FAQs for sci.anthropology
- General
- Professional
- What gear to take to field?
- What employment is there for anthros outside academe?
- How can I protect myself while working?
- What's a good graduate school in forensic
anthropology?
- Bioanthropologic
- How many races?
- bipedal, big-brained, hairless, covertly estrous, tool-making,
neotenous, chatty, hyper-domesticated, ludic, introspective,
hemispherically lateralized
- Are chimpanzees and humans interfertile?
- Linguistic
- Socio-cultural
- Archaeologic
- Are there any newsgroups
specifically for archaelogy?
General
A North American conceit, in contrast to the European conceit which
... folklore, national studies, ethnography, ethnology, antiquity,
culture studies, area studies, ...
To some extent, it
doesn't matter. On the other hand, ... [give refs].
Yes. No. Partially.
In the early summer of 1997, Kirsten Jensen <jensen@yale.edu>,
Collections Editor for HRAF,
wrote me
HRAF
is currently
in a partnership with the University of Michigan's Humanities Text
Initiative (HTI) to put HRAF on the web. Presently, the full-text (plus
tables and graphics) of three annual installments, or 48 cultures, are
available for searching on the web by members of HRAF.
Prior to this, the answer had always been, "No"; the Human
Resources Area Files had only been available on paper or, in
recent years, CD-ROM. The
Cross-Cultural
CD is not
full-text, but the eHRAF Collections of Ethnography are.
HRAF Member Services,
800.520.HRAF (4273) or 203.764.9401, 203.764.9404 (fax),
and hrafmem@minerva.cis.yale.edu, is quite responsive,
in the compiler's experience.
The President of HRAF, Melvin Ember <embercm@minerva.cis.yale.edu>
(FAX +1 203-393-1926), is also quite accessible.
Yes. I recommend those interested start by reading
Brown, Donald Edward, 1934-
1991 Human universals. McGraw-Hill, New York. and
Wierzbicka, Anna
1988 "Emotions Across Culture: Similarities and
Differences", American Anthropologist 90(4):
982-983
Professional
What follows is, of course, information, not endorsements. Most of it
is designed for commercial types, not anthropologists.
International Association for Medical
Assistance to Travellers
Hugh W Jarvis <hjarvis@ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU> reports that the
IAMAT
provide[s] for free a booklet of medical contacts.
For most countries there is at least one doctor who
has agreed to provide a low-priced consultation, in
English, and who can be reached by phone 24 hours a
day. These practitioners are also familiar with the
normal health of Westerners, particularly Caucasians
(who are allergic to some regional medicines). . . .
In addition to the booklet of contacts, they will
also send you very helpful pamphlets listing the
various medical dangers to be expected in different
countries and how to prepare for them (the usual
malaria, yellowfever, plague...).
Very nice people. I recommend that anyone who is
thinking of going travelling contact them. Tell
them where you plan to go so they can immediately
send the info.
Among the addresses we have for
International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers
are
- Canada:
40 Regal Road, Guelph, ON, N1K 1B5
1287 St Calir Ave W, Toronto, ON, M6E 1B8
- New Zealand:
Box 5049, Christchurch 5
- Switzerland:
57 Voirets, 1212 Grand-Lancy, Geneva
- USA:
417 Center Street, Lewiston, NY, 14092-3633
(Telephone: +1 716-754-4883)
Various stuff
Other stuff. Embassies--ha!
Legal
The International Legal Defense Council +1 215 977 9982.
Travel medical insurance
Typical costs: at least $3.50 per day.
USA agencies:
- AEA International: +1 800 468 5232
- USAssist: +1 800 756 5900
- Wallach & Company: +1 800 237 6615
Posters frequently ask sci.anthropology for advice on grad school.
Out of all proportion to other specialties, though, are questions
about forensic anthropology. [Summarize]
Bioanthropologic
One.
Linguistic
This question more properly belongs in the
sci.lang
FAQ. Until the maintainers of that estimable compilation
incorporate it, though, we'll make space for it here. [Ref
still in preparation.]
Socio-cultural
This has often been cited
as the key theoretical question in anthropology (but where are the
references?). Nicholas Gessler points to an
answer. One of the first
recognizable formulations of the anthropologic notion of culture was Tylor's
1871 [which article?] attention to that
complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs,
art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities
and habits acquired by man [sic] as a member of society.
Dobyns says 90 million.
See the
work
of Brian E. Schwimmer.
Commsoft
Genealogy software ROOTS IV handles this type of work.
74774.522@compuserve.com
ABC SnapGraphics
ABC SnapGraphics. It is
remarkably easy to use and makes beautifully clear graphics for
you. It's a Windows program, and lets you use any True Type fonts
you want in labeling the symbols. It comes from MicroGrafx,
1303 Arapaho Rd., Rickardson, TX 75081. Phone 214-234-1769.
ABC SnapGraphics requires WIndows 3.1 or higher, 8mb hard disk space
if you install the whole thing (including associated clipart), VGA
or better, 4mg of RAM, and a mouse. And it works fine. [ML]
Brother's Keeper
There are several good shareware programs for doing genealogies. I
find Brother's Keeper as good as any; it's on bulletin boards, and
at least was on old editions of the PC-SIG CD. [ML]
Archaeologic
Yes:
- sci.archaeology
- sci.archaeology.mesoamerican
Cameron
Laird's sci.anthropology FAQ/claird@phaseit.net