Final Paper
It is important to consider all things, not just the obvious or the immediately available. I
feel as though this is the overall lesson I have taken from this class, and I shall elaborate on that
idea further within the paper. Going through all of my CPAs, I have noticed that my mind has
changed on several things that I said within the CPAs. I suppose that’s natural though, I’ll work
through each of the CPAs in chronological order, discussing them and certain things I have
reflected on about the content within the CPAs.
Starting with the first CPA, specifically, the first question within the CPA. As I have
progressed through the CPAs, my favorite branch of anthropology has inarguably changed to
general Cultural Anthropology. As we have gone through the various cultures of the world, it has
made me increasingly curious about other countries’ customs and traditions. To speak of my
general view of anthropology, and how it has changed. My view has shifted to that of one where
I now think a lot more about the “big picture” of things. Beforehand, it was increasingly easy to
only consider what was right in front of me and not consider what was happening in other parts
of the world, but now after the class. It is almost harder to think about things on a smaller scale
rather than a big one though. I feel as though it is healthy to take into account both perspectives
though, one is neither strictly worse or better than the other. Some of the most important
concepts learned throughout the semester, were the before mentioned perspective shift and, I feel
as though the class has given me a new appreciation for other cultures, as well as why it is
important to preserve them. The most important experiences have, in my opinion, been the
physical studying of certain things. Such as peoples’ actions in the park, or the religious
ceremonies of an unfamiliar religion.
I feel as though, what I learned more than anything, was about the diversity in the world
around me. The diversity not only in other cultures, but within our own society. Before the
documentary, “Deaf Jam”. I never once considered the lives of those who are hearing impaired,
this documentary helped open my eyes to their very personal, and very real struggles. Of course
we know that those with disabilities have harder lives than those who don’t, but it isn’t so often
that you get to see the exact problems being talked about all the time. Throughout the runtime of
the documentary, it almost places you in the position of the people it’s following, helping you
truly understand their struggles and strife. While I don’t think I will ever truly understand how
the kid’s in Deaf Jam feel about their condition and the things they have to deal with, this is
surely a step in the right direction. That is simply just one thing I was informed about, there is
also the existence of “dying languages''. I didn’t know they existed beforehand, let alone the
nuances of why certain languages are going extinct and the importance of preserving languages
as an extension of culture. I learned a lot of the information I gathered throughout the semester
by simply just reading and watching. Reading is self explanatory but, what I mean by watching,
is the watching of the behavior of multiple people and animals. Such as, when one of the CPAs,
it was a requirement to sit in an outside space and simply just observe. Observe the behaviors
and rituals of not only other people, but of animals. Learning is extremely important to human
kind, understanding other peoples’ is key to a form of world peace in my opinion. If you
understand others, and why they may act a certain way. It becomes a lot easier to empathize with
them. It’s significant to me, because I think it is a good trait to not be ignorant of the world
around me. I think to continue my education after the class, I should continue pursuing the
understanding of other cultures, and their traditions.
After having discussed all of this, I hope it has become increasingly apparent that I have
enjoyed this course thoroughly. I feel as though my vision of the world has been widened, I’ve
become more aware of the world around me, even more so than before this course, and I don’t
believe it is an exaggeration that it has also improved my empathy for other people of other
cultures. Not that I didn’t before, but it is hard to empathize with something you don’t
understand, such as other cultures. So, overall, I do feel as though this class has helped me
immensely.