There is a value in performing anthropology from a multi-faceted perspective in American culture. Studying subgroups such as minorities provides a better understanding of the complexity contained in modern society. Due to things such as wealth disparity, institutionalized racism, and inequity in general, it is important to understand the effects this has on cultural diversity of Americans.
The article explains that culture is not implicit with the elite members of society. What I took from reading this is that anthropologists have the responsibility for performing research in a democratic manner. It is not possible make a “blanket” statement to describe U.S. culture since it is made up of a tapestry of individuals and subcultures.
This democratic approach would need to include a focus on the majority population of America. A large portion of anthropology has focused on study of exotic or isolated cultures both within America and ouside of America. The author seems to be saying that one of the downsides of modern anthropology has been it’s focus on cultures outside of the US cultural norm. Either exotic cultures outside of the US or exotic cultures that are on the fringes of US culture.
The author also points out that other fields of scientific study have performed work that could be used by anthropologists to assist in performing such studies. There is also experessed a concern that the current language used for ethnography might no be up to the challenge of studying the mainstream American culture. The reason for this primarily being that if you study a culture that only 3 or 4 people in the world have studied there are less chances of receiving expert criticism.
The author seems to be pointing out the need for Holistic Anthropologic study. He uses the example of a previous article that discusses tootbrushing as ritual. The article being referred seems to give a onesided interpretation of why an American would brush their teeth. He points out that there are other cultural reasons why an American might brush their teeth. One of out group for example comes from a family that does have bad teeth. As such there is a functional reason for brushing teeth because previous family members have had dentures before they turned 30 years of age.
There is a value in performing anthropology from a multi-faceted perspective in American culture. Studying subgroups such as minorities provides a better understanding of the complexity contained in modern society. Due to things such as wealth disparity, institutionalized racism, and inequity in general, it is important to understand the effects this has on cultural diversity of Americans. The article explains that culture is not implicit with the elite members of society. What I took from reading this is that anthropologists have the responsibility of performing research in a democratic manner. It is not possible to make “blanket” statements to describe U.S. culture since it is made up of a tapestry of individuals and subcultures.
The Nacirema are a highly superstitious people. From a western perspective, some of their rituals and customs could be viewed as extreme.
The article mentions “the appearance and health of which loom as a dominant concern in the ethos of the people”. It seems that there is a kind of obsession with their bodies because they practice a ritualistic regimin that focuses on the physical body to the point that it takes up much of their free time. In reality, this is similar to American society’s emphasis on outward appearances but at an even more extreme level. The beliefs held by the Nicirema are habituated by tradition and superstition. This is a part of the Nacirema’s culture and deeply engrained in their day to day living and the psychological effects that these traditions have on the people is worth scholarly inquiry of the culture.
The uniqueness of their way of life including their rituals, hierarchy systems and traditions may help onlookers to understand more about human nature and the psychology behind it. As mentioned in the article, many of the culture’s practices are so extreme that there appears to be levels of sadomasochism in relation to their beliefs and rituals. The Nacirema hold the belief that the body is “ugly” and prone to disease and that by performing what are often torturous rituals, these issues can be alleviated or treated. Even though many of the practices such as mutilating the teeth and gums yield no results, they continue with the highly invasive and painful rituals. This is also very puzzling from a psychological stand point.
Another article I found on the Nacirema describes their culture as making two-fold judgments which is representative in the way that certain societal norms are carried out. For example, certain members of society are ostracizes, imprisoned, murdered or discriminated by the economically dominant members of society who are distinguished by their light skin. These practices are described as being reflective of the moral duality held by the Nacirema culture meaning that those who are in a position to discriminate hold a very dualistic moral perspective (either or). In order to justify certain practices or views on a moral level, the receiving members of society must be viewed as morally inferior in some way. <a
I watched episode one of “Meet the Natives: USA”. It was convenient that the tribe had a translator so that the tribe members and Americans could communicate. The tribe was portrayed as a peace loving community of people who live in harmony with nature on the South Pacific island of Tanna, Vanuatu. They seemed to be a joyful tribe who took pleasures in simple things such as socializing and dancing. They had heard that America is at war with other countries and wanted to make travelling to America a mission to spread their philosophy of peace and love. They were also very excited to experience a different world.
