The Cultural Anthropology program at Missional University is valuable for several reasons:

First, cultural anthropology assists students in developing a holistic approach to understand societies.  This is a way to see how the parts of the social world are inter-related and connected with each other.  By understanding anthropological concepts of culture the student will be more aware of how societies are structured.  This holistic perspective can then lead to an awareness of the assumptions that are accepted (even unconsciously) by individuals and groups.

The program also provides tools for examining our own culture in detail.  A number of methods are taught to collect information and to see how culture is accepted by its members.  Much of what we “know” is accepted uncritically as children, as part of the socialization that is needed to create new members of a culture.  Children have no choice in this process of acculturalization, but adults can investigate and question what they believe.  Studying social theories trains students to see society in a more insightful way.  It develops critical reflection skills and opens new ways of comprehending cultural ideas and practices. 

This gives support in overcoming cultural superiority, also known as ethnocentrism.  This view is the very common notion that one’s own way of life is the best way, as it’s what you’ve been taught all your life.  But it involves judging other societies by our own standards and seeing them as somehow inferior or even immoral.  If you haven’t lived in another culture, it may seem that everyone thinks and acts the same.  Although we usually know there are differences in external practices like language, food and dress, we may believe that essentially “people are the same” and so we can easily understand each other.  However, this view doesn’t acknowledge the fundamental differences people have in how they see the world, what they think is true and how they believe things should be done.

The Missional University cultural anthropology courses thus help students to see themselves more objectivity, both individually and as members of a culture (and several subcultures).  They will gain insights on how they view their role in society, and why certain behaviors are acceptable or not.  Similarly, they will better understand their own culture and realize the norms and values that guide the members of their family and the larger group that they belong to.  By examining the assumptions of our own culture(s) we all can know what is “taken for granted” and decide if these ideas are consistent with Biblical principles.  This is vital to be an informed Christian.

We are all part of a culture (or more than one), but we should carefully investigate its social foundations.  The anthropology program provides academic tools to discover the underlying features that motivate cultural behavior.  It can reveal how we are “shaped” by our society through our upbringing and language, as well as through its educational and political systems.  And it assists in understanding others and why they live as they do.

Doing this kind of social investigation shows that there is no one “natural” way to organize parts of society.  There are many ways to live, and all are fully human.  Many customs may seem strange to outsiders, but they should be researched to find what function they serve and what meaning they provide to the members of a culture.  Of course, not all these practices are consistent with Christian beliefs and ethics.  This is a major challenge even within our own society.  But they should be carefully examined to determine what is unacceptable, what is neutral, and what is consistent with Christian faith and practice.  The study of anthropology can be of great use in this important task.