When enrolling for classes for my first semester in college, the pickings were slim. This was due to the fact that first-years get lowest priority when it comes to the course selection process. Since the odds were against me, I decided to try and fill out some of the distribution graduation requirements. To fulfill Trinity’s global engagement requirement, I found a course called “Introduction to Anthropology” or “ANTH-101”, which fit nicely into my schedule. Upon entering the course, I had no idea what anthropology entailed, other than that it is, “the study of culture.” I quickly learned that anthropology is so much more than that, and one of the most valuable classes I will likely take in college. Even though I have no intentions of majoring in this subject, I feel that every college student should take an anthropology course, since it opens the mind to new ideas about humankind.
Anthropologists study cultures using something called cultural relativism. Cultural relativism is essentially looking at an event through the framework of that culture. This allows them to be able to avoid ethnocentrism, and approach situations with an unprejudiced lens. Most anthropologists spend several years doing field work, in which they live among the people that they are studying. By learning the language of the subjects, anthropologists are able to collect data in the field through total immersion. By keeping an open mind, and approaching these cultures holistically to conduct research, they are able to produce detailed accounts of their findings upon their return home.
This particular introductory level anthropology course covered cultural topics including religion, politics, gender, race, economics. Through analyzing these different cultural spheres, we found that a lot of these overlapped. We were not only able to learn the reasoning behind different cultural practices all over the world, but were able to critically examine our own as well, which is one of the reasons why I felt like this course was so worthwhile to take. Every individual is born into a cultural space and immediately begins to adapt and learn the way of life of that given area. No one is born with a set of preconceived ideas or values, but rather immediately begin to assimilate into the culture that surrounds them. This seems relatively obvious, but it’s not something one tends to think about. Globalization, however, has blended these cultural values to create even more human diversity. If everyone took an anthropological approach when interacting with someone of a different culture; by trying to understand the underlying logic behind these aspects of different cultures, rather than immediately judging them, the world would truly be a better place.
With that being said, keeping this approach is extremely difficult because it would be impossible for everyone to concur on one set way of life. Certainly not everyone needs to completely agree with every cultural practice, but if one approaches these topics with the understanding that within that cultural framework, it makes sense, then one can begin to become more accepting.
Anthropology is a subject that helped me understand the value in diversity, especially today, where conflict surrounding culture has become so escalated. Regardless of one’s major, anthropology is a subject that everyone should take at least one course in, since it provides a different way to view the world, that could begin to form one into a more knowledgeable global citizen.