The Americans they visited appeared to be friendly and welcoming to the men. They were portrayed as hard-working members of society. The father was a cattle rancher who enjoyed hunting and the wife appeared to be a stay at home mother. It was interesting to see how the personalities of the men from Tanna were infectious. It did not take long for the “ice” to break between everyone. The natives also seemed to be in a state of culture shock for the first couple of days.
The natives were often confuse and almost in shock by the grandeur and materialistic culture of America. They approached everything from a loving perspective. I never got the impression that they were critical in nature, only concerned. One of the younger natives begin to question the diversity in their live-stock back home on Tannu after witnessing the cattle farm in al it grandeur. The chief pointed out that their methods allowed for them to have security since they did not rely on one food source. The chief also intuitively understood that the antibiotics used on the cattle seemed potentially hazardous to the human body which I found to be impressive.
My heart melted a little when the chief fit the phrase that he loved one of the ranchers in to a compliment. The gruff and stoic man smiled and returned the compliment to the two members of he tribe he rode horses with that day.
I watched episode Peoria Illinois. and I couldn’t stop watching. They called these people Middle Americans. They were from Peoria, Illinois. The Natives were very happy to learn about a lot of things. They got to learn about Thanksgiving, parades, Christmas, gardening, special educations, psychical education, Football, Basketball and pollution.
They were interested in why they were cooking a Turkey in a plastic bag. They didn’t think that it was healthy. And the Chief seemed very concerned about this. They didn’t seem to understand why men were watching Football and they women were cooking dinner. They also took part in the Thanksgiving traditions of saying prayers and telling people what they were thankful for.
They were wondering why we had green grass and it wasn’t used for planting food. They thought it was a waste of space.
They also said a prayer to American’s to stop the factories, because they thought this is why their food wasn’t growing as much. They wanted a happy world and asked us to stop the chemicals.
They were excited about going to the parade and watching it even though it was freezing cold to them. They really thought they could find the man from the war because of the soldiers that were in the parade.
They were very happy to go to the classroom and meet and participate in the education of kids.
When they were watching the football game they thought it was a death sport. And when they were watching basketball they thought the people just like putting the ball in the hoop. That people really loved the basketball as much as the guy who brought them. They loved to watch what the audience members were doing.
The best part is when they were at the pet store. They were very happy that she was trying to educate people on Greyhound dogs, but seemed very confused on why people would want rats as pets because they are pest where they are. They also didn’t like that people liked snake as pets. But what really got them was the dog outfits. They thought it was very funny that people dressed up their pets.
In the United States, citizens go through a process of learning called the formal education system. They are entered into the system at a young age beginning something called Kindergarten around their 5th year. http://www.rentonschools.us/DistrictPage.aspx?dept=RentonSchoolDistrict&pagename=FrequentlyAskedQuestions#3 This is a free education that is paid for by the government, unless you go to private school (which the parents of the kids attending pay for it).
The primary functions of the U.S. education system begins with socialization. From an early age, students are groomed to associate with their peers in accordance with the cultural norms that make up American society. What makes up the dominant culture in America has drastically changed over time so the landscape of the public education system has changed with it. Students are immersed in a more culturally diverse setting in many areas of the U.S. in comparison with previous years and this has influenced the education system.
