tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65043861835887246582024-02-08T09:01:55.762-05:00Anthropology Attacks!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-10525896701239718272014-01-27T18:42:00.001-05:002014-01-27T18:42:59.271-05:00The Art of Kebetu: Challenges, Rewards, and Growing Pains Associated with Open EthnographyAt the end of December, I had an article appear in <a href="http://popanthro.org/ojs/index.php/popanthro" target="_blank">Popular Anthropology Magazine</a>. In the interest of supporting this fine publication, I'm going to <a href="http://popanthro.org/ojs/index.php/popanthro/article/download/164/193" target="_blank">link to the article here (PDF)</a>, rather than repost it. Also, be sure to check out <a href="http://popanthro.org/ojs/index.php/popanthro/issue/view/21/showToc" target="_blank">the rest of the issue (Vol 4, No 2) here</a>.<br /><br />If you followed my tweets and blog posts from Dakar, Senegal in the summers of 2012 and 2013, this article is essentially a behind-the-scenes of that process - why I chose to blog, why I think it's important, how I choose what to share and what to keep to myself, and how my fieldblogging will change in the future. One component that I touch on in the article is the ethical implications of live-fieldnotes - something that I believe deserves to be fleshed out with a little more care than I had space for in the article. Overall, it's an ongoing and ever-changing process, and I fully expect to be joined by more and more anthropologists in the quest to disseminate ethnographic data as quickly as possible, so I appreciate any and all feedback. This is certainly a discussion worth having.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-55341216242866109252013-10-29T14:12:00.002-04:002013-10-30T17:45:13.354-04:00Fieldwork in the Cloud: Training in Ethnographic Fieldwork with Global Technologies<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://prezi.com/embed/a7595fd13afcc87e6c6ee6373426cc7e89e9159f/?bgcolor=ffffff&lock_to_path=0&autoplay=0&autohide_ctrls=0&features=undefined&disabled_features=undefined" width="400"></iframe></div>
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">(Note: The Prezi associated with this blog entry is from a collaborative brown bag lecture given by Barbara G. Hoffman, Ph.D. and me at Cleveland State University on October 24, 2013. The essay below is an adaptation of my part of the lecture and as such, it does not reflect the opinions of Dr. Hoffman or Cleveland State University.)</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There
is – indeed, there has been – a movement afoot in higher education to utilize
emerging technologies in order to augment our ultimate goals. For me, this
ultimate goal is to contribute to educating an informed electorate. The
objectives that lead to that point include making knowledge available and
accessible. In the pursuit of the goal, we have witnessed this movement take
many forms:</span></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Educators
use Twitter to engage their students about their subjects while academics and
professionals use Twitter to live-tweet conferences and lectures.</span></span></li>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instructors
are employing stylish presentation software with which to present their
lessons, not only in the classroom, but over the internet as well.</span></span></li>
</ul>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Researchers
are publishing in open-access journals, some publishers are beginning to meet
that demand by considering new models, and still more open-access online
journals are starting up.</span></span></li>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prestigious
universities are offering massive online open courses (MOOCs) for free, in
which anyone can take part.</span></span></li>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Within
my own field, mobile apps and social media are being used to deliver live fieldnotes
to both colleagues and the lay public alike.</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
past summer, my advisor and I began to develop our own contribution to this
pedagogical shift with cloud-based fieldwork training. Rather than going into
the field alone with little training, and unable to enroll in a cultural
anthropology field school, I chose to return to the community where I had
studied abroad last summer – Dakar, Senegal – to conduct ethnographic fieldwork
under the mentorship of my advisor in Cleveland, using the cloud as a point of exchange ideas and advice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With
an iPad and iPhone, I used a suite of apps to document my experience:</span></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">MagicPlan (<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/magicplan/id427424432?mt=8" target="_blank">iOS</a>/<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sensopia.magicplan" target="_blank">Android</a>) was used to record the layout of interior spaces, simply by pointing the camera
at the corners of walls and doorways.</span></span></li>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Notability (<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/notability/id360593530?mt=8" target="_blank">iOS only</a>) was used to take interview notes and some journal entries. It also records
audio, so I used that for all of my interviews as well.</span></span></li>
