Community Essay Examples
When crafting your college applications, writing strong essays is essential. Through your essays, you demonstrate who you are–from your values and passions to your lived experiences. Indeed the personal statement is the most common college essay. However, you will also likely have to write some supplemental essays as part of your college application requirements. One of the most common supplemental essay types is the community essay. This essay type is also known as a describe the community you live in essay, cultural diversity essay, or community service essay.
In this article, we will introduce several community essay examples. Most importantly, we’ll describe why they are considered college essays that worked. Specifically, we will share community essay examples from the two schools:
- Princeton University
- Columbia University
By studying these admissions essay samples, you can see what makes these college community essay examples strong and apply those same principles to your writing.
Reviewing Types of College Essays
Each school has different supplemental essay prompts for their college application requirements. However, there are a few types of essays that are most common. By becoming familiar with these essay types, you can begin to brainstorm and strategize what you will write about early on. You might start as early as sophomore or junior year in high school.
Now, let’s take a look at the most common supplementary essay questions.
Common Supplementary Essay Questions
1. why school.
A Why School essay is, as it sounds, about why you wish to attend a specific institution. The key to answering this prompt well is to be specific. You should identify examples of what you like about a school. Avoid general comments such as “it is a top school” or “it is diverse.” Share specific programs, professors, teaching approaches, cultural elements, or unique opportunities such as research or study abroad.
2. Why Major
The Why Major essay asks you to share specific reasons behind your choice of major and how it relates to your future goals. A strong response to a Why Major essay will highlight your specific motivations. But it will also connect those motivations to a school’s unique opportunities. For example, perhaps you wish to be a pre-law history major, and the school you are applying to offers law-related internships. By highlighting these specific connections, you draw a compelling connection between yourself and the school.
3. Extracurricular Activity
Many schools ask you to describe an extracurricular activity that is particularly meaningful for you. When responding to this question, do not feel limited to only talk about the most popular extracurricular activities for college applications, like clubs or sports. Consider all of the activities you do outside of school. Then choose the one that is most meaningful to you. Also, give specific examples of how you grew or made an impact within your extracurricular activities for college.
4. Community Essay
The Community Essay can have slightly different angles to it. But, the uniting factor is that the school wants to know how you engage with others around you. Some types of community essays are a describe the community you live in essay or a cultural diversity essay. In recent years, the cultural diversity essay has been a more common college application requirement.
Coming up, we will share a bit more about how to break down community essay prompts. We’ll also take a look at college essays that worked. By reading these examples, you’ll know how to approach these common prompts.
How to identify a community essay?
While community essays can have slightly different focuses, they all share the goal of learning about where you come from. A supplemental essay prompt might ask you to share more about your background via a group you are part of. This is likely a community essay. Indeed, a community essay can also be called a describe the community you live in essay, or a cultural diversity essay. Other college community essay examples focus on how you will contribute to a college campus. Finally, in a describe a community you belong to essay example, you will see that students highlight any community that is meaningful to them.
You may be wondering why so many colleges have community essays as a college application requirement. For one, many colleges use a holistic admissions process. This means they care about all aspects of who you are, not simply your grades and test scores. How you engage with your communities shows them your character and values. For example, a describe the community you live in essay example about visiting church every Sunday demonstrates your commitment to religion. Similarly, a cultural diversity essay helps colleges learn more about your cultural background.
Additionally, colleges want to learn more about how you will engage with their on-campus community. You’ll notice this important factor in the college community essay examples we will share. To some degree, how you have engaged with previous communities can be an indicator of how you will show up on their campus.
How is a community essay different?
As we mentioned, community essays can have slightly different focuses. Some prompts ask you to write a describe the community you live in essay. These types of community essays are more like cultural diversity essays.
Keep in mind that the word “community” can have many different meanings. A community can be your school, church, or neighborhood. It could also stem from your interests. For example, your dance or robotics team can form your community.
