Ib Social and Cultural Anthropology:. Pamela S. Haley

      

      IB SOCIAL AND

      CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

      IB SOCIAL AND

      CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

      A STUDY AND TEST PREPARATION GUIDE

      PAMELA S. HALEY, PH.D.

       BrownWalker Press Boca Raton

      IB Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Study and Test Preparation Guide

      Copyright © 2016 Pamela S. Haley

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

      BrownWalker Press

      Boca Raton, Florida • USA

      2016

      ISBN-10: 1-62734-605-8

      ISBN-13: 978-1-62734-605-4

       www.brownwalker.com

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

       CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

       CHAPTER 2: ETHNOGRAPHIES

       In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio

       The Riddle of Amish Culture

       Shadowed Lives: Undocumented Immigrants in American Society

       CHAPTER 3: INTERNAL ASSESSMENT

       Observation Report

       What to avoid in your observation

       Critique

       Limitations of the observation

       Criterion B: Description and analysis

       Criterion C: Focus, assumptions, and bias

       Criterion D: Critical reflection

       CHAPTER 4: PAPER 1

       Strategies to score high on Paper 1

       CHAPTER 5: PAPER 2

       Criterion A (Conceptual knowledge and analysis

       Criterion B (Use of ethnographic material)

       Criterion C (Comparisons)

       CHAPTER 6: THE IMPORTANCE OF WRITING

       Comparative Writing

       CHAPTER 7: FINAL THOUGHTS: SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY IS MORE THAN A TEST!

       APPENDICES

       Appendix A: Sample Class Syllabus

       Appendix B: Internal Assessment Requirements

       Appendix C: Sample Internal Assessment Observation Report

       Appendix D: Internal Assessment Directions

       Appendix E: Internal Assessment Ethical Guidelines

       Appendix F: Critique Model

       Appendix G: Marks for Critique

       Appendix H: Critique Checklist

       Appendix I: Paper 2 Model Response for first essay

      CHAPTER 1

      INTRODUCTION

      I have taught standard level International Baccalaureate Social and Cultural Anthropology (IBSCA) Standard Level for about 12 years. During those 12 years, only two students failed the exam, and that was in my first years. But through the years, I have studied every (well, many) aspects of social and cultural anthropology (SCA), and I plan to keep studying it until I draw my last breath.

      Unlike some disciplines, social and cultural anthropology is very easy to connect to our daily lives, because SCA is not just studying other cultures; it is about learning about all humanity, including ourselves. Specifically SCA explores how we think, judge, interpret, and analyze humanity. In a sense, we are all anthropologists. We all observe other people; we look for patterns; we compare one group to the other; some of us even record our observations in a journal or diary. And “certified” anthropologists do all of that, too. But the difference between the experienced and certified anthropologists and everyday anthropologists is that formally trained anthropologists make a conscious effort to rid themselves of biases, assumptions, and moral judgments when observing others. In addition, they often spend years studying a specific group. The study the history and past ethnographies. It is not uncommon, for example, for anthropologists to spend their entire academic careers studying one group or even subgroup of people. They learn the language, history, kinship patterns, and every aspect of the target culture. They live and work among their target populations and gather numerous informants who will teach them about the target culture. Yet, they would never proclaim that they are the expert on that people. They, instead, humbly admit that their study is merely a detailed cultural account at a specific time and place. No more, no less.

      Anthropologists may be a humble group readily admitting to biases and rejecting absolutist conclusions. On the other hand, the study of social and cultural anthropology can change your life, because it can deeply change your worldview. It can make you a keener observer by giving you the tools to observe people and human interactions from a more objective and analytical stance. It does this by training you to observe not only explicit culture, but the more elusive, and much more interesting, implicit culture. Social and cultural anthropologists are always looking for implicit culture perhaps even more so than explicit culture. Therefore, hopefully you will find yourself looking for more implicit cultural indicators such as gender relationships, power hierarchies, societal structures, inequalities, kinship relations,