Please submit your reflections after the SPEAK ebook is complete. (Originally posted for Fall 2009 deadline)
Discover if you popped this semester and what you learned from ANT1001. Before you begin, take a moment to review your own work from start to finish.
After reviewing your own work and reading our final version of SPEAK, reply to 2 (two) of the following questions (of your choice) as a comment below this blog post.
After reviewing your own work and reading our final version of SPEAK, reply to 2 (two) of the following questions (of your choice) as a comment below this blog post.
You must indicate what questions you are responding to in your comments. Keep it simple: cut and paste the question into your comment before you answer.
- 1. Share how readings in the Kottak and/or the Conformity & Conflict reader created a shift in your view of the world? In other words, how did you come to see the world with lenses from another culture (even if momentarily) this semester? Please use etic terms to help explain what happened whenever possible.
- 2. How might the ebook SPEAK challenge ethnocentric thinking about being a student or about being in college (You can address the collaborative process and/or the collective essays but not exclusively your own essay--THINK BIGGER PICTURE)?
- 3. Clifford Geertz wrote that it "takes a certain kind of mind to sail out of sight from land in an outrigger canoe" ("Anti Anti-Relativism," 1984). In other words, letting go of what you already know and embracing the unknown is not a normal thing for us humans. What ethnocentric thinking did you learn to let go of in this course? What could you apply that process to that you have been resisting letting go of (i.e., prejudice, bias, ethnocentric thinking about this or that group of people as different)?
- 4. You were acknowledged as a GREAT ONE every class. You have been a "participant-observer" (revisit Kottak pp. 48-50) all semester in this course experiment. What do you see from an etic point of view about "cultural adaptation" (see Kottak, 3-4), "agency" (see Kottak, 35-36), or the "Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis" (see Kottak, 73-74 or revisit the C&C essay)?
- 5. You can make a counter-offer for one question if you want to say/write anything else.
There are posts from previous semesters recorded in the comments sections. You can read them if you like.
Posts
83 comments:
ANT1000 is a class that will stick to a persons mind for a long time. This class was one of those interesting and fun types. I actually liked participating, rather then just sitting in the back and getting a grade like my other classes. The topic that I will remember the most is stereotypes and language. This class helped me become more confident when speaking and in writing. The things I'll remember from this class is that we study anthropology and live it everyday of our life. I think because of this class I now understand people a lot better now, I'm not saying I understand them completely but I understand just a little better. A message to others who are going to take this class is Prof G is awesome, and you will come out the class understanding things even when theres no notes to take and if any very little. Trust me, you will learn more from this class without taking notes then any other class in which you take notes everyday and just come out bored and with question marks all over your face.
Yeah, I agree with Ricky that the class is funny and interesting. I had learned so much from Professor G and classmates. The interesting thing to me in this class is: we are not only read the book and take quiz, but also participating into the world of Anthropology with the help from students and professor’s experience. This is the first class I took in the Baruch that make me feel I am participating, even though I don’t speak too much. From listening, I had learned more stuff than just reading the materials. I will never forget about the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis—words create world. I remembered I didn’t really fully understand what this mean when I reading Kottak’s book. After I read the examples in the book “Conformity and Conflict” (Chapter 12), I was like my light bulb was turned on suddenly. Now, every time I see some special words, I will think about if it is “words create world”. It’s a new experience to me. I seem have a different view and thinking when I am looking at the world. I also feel I am an Anthropologist now. And also the presentation, the Taiwanese Assembly is really very impressive to me. After class, I found the video and showed to all my friends.
About my writing, at the beginning, my essays did not make sense. I even don’t know what I was writing when I read my past essays. Now my writing has been improved by the many blog and writing assignments. Especially blogging, it’s really a very helpful tool to improve student’s writing. I started to write everything seriously is because I know there will be many people read what I had wrote. Gradually, I have a habit that writing each assignment (not only in this class) seriously and check it two times before I submit it or print it out.
If I had to tell a freshman about this class, I would say: Professor G is a very special professor. When you are taking the class, you will feel you are in a club meeting—people are freely to exchange experience and information with anyone in the class. All the students are getting away from boring book theories and into a funny conversation with the same topic. I also 100% agree what Ricky said at the end: “Trust me, you will learn more from this class without taking notes then any other class in which you take notes everyday and just come out bored and with question marks all over your face.”
Ant1001 was a great class, due to the fact of how unique my LC was. The most important thing I learned was that there is always more than one way of looking at things, both of them are right in their own opinions, but you will not know the truth unless you see the whole picture. Now when I write a topic on something, I know that I might not be right, but it is what I think is right. If i had to tell a freshman about this course, I would say "If you want to know what other cultures are like or how they think, this is the perfect class for you."
Caroline Camilo
Ant1001 TV24A
Starting with the day Professor Gaunt showed us an "upside down" map to the song "the band, the tribe, the chief, and the state," those are days I will never forget. First of all from the first day of the course, the activity Professor Gaunt planned out with the whole "upside down" map it got me thinking. I think that was the first day I began to think outside the box.
Something I will carry on with me for the rest of my life would be the phrase the professor always used to tell us, "Agree to be offended." I will take it with me when I graduate Baruch and beyond. It's something that will help me succeed in life and keep me away from trouble. =)
From the way I think to the way I approach new ideas that come to my life, I feel I have done a 360 degree change. I feel so open minded when it comes to new things. It's good to not feel as ignorant to life anymore.
If I had to tell a freshman how to be successful in this course it would be to do ALL the assignments, participate, and agree to be offended. Something else would be to be open minded and think outside the box.
What can I say about ANT 1000 with professor G?! Well I can honestly say that this class one of the best classes I have taken at Baruch and I’m going to miss my 4-hour break waiting for the class to start. This class taught me so much about people and he many different cultures out there. All the topics were equally interesting but the one that stood out the most to me was the one on Refugees because I could relate to it and it gave me an opportunity to get to know a little more family history.
I am happy that the semester is over, but I'm really going to miss this class. It was a class where we were able to move around, we were able to share our thoughts, and everyone knows how much I like to talk about myself. It was a free-reign class, nothing was off limits and we were able to be ourselves, there aren’t many classes like that at Baruch.
Last but not least Professor G. is a wonderful professor, she is determined and motivated to teach, you can see that it is her passion. She is fun and made us laugh. She is so inspiring, in that she has so many achievements and strives for more. She’s going to be on Oprah one of these days with a list of achievements and I will be proud to say that was my Intro to cultural anthropology professor.
I have so much more to say but I just wanted to keep it simple. This was a great class, one that will not be forgotten. I am also hoping to work on the OLPC project in the upcoming semesters, so if you read this Professor G, please fill me in when you start it up again in the coming semesters.
Happy Holidays and a safe and Happy New Year to you all!
ANT 1001 with Professor Gaunt was a blast. One thing I will never forget is the first day of class when Professor G held the map of the world upside down. It made me realize of the social constructs people create and that most of the things in this world are social constructs. That was the moment I knew this class would be special. I loved Professor G's teaching style as she was very enthusiastic and energetic. You don't even have to take notes because you will remember what comes out of her mouth when she speaks. I just wish more professors were like Professor G because she makes things so simple and easy to understand along with her passion for the subject. The class was very laid back yet productive. I would truly recommend Professor G to anyone, and if you're lucky enough to have her as your Professor, you're in for a fun semester. Some of the work may be challenging but she will always be available to guide you and simplify it. Just make sure you open up your ears to appreciate her class fully. Thanks for a awesome semester!
This experience has given me the courage to understand that my opinion does not matter in a world of learning new things. Thinking outside the box is the only way to understand someone else's life. What the new freshmen coming in next year will have to understand is that “going to Paris” as a wise professor told me will lead you to learn new things. You need to step out of your shoes for a short moment and picturing yourself in a life that is different from the one you live in now. That is what this anthropology class has taught and I will never forget that. This class could be your most difficult class yet because for me it was an experience that I have never been through but I will be able to say that I got through it and no one will be able to say that I am a lone-thinker. What I need to realize is that there is a whole different world out there from the world we know behind that desk and you can never get anywhere thinking that you control destiny. I open myself to new things and new environments and it was all thanks to this ANT1001 class. I am happy to be apart of such a remarkable experience and it will be an experience that I will never forget. As a very wise professor told me, you will not remember everything you learned in a semester but you will remember a moment that made you say, wow, I have never thought of that before.
I'm the kind of person to call you on your bullshit, make jokes where you can even laugh at yourself, but sometimes I go a little too far. ANT1000 has taught me that people react to different things in different ways, they may say something to you, or just make a face, they might even laugh along but not mean it. Now I try to learn the limits of the buttons I can push with people before that line is crossed!
I also learned a lot from the variety of people in the class. It was amazing to see how people's opinions and views of the world change and a lot has to do with where you've come from and where you've been!
I don't know about anyone else in the class, but I want to travel a lot, and not just to site see, but to be with the locals and see different places the way they seem them. I'm actually looking into studying abroad next fall and I hope it works out!
I would tell not just freshmen but anyone who hasn't taken Anthropology to consider it. Even if you think you know everything about people, there's always something new to learn.