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laptop or iPad – which was most of the time.</span></span></li>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dropbox (<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dropbox/id327630330" target="_blank">iOS</a>/<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dropbox.android" target="_blank">Android</a>) was used to back-up all of my data and share it with my advisor.</span></span></li>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Twitter (<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/twitter/id333903271" target="_blank">iOS</a>/<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.twitter.android&hl=en" target="_blank">Android</a>) and Instagram (<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/instagram/id389801252" target="_blank">iOS</a>/<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.instagram.android" target="_blank">Android</a>) served as apps with which I could write short notes that I wanted
to share with an audience.</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With
a laptop and 3G internet thumb drive, I also used:</span></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Google
Docs (now Google Drive [<a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-drive/id507874739" target="_blank">iOS</a>/<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.docs" target="_blank">Android</a>]) to write weekly reflection essays for my advisor’s
review and commentary.</span></span></li>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adobe
Illustrator CS6 to construct a kinship chart of my primary interlocutor.</span></span></li>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Microsoft
Word to write most of my personal journal entries.</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After
recording floor plans with MagicPlan, I uploaded them to Dropbox to help my
advisor conceptualize the spaces in which my interlocutors and family found
themselves. Once I constructed the kinship chart, complete with Wolof terms, my
advisor was able to point to hierarchical constructions and relationships that
I would need to keep in mind as I continued to carry out my fieldwork. By
sharing my recorded interviews with my advisor only moments after they had
finished, my advisor was able to provide instant feedback – <i>Ask this. Don’t ask that. Prod more here.
Practice pronouncing this.</i> As a result, there is a day-and-night difference
in the confidence and quality of my French between my first and last interviews,
and the informants are much more responsive in the later interviews.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
definitely came away with a solid foundation of how to conduct participant-observation
and semi-structured interviews, but many concepts (particularly related to
ethnographic theory) are still fuzzy. I expect that these will become clearer
as I continue my studies into graduate school. Also, while I loved the
incognito nature that my iPad assumed moments into recording an interview, the
sound quality could be augmented. Rather than mic my interviewees or add a microphone
attachment to the iPad, perhaps I should be more vigilant about finding quiet
places in which to conduct the interviews. The most challenging part of the
overall experience was finding the time for anything. There are a lot of
different methods of taking notes, for example, and I am of the mind that notes
can be taken at the end of the day. If something was really important, I jotted
them in the Notes app of my iPhone. My host and his friends often kept me out
until anywhere between 2AM and 5AM some nights, and by the time we got home,
the last thing I wanted to do was write out everything I had done or learned
that day. I would catch up the next day, but then have to find time to write
something for my advisor or read some pertinent articles that I had found while
I was there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last
year when I was in Dakar, my research experience was much different: it was a
component of a study abroad program, and while my advisor helped me articulate
the goals of my research before I left, we really only exchanged a few emails
while I was there. Last summer’s experience served as a crash course in
Senegal, in living abroad, and in language immersion, but when I left there
were still a lot of questions I wish I had asked and things I wish I had done,
and that list grew when I had gained some inevitable hindsight over the months
that followed. This past summer, I had a much clearer research design and by
maintaining a link to my advisor, I was able to elicit feedback and take
direction that I might not have otherwise had access to in the five weeks that
I had. That dynamic proved crucial to making those five weeks as meaningful for
my research and academic growth as possible. While I still walked away with
more and more questions with which I can continue my research, I don’t regret failing
to pursue certain lines of questioning, because I really believe that I made
the most with the time that I had.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In
late 2011, the paleoanthropologist John Hawks, wrote an article called “<a href="http://www.anthropologiesproject.org/2011/10/whats-wrong-with-anthropology.html" target="_blank">What’swrong with anthropology</a>,” in which he rebukes anthropologists that are either
ignorant to or actively avoiding emergent mobile technologies and social media.
