Matthew Gagarin

Mentor visit

28 February

Evidence of Learning #5

My fourth visit up to SMU involved attending her capstone class again. This lesson went

over how jobs you have done connect to you anthropologically as well as discuss these trends

and watch some educational videos surrounding jobs and anthropology. This visit marked the

last one for the quarter, and I have learned so much first hand behind Dr. Eiselt. My next step is

to plan more visits for next quarter and further my research under her and her class of students.

For her lesson, Dr. Eiselt asked me to prepare by thinking about several jobs that I have

had in the past or currently and to relate them in an anthropological manner. The response I came

up with was my job being a part of the student leadership team my sophomore year for

colorguard. During that time our director got fired, the student leadership team had to step up and

practically do what the director did, which included teaching work, touching up routines,

working with the band directors and NTCA directors, and managing the team to see through till

the end of the season. The anthropological aspect of this job was that I got to work with many

different people and figure out how to work with them in the best way possible. I had to find the

optimal way to be productive while working with different kinds of people who have different

learning styles.

The other students shared their stories and jobs they have done. A common theme was

working with different people and understanding socioeconomic and race issues in a deeper way

that they would not have experienced otherwise. In the jobs they have done, they have

experienced many different kinds of peoples and demographics. In this way, anthropologists all
have in common the fact that they work with many types of people from all ends of the

spectrum, and using this knowledge to be wiser and develop themselves.

The video Dr. Eiselt shared was about ADP and the cultural anthropologist’s job there.

ADP is a technology based company, and at first glance there doesn’t seem to be a reason for

anthropologists to be there. However, the video describes how cultural anthropologists work with

people and cultures in order to further their research and technologies in the company. This video

helped me understand the need for anthropologists in various industries because anthropologists

have a vast understanding of people.