This class was the most interesting and challenging. I probably learned more about myself than I did in any other classes. This class helped me become more confident in myself. All the topics that we covered such as language, gender, social stratification,racism etc,it all effects our everyday life.What I learned the most is Don't assume what everyone else is thinking. The way you think, he/she might not be thinking the same. If you had the chance to find out, you'd be surprised to know how different they are. It's okay to be different even though we avoid it the most!!!
I will never forget the carefree attitude of the classrooms. Everyone is so informal, and that environment made college, which is a naturally stressing experience, seem enjoyable. I enjoyed being part of a learning community, because you always have people to rely on when you’re stuck and you need help. Also, you have people to help, and sometimes the best way to study is to teach others.
“You see your humanity reflected back at yourself.” I’m not 100 percent sure what the exact quote was, but I think that I’ll never be able to forget the idea behind it, even beyond graduation. I will always know that I will never feel more human than when I am watching other people. I will probably always be analyzing people in a way that I never would’ve been able to before I had this class.
My writing has become more brazen than before. Sometimes, I would be afraid to write what I really feel, because I’m not sure if that’s what the instructor wants to hear. Now I realize, that professors value your opinion, and they’d rather know what you’re really thinking, than what you think they want to hear.
If I had to tell a freshman about ANT1001, I’d tell them that the only thing they need to do to succeed in the class is to do the assignments and keep their minds open. If they can’t understand that different doesn’t necessarily mean worse or better, they’ll soon get over it.
ANT1001 was an amazing class that will stay with me forever. This class taught me to be openly curious and never to shun new things. Our class atmosphere was so open and free that it served as the perfect environment for everyone to learn a great deal more about other cultures, beliefs and most importantly each other. The one thing that i will remember forever about this class is the that fact that everything is a social construct, even not having social constructs is a social construct. I think the best part of class were the times when we were able to share little anecdotes and stories with each other, without fear of being judged or looked down on. ANT1001 is a great class that everyone should take at least once. It can change a person's perspective of the world; well, at least it did for me.
Prof G, to this day I still can't forget that upside down map thing. It just got us lovely. And "the band, the tribe, the chiefdom, the state". All of that stuck into my mind. Mostly the best of it all was spending that time with our LC. We all had a great time in your class because you gave us insight. Also all the laughs we shared were "priceless". From now on I'll always have an open mind, and remember to listen to what people have to say. That's something I will take with me forever. And if I had to tell a freshman how to succeed in Anthropology, I'd have to say 1, always leave your mind open to new things. Two, you think you may know but you don't, pay attention. Three, have fun with the class, I know I did.
"The band, the tribe, the chief and the state." That will not be forgotten. I loved this class becuase it was fun. We talked freely..."agree to be offended." I really like that. It didnt feel like one of those boring lecture classes where everyone dozes off. I also think I learned to express myself better in my writing. I freed up to say what i wanted to say. Overall i am going to miss this class and the people.
ANT 1001, I’ll never forget. I agree with Victor, the map thing still amazes me; it taught me how the mind really works. I learned how to look at the world with a different set of eyes. I learned that Words create Worlds! Yes, I’ve change my thinking, before I speak or write I block the way I was taught or my beliefs because maybe I’ll learn something from the person instead of judging them for their beliefs. The class was very fun, every conversation we had was amazing, and the laughs unforgettable. I learned a lot about culture from you and from my classmates. If I had to tell a freshman how to succeed in Cultural Anthropology I'll tell them that they have to keep an open mind, be open to think another way and accept that their way is not the only way.
Out of the many things I learned from this class I will never forget reading through the ethnographies in Conformity & Conflict. I really enjoyed writing the responses. Like most people on this blog, “The band, the tribe, the chief and the state“ will always stay in my mind. Being a part of an LC was an forgettable experience, especially in a class such as Anthropology. The way everyone bonded made the learning experience that much better. One thing I will always take with me from this class is the inspiration I felt from watching the TED talks videos.
I believe I underwent a change from the beginning of the class. I can place myself in someone else’s shoes and really try to understand how they perceive the world. Now, when I think about culture I classify things as generalities, particularities or universals. Working on the ethnograhy, was the icing on the cake so to speak. I gathered everything I learned from this class and produced something I am proud of.
Intro to Cultural Anthropology teaches you how to think and analyze different aspects of culture. To succeed one must think outside the box, accept other’s ideas, and as Professor Gaunt says “agree to be offended”
ANT 1001 was definitely one of the best classes I have taken in Baruch. I find this class super interesting because one learns about other cultures and about unimaginable things. I think this class was one of the most less-stressing classes because even though we had to do quizzes and read the book, it didn’t put pressure compare to the other classes. Professor Gaunt made this class really good and taught me many things that I will always remember. Some of the things that I will always remember are the chapter on race and the “Mother’s Love” one. Those chapters really impacted me and taught me a whole new world that I was unaware of.
The group projects, the TED talks, the readings and all the YouTube videos that we watched were all educational and I learned a lot from them. One of the best things about this class is that professor Gaunt actually made this class fun and intriguing which is what many professors are missing. Many professors just give lectures and they give it in the most boring way; but professor Gaunt engages her students in the conversation and makes us be interested in what she is talking about. This is why I would never forget this class. The mini-ethnography and the last project about giving a laptop to poor children are memories that will stay with me. Overall, this class not only taught me new things about different cultures, but also made me be more aware and open-minded about my surroundings.
On the last day of class one of my professors said that we wouldn’t remember everything we learned in his class or any other class. He said that’s not what college is. College is about remembering one thing in every class. I agree.
I won’t remember everything we did in this class, but I will remember at least two things. I will remember what we learned about race and refugees.
It will stick with me that race is a social construct and doesn’t really exist. I would’ve never guessed that there was no biological basis for race. Race is completely made up. People can change their race by traveling from America to Brazil.
I will also remember the chapter about refugees. The difference between refugees and immigrants stood out to me because living in New York my whole life I’ve seen a lot. It never occurred to me that there was a difference between refugees and immigrants. Refugees are fleeing situations most Americans have never been in and will never be in. We get so many freedoms refugees could only dream of.
The great thing about this class is it forces us to think and ask questions about things we never give a second thought about. I would never have thought about race as a social construct. It’s so easy to accept everything in our own culture and never consider another person’s perspective, but this class teaches us to have an emic and etic point of view.
I remember not being able to understand any of the concepts Prof. G pitched to me. I did not understand the reason to twist all my natural behaviors and talk honestly about why and how we act a certain way. I understood how awkward it was to know a humans "real" behavior, but what is the moral or the lesson? It was hard to not to assume and react right away but after a while, I have realized that I should not always judge immediately. One thing that I will always remember is to always put myself in a open position and think about all the perspectives before I make a reaction. I remember most when we read an article about sweatshops, I think that was when our class decided that we should give back and help countries who are not as fortunate. I hope others would contribute even by giving a small donation.
Freshmen who are taking this class should keep up with the reading and do not slack! At first, I did not understand ANYTHING but you learn to accept things the way they are. You will slowly pick up. Do not ask too many questions and accept it!
Until I took the anthropology class I did not really understand nor was I interested in why different people behave differently. So, for me anthropology seemed to be an interesting and challenging field of study, and at the end of the semester I can tell that it broadens my worldview of how society is organized and how people behave and treat each other within cultures. By studying different cultures we can learn a lot about other people, we can even look at our own culture from different perspective.
I like that I live in New-York, big international city with many ethnic suburbans. I hope that knowledge obtained from ANT1001 class will help me to undestand and deal with different people in New York.
I learned diversity in this class. Through this class, I could know how world is diverse. When I took the class I felt that I traveled other countries. Although I can’t experience other cultures and traditions, I could get indirect experience from Professor.G and classmates. Every video and text was interesting. I’ve thought again about immigration and adapting other cultures since I wrote Mini-ethnography. Every culture is equally important and should be protected. And I was happy to study in New York City which has diverse cultures. I could learn a way how to understand world from the class.
I really want to recommend ANT1001 class and Prof.G.
Every day will be awesome. In this class you can fly to other cultures without taking airplane.
Thank you Prof.G
I learned a lot from you.
The class ANT1001 was a great class. A class that doesn’t follow any of Orthodox rules, but the one that gets everybody involved. This class also taught me that there is never a right or wrong because for you it might be right but for somebody else same thing might be wrong. Also all the presentations we did opened my eyes on different people cultures and their beliefs. The phase like agree to be offended will always stay with me. I hope to have class with you as my professor again.
Gabrijela Peic
XZ24C
This anthropology course will stay in your life forever because it will change the way you think, the way you move, and the way you talk. The most important, you will question many stereotypes you may have. In the end you will completely commit to the professors G agreement in the syllabus: “Agree to be offended.” Sometimes you will be mad, angry and disappointed with certain discussions in the class, but the most important, with the time passing bye, you will start changing. You will not be annoyed and angry anymore because you will understand it is ok to be different. You will start accepting the world’s reality, not just your own. This class will get you closer to understanding of anthropology and its principles. Anthropology is not a study where you need to set up the appropriate setting to be able to do the research, you can simply just look around yourself and apply anthropological view at almost anything you want.
This is the quote from the syllabus that will stay with me for the longest time because it speak for itself.
Mel Silberman's Active Learning Credo (1996, 1).
"What I hear, I forget. What I hear and see, I remember a little.
What I hear, see and ask questions about or discuss with someone else, I begin to understand.