Pointing out that we have the tools with which to produce a better and faster
growing body of knowledge, he asks </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Why are anthropology students going into the field without contracts to write weekly or monthly about their work?” So I did that. He writes:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“Imagine an alternative, in which fieldwork is reported as it happens. Site reports can be updated daily and followed in real time. Each interview as a part of ethnographic fieldwork can be published, each story told on its own before it is assimilated into the larger picture… Having our work read by twenty people is not acceptable communication strategy. Failure to share results broadly betrays the cooperation of the communities who enable our research. Changes in form are necessary to improve our scholarship. These changes don't require more work, they require different work. Greater engagement is one of many benefits, which requires us only to recognize the value of the changes already underway.”</i> (Hawks 2011)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His illustration of an alternative means of communicating ethnography is in some ways not realistic – something I didn’t come to realize until I was confronted with the daunting task of time management in the field – but it’s no less inspiring. It breaks a conceptual mold and captures the imagination of what could be possible with the tools available. About a year later, ethnographer Tricia Wang wrote an article titled, “<a href="http://ethnographymatters.net/2012/08/02/writing-live-fieldnotes-towards-a-more-open-ethnography/" target="_blank">Writing Live Fieldnotes: Towards a More Open Ethnography</a>.” In it, she defines “live fieldnotes” as:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“[A] blog post that is intended to provide an on-location and synchronous visual and textual coverage of an instance from the ethnographer’s fieldwork . . . All live fieldnotes are timestamped, publicly accessible on the internet, and include location data. Live fieldnotes demonstrates the combination of two activities that are central to ethnographic research, 1.) the ethnographer’s participation in a social world and 2.) the ethnographer’s written account of the world through her/his participation . . . The accumulation of many live fieldnotes works towards producing a “thick description” along with other long form fieldnotes. Live fieldnotes are not intended to replace the entire fieldnote writing process."</i> (Wang 2012)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I mention Hawks and Wang specifically because these two articles are what inspired me to pursue new technologies as a method of engaging the public. I was an executive chef before I started at Cleveland State, and it was during that career that I learned that paradigmatic shifts that offend are exciting, progressive, and thought provoking shifts indeed. (I offer both farm-to-table fare and molecular gastronomy as examples.) As an undergraduate, I’ve been largely interested in the futures of anthropology and pedagogy, because I hope to one day be an educator, and I’d like to be using the newest and most effective forms of teaching available.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is our contribution to the pedagogical movement that utilizes emerging technologies: As digital data amasses and file qualities increase in size, native data storage will continue to become more and more expensive to maintain, both financially and in terms of physical resources. Cloud storage is not the future – it is here now, and it will be around for decades to come. The benefits of cloud storage will not be new to my students – they may not even conceive of any other option. Mentorship-in-the-cloud must become the norm in order to increase throughput at the undergraduate and graduate level. One could feasibly prepare a student with minimal ethnographic instruction, and send them into the field for hands-on training. In fact, I intend to use this same system of data collation when I begin hiring local contacts as research assistants. I believe that this change - paradigmatic and technological - is inevitable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hawks, John</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2011 What's wrong with anthropology?.
anthropologies. http://www.anthropologiesproject.org/2011/10/whats-wrong-with-anthropology.html
(accessed September 19, 2013).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wang, Tricia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2012 Writing Live Fieldnotes: Towards a More Open
Ethnography. Ethnography Matters.
