剑桥人类学PS 赏析

剑桥大学（人文、社会与政治科学）、伦敦大学学院（人类学）、达勒姆大学（人类学）、埃克塞特大学（人类学）和肯特大学（人类学）

你为什么想学习这个课程或学科？

人类学让我非常感兴趣，因为它从生物学、社会和文化视角探讨了人性常被忽视的基本原理。这门学科更吸引我，因为它融合了人文学科和科学，这两个学科我在英语文学、拉丁语、生物学和化学AS阶段既喜欢又表现出色。我对进化论非常感兴趣。在观看一场通过比较人类与动物来探讨人类本体论的皇家科学院在线讲座时，我对进化的好奇心特别聚焦于人类，因为我发现人类进化史能够解释人类生活的生理和文化方面，这点非常有趣。我通过参加伦敦大学学院人类学试听课程和伦敦人类学日的人类进化讲座，以及阅读《人类进化的完整世界》（C. Stringer + P. Andrews）进一步探讨了这一话题。读到这篇文章时，我对当代灵长类动物的行为如何用来模拟人类进化的过去阶段感到好奇，于是决定在我担任联合主席的学校科学社举办一场关于此事的研讨会。我也被人类生活中的社会和文化方面吸引，比如经济人类学。在研究《弗兰肯斯坦》时，我对马克思主义对这部小说的解读以及马克思关于资本主义体系中资源转移的看法感到好奇;当我在SOAS的人类学讲座中听到“交流是所有关系的基础”这一观点时，我对交换在社会中扮演的不同角色感到着迷。资本主义中金钱与劳动的不平等交换及其财富积累对我来说几乎是普遍现象，但在我在剑桥大学参加的人类学大师班中讲解的特罗布里恩群岛库拉仪式，参与者试图避免积累礼物，给我的印象却截然不同。我通过阅读《清算：华尔街民族志》进一步探讨了西方体系中的交换，K. Ho在书中生动描绘了投资银行内部的生活，这种环境充斥着精英主义，甚至在建筑中体现，不同重要性的工人通过不同的电梯被隔离开来。我对民族志开启此前陌生世界的力量感到着迷，不仅开始记录我所读见的关于周围社会的记录，还通过阅读J. Luyendijk在《卫报》网站人类学版块的博客中，阅读那些与银行业有关联但工作于银行业之外的人的观察，更加深入地融入银行文化。

你的资质和学习如何帮助你准备这门课程或科目？

这门学科更吸引我，因为它融合了人文学科和科学，这两个学科我在英语文学、拉丁语、生物学和化学AS阶段既喜欢又表现出色。我对进化论非常感兴趣。在观看一场通过比较人类与动物来探讨人类本体论的皇家科学院在线讲座时，我对进化的好奇心特别聚焦于人类，因为我发现人类进化史能够解释人类生活的生理和文化方面，这点非常有趣。我通过参加伦敦大学学院人类学试听课程和伦敦人类学日的人类进化讲座，以及阅读《人类进化的完整世界》（C. Stringer + P. Andrews）进一步探讨了这一话题。读到这篇文章时，我对当代灵长类动物的行为如何用来模拟人类进化的过去阶段感到好奇，于是决定在我担任联合主席的学校科学社举办一场关于此事的研讨会。

你在教育之外还做了哪些准备工作？这些经历为什么有用？

当我夏天访问马达加斯加完成我的金牌DofE并协助当地社区项目时，我抓住机会看到了一个完全不同的世界。在那里，我目睹了一名孩子因偷窃相机而被父亲暴力殴打的情景，起初令我震惊，回想后意识到马达加斯加文化中诚信和荣誉的高度重视，一个父亲竟会因儿子违背这些价值观而置其生命于危险之中。课余时间，我作为宿舍长，指导学校里的一位年幼男孩并策划学院大会，同时担任学校可持续发展委员会的能源与信息技术负责人，在学院大会上发言并委派任务，以提升学校的可持续发展。此外，我定期为学校讽刺报纸撰稿，完成了在Allen and Overy律师事务所一周的工作实习;并参加了即兴表演的戏剧课程，这显著提升了我的自信和口才。参与各种课外活动，同时抽时间完成学业，极大地提升了我的时间管理能力：为大学生活的严苛做好准备。

