Cultural Anthropologists, please help answer?

Question

I'm taking a cultural anthropology class and the lectures are interesting. However, I can never be able to answer the questions he throws at the class. Nobody else seem to get it either. Then when the professor finally gives the answer, everyone is like, "oh, duh! Why didn't I think of that" or "yeah, that does make sense." So my question is, what kind of approach should I take when answering some of the professor's cultural anthropology questions?

Answer 1

Have you read the required reading?  Have you read any ethnographies?  When you read the texts, take brief notes on what seems important to help you remember.  Look over your notes for the day's reading right before class.  Other than that, just listen to the lecture and keep thinking.  If you don't get something, ask the professor.  I don't know many professors who like doing all the talking so even if you ask a question you feel silly asking or give a wrong answer, the professor might be glad just to have someone show that they're still awake and thinking and the lecture hasn't lulled everyone to sleep.  Also, if this is a problem of not knowing the theories, go and borrow "History and Theory in Anthropology" by Alan Barnard.  It's a pretty good explanation of the most important theories and theorists in European anth.

Answer 2

my cultural anth. class was the best. and the questions we had to answer in class were simple...

i mean the professor was sort of looking for someone to voice the view of certain aspects of our culture things like s*x, religion, marriage, (you name it) from our culture's perspective. then he could  make a contrast of the same subject by presenting the perspective of people of a different cultures.

Answer 3

Two words: Cultural Relativism.  Learn it, Live it.  Other cultures tend to make a lot more sense when viewed without the biases or preconceived notions our (or any other) culture may have.

For example, when I took Cultural Anth., my professor asked us why a certain group of women, in Brazil I believe, would set any sickly babies aside to let them die rather than take them to the doctor.  It seems really cruel and heartless but, when you take these women's culture and situation into account, it makes sense why they would leave sickly babies to die.