http://ethnographymatters.net/2012/08/02/writing-live-fieldnotes-towards-a-more-open-ethnography/
(accessed September 19, 2013).</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-90767094045175775452013-08-19T19:15:00.000-04:002013-08-19T19:16:46.767-04:00Adventures in Applying to Graduate School<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The time has finally come. I have been anticipating this moment for four years, and now that it is upon me, I am both riddled with anxiety and beaming with excitement. It’s time to apply to graduate programs to begin in the 2014-2015 school year, and I think I’d like to document this experience. One of my most viewed blog articles is a guest article by a close friend of mine who wanted to share his account of the journey to grad school. To atone for my complicity in sharing his vulgar, though admittedly popular narrative, I’ve decided to share some bullet points on my own experience. It is my hope that this can be helpful for those of you that are preparing to apply to graduate school in the near future, or that this might elicit some response from those of you who have experience with this process.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am applying to seven programs, one of which is a dual MPH/PHD program, and the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, for a total of nine applications. Three applications are already open (which I have started), but the rest will open in early to mid-September. To satiate my organizational needs, I’ve constructed an Excel file that lists each requirement, fee, deadline, and special notes for each application, though many of the finer details, I’ve discovered, are not available until one actually begins the process.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Personal Statement:</b> This is a given for any application, and from what I understand, it is the most critical component of one’s graduate application, tied, some argue, with the Letters of Recommendation. Years ago, I was told that the Personal Statement is the one venue where the applicant has a chance to describe her life experiences that have led to her choice of study at her choice of graduate school, in painstaking detail no less. This is patently false, and justifiably so – the reviewers don’t want to read a 25 page paper that documents every decision I made to end up where I am. For the schools with which I’ve started the application process, the word limit is 500 or 1000. Some schools divide the statement into sections: one for life story, and one for academic/career intentions. Either way, this presents a small challenge, but it is by no means insurmountable. I’m more worried about tailoring nine different statements to nine different applications.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Letters of Recommendation:</b> I have heard so many different tips and tricks for this (and even developed one of my own), that I’m kind of paralyzed with indecision. The fundamental truths about Letters of Recommendation are: (1) They must be from individuals who can personally vouch for the quality of the applicant’s work and their preparedness for graduate work. (2) They, like the Personal Statement, can make or break an application. Though I’ve worked hard to establish a social network of professional and academic anthropologists in order to avoid the myopia of my own campus’ bubble, I fear that my work with a select few professors – combined with the attrition of university faculty – has dramatically limited my pool of potential letter-writers. The completion of nine applications will require 27 Letters of Recommendation, for which I currently have 13 accounted. I believe that all 27 letters will need to be submitted online (via the process of inviting a reference to submit their letter in a web browser), though I’m not entirely sure yet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>GRE:</b> The GRE is an ignominious component of the graduate application process, though it is compulsory for all eight programs to which I am applying. It is not a felicitous appraisal of one’s intellectual abilities or capacity; rather, it exists only to scrutinize one’s speed and memory. In the quantitative section, in particular, the test-taker has the inherent option to solve problems in a conventional manner, which might jeopardize her ability to complete the section in the provided time, or in a tactical manner which is rather tendentious toward those who can afford (with both time and money) the GRE test prep materials and/or courses. GRE prep materials/courses encourage test-takers to learn pre-calculated tricks in order to solve circuitous problems with lightning speed, and even though it might take me a few more seconds to elucidate the same solution, those seconds accumulate; one must be incredibly parsimonious with their time. As you might guess, I have taken the GRE once with loathsome results, and so I will have to take it at least once more. This wouldn’t be a dire concern for me, except that I am told that even though many programs may only require GRE scores as a formality, the applicant’s award package is contingent on those numbers. What this means to me is that despite all of the fervently arduous work that I’ve done for the last 4 years – seeking and taking advantage of opportunities to research, teach, present, and network – my ability to attend graduate school with full-funding is threatened by (what is essentially) a corporate racket.