Anne Justice, who was a scholar on the GSP Murray Campus in 2011, introduces the concepts of Cultural Anthropology to a group of 19 scholars.
Cultural Anthropology is defined as “anthropology that deals with human culture especially with respect to social structure, language, law, politics, religion, magic, art, and technology” (Merriam Webster). Anne, on the other hand, defines this tedious definition through fun activities and engrossing discussions throughout this class.
To begin the class, Anne’s first activity was to put forward a warm-up question.
“What kind of insect would you want to be?”
Each scholar enjoyed answering this question as this activity took about 25 minutes to complete. Many scholars answered sagaciously; for example many said, “dragonflies”, “an insect with the highest survival rate”, and “grasshoppers.” They were not only answering the questions, but also explaining their answers to provide their perspective to their scholar classmates. While this activity took an extended period of time, it was important to Anne to have each one of her scholars answer this question as she was intrigued to learn a little more about her students and, most of all, she was elated to see everyone contribute to this discussion in passion.
A scholar mentioned, “ This class is my favorite class as it has taught me a lot and presented me with information I would not have known otherwise.”
After a long discussion, they jumped into presentations. The scholars worked in groups of 3 to depict the GSLife and GSCulture as it contributes to the concept of Cultural Anthropology.
Anne calls her scholars “storytellers”, which holds true as it is portrayed through their projects. I observed her scholars praising each other during the presentations, which showcased a sense of community, which is what GSP is all about.
Subsequently, they dived into the subject of quilting. The class got into five groups of 4 (including me), and Anne passed out a packet about the significance quilting has to various cultures. I noticed each scholar had something unique to say about the importance of quilting.
A scholar mentioned, “Quilts tell the stories of your origin.”
As this was true, it led into a personal anecdote shared by a scholar in the group I was. This began to have scholars enter the stream Anne was aiming for; she wanted to educate them in the ideology that quilts share cultures and traditions. To better enhance this concept, the scholars watched a video as most, if not all, were completely engaged. The video broadened their thinking about quilts.
Overall, the goal for Cultural Anthropology is to introduce the various cultures and traditions seen in this world every class.
Bibliography
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cultural%20anthropology
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