Some community essay prompts want to know specifically how you help strengthen your communities. These types of essays are considered a community service essay. Another term for community service is “civic engagement.” An example of civic engagement might be getting people in your cultural community to sign up to vote. Or, another could be helping with church fundraisers to ensure that your local community has the resources it needs to thrive.
In sum, the keywords you might see in a community essay prompt are “civic engagement,” “community service,” “serve your community,” “contribute to your community,” or “diversity.” No matter how it’s phrased, your essay should demonstrate the impact you’ve had on your community–whichever one you choose to highlight.
What are some examples of community essays?
In this article, we will share several community essay examples. Specifically, we will highlight Princeton essay examples and Columbia essays examples. Let’s look at these two colleges’ essay prompts.
The first Princeton supplemental essay prompt is a part of our college community essay examples and our cultural diversity essay examples. Here is the prompt:
Princeton Community Essay Prompt #1: Cultural Diversity Essay and College Community Essay Examples
Princeton values community and encourages students, faculty, staff and leadership to engage in respectful conversations that can expand their perspectives and challenge their ideas and beliefs. as a prospective member of this community, reflect on how your lived experiences will impact the conversations you will have in the classroom, the dining hall or other campus spaces. what lessons have you learned in life thus far what will your classmates learn from you in short, how has your lived experience shaped you (please respond in 500 words or fewer.).
In this cultural diversity essay prompt, Princeton wants to know about your lived experiences. By this, they refer to any experiences that have shaped you profoundly. A lived experience can be a specific event, such as experiencing a car crash or winning an award. Or, it could be a set of experiences that resulted from life circumstances, such as being a first-generation college student or having taken a gap year .
This essay prompt will also lead to college community essay examples. Indeed Princeton wants to read about your lived experiences and how they impacted you. But, they also want to know how you will bring those lessons to the Princeton community, should you enroll . Also, note that this prompt mentions challenging ideas and beliefs via conversation. As you respond, look for ways to highlight how you have engaged in fruitful dialogue and how you would do so at Princeton.
To answer this prompt effectively, share specific examples. Additionally, be sure to answer all parts of the prompt.
Princeton has a second supplemental essay prompt that focuses on how you engage with your community outside of the classroom. The prompt is as follows:
Princeton Community Essay Prompt #2: Civic Engagement
Princeton has a longstanding commitment to understanding our responsibility to society through service and civic engagement. how does your own story intersect with these ideals (250 words or fewer) .
To answer this prompt well, you must highlight specific examples of how you have positively impacted your community. As a starting point, consider which of your communities you have most engaged with. How have you done so and what results did you have?
The Columbia Community Essay Prompt is another of our college community essay examples. It is a cultural diversity essay, as well. Here is the prompt:
Columbia Community Essay Prompt: A Cultural Diversity Essay
A hallmark of the columbia experience is being able to learn and thrive in an equitable and inclusive community with a wide range of perspectives. tell us about an aspect of your own perspective, viewpoint or lived experience that is important to you, and describe how it has shaped the way you would learn from and contribute to columbia’s diverse and collaborative community. (150 words or fewer).
While this prompt is similar to Princeton’s, it also references perspectives and viewpoints. In doing so, the prompt opens you up to share opinions or values that are important to you. You might consider highlighting values in your family or community that you either hold close or disagree with.
Note that Columbia also highlights the word “collaborative” in this prompt. This indicates that your cultural diversity essay should also show how you collaborate with others.
Which schools require a community essay?
In addition to Princeton and Columbia, many other schools have community essays as part of their college application requirements. Here are some other examples of community essay prompts:
In this UNC-Chapel Hill prompt , you must describe a specific example of how you made an impact on a community. The prompt reads:
The University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill: A Community Service Essay Prompt
Discuss one of your personal qualities and share a story, anecdote, or memory of how it helped you make a positive impact on a community. this could be your current community or another community you have engaged. (250-word limit).
In responding, be sure to highlight what community you are referencing, the specific impact you made, and what personal quality helped you do so.
This prompt from UMichigan is a describe a community you belong to essay example, as well as a cultural diversity essay:
The University of Michigan: Describe a Community You Belong to Essay Example
Everyone belongs to many different communities and/or groups defined by (among other things) shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place within it. (required for all applicants. 1,500 character limit.).