What I hear, see, discuss, and do, I acquire knowledge and skill.
What I teach to another, I master."
ANT 1001, hmmm my final reflections is what you read want to see hmmm.(YodA) I loved this class. To be a hundred percent honest, opened my eyes to so many different things. And being in class with professor G was a learning in itself. She tried her best to push us to think out of our own emic views and just to really dive into the cultures of our world. Especially our "Baruch" world. Prof G this class has been more then a blessing it has been a privilage and i'm happy that i was able to be apart of it. THank YOu!!! GOod luck with the TED! talk!!
Ira XZ24C
I left to my country right after finals and arrived here few hours ago! I set my mind to "vacation mode" but i definitely want to write few words in our blog page. Being a finance major student leaves little time for enjoying the required classes, however, i proudly want to mention that along with a philosophy class, this was the one i enjoyed most from the group. You are definitely going to find yourself instictively applying ANT during your daily routine. It is interesting how i directly started analyzing the way people walk, talk and think here in Albania. Besides family, there were two friends who picked me up at the airport and honestly all of the sudden i find myself telling them the upside-down-map theory that Prof G. used as introduction of the class :). The reaction was predictable: same way we acted all surprised in class...
The concept of etic and emic was a little hard to understand first. I used to write the assignments all based on my ideas about the issue to be discussed, but after listening to professor's explanation several times, i think i got better towards the end of the semester. The beauty of it is that i know now how to see situations in different prospectives (etic and emic) not only for assignment purposes, but in real life as well. I know i will not remember most of finance problems i so hardly studied during the semester, but i am definitely sure the concepts of emic, etic, key cultural consultant, participant observation etc.. will stick in my mind.
Thank you everyone for a great semester, for sharing our cultures and for being so comfortable with one another. Nuzzy is the first Bangladeshi girl i met in my life, Maimouna - i may know nothing about your country but i surely LOVE the name of it Cote d'Ivoir, Kayla Staples who always helped me with her stapler that she bought @ Staples store :). Greg, the father of 3 kids working full time and going to school as well - encouraging character just with his being! I guess i could go on and on because i have a characteristic for each and every one in the class. Happy Holiday Season to everyone and the best of luck in your pursuits in 2009! oopsss i so exceeded the number of words allowed
I have to say that this class is a very interesting and relaxing class. I learnt things through the conversation between the students and the professor. The thing I enjoy the most is the interviewing for the ethnograpy. I was impressed when I finished talking with people as they told me a lot of things that no expected to know. And I suddenly notice that there were whole bunch of things we ignored everyday when we saw it since it was so very natural.
If have to say one thing that I gained from the class, I will tell you it improved my ability of tolerating. As I know someone's thinking is shaped by his own culture, there will be a difference between my mind and one's mind. I will try to thing in another way instead of continue to argue with him.
I have to admit that I was amazed by the things that I had learned in Anthropology this semester. The class opened me to a different perception of the world. I resemble very well the first day of class when the Professor Gaunt showed a inversed world map and everyone thought that we did a mistake and tried to agued with her for 20 minutes. I thought that the time that the class will be an annoying class with a professor who will make a lot of mistakes in teaching, and then I realize that I was wrong and that professor Gaunt is a very capable teacher with a lot to teach us. I learned that the world we know is created with the limited knowledge that we humans possesses. There is also the fact that what we know as fact, like the world map’s orientation, is actually being popularized because of some people’s perception of the world. It’s very interesting to have read through all those chapters of anthropology.
Ant 1000 was one of the most eye opening classes I ever had. I learned much more than any other class. I love Professors G's fun loving spirit. I will never forget the Band... the ...Tribe ... the Chiefdom and the state. I will always take the things we studied in class with me because each class was unforgettable. I really changed in my judgment of people. Intro to Ant will change your life. Let GET'S SOME COMPUTERS. I will truly miss this class
Learning has always been the one thing I am consistent with. In ANT 1001 with Professor Gaunt, I have learned material from many aspects, even topics outside of Anthropology. Learning from the TED talks of life changing stories of Chris Abani’s changing of humanity to the inspirational hard work of Majora Carter’s Greening the Ghetto, furthered impacted the way of thinking of not only myself but my entire class. One thing that I am sure I will never forget is the eagerness and dedication of Professor Gaunt. That smile and laugh will always stay with me and at the same time she always wanted us to not only learn but take a different approach on life itself by taking a glimpse at the construct of the way we all live. One thing I will keep with me forever is how one day Professor G decides to pull me to the side to ask if everything was alright with me. Just by her taking that action, showing me the she was that caring, I had the push to allow someone who was just a moment before that, only my Professor to someone who then became my motivator, listener and inspirer. Never has a teacher decided to take the time to help show me how to lift myself up and I will never forget the words that changed me, “If your all the way at the bottom, then the only way to go now is up!”. The difference now than from the beginning of the course was that I realized my mistakes and began to take myself more seriously. Every day you come across moments that will affect your life, depending on what choices you make at those times will then show how your life will change. I would advise all freshmen to pay attention and listen. Do not try to understand something you have no knowledge on, but instead approach it with exactly what your given and the information in front you. Lastly, try to comprehend the topics using different mindsets and as notions disembark in your head, begin to try to answer them but most importantly use it to take the next step into learning about it. For caring, listening and one of my best learning experiences, thank you Professor Gaunt.
Public speaking is one of my biggest fears, actually it was but now because of Gaunt’s speaking style, in hand with her impact on my perception of events, I see it as an important ally. This course showed me how the ideas and actions of a few people can impact the lives of others in sometimes the most profound ways. The TED talks were a great influence in my life, helping me keep my mind open to new solutions to past and future problems. Taking a scientific approach in analyzing cultures different from our own is key to understanding one another without prejudice. I know my emic views and now I have no fear in exploring others’. Thank You
This class has not only educated me academically but also taught many great life lessons. Before this class, I always saw myself to be a really open minded. This class gave open minded a whole new definition. My music library contains over 8000 songs of every genre, and I saw that as being open minded. The class showed me that I was wrong and it taught me that I was in fact closed minded. I may have listened to a lot of different music, but the way I saw life was still only my view of the world. I never looked at the world through other eyes. This class really helps you develop listening skills. Before this class, I was not able to comprehend many things that were told to me. What was right to me may have been wrong to others and I was not able to comprehend it. Now after this class, I am able to listen and accept the different views that people have on different situations. Everyone comes from different cultures and the way things are done may vary according to culture and I now am able to comprehend that. Culture shock had hit me hard in the beginning if the class because I really could not think out of my own world. Now that the class has come to an end, I can accept other cultures and how things are done differently. I may question them, but I won’t say how their way of thinking is wrong. I also now see things how many things are socially and culturally constructed. The way people are raised and the way people change, all of this I notice now. This class taught me many lessons on life, but most importantly it taught me not to judge, but to accept.
I had a great time in ANT 1000. It opened my mind to how different people live and think. i had much fun on my way to discovering what anthropology was truly about. This class allowed me to look and critique myself and who I look at the world. I have discovered that I have lenses of my own grinding.
I am now able to apply what i have learned to my everyday life. I have become more considerate to aspects of peoples lives that I don't understand. this has allowed men to open up conversation between me and people I wouldn't normally talk to.
I love the way the class was run. I like the idea of rather then learning term, we actually use, apply, and understand the meaning behind the term, cause after all the word is just a symbol that has nothing to do with the meaning.
the one thing I would tell Freshman is to have their minds open. it might take some getting use to but it must be done. Coming straight out of high school, freshmen usually have been trained to take in and spit out information. This must be changed and Professor Gaunt will change all that.
D Pierce
I really liked this class. It pointed out so many things about me that I never even took notice of. In the beginning of this semester, I always thought that I was a really open- minded individual; until I started reading the Conformity & Conflict chapters. There are other practices that take place in other cultures that I would've never guessed would even be a practice.
Right after reading these chapters, it made me realize that I wasn't as open- minded as I thought I was, and not to say that I was judgemental or anything. The practices, mainly the one from the Mother's Love chapter, conflicted with my views on motherhood. Personally, I'm someone who doesn't agree with abortion. So after reading that chapter, I was a bit shocked as a result. I didn't even know how to react towards it, let alone what to write for it. At that time, I was speechless.
Although I still don't agree with what the mothers do in that chapter, I understand their reasons for doing it. I understand the reasons why people from other cultures practice what they practice; a life lesson that I learned from this class and carry with me for the rest of my life.
I would add more but I'm afraid this might get too long so I'm going to wrap this up. But I would tell a freshman that this is a class that won't ask too much from you. However, it will ask you to be a more open- minded individual and more than likely broaden your horizons and make you see things that you may have never noticed was ever there. Being acknowleged as a Great One actually made me want to do the work and have even more motivation all around. This is probably the only class I will ever have where my professor calls me a Great One though.
Professor Gaunt’s Anthropology 1001 has been my favorite college course so far. This course challenged and changed my perspective of culture, and the unfamiliar. I liked the way the course was organized. I learned to apply our readings to real life, and the weekly quizzes helped me changed the way I was reading the material. I discovered that I made careless mistakes because I was rushing and not paying close attention to what I was reading.
