 1994)
2- How are sports jerseys “cultural symbols” and expressions of identity? (Kleszynski & Ramírez, 2010)
The response (forum) for Week #11 is due Tuesday, May 3, 2022 during class time.
Week #13 – Religion
1- How does Wolf define “Master symbol”? How is the Virgin of Guadalupe an example of a “Master Symbol”?
2- How does Mintz and Trouillot define Vodou? What are the connections of Vodou with the history and politics of Haiti?
The response (forum) for Week #12 is due Tuesday, May 10, 2022 during class time.
