From my point of view, I can boldly say that taking this anthropology course has helped me boost my writing skills. I can openly say that I initially had a lot of difficulties in writing, but after taking this course, I have made a lot of improvements, especially in writing my assignments hence understanding the majority of the course works I could not comprehend at first. I can now write, locate, and understand all the critical points of any topic I am undertaking. I have also made improvements in identifying key content in atopic and know when to write them down for reference. Indeed, my professor has always commented positively about my writing work. Such feedback has motivated me a lot.
My assignment was “How to Think Like an Anthropologist.” I have learned a lot from the summary analysis. There was a lot that o went on thinking about human contact and the social behaviors to get deeper understating of anthropology more purposefully and effectively. Aspects such as culture, wars, civilization, values, and nature have been discussed in detail, making it easy to comprehend the book’s main idea and showcasing different ways that anthropologists have failed in the endeavors of their fields.
The most significant accomplishment in my courses is that I have learned about the need for anthropologists to conduct fieldwork, obtain first-hand information, and examine different cultures in question. Mathew, the book’s author, insists on the market for anthropologists to be present at the moment culture occurs in his arguments. He claims that this would help minimize the chances of misinterpretation and errors that may be contained in secondhand information about culture. To add to that point, the book further clarifies the definition of culture and how nature and nurture determine culture. The book argues that culture is not bound to a specific place, coherent, or fixed time. Additionally, the book challenges individuals on the need to respect and value different cultures when dealing with civilization. Mathew also warns individuals against the tendency to judge cultures wrongly but instead use the proper perimeters.
In the process of doing my analyses, the most significant difficulty I face is trying to critically analyze the book “How to Think Like an Anthropologist” without entering my own perceptive to the book. However, I am very aware that there is a specific section within my assignment where I can add my opinion. Thus, creating such a state of mental balance has been one of the most challenging parts of my assignment
One concept I can relate from this course to another is the aspect of culture in anthropology and what I learned in religious studies class. In my religious studies class, I can openly say that we knew little about social cultures and how they are inherited from one generation. On the other hand, the anthropology course had deeply analyzed culture and how it is of great importance in our society hence calling upon all members to respect the culture and not to use wrong parameters to assess it as either right or wrong.
Finally, I can honestly say that before I started taking the course, I had little knowledge about anthropology. I only had little knowledge about anthropology to study historical aspects. However, after taking the system, it has come to my attention that anthropology is more detailed and covers valuable aspects of human life, such as culture. The anthropology course has equipped me with adequate knowledge of aspects of culture and how it is nurtured and applied in our daily societal lives without misinterpretations of facts or errors, which is so influential. In the future, I am ready to approach the topic courageously now that I have enough background information on anthropology and the aspect of culture.
Work Cited
Engelke, Matthew. How to Think Like an Anthropologist. Princeton UP, 2019.