Cultural Anthropology Series: Faces of Culture—Revised

This introduction to cultural anthropology explores the thesis that every society is based on an integrated culture which satisfies the needs of its members and facilitates their survival. Authentic ethnographic film footage, much of it never before seen in the United States, helps students appreciate the diversity of human cultures around the world. The twenty-six 30-minute programs provide students with a colorful and exciting learning experience.

Awards
Emmy
The New York Festivals
Ohio State Award


Applications
A complete college-credit course offering under anthropology and cultural studies.
An audiovisual resource to on-campus offerings of the above classes.
An offering for adult students returning to college.
A program for gifted/talented and advanced placement students.
An important addition to library video collections.

Lesson 1: The Nature of Anthropology emphasizes the fundamental similarities of all members of the human race and the wide range of adaptations toward the common goals of survival.

Lesson 2: The Nature of Culture studies the diversity of cultures which have evolved, flourished, and, in some instances, died in ages past and present.

Lesson 3: How Cultures Are Studied is an ethnographic study of the Yanomamo Indians of Venezuela that emphasizes the importance of appreciating the value of other cultures.

Lesson 4: Language and Communication vividly shows how language, the primary means of human communication, is expressed in the sounds and movements of every culture to express feelings and aspirations.

Lesson 5: Psychological Anthropology focuses on enculturation, the process by which culture is passed from one generation to the next. Cross-cultural examples of child-rearing, socialization, mental illness, and healing are studied.

Lesson 6: Alejandro Mamani: A Case Study in Psychological Anthropology focuses on an ethnographic study of mental illness and the approaching death of an elderly Aymara Indian.

Lesson 7: Patterns of Subsistence: Food Foragers and Pastoralists studies the earlier form of subsistence, from hunting-gathering to the production of food, and how people adapted to their environment patterns.

Lesson 8: Patterns of Subsistence: The Food Producers examines the emergence of new societies, which were based on the cultivation of plants as a method of food production. It also explores how the concept of land ownership was spawned.

Lesson 9: Economic Anthropology examines both Western and non-Western economic practices and points out the importance of understanding the total integration between economic practices and the values and practices of the larger culture.

Lesson 10: The Highland Maya: A Case Study in Economic Anthropology explores the complex interweaving of economics and religion known as the "cargo" system, which is found among the Highland Maya of Mexico and Guatemala.

Lesson 11: Sex and Marriage examines the unique marital customs of different societies around the world.

Lesson 12: Family and Household looks at the concepts of family and household from a cross-cultural perspective and examines the basic functions performed by these units.

Lesson 13: The Yucatec Maya: A Case Study in Marriage and the Family examines a traditional extended family group as its members, consisting of many generations, companionably share the daily chores and teach the youngsters in a never-ending cycle.

Lesson 14: Kinship and Descent, Part I studies inheritance patterns, children's names, married names, important family names in business and government, and other ways that kinship and descent are incorporated in culture.

Lesson 15: Kinship and Descent, Part II defines kindred and looks at its role in hunting-gathering cultures.

Lesson 16: Age, Common Interest, and Stratification studies examples of age-grading, common interests, and stratification and their role in hunting-gathering cultures.

Lesson 17: The Aymara: A Case Study in Social Stratification examines the inequities of a sharp class division between the Spanish-speaking Mestizos and the subordinate Aymara Indians.

Lesson 18: Political Organization profiles the four major forms of political organizations: bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states.

Lesson 19: Social Control examines diverse systems designed to maintain order within a society and explores the possibilities of establishing peace and order among the societies of the world.

Lesson 20: Religion and Magic studies the ritual of Eka Dasa Rudra, a rare Balinese ceremony that links the three worlds of gods, people, and demons.

Lesson 21: The Asmat of New Guinea: A Case Study in Religion and Magic studies the Asmat, a cannibalistic society of western New Guinea, and their use of religion and magic as tools of survival.

Lesson 22: The Arts presents the many kinds of art and the variety of functions it serves.

Lesson 23: New Orleans Black Indians: A Case Study in the Arts explores the blend of American Indians and blacks that comprise the Black Indian tribes of New Orleans as they carry out a century-old tradition of participation in the pre-Lenten Mardi Gras revelry.

Lesson 24: Culture Change studies the theory that cultures change in creative and productive ways in response to both internal and external forces.

Lesson 25: Cricket the Trobriand Way: A Case Study in Culture Change provides an intense study of a Melanesian tribe of horticulturists, the Trobriand Islanders, as they adapt to change through the process of syncretism.

Lesson 26: The Future of Humanity provides expert speculations about the positive directions of future changes, such as space exploration, expansion of human intelligence, and biomedical advances that could lengthen the human life span.

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