I will never forget Sapir-Whorf hypothesis—words create worlds. Through my ethnography I was able to able to see how this statement can apply to a game of dominoes.
I feel blessed to have had Anthropology with Professor Gaunt. I was touched by her motivation and the energy she gave the class. I enjoyed working with Professor Gaunt on the One Laptop per Child project. As well I would love to continue working on this project next semester.
I would like to tell a freshman in order to be successful in this course, be open minded to new things. Do not judge. Like Professor Gaunt used to tell us, “Agree to be offended”.
Thank you Professor Gaunt. You are truly an inspiration.I will miss you.
ANT1000 is a class in which you can learn from just listening and acknowledging. I would never forget the chapter on mother's love since it bought the strangeness of it and transformed it to the familiarities. I will remember that there is nothing strange about any culture, but uniqueness from it. From this course, I changed my view of thinking and feeling of other cultures. If I had to tell a freshman one thing to succeed in this course it would be to think of the emic view instead of the etic view and don't think of anything as strange. ANT1000 taught me to share my perspective on other culture and to think of other culture in a familiarity field. This course taught me more than I had realized. Thank You Prof. G.
ANT1000 offered me a different experience in a college classroom. Pens and paper were not needed to acquire knowledge in this class. All that was needed was an open mind. After taking the course I have learned to look at the world in a new, different perspective. I have learned to not judge people because of their cultural differences. There is no strange in Anthropology, because what might be seen as strange to our culture is seen as normal for other cultures. I will always admire Professor Gaunt's dedication to help our minds to grow. She indulges us in class discussions so that everyone one of us can be involved. Because of her this, you will learn more in this class than any other class, and you'll have a fun time doing it. With that said, if anyone ever wants to take this class, put down your notebooks and pens, and prepare to become great!
JianYun,Wang
ANT 1001 is a speicial class that we don't need to so stress like in other class, Prof Gaunt offers a humor teaching style, however, we always can find something that we just learn at the time we are laughing. I will never forget the chapter about gender because it clearly indicated how gender stratification were formed. It teach me that everyone should independent and have something to contribute to society.
I also learn how to open my mind to a deeper thinking from this course, i don't know how to connect my life and experience and other deeper meaning to my reading assignment, i simple write summary as response to the reading assignment, as the move of this course, and deeper meaning that prof G had explored, i learned how to express my feeling and thinking in written expression,this also help me in my writting skill as well as in other class.
If i had to tell a freshman about how to succeed in this course, i would say that we may need to change our mind, and what we think about this world, because it often come with our personal bias, we can learn this and a new world from this course.
The knowledge about how culture works in our life can be a possible factor that help us in life, because from this we can learn better about how to communicate with people who have different background.
Honestly, I did not like ANT 1001 at the beginning of semester, because I took sociology at my high school before, and I was mad when I know that I have to take the anthropology class. Because what I know is that anthropology and sociology is the same, and as a SEEK student I have to joint the learning community program. As a result, I have to stay in this class; otherwise I have to drop my Business too. However, I want to discover the meaning behind the anthropology when I listen to the Professor. Gaunt’s speech. I was interested in the differences between “emic” and “etic”. I was touched by every chapter I have read from Kottak, I always related it to my own culture, especially the chapter of “political system”, when I know that my classmates was misunderstand our native Chinese culture, I was upset. From that moment, I want to express myself and my culture more, we are Chinese, we have to understand our culture, otherwise our ancestor would shame of our lacking knowledge. I learned so much from reading the Conformity & Conflict chapters. For example, “Mother’s love” taught me that do not judge people until you understand their culture. The chapter of “The Road to Refugee Resettlement” reveals the difficulties that refugee and immigrant has to face from living in another country.
I learned so much from this class, and I understand that sociology and anthropology is different. From doing the project of “One Laptop per Child” I learned that we are the families, we have to take care of each other. I also want to tell a freshman that anthropology is us, we are the anthropology, and if you want to understand more about yourself, this course would be the best choice.
I was amazed what you taught me, I am profoundly grateful what you have told me that how to overcome my obstacles, you inspired me to writing in English more, while my English is still poor, believe I can make it through. Thank you Professor. Gaunt.
Honestly, I did not like ANT 1001 at the beginning of semester, because I took sociology at my high school before, and I was mad when I know that I have to take the anthropology class. Because what I know is that anthropology and sociology is the same, and as a SEEK student I have to joint the learning community program. As a result, I have to stay in this class; otherwise I have to drop my Business too. However, I want to discover the meaning behind the anthropology when I listen to the Professor. Gaunt’s speech. I was interested in the differences between “emic” and “etic”. I was touched by every chapter I have read from Kottak, I always related it to my own culture, especially the chapter of “political system”, when I know that my classmates was misunderstand our native Chinese culture, I was upset. From that moment, I want to express myself and my culture more, we are Chinese, we have to understand our culture, otherwise our ancestor would shame of our lacking knowledge. I learned so much from reading the Conformity & Conflict chapters. For example, “Mother’s love” taught me that do not judge people until you understand their culture. The chapter of “The Road to Refugee Resettlement” reveals the difficulties that refugee and immigrant has to face from living in another country.
I learned so much from this class, and I understand that sociology and anthropology is different. From doing the project of “One Laptop per Child” I learned that we are the families, we have to take care of each other. I also want to tell a freshman that anthropology is us, we are the anthropology, and if you want to understand more about yourself, this course would be the best choice.
I was amazed what you taught me, I am profoundly grateful what you have told me that how to overcome my obstacles, you inspired me to writing in English more, while my English is still poor, believe I can make it through. Thank you Professor. Gaunt.
Before registering for this Anthropology course, I was not sure what this class is about and what I’m going to learn in this class. I kept telling myself that this is one of my courses in a list that I have to take, so pick one and get over it. I was glad that I have made the right decision to take this course. I enjoyed every minute in this class. I loved the way Prof. G. talks and explains the subjects with her beautiful voice.
The class gives me opportunity to listen to others’ ideas, and participate in class discussion. Reading those chapters and writings from the two books (Kottak and Conformity and Conflict) gave me knowledge about human cultural and I learned how to look at things at different lenses. I would say that my eye more opened and my mind expanded than ever based on something I had never learned before about languages, racism and cultural in around the world.
Anthropology 1001 is a great class, I learned so much from Professor Gaunt and my classmates. At the first begging I totally lost, I didn’t know what am I going to learn and what should I do in the class. But the truth is this class is not that hard as I thought. I will never forget Professor Gaunt told us don’t judge people before we understand them. Every countries in the world have their culture, this class taught me how important observing people without our own lens. Now, if I standing in the street seeing someone doing anything is strange for me. I will not to judge him or her but observe, and think about why does him acting this way? And now I know study is not only to memorize the knowledge I learn from class, but apply to life. The first time when I read the Conformity & Conflict, I think this book is correct strange stories from the world and only acting my culture is normal . But now, I acknowledged its not strange and totally make sense. This class change my mind of how to see this world in different ways.
I learned a lot about practices of other people and other cultures in ANT1001. I think the most important thing i learned is the concept of perception and how that shapes us. ANT1001 allowed me to understand different cultures without judging them. From these two important lessons, I feel my writing has improved in that i no longer state generalities in my writing and try to be as concise as possible. To those who plan on taking this class, I would recommend it. In this class your are not taking notes as much as exploring and understanding concepts about culture and humanity.
Kyle S.
Anthropology was a great class that I will always remember. Usually I hear that the people who have fun and like a certain class will always remember that class and tell other people to take it, but this class is something I would definetly recommend.
Honestly, I did not even know what anthropology was until Professor Gaunt gave us a brief introduction at Freshmen Orientation. Anthropology was a very fun and exciting class which inspired me to think globally and look from the etic glass of another culture which is unknown to you.
Iqra Yaseen
ANT 1000 was definately my favourite class for my first semester at Baruch. It was all too interesting, baffling, crazy, funny,informing, truly a learning expereince, one of the best I ever had. Learning about all the different culture, and practices that we call crazy, learning to understand these cultures, and seeing (in a way) through their eyes, or lenses. ANT100 is a class I will deffinately remember for years to ocme, nd i plan on keeping those textbooks, for future reading. The class has helped to further understand, and see things differently. Im greatful to have been part of the class, thank you. Pop.
I originally thought that we were going to study skeletons to portray the culture and conditions, which the people had lived. However, this class was extremely unique. We learned the concepts without taking notes. I would never forget the quote, “We [anthropologists] have been the first to insist on a number of things: that the world does not divide into the pious and the superstitious; that there are sculptures in jungles and paintings in deserts; that political order is possible without centralized power and principled justice without codified rules; that the norms of reason were not fixed in Greece, the evolution of morality not consummated in England. Most important, we were the first to insist that we see the lives of others through lenses of our own grinding and that they look back on ours through ones of their own.” I would take the meaning behind this quote and apply it throughout my life. In the beginning of the course, I remembered writing the Conflict and Conformity essays as book reports and now I learned to analyze and write about something precise. If I had to tell someone about intro to Cultural Anthropology, I would say that this is a must take class. I learned that the possibility of being great in life simply from being acknowledged in class as a Great One made me feel the need to achieve what I thought being a Great One means.