After 13 years of this formal education they then make a choice about whether to voluntarily enter higher education. Once the decision to pursue higher education has been made there are many types of higher education to choose from. There are Technical Institutes, community colleges, 4 year colleges, and universities. Technical colleges like Renton Technical College or ITT Technical Instituted provide career focused programs to prepare students for specific industries. Community colleges like Green River Community College normally offer a more rounded degree, are limited to 2 year degrees, and also provide similar industry specific programs as well. Finally you have 4 year colleges like Bellevue College provide large number of degree programs with more specialization in the fields of study and universities like the University of Washington which consist of multiple colleges. Such as a business and a medical college. Higher education is also even further complicated by being separated into public and private education institutions. Public higher education is normally funded to some degree by the state that they reside in while private institutions largely funded by tuition and are therefore usually more expensive to attend. The focus here will be higher education at Bellevue College. It can be found in the United States. It resides in a state called Washington State and a city called Bellevue.
The people who attend Bellevue College start off as applicants. They must go through a process to gain permission to participate in higher education.
Once accepted to attend, students then go through the process of trying to pay for it called tuition. Higher education is not free. Some students can pay for it out of their own money, some have their parents pay for it or they get loans (money that is given to the student and has to be paid back at a later date) either from the federal government or from a private company, or scholarships (money that is given out for people who meet a certain criteria and doesn’t have to be paid back) and grants (money that is given out for certain situations that also doesn’t need to be paid back). There are people at the school called Financial Aid Advisor that help you get the money you need to get your education so you can earn your degree.
Then you go what we call an Adviser that will help you decide what classes you need to take to get the degree in the field that you want and if you are undecided can help you figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life.
Once admitted and registered for classes they are now considered students. They will sequester themselves in rooms with someone called a teacher. These rooms can be either simply a room with chairs and maybe some desks as well or highly specialized rooms called labs. In the first case these rooms are for something called lectures which are used for the teacher to communicate new knowledge verbally or in written form to the students. The later which are called labs can take several forms, a room with art supplies, or a room with equipment for learning about science. There is a third type of room which is specific to learning what is called performance arts. In this type of room you are in a odd concave room with rows and rows of seats along with a raised platform opposite the seats. The purpose of these rooms is for the students to receive new knowledge from the teacher. Online classes are a completely different type of classroom. Instead of physically going to a building to listen the student uses their computer to connect to a virtual classroom where they perform the act of learning.
These students however cope with being in these rooms with teachers in different ways. Some of them will seem to ignore the teacher and instead read their own books or utilize a personal computing device to keep up with friends and the outside world. Others may stare off into space contemplating who knows what. Many of them however will take notes or listen attentively to the teacher.
Outside of the classroom some students will then study what they have written down or memorized and read assigned texts provided to them. In some cases they will rehearse what they were taught or write a paper to help them understand what the teacher has told them. This is called learning. Other students will do other things such as hanging out with friends or going bowling and may not begin work on the act of learning until the very last possible moment. In still other cases the students may have a job in addition to their classes. So they might be doing their learning in between their time at work.
Periodically the students will take breaks to play games like these three returning from having played Baseball.
It is important to keep in mind that these schools. Both the private and the public are not free. They operate as part of a market system. The students pay for every aspect of the education experience that they encounter on campus. They pay tuition for classes but they also pay for any books or special online access that might be required. They even pay for their food
Once done with your degree its time to graduate.
A human sociologist named Émile Durkheim once described schools as “socialization agencies that teach children how to get along with others and prepare them for adult economic roles”. This statement appears to be in alignment with the “educational” system in place in the United States of America on planet Earth. There appears to be little to no emphasis on critical thinking in these public schools rather, heavy emphasis on academic rigor and encouragement of complacency of intellectual curiosity which leads to “productive” members of American society.
There is a vast amount of disparate circumstances when surveying the level and quality of education for students in the public education system of America. This is especially notable for humans who live areas called “inner cities”. These areas predominately consist of African American and Hispanic citizens. These citizens are referred to as minorities and have been burdened with the effects of what is called institutionalized racism. This creates economic disparity between American citizens in a systematic fashion. Children who receive low-grade public education are at a much higher risk of not completing high school due to various factors.
Anthropology of U.S. Society 