Cultural Anthropology

[Nicholas]

I thought that it would be good to open up this thread with the definition of Cultural Anthropology:


major division of anthropology that deals with the study of culture in all of its aspects and that uses the methods, concepts, and data of archaeology, ethnography and ethnology, folklore, and linguistics in its descriptions and analyses of the diverse peoples of the world.

Source: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109543/cultural-anthropology

[NeilUnreal]

At one point in my life I considered going for a B.A. in anthropology (I was interested in technical archaeology at the time). For better or for worse, it was much easier to get money to work on a Master’s degree than to work on a second Bachelor’s degree, so I didn’t.

However, I remain interested in the study of folklore, mythology, and comparative religion.

-Neil

[Nicholas]

At one point in my life I considered going for a B.A. in anthropology (I was interested in technical archaeology at the time). For better or for worse, it was much easier to get money to work on a Master’s degree than to work on a second Bachelor’s degree, so I didn’t.

However, I remain interested in the study of folklore, mythology, and comparative religion.

-Neil

Actually, I'm currently minoring in Anthropology. My major is in Public History.

[FreezBee]

I thought that it would be good to open up this thread with the definition of Cultural Anthropology:



Source: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109543/cultural-anthropology

Sounds like a mixture of just about everything :smile:

But, I have to admit that I wondered, what 'Cultural Anthropology' actually was, and now I know :teeth:


- FreezBee

[Teluog]

I gotta take that cultural anthropology course at my college whenever I can. I also plan on studying the cultures of the ANE and greco-roman world in great detail sometime in the future.

[FreezBee]

I gotta take that cultural anthropology course at my college whenever I can. I also plan on studying the cultures of the ANE and greco-roman world in great detail sometime in the future.

Wow, sounds interesting :thumb:

What are you studying now?

[Teluog]

Wow, sounds interesting :thumb:

What are you studying now?

I'm in my first year at Bible College, taking introductory theology and Scripture courses. I'd like to go to university for ancient history and seminary for further biblical and theology studies in the future.

[FreezBee]

I'm in my first year at Bible College, taking introductory theology and Scripture courses. I'd like to go to university for ancient history and seminary for further biblical and theology studies in the future.

Ok, going to do some Biblical archaeology?

[Teluog]

Ok, going to do some Biblical archaeology?

I might. But I'm primarily concerned with knowing the Scriptures inside out and knowing as much of the social background as I can.

[FreezBee]

I might. But I'm primarily concerned with knowing the Scriptures inside out and knowing as much of the social background as I can.

Yes, it's a good thing to know the cultural background -- it adds depth the the reading.

[Teluog]

Yes, it's a good thing to know the cultural background -- it adds depth the the reading.

My main objective is to be able to take any scripture passage, and off the top of my head expound on it and explain it from multiple perspectives, and in light of the social background, and explain the passage clearly to people. So I don't just want to know some basic background culture. I want to have a solid well-rounded understanding of the culture background so that I can read it as if I was like any other ancient person.

Oh, and since I'm getting into apologetics, knowing the culture background is kind of important, as I've seen.

[shunyadragon]

I thought that it would be good to open up this thread with the definition of Cultural Anthropology:



Source: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109543/cultural-anthropology (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109543/cultural-anthropology)

Interesting topic and historically one at the top of my list. My nine years in China was primarily a personal study of the Cultural Anthropology of Neolithic and rural China, including a study of jade culture, Neolithic symbols including the evolution of the dragon. the primal spiritual traditions still in practice today in rural China. China is somewhat unique in that the preservation of ancient cultural practices and beliefs in the rural people is better than many other cultures. Up until the mid 20th century it was very intact, and not significantly impacted by the revolution, but since about the 1970's the deterioration of these primal cultural aspects has deteriorated significantly due to western influence.

I am not sure how much interest you will attract from the general audience of Tweb. Many here on Tweb may feel intimidated by a discussion of the cultural anthropology of the history of the Abrahamic religions, because many of the beliefs they hold sacred are very much part of the evolution of Neolithic to Iron Age cultural attributes of the Middle East.

