Faces of Culture

This program provides an introduction to the field of anthropology in general and the entire series in particular. It emphasizes a holistic approach to the discipline, focusing on...

This episode focuses on culture in societies. It defines culture as a unique set of values, beliefs and practices those enables us together to reap the benefits from the locality i...

This program provides a case study of how anthropologists conduct field surveys of other cultures. The program contains the case study of Napoleon Chagnon, an anthropologist who ca...

This episode introduces students to the nature of the relationship between language and culture, and the importance of language in anthropological study. Several linguists address...

Beginning with a definition of enculturation, this program describes Margaret Mead's landmark efforts to document the influence of culture on individual personality by studying pat...

This program features a case study of Alejandro Mamani, an elder Aymara Indian whose village is located in the mountains of Bolivia. The episode focuses on Alejandro's experiences...

This program describes food foraging and pastoral societies, and explores several ancient patterns of subsistence, some of which are still followed today. The program describes how...

This program examines several different models of food production and various features of food-producing societies. First shown are the Yucatec Maya employing the "slash-and-burn"...

From the generalized reciprocity among the !Kung to the balanced reciprocity of the Yanomamo and the Trobriand Islanders, this program explains that the economies of many non-Weste...

This episode explores the complicated "cargo system" of the Mayan Indian populations of Southern Mexico and Northern Guatemala. The cargo system has evolved over time into an amalg...

This program examines the complex custom of marriage in various societies and cultures throughout the world. In addition, it explores the place that sex and sexuality play in deter...

This program focuses on family. Cultural differences such as marriage & naming customs, inheritance lines and the differences between the nuclear & extended family are discussed. T...

The lives of two extended Yucatec Maya are the subjects of this program. Film footage and commentary by Hubert L. Smith, whose field research spanned many years in the Maya communi...

The program begins with a brief examination of kinship and descent considerations in the United States, including inheritance patterns, children's names, married names, and importa...

This program begins by defining "kindred" and looking at the role of kindred in food-foraging societies. The program then examines the various types of kinship and descent groups i...

Human beings require interaction with one another. It is for this reason that in most large societies, people form groups and relationships with other people. This program looks at...

Through footage made in northern Bolivia, where the heterogeneous population is socially and economically stratified, this program provides a close look at the inequities of a shar...

All societies need political organization: a system of leadership, authority and cooperation in order to operate successfully and survive. This program explores four major types of...

This program describes the processes and methods societies use to establish and maintain social control. It mainly emphasizes interaction among members of the same group, but some...

All societies incorporate religion to provide meaning and explain the unknown. This program illustrates & describes examples of religion and defines the difference between religion...

This detailed study of the Asmat, a cannibalistic society of western New Guinea, shows their use of religion and magic as tools for survival in a world they perceive as hostile and...

This program focuses on different forms of artistic expression as they exist in all cultures. It presents the many kinds of art and explores the variety of functions served by the...

This documentary examines the Black Indian tribes of New Orleans and their Mardi Gras celebration which began in the 1880's. It describes the origins of the tribes as well as Mardi...

This program explores the impact of culture change on various indigenous people and cultures. It describes the various ways culture changes, specifically through innovation, diffus...

This program focuses on "syncretism," the anthropological concept which describes the process by which people borrow elements of a foreign culture and combine them with native cust...

The final program addresses the compelling problem of preserving the diversity of human cultures in a world that often appears to be rushing toward a one-world culture. The program...