In addition to describing the community, make sure to share how you engage with it and what it has taught you. Remember that community is a broad term. So, for this prompt you can respond with any type of community in mind, whether physical or cultural. In contrast to the describe the community you live in essay, you do not have to be geographically close to the community you describe here.
Duke University: Cultural Diversity Essay Prompts
Duke offers students five supplemental prompts to choose from, of which they can reply to two. Of these supplemental prompts, four are examples of cultural diversity essays:
1. We believe a wide range of viewpoints, beliefs, and lived experiences are essential to maintaining Duke as a vibrant and meaningful living and learning community. Feel free to share with us anything in this context that might help us better understand you and what you might bring to our community.
2. we believe there is benefit in sharing or questioning our beliefs or values; who do you agree with on the big important things, or who do you have your most interesting disagreements with what are you agreeing or disagreeing about, 3. duke’s commitment to inclusion and belonging includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. feel free to share with us more about how your identity in this context has meaning for you as an individual or as a member of a community., 4. we recognize that not fully “fitting in” a community or place can sometimes be difficult. duke values the effort, resilience, and independence that may require. feel free to share with us circumstances where something about you is different and how that’s influenced your experiences or identity..
Each of these prompts is a slightly different type of cultural diversity essay, from sharing a range of opinions to not fitting in within a community. Choose the essay prompts that most resonate with you. And share specific examples that bring your cultural diversity essay to life.
In this Yale University supplemental prompt , you must choose a community that you feel connected to and describe why it is meaningful. Here’s the prompt:
Yale University: Describe a Community You Belong to Essay Example
Reflect on your membership in a community to which you feel connected. why is this community meaningful to you you may define community however you like. (400-word limit).
When responding, be sure to highlight what you have learned or how you have grown from this community. In contrast to a describe the community you live in essay, this essay can be about any community, near or far, that resonates with you. Indeed, the prompt gives you plenty of leeway in what you consider community.
When responding to the UC system prompts , you must choose four of the eight available personal insight questions. One of the PIQs is a community service essay prompt:
The University of California Personal Insight Question: A Community Service Prompt
What have you done to make your school or your community a better place, things to consider: think of community as a term that can encompass a group, team or a place like your high school, hometown or home. you can define community as you see fit, just make sure you talk about your role in that community. was there a problem that you wanted to fix in your community, why were you inspired to act what did you learn from your effort how did your actions benefit others, the wider community or both did you work alone or with others to initiate change in your community.
Similar to many of the other prompts, when answering this question, be sure to identify the specific impact you made on your community.
Now that we have looked at various examples of community essay prompts, we can explore community essay examples. Reading essay examples is a great way to get inspired to write your own college essays.
In each of the highlighted college essays that worked, note what the author did expertly. Rather than trying to copy their responses, topics, or ideas, consider how you can apply those same skills to your writing.
Princeton Community Essay Examples
In this section, we will highlight Princeton essay examples that respond to their two community essay prompts: a cultural diversity essay and a community service essay.
The first of our Princeton essay examples responds to the following Princeton prompt:
Princeton Essay Examples #1: Cultural Diversity Essay
Now, let’s take a look at a student’s response to this prompt focusing on lived experiences.
Princeton Essay Examples #1 Student Response
I have spent most of my life living in a 41% minority town of 1.8 square miles called Highland Park, NJ. This typically overlooked town has introduced me to a diverse array of people, and it has been the main influence on my life experiences and core values.
In the face of distinct cultures and customs, we forge a single identity as Highland Parkers and come together to organize large community events. The most prevalent example is our highly touted annual Memorial Day parade, where we join together with neighboring New Brunswick to invite military service members, family members of our fallen war heroes, our legislative and congressional representatives, and our townspeople. Moreover, as our high school band’s vice president, I help organize and lead our ensemble into these performances with a positive and uplifting spirit. We communicate with the town government and arrange the performances every year to perform at the parade. The parade is an example of many of our large community events that serve as a unifying force for our diverse community, reminding us that we are fundamentally connected as one cohesive group, despite our differences.
