Culture and Personality
(Psychological Anthropology)

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Wednesday 06 February 2008

Week 03 Day 05

Announcements

• UPDATES
  
  
• Black Mardi Gras traditions making a comeback in New Orleans -- AP News (4 February 2008)
  
  
• Mardi Gras tribes ready to suit up -- USA Today (10 January 2008)
  
  
• Political bias affects brain activity, study finds Democrats and Republicans both adept at ignoring facts, brain scans show --MSNBC (24 January 2006)
  
  
  • The Brain: A Road Map to the Mind
    
    
    

  Talking about the relationship between physical and cultural aspects of one's behavior, this little quiz appears in today's "Taste!" section of the Duluth News-Tribune (6 February 2008, p. D1): Do you feel grumpy? If you feel grouchy, your diet could be to blame. Studies show that what you eat can affect your attitude. Here’s a true-false quiz to see how much you know about food and its effect on your mood. Protein can perk you up when you are running out of energy. A small carbohydrate serving, like fiber-rich cereal with fat-free milk, can relieve anxiety and help you get to sleep at night. Bananas, milk and leafy greens help stimulate dopamine production, which helps calm nerves. Folate, which is found in spinach, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cereals and citrus fruit juices, helps regulate histamine, which benefits libido. Fish that is rich in omega-3 acids raises levels of serotonin in the brain, which can ease symptoms of depression. Sunflower seeds, whole-grain cereals and Brazil nuts are loaded with selenium, which can ease a bad mood. You need some healthy fats to keep your brain working and your mood up.

 

Features of the Day

• Old Business
  
  
  
• Questions on video, Chimp Talk
  (14 min., 1998, VC 3479)
  
  
  • Of Chimps and Humans
    
    
    • 99+% [96%?] genetic
    • tool using / tool making / language
      
      
      • design features
        
        
  • Do Monkey's Count?
    
    
    

• Review of Writing Projects for the Semester
  (Course Requirements Summary)

1. Case Study
   
   Focus: Person
   
   
   • Topic: A Culture and Personality Personality
     
     
   • Case Study
     
     
     • 4-6 well-written pages
     • case study: 200 points (15% of final grade)
     • Due to WebDrop <https://webdrop.d.umn.edu> by the end of Week 08
       • call your file something like your emailname assignment name
         e.g., rouf0013 CP case study
• unexcused late Case Study paper = - 50 points (2.5% of final grade)
  
  
  
1. Research Project and Term Paper
   
   Focus: Problem
   
   
   • Topic: Personally selected topic relevant to culture and personality studies
     
     
   • Term Paper and Class Presentation
     
     
     • 10-12 well-written pages
     • paper: 600 points (30% of final grade)
     • presentation: 100 points (05% of final grade)
       
       
   • Picking a Topic
     
     
     • Other WebSites Related to Culture and Personality
       
       
     • Problem Statement / Proposal -- Due due Friday, 22 February 2008, to WebDrop
       [NB: For s2009 move this s2008 date to end of Week 04]
       
       
     • in-class presentations, Week 13 Day 26 through Week 14 Day 28
     • final paper due Week 15
       • unexcused late Term Paper = - 50 points (2.5% of final grade)

• A Closer look at the Textbook
  
  
  

• A very brief introduction to the on-line page of main Terms, Concepts, Ideas and People in Culture and Personality Studies
  
  
  • communication slides

Dionysus,
Greek Theatrical Mask

• Terms:
  
  
• per-son-ality
  
  
• cultural relativism. . . .

Old Business

• . Introduction to Anthropology and Culture and Personality
  
  
  • Main Characteristics of Anthropology (slides)
    
    
  1. culture: as a primary concept
     • learned
     • shared
     • transmitted from generation to generation
     • symbolic
     • integrated
       
       
  2. comparative methods: as major approaches to the study of human behavior development and structure
     
     
  3. holism: or the study of "humankind" as a whole, as a primary goal of anthropology
     
     
     • The approach used in this class emphasizes the "holistic" anthropological view which combines observations of "culture" and behavior with considerations of the physical and developmental aspects of humans.
       
       
       

Assignments

• Ch. 3, "Human Development and Informal Education," 53- 93

Notes

• Monday 04 February 2008: Physical/Cultural aspects of health/healing, from Sunday Duluth News Tribune, and video: "New Orleans Black Indians: A Case Study in the Arts" (30 min., 1994, VC 2466 pt. 23)
  
  
• Wednesday 06 February 2008: Finished A Closer look at the Textbook through "6. Everyday Cognition and Cognitive Anthropology," viewed Chimp Talk (14 min., 1998, VC 3479) and Chimp Talk viewing guide, including introduction to linguistics, and introduced the Cambridge Torres Strait Expedition

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Monday 11 February 2008

Week 03 Day 06

03:20 Video: "Everything is Relatives: William Rivers"
(52 min., 1990, VC 1759)

Announcements

Features of the Day

William Halse Rivers Rivers M.D. joined the Torres Straits Expedition in 1898 "Colour vision." In Reports of the Cambridge anthropological expedition to Torres Straits (1901) worked among the Toda people of south-west India in 1901–02 The Todas (1906) — Erika Schneider News - Europe - 'Hottentot Venus' goes home -- BBC News (29 April 2002) Sigmung Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams (Die Traumdeutung, 1899 [postdated to 1900]) Thor Heyerdahl, The Kon Tiki Expedition, 1947   Today and next week we're going to do historical background of Culture and Personality studies, and have a look at some basic terms / concepts as presented in three videotapes. The first is: 03:20 Video: "Everything is Relatives: William Rivers" (52 min., 1990, VC 1759) [From the Strangers Abroad series]             Torres Strait Melanesia Egypt India Marriage Rules . . .

• Old Business
  
  
  • next week

Old Business

• next week

Assignments

• Ch. 3, "Human Development and Informal Education," 78-93

Notes

• Wednesday 06 February 2008: Finished A Closer look at the Textbook through "6. Everyday Cognition and Cognitive Anthropology," viewed Chimp Talk (14 min., 1998, VC 3479) and Chimp Talk viewing guide, including introduction to linguistics, and introduced the Cambridge Torres Strait Expedition