Module 3:

Anthropology and the Study of

Culture
Introduction to Anthropology

• Humans studying humans.

• Promotes a holistic study of
humans.
• Derive from two Greek words
antropos (human) and logos
(study)
Introduction to Anthropology

What does it
mean to be
human?
Introduction to Anthropology

• Anthropology studies humans as

both biological and social
creatures.
• Biologically, it inquires on the
genetic composition of humans,
their relationship with other
primates, and their evolution.
Introduction to Anthropology

• Socially, it inquires on humans

behaviors, attitudes, and belief
systems, which range from
birth practices to burial rites.
Introduction to Anthropology

• Can also be defined as “the study

of people – their origins, their
development, and contemporary
variations, wherever and
whenever they have been found
on the face of the earth. (Ember,
Ember, and Peregrine, 2010)
5 Subdisciplines of Anthropology:

• Archeology – examines the

remains of ancient and historical
human populations to promote
an understanding of how
humans have adapted to their
environment and developed.
5 Subdisciplines of Anthropology:

• Cultural Anthropology – promotes

the study of a society’s culture
through their belief systems,
practices and possessions.
• Linguistic Anthropology – examines
the language of a group of people
and its relation to their culture.
5 Subdisciplines of Anthropology:

• Physical Anthropology – looks into

the biological development of humans
and their contemporary variation.
• Applied Anthropology – attempts to
solve contemporary problems through
the application of theories and
approaches of the discipline.
Introduction to Anthropology:

• Methodology used in gathering

information was crucial.
• Anthropologist need to establish
rapport with their host societies
before they can extract the life
stories of people.
Introduction to Anthropology:
• Key informants are individuals in a society
who have a significant knowledge on the
topic being studied by the anthropologist.
• Aside from interviews, they also use
participant-observation methods, which
entail the participation of the researcher
on the daily practices and rituals of the
group being studied.
Culture
• Culture is everything that a person learns as
a member of a society.
• Culture is everything. It is what a person
has, does and thinks as part of society. This
implies all of a person’s belief system, set of
behaviors, and material possessions. As such
it can be said that culture is a powerful
agent in shaping the decisions and actions of
humans, given a situation.
Culture
• Material culture includes all the
tangible and visible parts of culture,
which include clothes , food, and even
buildings.
• Nonmaterial culture includes all the
intangible parts of culture, which
consist of values, ideas and knowledge.
Culture
• Culture is learned. Culture is a set of
beliefs, attitudes, and practices that an
individual learns through his or her
own family, school, church, and other
social institutions.(enculturation)
• Culture can be modified to
accommodate desirable traits from
other cultures. (acculturation)
Culture
• When the culture of the older
generation comes into conflict with
the needs and realities of the younger
generation. (deculturation) When the
reason for the culture has been lost
and even the cultural trait itself is in
the process of being forgotten.
Culture
• Culture is shared. The set of
behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs
that a person possesses is a part
of a greater collection of values
and ideas that is communally
owned and practiced by members
of a society
Culture
• Culture affects biology.
Humans are born into cultures
that have values on beauty and
body.
Culture
• Culture is adaptive. Culture is a tool
for survival that humans use in
response to the pressures of their
environment. Both material and the
nonmaterial parts of culture are
influenced by the goal of humans to
address their needs as dictated by their
environment and their biology.
Culture
Culture
• Culture is maladaptive. Culture
can also cause problems for the
people who subscribe to it.
These problems arise when the
environment has changed and
culture has remained the same.
Culture
• Culture changes. The final
characteristics of culture is that it is
never static. This dynamism of culture
is due to the changing needs of
humans as they interpret and survive
in their environment. As such, culture
is continuously reinvented by people.
Theories Culture
Theory Perspective on Culture
Culture All cultures undergo the same
evolutionism development stages in the same
order. The main classifications
include savagery, barbarism, and
civilization.
Diffusionism All societies change as a result of
cultural borrowing from one
another.
Theories Culture
Theory Perspective on Culture
Historicism Each culture is unique and must be
studied in its own context.
Psychological Personality is largely seen to be the
anthropology result of learning culture.
Functionalism Society is thought to be like a
biological organism with all of the
parts interconnected. Existing
institutional structures of any society
are thought to perform indispensable
functions, without which the society
could not continue.
Theories Culture
Theory Perspective on Culture
Neo- Culture is said to be shaped by
evolutionism environmental and technological
conditions. Cultures evolve when
people are able to increase the
amount of energy under their
control.
Materialism Culture is the product of the
“material conditions” in which a
given community of people finds
itself.
Answer the following questons:

• What is anthropology?
• Why is anthropology a holistic
discipline?
• What are the branches of
anthropology?
Answer the following questons:

• What is culture?
• What are the characteristics of
culture?
• How can culture be both
adaptive and maladaptive?