As someone deeply interested in historical and political matters, I am well aware of the consequences that arise from dictatorial protocols that limit the freedom of speech and diversity of voices. From my experiences debating in Model UN conferences, I have grown accustomed to being able to present viewpoints from both sides of the argument, and I have learned to incorporate and respect the viewpoints of all sides of an issue before making up my own mind. For example, in a Model Congress debate, I found myself advocating for the interests of a state heavily reliant on traditional fossil fuels. While researching and articulating that perspective, I gained insights into the economic challenges faced by the states that are reliant on these resources. This experience not only broadened my understanding of the complexities surrounding environmental policies but also highlighted the necessity of considering diverse viewpoints for comprehensive decision-making.
My background and experiences have fostered in me a profound appreciation for the value of diversity, inclusivity, and the pursuit of knowledge. At Princeton University, I will seek to contribute as an active participant in the community, actively provide unique perspectives and insights, and respect and learn from others’ perspectives even if there are disagreements. I wish to partake in student government, which has like-minded peers who want to make a substantive impact, and also participate in service programs like the Civic Leadership Council. Also, I hope to increase my impact from the leadership positions I currently hold on the Red Cross club and teen mayoral advisory council using the platforms in Princeton. I look forward to making a positive impact on both the campus and the broader community.
Why This Cultural Diversity Essay Worked
In the first of our Princeton essay examples, the student successfully responds to all parts of the Princeton prompt. They begin by describing their community and sharing some details about its makeup. Indeed, the first sentence hooks the reader–it is unique and compelling.
Then, the student illustrates how they specifically contribute to their community each year by leading the high school band in the Memorial Day parade. They also highlight how their experience in Model UN shaped their appreciation for diverse perspectives. In sharing these two examples, the student demonstrates their leadership and open-minded thinking. Finally, the student ends by highlighting how they would use these values to contribute to Princeton’s community– by partaking in student government and Civic Leadership Council, among other activities.
In the second of our Princeton essay examples, the student responds to the second Princeton prompt which is:
Princeton Essay Examples #2: A Community Service Essay
Princeton has a longstanding commitment to understanding our responsibility to society through service and civic engagement. how does your own story intersect with these ideals (250 words or fewer).
And, here is a student’s response:
Princeton Essay Examples #2 Student Response
My first experience with the Red Cross was when my older sister was desperately trying to recruit people to join the club during the harsh COVID year. Things were so bad for the club that I, as a freshman, ran for the position of treasurer unopposed. My first blood drive experience was marked by masks, social distancing, and low turnout among blood donors. Even many donors who showed up ended up being turned away due to health-related issues. Needless to say, it was not the greatest first high school service experience, and I admittedly started to doubt if the time I spent on this front was worth it.
However, as we returned in person, things quickly turned around. As the vice president of the club, I helped recruit more than twice the club membership compared to the previous year, and our blood drives started to regain momentum; our blood targets have been exceeded every time since. Organizing and participating in blood drives has become a passion. It’s fulfilling, especially when I personally donate, to know that I’m actively serving the community and saving lives. I have realized that, despite my relatively young age, I am capable of making an impact through public service. I plan to continue my commitment to the Red Cross’s adult program and participate in service programs like Community Action at Princeton to serve the Princeton community and abroad.
Why This Essay Worked
In this admissions essay sample, we learn about a student’s volunteerism with the Red Cross as an example of civic engagement. This essay works for several reasons. First, it provides a specific example of the student’s civic engagement and demonstrates their impact by becoming vice president and increasing membership. Secondly, the essay provides an honest take on the struggles of this service experience, which lends credibility and authenticity to the story.
The student also demonstrates an important lesson learned. This aligns with Princeton’s values– that students can have a positive impact on society.