---DIANA KONG
I have to admit, before this class I didn't know what anthropology even was. I searched it up on wikipedia when I found it on my schedule and it was defined as the study of humans. I thought that sounded kind of weird. However, much to my surprise the class turned out to be both interesting and educational. It was great to learn about the practices of other cultures and realizing the idea that these practices were weird was due to my own cultural background. Learning how to not judge others based on my own ideals or beliefs is probably the most important thing I have acquired in my first semester in Baruch.
Raymond Jiang
Be honest I didn't like Anthropology class ,because I heard my friends all said this's a boring class and not really interesting.But when I took Professor Gaunt class I chand my mind. I was starting to liked and enjoy the class.Becuase Anthropology gave me intellectual satisfaction. As a historical, anthropological history of the world and my own history and to link these two extremes, it shows the existence of common ground between the two. Anthropology to study human beings their target, so I was able to remove the doubts about the anthropological study on the significance of all human beings have all kinds of human beings and the differences between and changes, rather than the exclusive study of a particular characteristic of a single civilization, food, those special things in the eyes of foreign observers to Ukraine have gone under, no longer exists. Finally, the anthropology that I ever met and movement of great destructive taste, because it provided me with a bunch of anthropology, the endless research material is always a matter of fact, customs, rituals and institutions of many styles, always study could not finish.
One thing that I will never forget about the class is that even though I didn't take any notes in the class I still learned a lot. I will always remember that each culture has their own unique way of doing things and even though it would seem weird it is still part of a culture. One thing that changes for me because of this class was my point of view on college because I've always thought that it would be a lot of work and I would have to take a lot of notes, but this class changed my view of college because we didn't have to take a lot of notes and it was fun. If I were to tell a freshmen about the Intro to Cultural Anthropology class I would first tell them that it is an interesting class and you would be able to learn about different cultures around the world. The class will help you think differently of the things that you find weird and you will have an opportunity to get to know other cultures better.
The ANT 1000 class is a class that I looked forward to every week. Instead of having to copy many tedious notes like I had in history, I was able to learn a lot without having to write as much.
The ANT 1000 class has many people with many different backgrounds. I believe that the friendly environment we were in allowed us to get closer as classmates. We were able to understand each other better and learned more about each other. In many ways, the readings that we did for class were very interesting and surprising. They helped establish a wider perspective of the world and the people around us. After taking the class, I did not think that many things were weird anymore; instead I accepted the many cultures that I see each day. Prof. Gaunt had reminded me to never judge - a very important lesson that all should learn.
The class was very enjoyable! We had our shares of laughs and joy.
Thank you!
To be honest, I did not like ANT 1001 at the beginning of semester. I had taken sociology at my high school before and was angry when I found out that I had to take the anthropology class - I thought that anthropology and sociology were the same. As a SEEK student I have to join the learning community program. As a result, I had to stay in this class; otherwise I would have to drop my Business course too.
However, after I heard Professor Gaunt's speech, I wanted to learn more about the meaning of anthropology. I was interested in the differences between “emic” and “etic”. I was touched by every chapter I have read from Kottak. I always related it to my own culture, especially the chapter on political systems.
I was upset to discover that my other Chinese classmates greatly misunderstood the native Chinese culture. From that moment, I wanted to express myself and my culture more - we are Chinese so we must be understand our culture, otherwise our ancestor would be ashamed of our limited knowledge. I learned so much from reading the Conformity & Conflict chapters. For example, “Mother’s love” taught me to not judge people until you understand their culture. The chapter of “The Road to Refugee Resettlement” reveals the difficulties that refugees and immigrants have to face when living in another country.
I learned so much from this class. I understand now that sociology and anthropology is different. From doing the project of “One Laptop per Child” I learned that we are the families and we have to take care of each other. I want to tell a freshman, "Anthropology is us - we are the anthropology. If you want to understand more about yourself, this course would be the best choice."
I was amazed about what you taught me. I am profoundly grateful for you have telling me how to overcome my obstacles. You inspired me to writing in English more, even though my English is poor; but believe I can make it through.
Thank you Professor Gaunt.
To be honest, I did not like ANT 1001 at the beginning of semester. I had taken sociology at my high school before and was angry when I found out that I had to take the anthropology class - I thought that anthropology and sociology were the same. As a SEEK student I have to join the learning community program. As a result, I had to stay in this class; otherwise I would have to drop my Business course too.
However, after I heard Professor Gaunt's speech, I wanted to learn more about the meaning of anthropology. I was interested in the differences between “emic” and “etic”. I was touched by every chapter I have read from Kottak. I always related it to my own culture, especially the chapter on political systems.
I was upset to discover that my other Chinese classmates greatly misunderstood the native Chinese culture. From that moment, I wanted to express myself and my culture more - we are Chinese so we must be understand our culture, otherwise our ancestor would be ashamed of our limited knowledge. I learned so much from reading the Conformity & Conflict chapters. For example, “Mother’s love” taught me to not judge people until you understand their culture. The chapter of “The Road to Refugee Resettlement” reveals the difficulties that refugees and immigrants have to face when living in another country.
I learned so much from this class. I understand now that sociology and anthropology is different. From doing the project of “One Laptop per Child” I learned that we are the families and we have to take care of each other. I want to tell a freshman, "Anthropology is us - we are the anthropology. If you want to understand more about yourself, this course would be the best choice."
I was amazed about what you taught me. I am profoundly grateful for you have telling me how to overcome my obstacles. You inspired me to writing in English more, even though my English is poor; but believe I can make it through.
Thank you Professor Gaunt.
Before taking this class, I had no idea what anthropology was. I thought about it as part of the requirement and did not even bother to look up the definition of the word anthropology. Throughout the semester, I learn what anthropology is and much more. It is great how we started with learning about the founder Malinowski and ended with doing our own ethnography.
The textbook that we read also was very interesting. While I knew some things before, some were though provoking and sometimes astonishing. The chapter about families was of those fascinating ones.
From this class, I learned how not to be too judgmental of other cultures. I realized I should not criticize the religious beliefs or style of life of other people because they are different. I would definitely recommend to anyone to take this class because it is very informative and motivational.
I am glad that I took this class, especially during the first year in Baruch College.
Hanna Filipovich
Well what can I say about this class, it was fun and exciting. It was the only class that I really wanted to go just to figure out what new and fun activities we will be doing and talking about. Something I will always remember about this class is the glasses that professor Gaunt wore. It taught us that not to see things only by our point of view but others as well.
I noticed that this was the class that brought all of us together. Its weird but maybe because we were able to share something about our own culture that made it fun and exciting. I will never forget the things I learned in this class. It was great and i will never forget your Anthropology class.
Ant 1001 was a very interesting class that opened my eyes to different cultures.The story I will remeber the most is the one of the Brazilian mothers. It put everything into perspective and it was interesting.
ANT1001 was an interesting class that I feel like I will never come across again. It has an exceptional feel to it because it puts emphasis on openness and participation. It encourages people to speak their mind and express their opinions without the fear of throwing out a wrong answer because there is no real wrong answer. Professor Gaunt does a great job teaching the course utilizing the text as a reference rather than as a bible of the course and uses a lot of other resources to help teach and make the classes fun including TED talks and YouTube videos. Students who register for this class, even if they are not freshman, will be surprised at the structure of this class and how well it works. This class was worth my tuition. Not Calculus.
I will never forget about how to understand about others cultures. Instead of using the Etic view that we normally use and using our Emic view instead. I learned with all the people that were mostly in my block and they all showed me how many different cultures there are and how different people can be.I will definitely take the idea of seeing others in their view. I will take account of how they must feel or how different they must do things. I know I will meet many different people in baruch and I will use what I learned in this class to help me along the way in my life. I definitely learned how to be more opened minded when it comes to different cultures. What I may think is alright in America is definitely not alright somewhere else. I will use this knowledge to not always use my etic glasses when it comes to others. It is an awesome classes where you can speak your mind especially with Professor G and definitely have fun while learning the best stuff about anthropology.
I know I could be awesome even if its in a room full of strangers who have different cultures.
Sorry I accidentally put anonymous.
I will never forget about how to understand about others cultures. Instead of using the Etic view that we normally use and using our Emic view instead. I learned with all the people that were mostly in my block and they all showed me how many different cultures there are and how different people can be.I will definitely take the idea of seeing others in their view. I will take account of how they must feel or how different they must do things. I know I will meet many different people in baruch and I will use what I learned in this class to help me along the way in my life. I definitely learned how to be more opened minded when it comes to different cultures. What I may think is alright in America is definitely not alright somewhere else. I will use this knowledge to not always use my etic glasses when it comes to others. It is an awesome classes where you can speak your mind especially with Professor G and definitely have fun while learning the best stuff about anthropology.
I know I could be awesome even if its in a room full of strangers who have different cultures.
There are many important things that I'm taking away from being in Professor Gaunt's anthropology class. When I signed up for the class, I had no idea on what it would be about. But it turned out to be one of the most educational classes that I had to take. There was very little writing to do, nor was it necessary in order to learn some very important concepts, including, of course, etic and emic views. The emic view lets a person be much more open minded to other peoples and other experiences. The first ethnography, xmas in kalahari, showed me how much more cunning the so called savage people really are. The Malinowski video revealed a lot more about how similar our society is to those that are less developed, when they compared the queen's jewels to the clams the native people valued. This class has really changed the way I think about the world, especially about things that I might not be so familiar with. I would tell a freshman that to succeed in the class, all they have to do is to start thinking from the other persons perspective. That way, they will be able to see the world through another pair of glasses.