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(An addendum: ETS has recently introduced a service called the Personal Potential Index, whereby an applicant invites references – presumably the same who would write Letters of Recommendation – to evaluate their “noncognitive skills or core personal attributes that provide a more complete picture of an applicant’s potential for success.” In other words: ETS acknowledges the criticisms of standardized testing and, in recompense, would like to sell you the service of standardized Letters of Recommentation.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Writing Samples, Transcripts, and CV:</b> Some programs require writing samples, while others make it optional. Some are limited to three pages and others are limited to 40 pages. Luckily, I’ve saved everything I’ve ever written, so there is a considerable pool of papers from which to choose.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The criteria of transcripts vary across the programs, as well. Some are willing to accept unofficial transcripts up-front, while asking for official transcripts after accepting the applicant. Some require only official transcripts, which of course steps outside the otherwise streamlined online application process. Some graduate schools want all of my transcripts – from both my home institution and the institution with which I studied abroad – and others are willing to accept just the transcripts from my home institution, as long the credits earned from the other school have been transferred.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thankfully, I followed the advice of a professor in my very first semester, who told me to write and revise a CV as soon and often as possible. Now that I’m at the point of applying, I find that no school requires a CV, though some have made the submission of a CV optional. (He also suggested that I construct and maintain a dossier, which I have not yet done. Not surprisingly, no graduate program that I’ve encountered even mentions the submission of a dossier; it is my understanding that this will become more salient as I begin applying for teaching/research positions in my professional career.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Fee Waivers:</b> I would like to be able to eat during this semester, so while this step complicates my application process, it is entirely necessary. Not including the cost of transcripts and GRE testing, the price tag that hangs from my pursuit of graduate studies reads $696.00. Of course, many schools offer waivers for those fees. In fact, at first glance, I thought only some of my graduate school choices offered fee waivers, but after some extra digging and a few phone calls, I found that all of these institutions offer need-based waivers; some come from the graduate school, some from the college, and some from the actual graduate program to which one applies. The requirements for receiving a waiver vary as well: For some, one only needs their financial aid officer to send the school a letter that confirms you qualify for a need-based fee waiver, while others require that you send copies of your SAR and income tax return as well. Even more confusing is that most of the schools ask that one applies for a waiver as soon as possible, though others specifically require the applicant to complete their application and pay before being considered for a waiver.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Stay Tuned:</b> I’ve been preparing for this for four years, and I still feel underprepared. Now that I’ve approached the threshold, I’m actually quite a bit more nervous than I thought I’d be, but I’m still very excited to move forward in the process. We’ll see how things develop once I’ve sculpted my Personal Statement and more applications open up.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-16641345053725496532013-06-22T13:01:00.000-04:002013-06-22T13:07:35.464-04:00The Gecko (Dakar 2013)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6zpUQC-vrCw/UcXXqsNS1mI/AAAAAAAADeI/NldoXrVRiPg/s1600/DSC_0730.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6zpUQC-vrCw/UcXXqsNS1mI/AAAAAAAADeI/NldoXrVRiPg/s320/DSC_0730.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My host has been keeping me out all hours of the night. The
other morning, about 3AM, we quietly walk in to the house, up the stairs, and
down the hallway. I’m leading through the dark with the light of my cellphone,
and flip the switch to turn on the light in the hall. I turn to my bedroom door
and unlock it, but I notice that at the other end of the hallway, my host is
frozen in his tracks. I whisper, “What’s up?” and he motions to the ceiling
where I see a small gecko, perhaps 4 inches max.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ah, cool!</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I think;
I see lizards everywhere, but they’re always running and I can never get a
picture. I duck into the bedroom for my camera, pop off a few shots, and then
motion to my host, “I’m done, come on.” Then I realize, this big brawny
former-goalkeeper of a man is petrified, and I don’t know why. The guy who
laughed </span><a href="http://anthropologyattacks.blogspot.com/2013/06/tas-peur-dakar-2013.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">as I firmly gripped the back of his motorcycle through the streets of Dakar</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is now afraid to walk past this gecko. “Is it…dangerous?” I ask. “Yep,”
he nods. “Does it…jump?” I ask, confused about how it could be a threat from
