Searching Cultures” Finding Uncommon Commonalities

Searching Cultures” Finding Uncommon Commonalities To prepare for this Discussion: Review this week’s assigned readings in the course texts. – Select one indigenous group from the reading and review the cultural elements of that group. – Compare a thought, belief, or ritual that you practice in your own culture to a thought, belief, or ritual in indigenous culture. – Consider how comparing aspects of two different cultures can be problematic or useful. With these thoughts in mind: Post one paragraph that describes your comparison of thought, belief, or ritual in your own community with that from an indigenous culture. In a second paragraph, discuss the challenges in comparing thoughts, beliefs, or rituals from two communities in this way. Explain how this comparison might be useful. Thread 1 A thought from your own culture and a thought from an indigenous culture. Thread 2 A belief from your own culture and a belief from an indigenous culture. Thread 3 A ritual from your own culture and a ritual from an indigenous culture. Be sure to support your ideas by connecting them to the week’s Learning Resources. Required Resources Readings – Omohundro, J. T. (2008). Thinking like an anthropologist: A practical introduction to cultural anthropology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. o Chapter 2, “Using This Book: The Anthropological Questions” (pp. 10″“32) o Chapter 3, “What Is Culture? The Conceptual Question” (pp. 33″“62) o Chapter 4, “How Do I Learn About Culture? The Naturalistic Question?” (pp. 63″“95) These chapters provide a comparative analysis of culture. – Peters-Golden, H. P. (2012). Culture sketches: Case studies in anthropology (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. o Chapter 3, “The Azande: Witchcraft and Oracles in Africa” (pp. 9″“25) The chapters from this text provide case study analyses of individual groups around the globe. – International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. (n.d.). Retrieved April 21, 2015, from http://www.iwgia.org This website provides information on where indigenous peoples exist around the world. – Document: Identifying Indigenous Groups Worksheet (Word document) This document provides context for this week’s topic. Media – TEDTalks. (Producer). (2003). Wade Davis: Dreams from endangered cultures [Video]. Available from http://www.ted.com/talks/wade_davis_on_endangered_cultures Note: The approximate length of this piece is 22 minutes. Davis is a National Geographic Explorer, and he shares his experiences with indigenous cultures. Optional Resources – Omohundro, J. T. (2008). Thinking like an anthropologist: A practical introduction to cultural anthropology. New York:, NY McGraw-Hill. o Chapter 9, “What are the Groups and Relationships? The Social-Structural Question” (pp. 241″“285) – Peters-Golden, H. P. (2012). Culture sketches: Case studies in anthropology (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. o Chapter 7, “The Hmong: Struggle and Perseverance” (pp. 87″“105) o Chapter 15, “The Tiwi: Tradition in Australia” (pp. 235″“250) For a basic world map that might help in locating indigenous cultures, use one of the following websites, or another source of your choosing: another source of your choosing: – Maps of World. (n.d.). World map. Retrieved April 21, 2015, from http://www.mapsofworld.com/ – Worldatlas. (n.d.). World. Retrieved April 21, 2015, from http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/world.htm – Geology.com. (n.d.). World map ““ political. Retrieved April 21, 2015, from http://geology.com/world/world-map.shtml – Bowere, B. (1988). Murder in good company. Science News, 133(6). The following websites and articles may be useful for your research on indigenous cultures: – Knauft, B. M. (2013). The Gebusi: Lives transformed in a rainforest world. Africa – Saitoti, T. O. (2008). The initiation of a Maasai warrior. Retrieved from http://www.anthroprof.org/documents/Docs102/102articles/maasa27i.pdf – Sapignoli, M., & Hitchcock, R. K. (2013). Indigenous peoples in Southern Africa. The Round Table, 102(4), 355″“365. Asia – Cohen, E. (2012). The Vegetarian Festival and the city pillar: The appropriation of a Chinese religious custom for a cult of the Thai civic religion. Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, 10(1), 1″“21. – Presse, A. F. (2013, October 10). Thailand’s Vegetarian Festival in Phuket is spectacular and bloody procession (Photos). The World Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/10/thailand-vegetarian-festival-photos_n_4076083.html Australia – Keen, I. (2000). A bundle of sticks: The debate over Yolngu clans. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 6(3), 419″“436. – Dudgeon, P., Wright, M., Paradies, Y., Garvey, D., & Walker, I. (2010). The social, cultural and historical context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. In Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing principles and practice (pp. 25″“42). Retrieved from http://creahw.org.au/media/54859/part_1_chapter3.pdf North America – Hayles, L. (2009). Indigenous nations hit hard by hurricanes. Retrieved from http://www.workers.org/2007/us/hurricanes-0927/ Pacific Islands – Indonesia Human Development Report. (2014). The economics of democracy, financing human development in Indonesia. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/indonesia_2004_en.pdf South America – Ellis, E. C., & Ramankutty, N. (2008). Putting people in the map: Anthropogenic biomes of the world. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 6(8), 439″“447. – Couto, L. F. (n.d.). Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America ““ IIRSA. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/site/govgfg/39612363.pdf