I have no regrets about choosing this class and I hope that there will be many more people who will take this course and enjoy it to its full potential, especially with Professor Gaunt.
In this class, I learned to look at other people’s cultures through their eyes. Pro. Gaunt always point out this, what seemed strange to us may not seemed strange to them and what seemed strange to them may not seemed strange to us, this is why we need to stand in each other’s shoes in order to understand each other’s behavior.
Before taking this course, I thought people’s strangeness is strange and my thoughts all stop there, I failed to farther thought about the reasons why they were doing things that way and not our way. This class taught me to farther reach out because I can look at them in their prospective and understand them better when I stand in their shoes.
If I had to tell a freshman about Intro to Cultural Anthropology, I would say that unlike most other courses that I took before, where mostly talked about issues evolved around America, ANT 1001 studies different aspects of a culture, comparing and contrasting different cultures using techniques of the etic and emic view. In order to understand other people’s culture, we do not only look at their culture through our lenses, we also need to look at them through their lenses to know what is going with their life.
Being acknowledged and told daily that I was a Great One really build up my confidence. I feel I could accomplish more when I feel like a Great One because I have more confidence in myself and I believe I could reach out farther. Being told I was a Great One made me feel greatly respected by the professor.
Where to begin? This class was an amazing introduction to life. Prior to ant1001 with professor g, I was confined in my own little bubble with my own perspective on what life really is. I knew that there were different people in the world, but I never really questioned their view of life. I never realized the depth of the fact that two people can see so many things in so many different ways. Throughout our lives we will each interact with thousands of different people. Even in our own country, state, city, even on our own blocks, people will disagree on certain issues. This class taught me to look deeper. I removed my ethnocentric glasses and saw a much larger world outside of my bubble. I stopped seeing people through lenses of my own grinding and began to question their views of myself and my culture. Anthropology showed me the vast potential that our world and our human race has to impact each other. People who do not take this class (especially with Professor Gaunt) will sadly remain blind to the incredible knowledge, energy, and life that surrounds them in this world that we share. The eye opening feeling is difficult to describe to someone who hasn't taken this course, but it is a shocking sensation and I have Professor Gaunt to thank for that.
I always thought of myself as a very open-minded person, but after having taken this class, i now know what it means to truly be open-minded. Going through those pages of the Kottak book took us to exotic places all over the world. It took us to places that seemed familiar and made them seem distant while at the same time making distant places seem more familiar. Professor Gaunt made sure that class time was not just spent being lectured about terms and definitions, but rather used to preach to us about the world, life, and how culture shapes everything about us. She always made class interesting and reminded us everyday about how special we were. Its not possible to come out of that class and not love it.
Erick Toribio
It was nice for a change to be able to express our opinions. It was a class where we learned that they way that we view things and the rest of the world is not the only way to do so. Also, it was a great experience to be able to interact with your peers. Not a lot of classes allow you to do that. I remember that when the class first started I felt as if I was being picked on about everything I said. As if everything I said was wrong but eventually I came to realize that I only felt that way because that is how I made it seem. I was closing myself and just thinking that my way was the only way and not considering that there may be other ways.
To respond to the first question, I really enjoyed reading the essays from the C&C book. It was new to me. I found that the way that the had real accounts with real people made it all the more convincing. Like when we read about the Mother's whose children were dying in Brazil, that was something that at that point I understood their ways and why they did what they did. Before the class I would had never been so "accepting" of their ways.
I believe the eBook, Speak, is going to open up the eyes of everyone who reads it. It will allow people to see students in whole different light. The eBook will show the stories and thought process of a college student. I find it funny how insignificant my story is compare to the other who wrote about such personal matters. The eBook will show that students have complex lives just like everyone else. If will show how students have to live up to expectations, dealing with failure, our families, our passions, and overall the insane life that students deal with along with college. It will show how 28 students came together, with different backgrounds, came together to speak out against the norm. I think the general consciences about college students are that we have no problems. We are young, ambitious, and naïve. What do we have to worry about? But we are just like everyone else in this world. We just like everyone else in this damn world. And even though we come from different backgrounds and different lifestyles, we all have one thing in common: We are Baruch College students.
When reading both the Kottak and Conformity & Conflict, I learn that my culture is not the only one out there. Now I knew there were other cultures, but I never thought about it. I lived inside my little upper-middle class suburbanite bubble and nothing else. I didn’t need to think of the outside world. I had never been outside of the country. But once I started to read each of those books, it open up my eyes that not every place in the world has a 3 bedroom and 3 bathroom house. In fairness, most of the world doesn’t have these types of houses. But after reading these books, it allowed me to stop looking at the world in the lenses that I made, but to view it in tons of different lenses. I don’t think it would have been possible with reading so many of the amazing stories in these books.
1. Share how readings in the Kottak and/or the Conformity & Conflict reader created a shift in your view of the world? In other words, how did you come to see the world with lenses from another culture (even if momentarily) this semester? Please use etic terms to help explain what happened whenever possible.
If I remember one thing from this class, it will be about ethnocentrism. I think that all of the C&C essays, and the stories at the end of the Kottak chapter allow the readers to understand emic perspectives. We get to be in their shoes for a moment. Early on in the class I realized that no culture is normal, or right. For example, prior to this class I saw a tv show, it may have been 60 minutes, about polygamists in Utah. I remember thinking, these people are absolutely crazy, and I thought polygamy was so immoral. "Life Without Fathers" really opened my eyes, I still personally wouldn't take part in polygamy, but I realized that it is completely normal for people like the Na. I can't imagine life without my Dad, but if you really think about it, a father isn't necessary for a child's development. On that note, neither are mothers. As long as children have some sort of mentors they will be fine. Like many of you, I am a business student. At first, I admittedly couldn't understand how anthropology would help me in business. How wrong I was! Any international businessman has to overlook his ethnocentrism and understand other cultures.
2. How might the ebook SPEAK challenge ethnocentric thinking about being a student or about being in college (You can address the collaborative process and/or the collective essays but not exclusively your own essay--THINK BIGGER PICTURE)?
I think the ethnocentric view of college students is that all students have similar lives. Many people think that students go to school, do their homework, sleep and then start over again. It seems like peoples' busy lives are often overlooked. Students are not only students, but they may be employees, athletes, or they may have issues in their personal lives that are a priority over school. Every essay in SPEAK is unique, and when combined it shows the diversity in the student body at Baruch. Individually, the essays/stories may evoke emotion from the reader. But collectively, the book defines the student body as a whole. Of course it is not all-inclusive, but the 28 stories give a fairly accurate emic perspective to the etic outsiders criticizing all students. After reading SPEAK, people should be more empathetic to students' situations. Maybe Professors will be more lenient, or understanding. If a student has a valid excuse for missing a test or assignment then that excuse should be recognized. Additionally, students' ideas should be more carefully pondered, because everyone has a different background.
Coming into the semester, I was excited to take an Anthropology class at least once in my college experience because I met a guy once who said he had taken the course and it had changed his outlook so much that he changed his major to anthro. Also, it seemed like a class that wouldn't take too much out of me or hurt my mind as much as classes like Accounting. I never really thought I would "pop." Sometimes when I'm watching really emotional movies that I know should affect me deeply, they don't. I understand them and I understand why I should be upset, but I can't actually induce emotion into myself. However, I truly believe I've come a long way since the start of the semester.
1. Share how readings in the Kottak and/or the Conformity & Conflict reader created a shift in your view of the world? In other words, how did you come to see the world with lenses from another culture (even if momentarily) this semester? Please use etic terms to help explain what happened whenever possible.
I've always been pretty good about going by the book, which is why I didn't mind the readings too much, and I did well on most of the quizzes. But reading personal stories that related to the Kottak readings from Conformity & Conflict taught me how to reflect on these things and understand them on a more personal basis. Reading someone's words about their own experiences in hardship or success is so empowering. I learned that my papers had to be less general and include aspects of my life that I could relate to what I read. I received quite a few comments on my papers handed back from Prof. G that said I was being ethnocentric. At first I was a little annoyed because I didn't think I was being ethnocentric at all, but now when I go back and reread those papers, I can see it myself. I'm so much more aware now of keeping my mind open and not making assumptions about anything, not stereotyping, and not putting labels on people, even in my day-to-day activities.
2. How might the ebook SPEAK challenge ethnocentric thinking about being a student or about being in college?
I just got through reading everyone's contribution. I had tears in my eyes for at least half of the essays. It wasn't even the ones that would obviously make someone emotional (although those certainly did), but ones about success, school, expectations, etc. Everyone elses essays made me realize that we're all going through similar things that have nothing to do with school in some cases. I've always held the assumption that a degree will take me where I want to go, and this may be true, but at least now I know that when I'm feeling distracted by everything else going on in my life, I'm not alone. I know so many students who ridicule their family, relationship, and social problems or concerns because they think they should be concentrating on school. The real experiences we are facing matter just as much as school does. I hope that other students like me will read this book and feel the same way I do, and let the things that matter to them really matter. What matters makes each of us who we are, and should be at the forefront of our lives.