the ceiling. “Yep,” he repeats. Okay, I need more information. “Is it
poisonous? Is it lethal?” “No it’s not lethal,” but before he can finish his
thought he dives into my bedroom for shelter. The gecko scurries across the
ceiling, and startles my host. “Okay, what does it do?” I ask, snapping photos
and getting a little too close to the gecko for my host’s comfort.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“It urinates on your skin, and you develop blisters in that
place. If it urinates on your hands, they will swell. It’s…really not good.” “Would
one have to go to the hospital?” “No, it’s just like a terrible rash. Trust me;
you don’t want to mess with it.” He rifles through the dresser in my bedroom
for some mosquito repellent, pulls the cap off, and from a safe distance he begins
waving the bottle at the ceiling and wall like holy water. The gecko runs and
eventually falls behind a chair in the hallway. My host dumps the rest of the
bottle over the gecko. I figure that’s the end of it, given the toxicity of
such chemicals. We both walk out onto the balcony for some air, but when we
return, we find the gecko has come into the living room. We take a seat, and my
host calls his cousin-slash-housemate to come join the mob.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When he arrives, he sneaks in slowly, sees the gecko, jumps
backward and makes some whimpering sounds. At this point, I realize that the
fear of this particular gecko is akin to the American fear of stinging insects –
for those of us who aren’t allergic, it’s little or no danger, but that still
doesn’t make it fun. The housemate grabs a broom, squats low behind the gecko
holding the broom by the very end at arm’s length, grimaces, and attempts a
first strike. Before he can bring the broom down all the way, he stops himself
and dances away down the hall in fear. The host yells, “Come back and finish
it!” He feels as if the gecko is holding us hostage. The housemate returns,
assumes the same position, counts to three, strikes on four, and dances away on
4½. The gecko takes two steps and
collapses, its tail writhing in pieces. The housemate comes back with the broom
to finish the job, but I protest – I’ve seen enough. He assumes the position
for a third time, while I say, “Okay, okay, okay – he’s dead,” but before I
know it he’s given it a final cathartic, THWACK. “And now…he’s very dead,” I
say. I ask my host to explain again what the big deal is, while the housemate
very cautiously sweeps the sad corpse into a dust pan, carefully holding the
broom and the pan by the last half-inch, furthest from the body. My host
explains, “If it pisses on your skin, you will develop terrible burning
blisters.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have no reason not to believe him, but I want to know
more. A Google search and a Facebook survey brings me to <a href="http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Hemidactylus&species=mabouia&search_param=%28%28taxon%3D%27Gekkonidae%27%29%28location%3D%27senegal%27%29%29" target="_blank">this page</a>, where a
friend in the States and I narrow it down to Moreau’s House Gecko, <i>Haptidactylus mabouia</i>. I hear from some hobbyists that there are no
geckos that are harmful to humans. A friend finds me independent confirmation
from two of the world’s leading herpetologists – it is <i>H. mabouia</i> and it poses no threat. She adds that in some parts of
West Africa, some have a fear that geckos and lizards will crawl into bodily
orifices, even though they have never been known to do that. I remember
learning from a professor – a Mayanist and epigrapher – that some reptiles in
Belize were feared by locals despite their harmlessness, and furthermore
regarded as intermediaries between the living and the dead. Now I feel like I
should have done more to stop what happened, but I had no idea.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next night, we find another – 2 inches max. Before my
host can begin his pest control process, I stop him. “Wait, wait, wait. I found
these geckos online, and it says they’re not harmful to humans. I sent my
photos to two of the world’s leading herpetologists, and they agree. And
besides, they eat flies, and spiders, and cockroaches! Let’s just let it be,
huh?” I will never forget the look that he gave me which said, </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You have got to be kidding me</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. He
chuckled, walked into my bedroom, and grabbed a new bottle of mosquito
repellent.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-79268267578128905542013-06-12T05:28:00.001-04:002013-06-12T05:58:54.175-04:00Dear Obama: A Short Guide to Dakar<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear Mr. President,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hear <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201305161430.html" target="_blank">you’re coming to town at the end of the month</a>, and I
understand that it will be your first trip to Dakar, “The Gateway to Africa.” I’d
just like to suggest some things that might make your stay a little easier.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Eat some <i>ceeb u jen</i>
at least once. It’s great food, but it gets a little old rather quick, but I
should warn you: eat small bites slowly because there are a lot of bones. Bonus
points if you do it like the Senegalese: Sit with your family on the floor,
eating from a single large plate with your hands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Drink <i>ataaya</i>.
