The past 14 weeks have no doubt been busy and unusual for everyone, and adjusting to the online format is something most people are finding quite difficult. In these times I found that this course and its format has been really a gift for me, since most of my classes are largely asynchronous, it was some semblance of normalcy to have weekly interactions with other people, be it over zoom. The content that we have covered this past term has made me think about the things around us, the interactions we have, and the environment we grew up in. Stepping outside to see what culture is in its varied forms was a process of reflection and learning.
For me, the topic that I found especially resonant was the reading on the Coca leaf farmers, because it made me look at the interactions between people and resources in a more human way. Now what I mean by that, is some other courses I have taken this semester don’t incorporate the importance of culture and human well-being. All too often I find certain disciplines have a reductionist manner of looking at the world, as simple inputs and outputs, but I believe studying culture as we have this term gives us some much-needed perspective.