Cultural Anthropology
Nathanael Fires
Dr. Kant-Byers
Cultural Anthropology
5/15/15
Essay #2
Cultural anthropologists main job is to study different cultures all over the world and then to compare the similarities and differences to their own culture or other cultures. This is typically done by that anthropologist going and living with that cultural group for an extended period of time so they can learn everything there is to that particular culture. While they are there, they learn about everything that they can, from the religion to how food and goods are obtained. In a cultural anthropology class, the students are exposed to these cultures and study the differences and similarities that are present in different cultures. By studying different cultures, the perspective of the world and the awareness of other cultures can be broadened. However, there are people out there who have not been exposed to other cultures and in a sense, are naive to the world around them. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, there is a great probability that not being aware of other cultures can have a negative affect on a persons career or way of life.
Someone who is considered ethnocentric judges other cultures based on their own beliefs and culture. Typically, they believe that their way of doing things, is the right way. The phrase
“my way or the highway” is a phrase that fits these types of people extremely well. In the business world, these people might act very confident and quite ambitious. While that is a trait often looked for in business, let alone most careers, it can hinder that persons ability to work effectively with international people and companies. My uncle has been working internationally in the oil industry for the last 15 years. His first international location was in Indonesia. This was also one of his first times in a place where the culture was very different from what he was used too. His position in Indonesia was the engineering operations manager. He basically saw to the
Dr. Kant-Byers
Cultural Anthropology
5/15/15
Essay #2
Cultural anthropologists main job is to study different cultures all over the world and then to compare the similarities and differences to their own culture or other cultures. This is typically done by that anthropologist going and living with that cultural group for an extended period of time so they can learn everything there is to that particular culture. While they are there, they learn about everything that they can, from the religion to how food and goods are obtained. In a cultural anthropology class, the students are exposed to these cultures and study the differences and similarities that are present in different cultures. By studying different cultures, the perspective of the world and the awareness of other cultures can be broadened. However, there are people out there who have not been exposed to other cultures and in a sense, are naive to the world around them. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, there is a great probability that not being aware of other cultures can have a negative affect on a persons career or way of life.
Someone who is considered ethnocentric judges other cultures based on their own beliefs and culture. Typically, they believe that their way of doing things, is the right way. The phrase
“my way or the highway” is a phrase that fits these types of people extremely well. In the business world, these people might act very confident and quite ambitious. While that is a trait often looked for in business, let alone most careers, it can hinder that persons ability to work effectively with international people and companies. My uncle has been working internationally in the oil industry for the last 15 years. His first international location was in Indonesia. This was also one of his first times in a place where the culture was very different from what he was used too. His position in Indonesia was the engineering operations manager. He basically saw to the