academic anthropology - careers that involve the teaching of anthropology at colleges and universities. Academic anthropologists do research, but the objective is more for the contribution to general knowledge. acculturation - culture change resulting from contact between cultures. A process of external culture change. adaptation - patterns of behavior which enable a culture to cope with its surroundings. adjudication - mediation with the ultimate decision being made by an unbiased third party. affinal - members of one's kindred who are related through a marital linkage. age category - a culturally defined category based on age used to define the life cycle, such as infant, youth, teenager, young adult, adult, elderly. age grade - a social category or status based on an age range. age set - a social group defined by those who share the same age status and are a recognizable group. aggression - acts or threats designed to cause injury. altiplano - a high plateau or plain. ambilineal - a corporate kin group that traces relationships through either the female or male lines. Also called cognatic descent.
American Anthropological Association (AAA) - the major professional association for anthropologists in the United States. animatism - belief in an impersonal and divisible supernatural force or forces, which reside in living or unliving things. animism - a belief that natural phenomena such as rocks, trees, thunder, or celestial bodies have life or divinity. anthropocentric - the idea that humans are the most important beings in the universe. anthropological linguistics - the branch of anthropology that studies human language. Linguistic anthropology is mainly concerned with the technical analysis of language. anthropology - the study of humanity; divisions are physical anthropology, archaeology, ethnology, and anthropological linguistics. apartheid - racial, political, and economic segregation of non-European peoples. applied anthropology - using the knowledge of anthropology to address human real-world problems. archaeology - study of material culture. art - human endeavor thought to be aesthetic and have meaning beyond simple description. Includes music, dance, sculpture, painting, drawing, stitchery, weaving, poetry, writing, woodworking, etc. A medium of expression where the individual and culture come together. assimilation - when one ethnic group absorbs another, so that the cultural traits of the assimilated group become indistinguishable. attitudes - data that describe how people think, believe, and feel. autoethnography - an ethnographic description written by a member of the culture. avunculocal - residence after marriage is with or near the mother's brother of the husband. B | Go To | A | B | C | D | E-F | G-H | I-L | M-N | O-R | S | T-V | W-Z | balanced reciprocity - is a direct exchange where the two parties involved seek to arrive at a mutually acceptable price or exchange for goods or services. band - a small group of related people, who are primarily organized through family bonds. Foraging typifies the subsistence technology. A respected and older person may be looked to for leadership, but the person has no formalized authority. big-man - a form of leadership in tribes where the leader achieves power and influence based on ability. bilineal - descent in which the individual figures kinship through both the father's and mother's descent group. bilingual education - teaching a second language by relying heavily on the native language of the speaker. The theory is that maintaining a strong sense of one's one culture and language is necessary to acquire another language and culture. bilocal - residence after marriage is with either the wife's or husband's relatives. biodiversity - usually considered at the genetic, species, and ecossytem levels. Includes the measure of the number and frequency in an assemblage. bis - a ceremony for purging malevolent deceased spirits. Includes the