Presented by:

Nathaniel P. Truzo and Regina Diamal

1. Identify the subjects of inquiry and goals of Anthropology
2. Explain anthropological perspectives on culture
3. Describe culture as a complex whole.
4. Identify aspects of culture and society.
5. Raisee questions toward a holistic appreciation of cultures
and society.
6. Recognize the Value of Anthropology for the 21st Century
• Anthropology
- promotes a holistic study of humans.
-Derived from two Greek words
-Antropos (Human)
-Logos (Study)
• Anthropology seeks to answer this primary
question:
• What does it mean to be Human?
• Anthropology studies human as both
-Biological and Social Creatures.
Another Key Element that makes Anthropology
holistic is its Research Time Frame, which
ranges from the evolution of humans as a
species to our current development.
Anthropology study also
-Ethnic Groupings and Geological
Locations.
It can 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).
 Archeology
Cultural Anthropology
Linguistic Anthropology
Physical Anthropology
Applied Anthropology
Examines the remains of
ancient and historical human
populations to promote an
understanding of how
humans adapted to their
environment and developed.
Promote to study of a
society’s culture through
their belief systems,
practices, and possessions.
Examines the
langguage of a group of
people and its relation
to their culture.
Looks into the Biological
Development of
Humans and their
contemporary variation.
Attempts to solve
contemporary problems
through the application of
theories and approaches of
the discipline.
During the 19th century,
anthropologists, were
often from Western
Societies.
One of the Classic
studies in Anthropology,
Tristes Tropiques, was
made by Claude Levi-
Strauss, A French
Anthropologist. This
work Presented the lives
of a nonmodern society
in Brazil.
Claude Levi-Strauss
In the Advent of 21st century, human
experiences diversified, nad as
globalization’s effects were felt in almost
all societies.

Anthropology extended its study to

cultural and subcultural groups in
industrialized societies.
Deviance and Social Organization,
were studied by anthropologist.

Philippe Bourgois, a professor of

Anthropology at the University of
Pennsylvania, studied the lives of
street-level drud dealers.
Philippe Bourgois
Anthropologist need to
establish rapport with their
host Societies before they
can extract the life stories of
people.
Key Informants are
individuals in a society who
have significant knowledge
on the topic being studied by
the Anthropologist.
Anthropologists also use
PARTCIPANT-OBSERVATION
METHODS
Which entail on the participation
of the researcher on the daily
practices and rituals of the
group being studied.
The Both Anthropologists
Levi-Strauss and Bourgois
stay in the field for more than
TWO YEARS and live in the
communities that they were
documenting.
Is Everything that a person
Learns as a member of a
society.
CULTURE IS EVERYTHING.
It is the person has, does,
and thinks as a part of
society.
Implies all Belief system, Set
of Behavior and material
Possessions.
Culture is a powerful agent in
shaping the decisions and
actions of humans, given
situation.
Consist of the Material and
Non-Material
Includes all the tangible and visible parts
pf culture, which includes foods, clothes,
and even buildings. Material culture
differ, as each society is configured by
it’s environment and history(e.g. Culinary
Culture of the Philippines) is different
from even that of it’s neighbors in Asia
such as Japan. The difference of
material culture is becoming less visible
due to globalization.
Includes all Intangible parts of the culture
such as values, Ideas, and Knowledge.
Just like Material Culture, the belief and
value systems of societies differ from
one another based on their environment
and history.
Values are concept that are culturally
determined; it separates what is
acceptable from that which is taboo.
On the other hand, beliefs are
culturally approved truths that deal
with the specific parts of human life,
for example, the belief in the phrase
“bahala na”, which was derived from
the older phrase “bathala na”,
supports the religious values system
that is present in the society.
Culture is a set of Beliefs,
Attitudes, and Practices that
an Individual learns through
his/her family, school, chruch,
and other social institutions.
Enculturation- The process of
Learning your own culture