It’s Chinese tea, mint, and sugar, but it’s some of the best stuff in the
world. The trick is, you have to find someone that you can sit with while they
make it, because it really is better with friends. Where I live, we have the
tea every night, making the tea in a kettle over a portable gas burner. Three
glasses is the standard serving amount, and sometimes it can take 30 minutes or
more to prepare the tea between those glasses! But that’s okay, because it’s
not actually about the tea; it’s about the circle of friends.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Skip Sandaga Market. It’s overrated and you’ll probably
be pickpocketed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Skip the African Renaissance Monument. Every Senegalese
person I know thinks it’s the most ridiculous thing in the world; a symbol of
national vanity under the guise of Panafricanism, and a symbol of the theft of
resources from the Senegalese people. “Renaissance de quoi?” they ask me. So
just drive past it on your way to the Embassy, take a glance, and then put it
out of your mind. And besides, the thing was built by North Korea.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Get out of Les Almadies and take a drive down to Medina
where I live, and say ‘Hello.’ The demographic of this neighborhood isn’t
unlike that of Cleveland: many hardworking or out-of-work “blue collar” people
that just want their fair share of the pie (although, don’t confuse that for “middle
class”). As far as I know, everyone loves you, and if anyone could use the pick-me-up, it’s these people. (Note: I might be a little biased, as I live in Medina.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. Take a cab. Half the fun is the haggling part, so here’s
a short guide. You’ll want to go from Les Almadies to Medina, and for an
American that costs about 2.000FCFA. Walk up to the window, say, “<i>Asalam alekum</i>,” even if there’s a Fox News
camera in your face. Follow with a short exchange of “<i>Na nga def</i>,” and “<i>Yangi ci
jamm</i>?” Tell him you want to go to Medina and ask how much that costs (<i>Nyata la</i>?). Now, even if he doesn’t
recognize you as the <i>Borom keur du monde</i>,
he’s still going to know you’re American, so he might say 5.000FCFA, but that’s
not good enough. You say “Deux mille,” and he’ll say “Trois mille,” but you
need to stick to your guns better than you do with Congress, or he’s going to
take you for everything. A little more Wolof should do the trick: “<i>Bes bu nekk</i>, c’est deux mille”
("Everyday, it’s two thousand!"). He’ll either relent – “<i>Yeegal</i>” means “Get in” – or argue more. If he argues more, start
walking away and he’ll either call your bluff and drive off, or say, “Okay!
Deux mille, c’est bon.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. Take a <i>car-rapide</i>
or <i>Ndiage Ndiaye</i>. These are public
transports of the masses, and they cost next to nothing. If you insist on
packing it full of family and Secret Service, at least do it the way the
Senegalese do it: five to a bench. Your American proxemics will tempt you to
sit 4 (or even 3) to a bench, but resist that urge for the authentic
experience. For bonus points, ride on the back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8. Watch a wrestling match, even if it’s a rerun of Balla
Gaye 2 versus Tapha Tine (which will undoubtedly be playing again and again until
the end of time). Keep an eye on the hour or more of pre-fight rituals where
the fighters receive tools from their marabouts (spiritual advisors) and use
them to curse their opponents. It really is a fascinating event.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, that’s all I have for now, and I’m sure I’ll think of
more. Shoot me an email; I’d love to give you a tour and talk about your
experiences as the son of an anthropologist (who, by the way, was a first-cousin
of one of my anthropology professors).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jerijef and jamm ak jamm!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-10595310434338973932013-06-05T10:37:00.001-04:002013-06-05T10:37:45.273-04:00"T'as peur?" (Dakar 2013)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UFdfrZFHQ7c/Ua9MHq0o51I/AAAAAAAADdw/y84l7MxsjsE/s1600/DSC_0086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UFdfrZFHQ7c/Ua9MHq0o51I/AAAAAAAADdw/y84l7MxsjsE/s400/DSC_0086.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The time I was on a motorcycle, I was maybe 13 and I dropped it. When I was a kid, my dad took a spill on his motorcycle and never looked back. So when my Senegalese friend wanted to take me on a ride through the streets of Dakar to see the celebrations of Balla Gaye's victory, I was torn. "T'as peur </span> (You scared)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">?" he asked. "Non, je n'ai pas peur (</span>Nah, I'm not scared)," <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I said against my better judgement. My hands have never sweat so much. Despite the fact that it was probably one of the dumbest things I've ever done (i.e. riding on the back of a motorcycle through Dakar with few or no street lamps, no helmet, and a borrowed Nikon), it was absolutely amazing. At the end of the night, I turned to my friend and said, "C'etait formidable, hain? Mais plus jamais ca </span>(That was great! But never again)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">."</span></div>