英文

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

Anthropology interests me greatly because it explores the often overlooked fundamentals of human nature from a biological, social and cultural perspective. The subject appeals to me further as it blends humanities and sciences, disciplines which I have both enjoyed and excelled in during my English Literature, Latin, Biology and Chemistry AS levels. I have a keen interest in evolution. When watching an online Royal Academy lecture which explored human ontology through comparisons between man and animals, I focused my curiosity about evolution on humans in particular as I found the ability of human evolutionary history to explain physiological and cultural aspects of human life particularly fascinating. I further explored this topic through attending talks on human evolution at a UCL Anthropology taster course and London Anthropology Day, and reading ‘The Complete World of Human Evolution’ (C. Stringer + P. Andrews). In reading this I was intrigued by how contemporary primate behaviour can be used to model past stages of human evolution and decided to present a seminar on the matter at my school science society, of which I am co-head. I am also attracted to the social and cultural aspects of human life such as Economic Anthropology. When studying ‘Frankenstein’ I was intrigued by a Marxist interpretation of the novel, and Marx’s view on the transfer of resources in Capitalist systems; and when hearing the opinion that ‘exchange underpins all relationships’ in an Anthropology lecture at a SOAS taster day, I was fascinated by the different roles that exchange can play in society. The unequal exchange of money for labour in Capitalism and its accumulation of riches had seemed almost universal to me, but the Kula ritual of the Trobriand Islands, explained at an Anthropology masterclass I attended at Cambridge University, in which participants attempt to avoid accumulating gifts, struck me as very different. I further explored exchange in western systems by reading ‘Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street’ in which K. Ho creates a vivid picture of life within an investment bank, an environment saturated by elitism to the extent that it is conveyed in architecture, with workers of differing importance segregated through the use of different lifts. Fascinated by the power of ethnography to open up a previously unfamiliar world I not only began to keep a journal of what I had read and seen about societies around me, but also immersed myself more in banking culture by reading about the observations of those connected to but working outside banking in J. Luyendijk’s blog on the Anthropology section of the Guardian’s website.

How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?

The subject appeals to me further as it blends humanities and sciences, disciplines which I have both enjoyed and excelled in during my English Literature, Latin, Biology and Chemistry AS levels. I have a keen interest in evolution. When watching an online Royal Academy lecture which explored human ontology through comparisons between man and animals, I focused my curiosity about evolution on humans in particular as I found the ability of human evolutionary history to explain physiological and cultural aspects of human life particularly fascinating. I further explored this topic through attending talks on human evolution at a UCL Anthropology taster course and London Anthropology Day, and reading ‘The Complete World of Human Evolution’ (C. Stringer + P. Andrews). In reading this I was intrigued by how contemporary primate behaviour can be used to model past stages of human evolution and decided to present a seminar on the matter at my school science society, of which I am co-head.

What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

I took the opportunity to see a completely different world entirely when I visited Madagascar in the summer to finish my Gold DofE and help with local community projects. There I observed the violent beating of a child by his own father for the theft of a camera which at first shocked me, and upon reflection highlighted just how highly integrity and honour are valued in Malagasy culture, that a father would put the life of his son in danger as reprimand for a breach of these values. Outside of studies I fulfil my roles as House Prefect by mentoring a younger boy at school and planning house assemblies, and as Head of Energy and IT of the school sustainability committee by speaking in house assemblies and delegating tasks to improve the sustainability of the school. In addition I write regularly for the school satirical newspaper, have completed a week of work experience at the law firm Allen and Overy; and attend an improvisation based Drama course, which has improved my confidence and eloquence markedly. Engaging in a breadth of extracurricular activities, whilst finding time to complete school work, has greatly developed my time management skills: preparing me for the rigour of university life.