Cultural anthropology allows us to look at our own culture critically. It shows us that everything we do is not so normal and natural. It also helps us understand how other cultures have a inner logic and beauty that is foreign to us and yet at the same time have traits that are similar to ours.
Cultural anthropology works to foster cross-cultural understanding and tolerance.
A cultural anthropologist studies a particular society in order to describe how it is unique in the world, how it shares characteristics with other societies, and how it has aspects in common with all other human populations. In this class, we will read four ethnographies based in various parts of the world. An ethnography is a written account about a particular culture. During ethnographic fieldwork, the anthropologist gathers data, which he or she organizes, analyzes, and interprets to create a first-hand study. I chose these ethnographies because each examines an issue that is central to the anthropological study of culture.