Columbia University Essay Examples
In this section, we will highlight Columbia essays examples that landed students admission to the prestigious Ivy League university. The first of our Columbia essays examples is written by the same student who responded to the first Princeton prompt above. Here’s a reminder of the Columbia prompt:
As you read the example below, notice how the student edited their Princeton cultural diversity essay to meet the prompt and lower word count for Columbia:
I have spent most of my life living in a 41% minority town called Highland Park, NJ. This typically overlooked town has introduced me to a diverse array of people, and it has been the main influence on my life experiences and core values.
HP has convinced me that we can build institutions that are strong and united while embracing a wide variety of voices and perspectives. It has shaped my core values of diversity and inclusion. An English teacher used to encourage me to talk in front of the class by saying even if I believed my thoughts were “dumb,” I could only enrich the conversation.
At Columbia University, I will seek to continue my contributions as an active participant in the community and look to actively provide unique perspectives and insights. Actively engaging in student groups such as ColumbiaVotes will be a big part of my experience.
The Columbia essay prompt only allows for a 150-word response. This could pose a challenge for many students. What makes this essay among the Columbia essays examples that worked is how succinctly it completely answers the prompt.
The response begins by hooking the reader with a relevant detail of the student’s community. Then, the student shares how this community shaped them by influencing their values of diversity and inclusion. Finally, the student shares how they would engage with a Columbia organization that also supports diverse viewpoints. Though short and sweet, this response clearly answers all parts of the Columbia prompt.
More Community Essay Examples
The final of our community essay examples is a community service essay. Let’s look at how student framed their service experience:
“I don’t believe that’s the best way to do this.”
The moment I thought this the first time I volunteered at my local soup kitchen was one that resulted in a drastic change. When I was informed of the way the food was being served to the public, the initial excitement that I had felt diminished. We were told that the plates would be served before anyone arrived and would remain in an area where people could pick it up and seat themselves. I felt that this method was impersonal and inconsiderate, and disappointment washed over me.
I turned to the people that were around me and discovered that they shared the same disapproval I felt. When we agreed that a change must be made, we exchanged ideas on how to present this to the woman in charge of the program. I suggested that we should serve each person one-by-one, and only give them the food if they wanted to/could eat it. They suggested multiple ideas, including that we should offer to seat them, hold their plates for them, continue to check in on them, and dispose of their plates once they finish their meal. We believed that this way would genuinely make them feel better and would allow us to get to know some of them personally. A simple smile and conversation could be enough to improve their day.
From this day on, the way in which the local soup kitchen serves our community has changed dramatically. This experience taught me the importance of speaking up for what you believe in. In a group setting, it is likely that there will be others who share the same end goal and are willing to contribute different ideas to achieve the goal. These different perspectives can allow you to see situations in ways that you previously hadn’t, and can result in better outcomes. It also showed me the importance of leadership.
If I had never spoken up about the way the food was being served, a change might have never happened. When you work in the group, the end goal may not be for the benefit of anyone in the group, but for others who are in need. This experience also showed me the beauty in doing good for others and making others happy, even through small things such as serving them food to their liking.
In this community service essay, the student shares their experience volunteering at a soup kitchen. Volunteering at a soup kitchen is not necessarily unique in the list of extracurricular activities for college applications. However, the student highlights several aspects of the experience that make it meaningful to them.
To start, the student shares their experience challenging the way that food was served. The student suggested that food be served directly to attendees in order to better connect with community members. Through this experience, the student learns about leadership and working with others to achieve a common goal. This specific example demonstrates the student’s collaborative values and compassionate way of thinking, both of which are great attributes to highlight in college applications.
How To Write A Community Essay
As we saw in the community essay examples, there are several hallmarks of college essays that worked. To write a good community essay, whether it be a community service essay, a cultural diversity essay, or a describe the community you live in essay, you must start by understanding the prompt. Once you have carefully read through the prompt, brainstorm examples from your own life that relate to it. Sharing specific details and examples will make your response stronger and more unique.
Additionally, showcase how you grew throughout your response. In each of the community essay examples we shared, the student discussed a skill or perspective they developed through their experiences. Finally, connect your response to the school you are applying to. If you are writing a cultural diversity essay, for example, demonstrate how you would contribute to the cultural diversity at that school, both inside the classroom and in your extracurricular activities for college.