[FreezBee]

My main objective is to be able to take any scripture passage, and off the top of my head expound on it and explain it from multiple perspectives, and in light of the social background, and explain the passage clearly to people. So I don't just want to know some basic background culture. I want to have a solid well-rounded understanding of the culture background so that I can read it as if I was like any other ancient person.

But you are not "any other ancient person". Do you think you can read, say, Genesis 1, as a person in the ANE did?

- FreezBee

[Teluog]

But you are not "any other ancient person". Do you think you can read, say, Genesis 1, as a person in the ANE did?

- FreezBee

I'd like to be able to as much as possible.

[Nicholas]

But you are not "any other ancient person". Do you think you can read, say, Genesis 1, as a person in the ANE did?

- FreezBee

While it would be impossible for someone to understand exactly how someone from the ANE might have understood it (the same goes for much of the ancient world), we can understand some of the fundamentals of how they viewed the world. It is more difficult than understand other existing cultures in the sense that there is nobody left from the Bronze age to tell us, we can understand some aspects of it.

[BronzeArcher]

I am almost done a double major in socio and anthro. I focus more on the cultural/semiotics side than bio/arch.

I've read a whole bunch of social theorists and am starting to get into Marx's writing and Latin America--neoliberalism is really very interesting.

[NeilUnreal]

Semiotics is fascinating; especially in a culture like ours with rapidly changing information technologies.

If I could study any area of cultural anthropology, it would be the nexus where shamanism, mythogenesis, psychology, and semiotics all meet.

About the closest I've come was taking a seminar in Radical Constructivism under Ernst von Glasersfeld (http://www.vonglasersfeld.com/). I think constructivism offers some hints regarding this process, particulary if one frames parts of psychology as an internal dialog.

It's also interesting to me that Zen can be said to seek a shattering of this same nexus.

-Neil

[BigBen]

Glad to see you're passionate about such an important subject regarding the Bible. I myself am a psychology major at a secular school, but am more interested in Biblical culture than psychology.
Question: What has your experience been thus far at a Bible school?

[Teluog]

Glad to see you're passionate about such an important subject regarding the Bible. I myself am a psychology major at a secular school, but am more interested in Biblical culture than psychology.
Question: What has your experience been thus far at a Bible school?

I take it you are referring to me, since I'm the only one in this thread who mentioned being in Bible college. So I'll answer.

First off, my program doesn't have enough room for me to take that cultural anthropology course. There are some other courses I want to take for electives that are more important to me that I would have to sacrifice in order to make room for the CA course, such as NT Greek, which I refuse to sacrifice. Found a used CA textbook in the library for sale, and still has the CD even, and was only a dollar :teeth:

Experience so far has been kinda disappointing. My fellow students don't really seem to care about learning, and the ones who do want to learn seem to want to learn only for personal interest. I might actually be the only one there who understands the importance of Bible scholarship and education. Many of the students don't read their textbooks....or their Bibles, and don't do research for their essays until the last minute. They just do the assignments to avoid failing the course. Seems more important to always be playing videogames or hanging out or watching movies. I honestly wonder my many of them are even here. You'd think that the big problem of biblical illiteracy in North America wouldn't exist at a Bible college.

The commuters, who are mostly older than the rezzies, they seem to be more mature about school. The teachers are pretty good for the most part, and the courses are good.

BTW, I just finished the section on history background in my summer, distance hermeneutics course :teeth: Fun stuff.

[MarcyOne]

American "cultural anthropologists" focused on the ways people expressed their view of

themselves and their world, especially in symbolic forms (such as art and myths). These two

approaches frequently converged (kinship, for example, and leadership function both as symbolic

systems and as social institutions), and generally complemented one another. Today almost all

socio-cultural anthropologists refer to the work of both sets of predecessors, and have an equal

interest in what people do and in what people say.

[FreezBee]

Welcome to TWeb, MarcyOne :hi:

You are right that it is to be expected that symbolic systems and social institutions converge, but do you consider either to be the origin of the other?


- FreezBee