07 Jul Anthropology Midterm
Choose two questions from those provided. Make sure to put the number of the question next to your answer and place them one below the other. Please provide a minimum of 250 words for each response and put them one after the other in the text box provided.
1. What are the impacts of consumer culture to the rest of the world? How does globalization effect all of us when we do things like buy soft drinks, technology or clothing? Give examples that we’ve covered or that you may know of. Do these impacts only affect humans or are there other ways that global consumerism affects the world?
2. What has changed in the way that Anthropologists define culture? How has the debate over Nature vs. Nurture changed? Give some examples of characteristics that were once considered “Natural”? What was the reasoning behind such arguments? What is the reasoning behind saying that someone is ‘naturally’ lazy or ‘naturally’ unintelligent? What is its historical background? What are some of the current views?
3. Can you identify any social structures that we inhabit or are constrained/limited/controlled by? In other words, are there roles that we occupy that serve a specific function, that define us in some way? Do we have a say in the matter? How does agency and hegemony factor into the way that we exercise control? Can we exercise control? You can tackle this question from a number of ways. You can use language, race, ethnicity, popular culture, technology to address this question.
4. The Department of Defense has an Anthropological program called the Human Terrain Program that maps out populations for potential counter insurgency purposes. What anthropological issues does this potentially raise? Be specific and discuss whether you think it conforms to the basic anthropological ethical guidelines. What could you do to make it more ethical if you think this possible? What makes it beyond salvaging if you think this is the case?
5. What are the current attitudes underlying the use of proper language? How does power factor int o this? What is the current dominant dialect in YOUR view? Why is proper language associated with success? What does it do for you to learn it? Do you see this changing? If so, what evidence can you provide for this change in the way we speak? You can use a range of examples from your book, to popular media to your own anecdotal evidence to support your argument.
6.How are Race, Ethnicity and Nationality sometimes conflated? Why do you think this happens? Give examples of this mixing up if so. How is this negative? How might this be seen as a positive by some? In what ways have people resisted this conflation, stereotypes and discrimination? Finally, what is the problem with trying to categorize a person into a neat little racial box. What does this wind up doing?