Topics To Avoid In Your Community Essay
When writing community essays, there is technically no topic that you cannot discuss. However, how you discuss certain topics is important.
For example, in a community service essay, it is important to not come off as a savior of a community with less privilege than yourself. Similarly, if you are writing a describe the community you live in essay or a cultural diversity essay, you will want to avoid stereotyping any community. Speaking from your own personal experience as a member of a community is fine. However, generalizing your experience to the community at large can come across as insensitive to that community’s diversity. To avoid these pitfalls, have a variety of people read your community essay examples and look for these dynamics.
Additional Tips for Community Essays
We’ve highlighted the strengths in the community essay examples above. Now we will now share some more tips for making your community essays a strong part of your college applications:
Tips for Writing Community Essays
1. research the college.
When reviewing our college community essay examples, you will notice that students highlight specific clubs, programs, or groups on campus to which they will contribute. If you are specific, you demonstrate real interest in the school which adds strength to your college applications.
2. Tell a story
In each of the college essays that worked, students gave details that told a full story . This story incorporated where they come from and what they learned through their experiences. Rather than telling us who they were, the students used this particular story to show us.
As the college admissions landscape gets ever more competitive, students are sometimes tempted to read other students’ essays and copy ideas. Or, more recently, they may even want to use artificial intelligence to write their essays. However, AI and other students’ experiences won’t show admissions who you really are. Don’t worry about whether you have the best extracurricular activities for college or the most unique cultural diversity essay. Instead, talk about the experiences that truly matter to you. By being honest, you are more likely to come across as convincing and interesting. In each of our college community essay examples, students presented a true and well-thought-out response to the prompts.
Other CollegeAdvisor Essay Resources to Explore
As you work on your college applications, you might be in search of additional resources. CollegeAdvisor has a wealth of webinars and articles that can help you navigate writing your essays. Here are a few:
More CollegeAdvisor Resources for Essays
1. short essay examples.
Some of the cultural diversity essays you may write will be short, meaning that they are 150 words or less. This article with short essay examples can help you understand how to write short and sweet cultural diversity essays.
2. Cultural Diversity Essay Examples
In this article , you will find additional examples of cultural diversity essays. Many community essays are also cultural diversity essays. As such, becoming familiar with how students write about their cultures is useful.
3. The Ultimate Guide to Supplemental Essays
In this webinar , CollegeAdvisor experts provide a rundown of how to write strong supplemental essays for your college applications. In particular, this webinar will help you decode essay prompts and make sure you answer each prompt fully.
4. Editing Your Supplemental Essays
Once you have read up on college community essay examples and written your cultural diversity essays, you might need help editing them. This webinar will provide tips for how to edit your supplemental essays effectively.
Community Essay Examples – Final Thoughts
Completing your college applications can be a daunting task, especially when you must write multiple essays. For some students, writing cultural diversity essays is challenging. These prompts ask you to dig deep and reflect upon your life influences.
In this guide to community essays, we provided an overview of what a community essay is and how to respond to the different types of community essay prompts. We shared cultural diversity essay examples and describe the community you live in essay examples. We also described what makes these essays strong and how they meet college application requirements.
In short, the key to writing stand-out essays is to be authentic and thorough in your responses. If you need additional help writing your cultural diversity essay, seek out the support of a trusted resource like CollegeAdvisor. We are here to help you craft the best college applications that could gain you admissions to the school of your dreams!
This article was written by Courtney Ng. Looking for more admissions support? Click here to schedule a free meeting with one of our Admissions Specialists. During your meeting, our team will discuss your profile and help you find targeted ways to increase your admissions odds at top schools. We’ll also answer any questions and discuss how CollegeAdvisor.com can support you in the college application process.
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Social Life of Human Beings Through Different Aspects Essay
Introduction, the ecology of magic, the wreck of time, the myth of the ant queen, standard of civilization, conclusions, works cited.
