Samantha Rikli

Anthropology 1010
Broader Perspectives
Most of my learning in this class came from the encyclopedia readings we did as our
homework. I loved reading them; even though they were kind of tricky for me to understand.
They provided a lot of different information on select terms in anthropology. I view the world in
a different perspective than I did before. Its a good and bad thing. Sometimes I would find
myself leaving that class mad because our world is kind of messed up and it started so long ago.
It would take a crash of the world system to fix it. So, until that happens I guess Ill have to deal
with it. Anyways.
Anthropology has taught me that culture is something we pick-up and learn so we can
live in groups together; a way of life. Culture is everything we as humans do without really
giving it any thought. Over the centuries culture has evolved and changed with the human race.
There are a lot of different people and cultures on this planet. Accepting different cultures is
something everyone should learn to do. After taking this class I realized that everyone should
take an anthropology class to better understand our world. A common misconception is using the
word culture to describe why someone is different. Culture shouldnt be used as a reason for
someones differences. I really loved this class because the word culture didnt really mean a lot
to me beforehand. I was one of those ignorant people using the word in the wrong way. Now I
know what the word means and how to use it right. So, thank you anthropology.
I also learned more about Hernan Cortez than I ever did in my history class. I learned that
the Spaniards were ruthless and brought chaos to the Aztec Empire. They brought disease, guns
and horses to the land of gold. The Aztecs gave them gold and made the mistake of saying they
had more. Greed took over and Cortez and his conquistadors destroyed the Aztec way of life. Its
sad but its something the human race can and should learn from.
Franz Boas was considered The Father of American Anthropology hes someone that I
learned a lot about in this class. He brought a lot of new ideas to the table for anthropologists
like: the science of culture. He did a lot of research and field work in the north with the Inuit
tribes. He took 12 twelve trips in total to do his fieldwork. The work he did and published
actually did a great job preserving the Inuit culture and practices. In Boas later years he was an
activist against racism. Boas was a strong believer in the ideologies of scientific racism which is
that humans and their behavior is best understood through biological characteristics. He also was
a professor to other fantastic anthropologists like Margaret Mead, Clark Wissler and Alfred L.
Kroeber. Those are things that I didnt know and probably would have never known before this
class.
The topics I discussed above are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what Ive
learned. Overall Im glad I took this class it broadened my perspectives on things that I wouldnt
think about on a daily basis. As humans we rarely think of the things we do every day, but
anthropology makes you consider and contemplate them. This class is important so we as a
culture avoid ethnocentrism.