The Conformity and Conflict chapters has taught me a lot about myself and of the world around me. My favorite essay is "Mother's Love:Death without Weeping". If I hadn't taken taken this course and had learned about the importance of leaving all biases aside, I would personally find the Mothers in Alto to be immoral and inhumane. But thankfully, the course has taught me to put myself in other peoples shoes. I've learned that I just can't judge strangers PERIOD, because I don't know what it is like to be that person, and how life works to them.
The E-Book is a wonderful way of challenging ethnocentrism because it relieves people from personal biases they have regarding certain ethnic groups. By having us students speak out about what matters to us in life; those who read the articles will learn that we are just the same as they are, and that any assumptions they have regarding us (which may have been derived from stereotypes), or certain races, ethnicity; they will lose those bias... Well, I hope readers will eventually come to a better understanding of themselves
One of the things that I strive for in life (even before I took this course) was to lead a life by doing good things and being selfless. I also thought that I have a good understanding of what is morally right and wrong. But, like mentioned earlier, the conformity and conflict chapters made me realize, that I am STILL selfish as a person.I can't say that I've changed for the better (since its not up for me to judge), but I gained an understanding of the dangers of making blind judgments.
I want to admit that I didnt look up at the kottak pages that you suggested, but I'm only doing that so I can let my true opinions of this wonderful class (it might become an essay if I include terms).
but in any case, thank you for everything professor gaunt. what you're doing is really admirable and worthy of praise. maybe one day youll end up on CNN heroes? (lol)
my life goal is to do philanthropy in the future and this course has taught me what my shortcomings are.
P.S. my word verification code is "geyone"
How might the ebook SPEAK challenge ethnocentric thinking about being a student or about being in college (You can address the collaborative process and/or the collective essays but not exclusively your own essay--THINK BIGGER PICTURE)?
SPEAK was definitely an eye opener for myself (as I am sure it will be for a lot of the readers). Since I started attending college, I go to class, sit there and leave at the end of lectures. I have never had the opportunity to meet and understand my fellow classmates, until I took this class. This was the most interactive and interesting class I have taken since I started attending college (even though, I haven’t said much all semester). Although, everyone have a variation of backgrounds, we all share similar experiences—the expectations and pressure from our families & society, and how it affects us when we do not ‘succeed.’ I never realized how much I have in common with my classmates; I am not alone with the challenges I face and I experience the same feelings towards college, expectations, and pressure as everyone else. The e-book has made me seen beyond the person that sits next to me in class.
Share how readings in the Kottak and/or the Conformity & Conflict reader created a shift in your view of the world? In other words, how did you come to see the world with lenses from another culture (even if momentarily) this semester? Please use etic terms to help explain what happened whenever possible.
I can unquestionably say that I have learnt a great deal in this class. I have not only learnt the concepts taught in Anthropology but I have learnt how to apply them in my daily life and my surroundings. In the past, I have seen different cultures and I would think, ‘how could they do something that?’ or ‘are you kidding me?!’ But I have never taken the opportunity to better understand the culture; I observed them through the lens of my own grindings. I now fully understand, that because someone’s practice is different from what I was raised with, that does not make them weird or any less of a person.
The readings from Kottak gave me a more formal definition of Anthropology while Conformity & Conflict gave me an insight, into how these definitions apply to reality.
# 1. Share how readings in the Kottak and/or the Conformity & Conflict reader created a shift in your view of the world? In other words, how did you come to see the world with lenses from another culture (even if momentarily) this semester? Please use etic terms to help explain what happened whenever possible.
# 2. How might the ebook SPEAK challenge ethnocentric thinking about being a student or about being in college (You can address the collaborative process and/or the collective essays but not exclusively your own essay--THINK BIGGER PICTURE)?
Wow! I loved the whole semester of ANT1001. To me personally, this whole experience was a view shifter of the world. I learned to listen in a different way where I try to always take into consideration another person's point of view and why it may be different from mine. I learned analyze things instead of jumping to conclusions and being judgmental. I can now apply this experience to everyday life. I found my view of the world shift after reading the "Mother's Love: Death without Weeping" by Nancy Scheper-Hughes. Mother's of Bom Jesus, Brazil would be judged by a large number of people living in societies like the one of the U.S., where it would be unacceptable to let a newborn die for being a weak baby. I could not judge - and no one should. There are so much more to the decisions those Brazilian mothers make. I understood.
SPEAK reshaped the cookie-cutter frame of being a college student. The project was not the typical assignment students usually do. There was no predefined template to follow. We wrote about what matters to us personally without being confined within the rules and regulations. SPEAK showed that there is so much more to each student than just a label. We are all different, yet have so much in common and there is a story behind each and everyone of the students.
Share how readings in the Kottak and/or the Conformity & Conflict reader created a shift in your view of the world? In other words, how did you come to see the world with lenses from another culture (even if momentarily) this semester? Please use etic terms to help explain what happened whenever possible.
How might the ebook SPEAK challenge ethnocentric thinking about being a student or about being in college(You can address the collaborative process and/or the collective essays but not exclusively your own essay--THINK BIGGER PICTURE)?
You can make a counter-offer for one question if you want to say/write anything else.
Reading the Kottak and Conformity & Conflict; It not only shifted my views but I was also in shock as I thought, All human were different in cultures, traditions and customs but reading the books made me realize that we have more common feelings and emotions then cultures or customs. These emotions and feelings matter most in the world then any culture, custom or religion. My favorite essay was Sapir Whorf Hypothesis from Conformity & Conflict. As I can speak and understand four different languages, so it was a very nice experience for me that how languages play apart in our life.
How amazing and surprising, a class of 30 students with different ethnicity and nationality but all share similar kind of thoughts and feelings. All essays were expected to be way different but when they were piled up, it looked like a story of one student dealing with life. Reading “Speak” I had a feeling that I am not the only one in class. We all are fighting and facing same kind of problems.
It was my first semester outside my country, with poor communication skills, new education system and a lot of other problems. I still managed to work hard and get good grades in quizzes and essays. But the real valuable thing for me was to learn about the cultures and people of different countries, from east to west and north to south. I am lucky that in the end of this semester, i was not worried about the grades because the thing and stuff I read was more valuable then any grades or C.G.P.A.
Share how readings in the Kottak and/or the Conformity & Conflict reader created a shift in your view of the world? In other words, how did you come to see the world with lenses from another culture (even if momentarily) this semester? Please use etic terms to help explain what happened whenever possible.
How might the ebook SPEAK challenge ethnocentric thinking about being a student or about being in college(You can address the collaborative process and/or the collective essays but not exclusively your own essay--THINK BIGGER PICTURE)?
You can make a counter-offer for one question if you want to say/write anything else.
Reading the Kottak and Conformity & Conflict; It not only shifted my views but I was also in shock as I thought, All human were different in cultures, traditions and customs but reading the books made me realize that we have more common feelings and emotions then cultures or customs. These emotions and feelings matter most in the world then any culture, custom or religion. My favorite essay was Sapir Whorf Hypothesis from Conformity & Conflict. As I can speak and understand four different languages, so it was a very nice experience for me that how languages play apart in our life.
How amazing and surprising, a class of 30 students with different ethnicity and nationality but all share similar kind of thoughts and feelings. All essays were expected to be way different but when they were piled up, it looked like a story of one student dealing with life. Reading “Speak” I had a feeling that I am not the only one in class. We all are fighting and facing same kind of problems.
It was my first semester outside my country, with poor communication skills, new education system and a lot of other problems. I still managed to work hard and get good grades in quizzes and essays. But the real valuable thing for me was to learn about the cultures and people of different countries, from east to west and north to south. I am lucky that in the end of this semester, i was not worried about the grades because the thing and stuff I read was more valuable then any grades or C.G.P.A.
# 3. Clifford Geertz wrote that it "takes a certain kind of mind to sail out of sight from land in an outrigger canoe" ("Anti Anti-Relativism," 1984). In other words, letting go of what you already know and embracing the unknown is not a normal thing for us humans. What ethnocentric thinking did you learn to let go of in this course? What could you apply that process to that you have been resisting letting go of (i.e., prejudice, bias, ethnocentric thinking about this or that group of people as different)?
This class has taught me to let go of the idea that there is a "best" way to run a society. What works for New York may not work for Bom Jesus, Brazil, as Mother's Love: Death without Weeping showed me. While we may be appalled by the attitudes the mothers of Bom Jesus had for their children, most of us have never had to worry about raising young in poverty so extreme that we could not afford to feed our young.
By learning that there is no "best" way to run a society, I can apply this knowledge to better understand the position of my political opponents.
1. Share how readings in the Kottak and/or the Conformity & Conflict reader created a shift in your view of the world? In other words, how did you come to see the world with lenses from another culture (even if momentarily) this semester? Please use etic terms to help explain what happened whenever possible.