The existence of the human society is made possible by various relations and interactions between its members, i. e. human beings. Due to this, for students it is of paramount importance to understand the events that take place in the world, to study historical, sociological, political, and even biological factors of them. The current paper will focus namely on this aspect of social life as seen by the authors of the four essays which will be analyzed in this work. David Abram, Brett Bowden, Annie Dillard, and Steven Johnson are all qualified and widely reverend specialists in their fields of study, and their essays and articles prove this if considered attentively and diligently. This paper, thus, is going to consider the development of the humanity through realistic, theologian, anthropological, etc. perspectives so that to present the comprehensive picture of the social life.
To begin with, the work by David Abram is a perfect combination of realistic views of a natural scientist with the beliefs shared by primitive tribes and shamans of such Asian countries as Burma, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, etc. The author of “The Ecology of Magic” is a famous anthropologist, but his interest in magic has driven him far away to the unknown lands to explore the craft of the Asian shamans and see if their magic is real: “As a result of this work I became interested in the relation, largely forgotten in the West, between folk medicine and magic.” (Abram, p. 4) Thus, a purely scientific approach to the rather ambiguous topic of magic is ensured by Abram in his work as a reflection of his attitudes to science and every business he takes up.
Consequently, the topics of the essay by Abram seem to be incompatible at first sight. However, when a reader considers the work closer, it becomes evident that Abram pursued absolutely practical goals while conducting his research on magic: “I had traveled to Indonesia on a research grant to study magic–more precisely, to study the relation between magic and medicine, first among the traditional sorcerers, or dukuns, of the Indonesian archipelago, and later among the djankris, the traditional shamans of Nepal.” (Abram, p. 3) Moreover, to study this relation means for Abram much wider phenomenon. In other words, his scope is not limited to medicine and magic; the author puts these two concepts into the framework of the world ecology and relations between human beings and the Earth they inhabit.
As a result, Abram’s research comes out of the boundaries of a narrow medical study or a vague magic exploration. This work becomes a reputable source of information on the close connection between human beings and nature, while shamans and magicians are, according to Abram act “as an intermediary between the human collective and the larger ecological field, ensuring that there is an appropriate flow of nourishment, not just from the landscape to the human inhabitants but from the human community back to the local Earth.” (Abram, p. 6)
As a continuation of Abram’s essay, the work by Annie Dillard titled “The wreck of time: Taking our century’s measure” can be viewed from another side of the topic discussed. In other words, if David Abram considers the possible harmony of a human being and nature, Dillard does contrary in her essay. The major point of “The wreck of time: Taking our century’s measure” is the insignificance of numbers, pieces of information, and human beings as such for so huge a phenomenon as the Universe. Annie Dillard thus, although dealing with a rather challenging and broad topic for discussion, aims to prove her point about the small roles of separate human beings for the whole Earth: “It is all a stage – we know this – a temporary stage on top of many layers of stages, but every year a new crop of sand, grass and tree leaves freshens the set and perfects the illusion that ours is the new and urgent world” (Dillard, p. 56).
Moreover, Dillard’s points and ideas are supported with statistical data that make the essay under consideration rather more credible and relevant. The author contrasts the situations when people consider that the Earth is circulating around them, and the situations when a natural disaster, war, or any other reason kills thousands of such people. According to the author, by this the Universe demonstrates what importance human beings have for it indeed. And the only circulation that actually takes place in respect of people in the circulation of those who live and die without making the Universe even notice it: “The dead outnumber the living, in a ratio that could be as high as 20 to 1,” a demographer, Nathan Keyfitz, wrote in a 1991 letter to the historian Justin Kaplan. “Credible estimates of the number of people who have ever lived on the earth run from 70 billion to over 100 billion.” (Dillard, p. 51) Thus, Dillard’s work is the manifestation of the wrong way people have chosen to live by, while Steven Johnson’s essay aims at showing the right one.