As you interact with your

immediate family and peers,
you learn the values and
accepted behaviors in your
society.
Acculturation- culture can be
modified to accommodate desirable
traits from other cultures.
Ex.
Inclination of some Filipinos
towards some elements of Korean
culture has led to the acceptance of
Korean Pop songs despite their
performed in a foreign language
Decculturation- when the
culture of the older generation
comes into conflict with the
needs and realities of the
younger generation.
Ex. Tradition in Japan that
Imposes imense obligation of
the first born child to be the
model child for his/her siblings
has been found as an instigator
of two phenomena:high child
suicide rate and high
educational attainment rate
among adolescents.
• Implies that a particular behavior
cannot be considered as a
culture if there is only one
person practicing it.
• Shared Intergenerationally.
• Hence, to share a culture, it
must be taught to members of
contemporary society who will,
in turn, teach the younger
generation.
 Culture of Parent’s Culture of
Society Culture of Individual Interacting Society

Set of Knowledge and Behaviors that corresponds to the

combined culture of his/her parents and that of the adopted
society.
Humans are born in to cultures that have
values on beauty and body. Among the
Mursi tribe of Ethiopia in Africa, wearing lip
plates is a sign of BEAUTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOMEN are
Expected to wear
Them to appear
Desirable to men.
 One of the most
popular traditions
in China is that
FOOT BINDING
Among women that
ensures their potential for Good marriage.
Other name for Foot binding is “Lotus Feet”
with the ideal 7.5 length centimeter(3
inches). This disfigurement renders women
who underwent the procedur crippled and
unable to participate in many social events
of their communities.
The Interaction between
Physiology and Culture is not
Unilateral. As a Culture Affects
the Physical Traits of a Person,
Culture can be defined by the
normative physical
characteristics of humans.
Culture is a tool for survival that
humans use in response to the
pressures of their environment.
Material and Non Material both
influence by the goal of humans
to address their needs as
dictated by their biology and
environment
The Inuits of Arctic
Region are well-
Known for building
Igloos during
fishing and hunting
Expeditions. This Dome-shaped homes
provide shelter for the mobile group
During Summer, they use tupiqs, which are tents
made of animal skin, as their contemporary homes.
In MUSLIMS, the consumption of pork is not
allowed, so cattle is one of their primary source
of meat.
In India, on the other hand, cows are venerated, so
consuming beef is considered taboo.
 According to Marvin Harris, these taboos are
responses to the environmental pressures on food
supply in these areas.
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 (e.g.
car culture) present in most
societies is getting maladaptive as
the environment gets polluted.
 The car Industry remains active despite the economic
turmoil it faces as a developing country. This culture is
highly maladaptive given the roads that cater to vehicles are
not wide enough.
The Final Characteristic of Culture
is that never static. This Dynamism
of Culture is due to the changing
needs of humans as they interpret
and survive in their environment.
 THEORY PERSPECTIVE ON CULTURE
CULTURAL EVOLUTIONISM All cultures undergo the same development stages in
The same order. The main classification include
Savagery, barbarism, and civilization
DIFFUSIONISM All societies change as a result of cultural borrowing
From one another
HISTORICISM Each culture is unique and must be studied in its
own context

PSYCHOLOGICAL Personality is largely seen to be the result of learning

ANTHROPOLOGY Culture.

Society is thought to be like a biological organism

With all of the parts interconnected. Existing
institutional structures of any society are thought to
FUNCTIONALISM perform indispensable functions, without which the
Society could not continue.
THEORY PERSPECTIVE ON
CULTURE

Culture is said to be shaped by environmental

NEO-EVOLUTIONISM and technological conditions. Cultures evolve when
people are able to increase the amount of energy
under their control.

Culture is the product of the “material conditions” in

MATERIALISM
which a given community of people finds itself.
The Key Strength of Anthropology
as a Discipline of the Social Science
is its Holistic Approach to the study
of humans.
It is Holistic in the sense that it studies:

(1) Humans, both as biological and

social creatures.
(2) Human Behavior from the time the
species existed to the time that it
will desist,
(3) Human Behavior from all reqions of
the world, and
(4) All forms of human actions and
beliefs
With the discipline’s engagement with
the ordinary and the mundane parts of
human interaction, ANTHROPOLOGY
provides a degree of keenness to its
learner such that everyday things are
contextualized and understood within
the frame of culture. This develop
acuity among students of anthropology