Anthropology sheds light on culture, human history

COOL CLASS OF THE WEEK

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By Charles Nunmaker

Anthropology is a subject that many incoming students do not know much about. Anthropology does sound like it would be an intimidating subject to study, but in fact it is a very interesting and fun class. In the class, students learn about the four basic kinds of anthropology, as well as the different cultures that influence the evolution of human social interactions.

In a general definition, anthropology is defined as a social science that studies the links and social relationships among humanity. This includes the evolution of language and human communication, the differences among family structures in different cultures, and how societies came to be what they are today.

Anthropology includes four basic different fields of study: lingual anthropology, cultural anthropology, physical anthropology, and archaeology. All of these fields study the interactions and evolutions that occur among past human cultures to present day. An anthropologists’ main job is to research different societies and evaluate the general culture that exists there. Many anthropologists sometimes submerse themselves fully in distant, unheard of cultures just to gain as much information about that culture as possible.

Among general education courses and general humanity courses, anthropology can be one of the most interesting classes to take. Introduction to anthropology and general basic anthropology classes continue to be some of the most full classes every semester especially among incoming students.

Not everyone finds the class interesting, but student Leila Wazowski found the class very interesting. “I learned a lot more than I thought I would. It was a complex, but fun class,” says Leila. “I entered the class and just thought that I would pass through the class without learning that much, however I became very intrigued to learn about the differences among America’s cultures compared to the cultures of other countries. It was really cool especially when we linked lingual anthropology and the evolution of language with social technological networks like Facebook.”

Many introductory classes can be some of the hardest, craziest classes that a student could take; however, introduction to anthropology is one class that would be interesting, and would not be a heavy burden to bear on the college class schedule. It can be a bit complex at times, but anthropology can be one of the most interesting classes that you take while learning at LSU.

Originally Published: Issue 750 - January 14, 2009

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