The first impression made by this very essay is that the reader considers a biological or naturalist research dedicated to the development of ant colonies. However, the idea implicated by the author is much deeper and much more sophisticated. Steven Johnson, the author of publications for such reputable scholarly journals as Wall Street Journal, Harper’s and many others, tries to draw parallels between the development of ant “societies”, i. e. colonies, and the societies of human beings, i. e. cities where millions of people live without any centralized rule or guidance. Accordingly, the essay by Steven Johnson is the comprehensive analysis of the two similar forms of organization of life and work. According to the author, ants have chosen the right way being directed by the “cumulative memory”, while human beings always search for some rule over them to be sure about their future.
Consequently, the essay by Steven Johnson comes to adequate conclusions and scientifically grounded theories, which makes it a reputable source of scholarly knowledge. Johnson defines the main concepts of his study, for example, stating that a human city is a “pattern amplifying machine; its neighborhoods are a way of measuring and expressing the repeated behavior of larger collectivities – capturing information about group behavior, and sharing that behavior with the group.” (Johnson, p. 40) Furthermore, the author moves to the discussion of more complicated phenomena created by human beings, including the Internet and collective intelligence concept arising from its appearance. All these considerations are built on the basis of the analogies with the ant colonies and their organization of life. Ideas of Global Brain and the study of interesting details about the abilities of the human brain are also a substantial part of the work by Johnson. Thus, the work by Steven Johnson is a combination of comparative analysis and research aiming at stating the powerful nature of a human being whose power, however, is mainly used in a wrong direction.
Thus, the previously considered essays can be found in the New Humanities Reader and constitute the essential part of scholarly research on the human civilization, its needs and trends for further development. However, pieces of work that are not considered by the New Humanities Reader are also rather relevant. For example, the article by Brett Bowden titled “In the Name of Progress and Peace: The “Standard of Civilization” is a perfect summarizing work that combined all the most important points by the previous authors, although in a different form, and synthesizes them into a comprehensive consideration of the essence of “civilization” and its standards (Bowden, p. 43).
Accordingly, one of the major points of the article is the impossibility to develop a term or standard to mark the entire human civilization with it. Moreover, Bowden (2004), argues about the alleged end of the development of the mankind: “the end of the cold war marked not just “the passing of a particular period of postwar history, but the end of history as such: that is, the endpoint of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.” (Bowden, p. 43) From this article, therefore, it can be concluded that the author sees no other objectives in the development of the mankind as far as ideological countering is in the past and globalization of all the processes in the world becomes more and more intensive.
As a result, Bowden comes to the conclusion that the human civilization has formed as a single whole at the modern stage of the historical development, and the major factor of this unification of cultures, economies, etc. has been “the reinvigoration of a “standard of civilization” in international society” (Bowden, p. 43). Thus, from the realistic point of view, as well as from theologian, naturalist and sociological ones, human civilization has reached its peak in the development, and the next stage should be the understanding of the rules of co-existence with nature and formation of skills to conform to those rules (Bowden, p. 43).
So, to make the respective conclusion to this paper, it is necessary to state that the interaction of human beings within the society is a rather complicated process which can be viewed from various contexts. This paper focused on the consideration of the social life of human beings through the perspectives of magic, theology, anthropology, biology, and history. The essays and articles considered in this paper are reputable sources of scholarly information. With their help, this paper managed to find out that there should be a balance in the relations between humanity and nature, and since this balance is not kept to nowadays the mankind faces numerous disasters and issues. Accordingly, the study of all the aspects of social and natural life is a rather useful discipline for those who plan to deal with it professionally and for those who want to exist in harmony with nature and other human beings.
- Abram, David. “The Ecology of Magic.” The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World. David Abram. Vintage; 1st Vintage Books Ed edition, 1997. 3 – 30.
- Bowden, Brett. “In the Name of Progress and Peace: The “Standard of Civilization” and the Universalizing Project.” Alternatives: Global, Local, Political 29.1 (2004): 43+.
- Dillard, Annie. “The wreck of time: Taking our century’s measure.” Harper’s Magazine 296(1998): 51-56.
- Johnson, Steven. “The Myth of the Ant Queen.” Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software. New York: Scribners, 2001. 29-57.
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