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Tropical Medicine & International... Dec 1998
Topics: Anthropology; Communicable Disease Control; Humans
PubMed: 9892284
DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-3156.1998.00342.x -
Anatomical Record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) Apr 2022William Montague Cobb, AB, MD, PhD, was the first African American PhD in anatomy and physical anthropology. He produced 1,100 publications while a professor at Howard...
William Montague Cobb, AB, MD, PhD, was the first African American PhD in anatomy and physical anthropology. He produced 1,100 publications while a professor at Howard University. His influence on the civil rights struggle from the 1930s to 1970s was profound as were his contributions to science and medical history. This article shows how he continued the activist and interdisciplinary traditions of African diasporic intellectuals and that these innovated what is today labeled biocultural anthropology, which focuses on the political, economic, and other societal influences on human biology and health. The human biology of the White "mainstream" has tended toward reductionism, biodeterminism, and eugenics. It drew a causal arrow from biology to society. Had they been able to listen to Black intellectuals, the world might have avoided the tragedy of mid-20th century eugenics and its long continuing biodeterministic shadow.
Topics: Anthropology; Anthropology, Physical; History, 20th Century; Humans; Male
PubMed: 34761866
DOI: 10.1002/ar.24818 -
Progress in Brain Research 2009As the only species that evolved to possess a language faculty, humans have been surprisingly generative in creating a diverse array of language systems. These systems... (Review)
Review
As the only species that evolved to possess a language faculty, humans have been surprisingly generative in creating a diverse array of language systems. These systems vary in phonology, morphology, syntax, and written forms. Before the advent of modern brain-imaging techniques, little was known about how differences across languages are reflected in the brain. This chapter aims to provide an overview of an emerging area of research - cultural neurolinguistics - that examines systematic cross-cultural/crosslinguistic variations in the neural networks of languages. We first briefly describe general brain networks for written and spoken languages. We then discuss language-specific brain regions by highlighting differences in neural bases of different scripts (logographic vs. alphabetic scripts), orthographies (transparent vs. nontransparent orthographies), and tonality (tonal vs. atonal languages). We also discuss neural basis of second language and the role of native language experience in second-language acquisition. In the last section, we outline a general model that integrates culture and neural bases of language and discuss future directions of research in this area.
Topics: Anthropology, Cultural; Brain; Culture; Humans; Language; Linguistics; Models, Psychological; Nerve Net; Neuropsychology; Speech Perception; Verbal Behavior
PubMed: 19874968
DOI: 10.1016/S0079-6123(09)17811-1 -
Medical Humanities Sep 2016
Topics: Animals; Anthropology; Comprehension; Culture; Diet; Feeding Behavior; Humans; Neglected Diseases; Opisthorchiasis; Science
PubMed: 27279641
DOI: 10.1136/medhum-2016-010893 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Dec 2010Evolutionary approaches to cultural change are increasingly influential, and many scientists believe that a 'grand synthesis' is now in sight. The papers in this Theme...
Evolutionary approaches to cultural change are increasingly influential, and many scientists believe that a 'grand synthesis' is now in sight. The papers in this Theme Issue, which derives from a symposium held by the AHRC Centre for the Evolution of Cultural Diversity (University College London) in December 2008, focus on how the phylogenetic tree-building and network-based techniques used to estimate descent relationships in biology can be adapted to reconstruct cultural histories, where some degree of inter-societal diffusion will almost inevitably be superimposed on any deeper signal of a historical branching process. The disciplines represented include the three most purely 'cultural' fields from the four-field model of anthropology (cultural anthropology, archaeology and linguistic anthropology). In this short introduction, some context is provided from the history of anthropology, and key issues raised by the papers are highlighted.
Topics: Anthropology, Cultural; Cultural Diversity; Cultural Evolution; Humans; Linguistics; Models, Theoretical
PubMed: 21041203
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2010.0202 -
Investigacion Y Educacion En Enfermeria Feb 2019This work sought to conduct an interpretative synthesis of qualitative studies on the phenomenon of care from the cultural perspective in women with physiological... (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVES
This work sought to conduct an interpretative synthesis of qualitative studies on the phenomenon of care from the cultural perspective in women with physiological pregnancy.
METHODS
The Meta-ethnography method was used with the seven traditional phases by Noblit and Hare to describe the knowledge derived from the results of qualitative studies with relation to the study phenomenon. A bibliographic search was carried out in seven databases. Twenty-nine qualitative studies were pre-selected of which 23 complied with the quality criteria of the Critical Appraisal Skills Program.