As I have spent 20 years living China, a big society with residents sharing one major culture, I rarely encountered people who looked different, spoke strange language, carried out different etiquettes, and behave differently. I am enculturated by Chinese traditional values and beliefs. Even if I could see foreigners on TV shows, I had no idea how they are different from Chinese except their faces, hair color, and speaking languages. Now I am living in New York today. I still hold my own culture and values firmly because most of the time I stay with Chinese immigrants. Sometimes I will think that other people are doing strange things. For example, I have been invited to have some drinks in bar after class by two Germen classmates. We only have few words in class. We are not friends but just classmates. Chinese only invite close friends to drink alcohol. At that moment, I would think they were dangerous to me. Kottak's book and the "Conformity & Conflict" do change some of my beliefs and open my eyes to a far-reaching area. One fact cannot convince people, but accumulated stories from different cultures tell me the truth that human beings are diverse. Those manners and behaviors that I do not value may be something very usual in other cultures. Such as mother's selective neglect to her babies in Northeast Brazil, it seems amoral to outsiders, but it is adaptation for suviving in the scarce environment. These two books shows me that there are a great number of cultures existing in the world, none of them are better than others are, and each culture has own historical and geographic causes, and these cultures are human intellectual creations for adapting and surviving in different environments. Words create world view, as long as I still speak Chinese and find myself deep in Chinese culture, I will feel strange with some other cultures I encounter here, but I have learned to respect people in different cultural groups and understand they love their culture as much as I do to mine.
continue in the next comment...
Peizhi' post continues here...
2. How might the ebook SPEAK challenge ethnocentric thinking about being a student or about being in college (You can address the collaborative process and/or the collective essays but not exclusively your own essay--THINK BIGGER PICTURE)?
The enthnocentric thinking of student and being in college would be that studnets are not yet matured due to they are still studing in school. Students seems only thinking about their homework, grade, course materials, going out to play and hanging out with friends. They should follow their professors' steps as professors are smarters. They cannot go beyond the college rules, which we never see hanging on any walls in school but we imagine they are there. Our book "Speak" change the view of an obedient studnets. I can see various kinds of students. Some of them have break the imagined rules of school and family; some of them work have been working hard while going to school; some start to find their own path instead of the one set by parents; some have tried to succeed, and some fail. In the book, I can see that each of us has already experiences something really important in our lives. It may be about our study, our relationship with their families, and our hard time in life. Even if students don't have the wisdom of the olds, they grow their own talent on different areas. Because all of us are studying in Baruch College, we share a status as students, but we also seize many other positions in lives rather than a studnet and a child. We are the same, and we are different and diverse. Every time when I entered our classroom, I always saw my classmates laughing happily in class. But now I know most of them have experienced tears and sadness, in which they grow and become mature.
#1. It was new to me to read about all these things that are happening around me and I am not aware of. Never did I think that mother's are allowing their children to die, because they have no other option, and they are not even allowed to weep their children's passing. It was just an eye opener. I have not been exposed to much and even when one goes to visit another place, you get to see the pretty side of the place but with the Conformity & Conflict essays we saw their culture. What was really going on.
#4. I think that the SPEAK book helps us step out of our egocentrism because we only think that MY life is unfair. That only MY professors and MY classes are tough. Yet when we read this book we can see that there are other students are also going through similar situations. They also have different things going on. It is just great to read about the different experiences of others.
The class was great.
# 2. How might the ebook SPEAK challenge ethnocentric thinking about being a student or about being in college (You can address the collaborative process and/or the collective essays but not exclusively your own essay--THINK BIGGER PICTURE)?
This ebook challenges ethnocentric thinking about being a college student by having students share their personal experiences that made them into the people that they are today. People will learn that college is not just about partying 24/7 or studying 24/7 or even anything in between: it's a learning experience, the lessons of which will remain with us students for life.
2. How might the eBook SPEAK challenge ethnocentric thinking about being a student or about being in college (You can address the collaborative process and/or the collective essays but not exclusively your own essay---THINK BIGGER PICTURE)?
The e-book can challenge average thinking about what a student body may look like. In the United States we believe in a system where there average student is supposed to spend four years in higher education and move on. We tend to leave out the many things that affect a student’s life like family or changing your mind about a major. The eBook can educate people about education in other realms in which people follow their passion to pursue a career.
3. Clifford Geertz wrote that it “takes a certain kind of mind to sail out of sight from land in and outrigger canoe” ( “Anti Anti-Relativism,”1984). In other words, letting of what you already know and embracing the unkown is not a normal thing for us humans. What ethnocentric thinking did you learn to let go of in this course? What could you apply that process to that you have been resisting letting fo of (i.e. prejudice, bias, ethnocentric thinking about this or that group of people as different)?
I have let go of the thinking that in order to find your true calling in life you have to follow a certain path pre-determined by society. You don’t have to study anything specific to know what you want to do with your life. I learned through the stories that the American notion of schooling may be a little off and that we are all children of the world because we all have a story to tell.
• 1. Share how readings in the Kottak and/or the Conformity & Conflict reader created a shift in your view of the world? In other words, how did you come to see the world with lenses from another culture (even if momentarily) this semester? Please use etic terms to help explain what happened whenever possible.
The readings from Kottak taught me how to better understand the basic elements that form and can help me understand the world that we live in. The readings from C&C made me identify how my ethnocentrism gets in the way of understanding others. They made me realize how unaware I am from what goes on around the world. We tend to only pay attention to what we can see. And now that I can identify (well most of the time) how my ethnocentrism is affecting my judgment I can take it out of the way, I can “Take my glasses off”. “Mothers Love” was my favorite of all the stories. At first I was in complete shock but then I could somehow understand how they felt and what they were going through.
• 2. How might the ebook SPEAK challenge ethnocentric thinking about being a student or about being in college (You can address the collaborative process and/or the collective essays but not exclusively your own essay--THINK BIGGER PICTURE)?
SPEAK is going to change the perspective of many students and professors. It definitely changed mine. I think that many of us as college students never realize what the person sitting next to us could have gone through or could be going through in their life. We never think on how much we have in common as students and young adults. I think many professors never realize that either. Nevertheless, SPEAK will change that for whoever reads it. It shows feelings, vulnerability and the reality of college students.
Q2- I think a lot of times we as students go into a classroom with our experiences in mind and we assume that everyone else had an "average college experience". In this class I learned that there is NO SUCH THING as the average college experience because every single person wants and does different things. With S.P.E.A.K. people can see that each one of us is not only different, but we speak up to share what we know and THAT is the way to start breaking through ethnocentric thinking. By contributing individual stories and reading each persons, I have definitely gotten a bit more insight into my own mind, as well as others.
Q3- Reading the Conformity & Conflict stories was a big factor in realizing how judgmental my attitude really can be. When I read about the babies in Brazil that were left aside when sick I was disgusted at first. I almost couldn't continue to read about something that I judge as so wrong, but it's a good thing I did. Living in such horrible conditions, you begin to get a little insight into how it must be for these people. By the end I no longer hated it, I felt bad for all of the people living there. Thinking ethnocentrically caused me to judge based on my standards of living. When we were first taught about ethnocentric thinking I thought it sounded easy to avoid..it is NOT. I try hard to avoid being as judgemental and it's actually a day-to-day process, but if I hadn't taken this course I wouldn't have the chance to overcome...or at least be a little bit more conscious.
2. How might the ebook SPEAK challenge ethnocentric thinking about being a student or about being in college?
Ans: College is so “cut and paste”, it should be as diverse as the people who attend. The fact that college students come from such diverse cultures should show that the education system need variety. I also hope that the book inspires people to get what they truly want out of college and not let college get what it wants out of them; especially when the student is paying for it.
3. What ethnocentric thinking did you learn to let go of in this course?
Ans: To be honest most of my ways of thinking have stayed the same (I’m very stubborn), but I will say that the course did help me see people; people as a representation of culture and not a stereotype (If that makes any sense). Just because a person is of a certain culture doesn’t mean they fully adhere to or even agree with their cultures practices; that’s something I knew, but never really thought about until now. Each person is a “unique” representation of the culture that produced them, they will find their own path in life and that’s a beautiful thing.
Anthropology 1001 with Professor Kyra Gaunt. BY FAR BEST CLASS I HAVE TAKEN AT BARUCH! Ill be quite honest, when I first stepped into the class, I wondered when was the latest I can drop it. I thought too much work and probably a hard grader! And the whole upside map thing?!
Professor Gaunt completely opened me up into a less ignorant person. I would actually be SO upset if I had to miss a class. Now that the semester is coming to an end there are a few things that I have to thank Professor G for, things I get to take away with me because of her help.
I never knew what “ignorant” meant. But I say it is safe to admit that I was. I remember writing a paper on “Life without Fathers or Husbands.” When I received my paper back, I was not impressed with my grade. Only till a few weeks later I “POPPED!” How quick I was to judge a culture was very naive of me. I then thought maybe it’s about time I start thinking outside my own little bubble. She made me realize that just because someone does something different doesn’t necessarily make it wrong. The book Conflict & Conformity opened my eyes to different cultures but yet similar beliefs. This class taught me to understand. I learned to open my ears, listen, and understand. We wrote a book in this class, “Speak: The Miseducation of College Students.” With Professor G’s help, I listened. After a year battle, I listened to them. I understood. That is the greatest thing that I have received in this class. Not to be so close-minded and look at the bigger picture. Speaking of the bigger picture, I am so happy to say that I have a piece in that book. Not many, including myself, realize how lonely a commuter college such as Baruch can be. Just faces everyday and same routines. It’s nice and comforting to realize that everyone has a story. I find it ironic that I’ve “popped” my graduating semester after six long years at Baruch!
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