Additionally, in terms of the study of culture within academia, Williams believes that cultural anthropology has come to reference studying cultural material productions, while history and cultural studies focus on the study of cultures as symbolic systems. But the cultural anthropologist Clifford Geertz's title of his book the Interpretation of Cultures suggests that cultures, like languages and texts are meant to be interpreted. Cultural anthropology as a term has become tainted in recent years. According to one textbook on culture anthropology, which is attempting to redefine the discipline "Traditionally, it has focused either on cultures of the past...or cultures in 'exotic' settings. With a few notable exceptions, this has given the discipline the reputation of being about studying 'others' rather than 'ourselves' (others, in time and in place). Some have even made the point in one fashion or another that sociology is about 'the West,' while anthropology is about 'the Rest'" (Donohue-Lynch 2000). Carol Delaney cites Williams in her textbook Investigating...

cultural studies is based upon older notions of the study of anthropology (Delaney 13).
Questions:

How do notions of 'subcultures' fit into Williams' definition?

Should the U.S. have a Ministry of Culture? Why or why not?

Works Cited

Delaney, Carol. Investigating Cultures: An Experimental Introduction to Anthropology.

New York: Wiley-Blackwell, 2004.

Donohue-Lynch, Brian. "Anthropology: The Study of What it Means to Be Human." Main Anthropology Page. Quinebaug Valley. Community College

17 Sept 2000. http://www.qvctc.comment.edu/brian/cultant.html

Freud, Sigmund. Civilization and its Discontents. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005.

Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York. Basic Books, 2000.