RESULTS
Upon synthesizing the studies selected, 12 thematic categories emerged: pregnancy: a natural phenomenon in the woman's life; spirituality and family support; the midwife; positive and negative feelings; physical exercise; comfort and rest; feeding; avoid consumption of non-beneficial substances; intrauterine stimulation; heat and cold; sexuality during pregnancy; and traditional beliefs and myths.
CONCLUSIONS
Synthesis of the studies permitted developing a line of argument, which reveals that the care practices of pregnant women have a cultural legacy of beliefs, values, myths, and customs that are aimed at guaranteeing the protection of the mother and of her unborn child.
Topics: Anthropology, Cultural; Cultural Characteristics; Female; Humans; Maternal Health Services; Pregnancy; Pregnant Women
PubMed: 31083840
DOI: 10.17533/udea.iee.v37n1e03 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Jul 2021Modern phylogenetic methods are increasingly being used to address questions about macro-level patterns in cultural evolution. These methods can illuminate the... (Review)
Review
Modern phylogenetic methods are increasingly being used to address questions about macro-level patterns in cultural evolution. These methods can illuminate the unobservable histories of cultural traits and identify the evolutionary drivers of trait change over time, but their application is not without pitfalls. Here, we outline the current scope of research in cultural tree thinking, highlighting a toolkit of best practices to navigate and avoid the pitfalls and 'abuses' associated with their application. We emphasize two principles that support the appropriate application of phylogenetic methodologies in cross-cultural research: researchers should (1) draw on multiple lines of evidence when deciding if and which types of phylogenetic methods and models are suitable for their cross-cultural data, and (2) carefully consider how different cultural traits might have different evolutionary histories across space and time. When used appropriately phylogenetic methods can provide powerful insights into the processes of evolutionary change that have shaped the broad patterns of human history. This article is part of the theme issue 'Foundations of cultural evolution'.
Topics: Anthropology, Cultural; Biological Evolution; Cultural Evolution; Humans; Phylogeny
PubMed: 33993767
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0056 -
Topics in Cognitive Science Oct 2015We begin our commentary by summarizing the commonalities and differences in cognitive phenomena across cultures, as found by the seven papers of this topic. We then...
We begin our commentary by summarizing the commonalities and differences in cognitive phenomena across cultures, as found by the seven papers of this topic. We then assess the commonalities and differences in how our various authors have approached the study of cognitive diversity, and speculate on the need for, and potential of, cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Topics: Anthropology; Anthropology, Cultural; Cognition; Cognitive Science; Comparative Effectiveness Research; Cooperative Behavior; Cultural Diversity; Evaluation Studies as Topic; Humans; Interdisciplinary Communication; Language
PubMed: 26350021
DOI: 10.1111/tops.12161 -
Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry Jun 2023Much has been written about the multifaceted significance of food and eating from an anthropological perspective; the same can be said about the role of food in...
Much has been written about the multifaceted significance of food and eating from an anthropological perspective; the same can be said about the role of food in collective identity construction and nation building. In contrast, the nexus of food, memory, psychological trauma, and disordered eating has been less explored. The aim of this interdisciplinary article is to synthesize available knowledge on this topic by engaging with research literature in fields such as food history, anthropology, sociology, and psychiatry as well as autobiographical works, cookbooks, etc. One main section of the article focuses on the role of food and cooking in exile and refuge. Another section deals with the role of food in the aftermath of historical trauma, whereas a final section discusses various works on disordered eating in the wake of traumatic experiences. In sum, the dual nature of food and cooking-at once concrete and abstract, material and symbolic-offers an arena in which ambivalent memories of trauma can take on tangible form. The concept of postmemory may be useful in understanding how food and cooking can function both as a vehicle and as a remedy for intergenerational trauma.
Topics: Humans; Anthropology; Psychological Trauma; Psychiatry
PubMed: 35377110
DOI: 10.1007/s11013-022-09785-2 -
Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience Dec 2012Time has long been a major topic of study in social science, as in other sciences or in philosophy. Social scientists have tended to focus on collective representations... (Review)
Review
Time has long been a major topic of study in social science, as in other sciences or in philosophy. Social scientists have tended to focus on collective representations of time, and on the ways in which these representations shape our everyday experiences. This contribution addresses work from such disciplines as anthropology, sociology and history. It focuses on several of the main theories that have preoccupied specialists in social science, such as the alleged "acceleration" of life and overgrowth of the present in contemporary Western societies, or the distinction between so-called linear and circular conceptions of time. The presentation of these theories is accompanied by some of the critiques they have provoked, in order to enable the reader to form her or his own opinion of them.
Topics: Anthropology; Social Sciences; Time
PubMed: 23393420
DOI: 10.31887/DCNS.2012.14.4/yschulz