Anthropological Consciousness Analysis

I was sitting in the middle of a large lecture hall room. Most of the seats were full. In the front of the room was my professor. It was our first day of cultural anthropology. Our professor was asking us questions about what things were in the classroom. He even stood on top of the piano and asked us what it was. It was his way of introducing the idea of an anthropological consciousness. Throughout the class cultural anthropology we were taught about having an anthropological consciousness. An anthropological consciousness is not something that you can just define in a dictionary. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines anthropology as “The study of human beings and their ancestors through time and space and in relation to physical character, environmental and social relations, and culture.” The same dictionary defines consciousness as “The quality …show more content…
It is important to not be ethnocentric and to be aware of not only other cultures, but also your own culture. Having an anthropological consciousness gives you the ability to think and notice things in a whole different perspective. Something that can be so normal to you today can all of a sudden be seen very differently. When I was reading our text book for cultural anthropology I remember reading about how someone brushes their teeth. It sounded crazy and out of this world, because of the way the anthropologist described it. When I found out it was just someone brushing their teeth my mind was blown. It made me rethink every small thing I do that I think is normal. Now, everytime I brush my teeth I think back to that story and laugh to myself. Gaining an anthropological consciousness will not only lead you to start to notice things differently, but it will help you have a better understanding of different cultures. It will help you not to be ethnocentric. It will lead you to respect and appreciate the diversity of our world