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-87259819892130035882013-05-26T11:41:00.001-04:002013-05-26T11:43:21.339-04:00Gendered Health, Reproduction, and Biosociality: An Exploration of Senegalese Men's Health-Related Schemata and Praxis<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last summer, I fell in love with Senegal while studying
French in Dakar and using that opportunity to research traditional medicine. At
the end of this week, I am returning to Dakar for five weeks of ethnographic research into men’s
reproductive health, behavior, and decision-making. Many of my questions are
related to how the construction of gender overlays healthcare and reproduction.
I also have a philosophical interest in parsing out the influences of Islamic,
ethnic (Wolof, Serer, etc.), and French epistemologies and ontologies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like last summer, I intend to blog about my research while I’m
there, except this time with more photos and probably some video too – stay tuned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This would not be possible without the incredibly generous
support from following people (in a semi-particular order):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Willow Rosen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Barbara Hoffman<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Mamadou Seck; Abib and Malick Seck<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Deirdre Mageean<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Rosemary Sutton<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rick Jr. and Sue Powis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Maggie Jackson and the Department of Anthropology<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">David Rosen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Richard Sr. and Mary Jo Powis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thadd and Lisa Evans<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Joseph and Mary Wargo<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mary Lou Johnstone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brian Johnstone and Carleen Almasy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jeff Johnstone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rev. Walt and Charlene Powis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Faith Jones<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marietta Smrdel and Cynthia L. Werle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sue Fout<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lois Bryan</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chris Kraska, Natalia Buchwald, and Sydney Stark</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-27301161896518037062013-04-23T22:02:00.000-04:002013-04-24T09:34:45.444-04:00Mansplaining: A Proposal to Study the Power, Knowledge, and Miscommunication of Intergender Speech<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This semester, I am finishing up an anthropology class in "Language and Gender." The class is focused on a hit parade of scholarly literature, starting with Robin Lakoff's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Language-Womans-Place-Commentaries-Studies/dp/0195167570" target="_blank">1975 "Language and Woman's Place"</a> and following the development of the field through to more recent inquiries, like Elise Kramer's <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=E719F6F98934CAD3794FB50E5385F6E7.journals?fromPage=online&aid=8211052" target="_blank">2011 paper</a> on internet rape jokes. As an undergraduate student steeped in the academic Twitterverse and Blogosphere, I feel like I might have a lot of exposure to the criticisms and questions that are raised - as they are raised - about conflicts between the genders.</span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For example, maybe you noticed a little over a week ago that Kate Clancy, Katie Hinde, Robin Nelson, and Julienne Rutherford <strike>made waves</strike> <a href="http://blog.aaanet.org/2013/04/16/zero-tolerance-for-sexual-harassment/" target="_blank">capsized the damn boat</a> with their <span id="goog_408739462"></span>survey, analysis, and subsequent presentation of <a href="http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/context-and-variation/2013/04/13/safe13-field-site-chilly-climate-and-abuse/" target="_blank">sexual harassment<span id="goog_408739463"></span> in environments of anthropological fieldwork</a>. (<a href="https://illinois.edu/sb/sec/34550" target="_blank">The study is ongoing</a>, and now includes all manner of scientific fieldwork.)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps you remember </span><a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v477/n7366/full/477626a.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">the silly editorial in Nature</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> about "Womanspace" when Ed Rybicki suggested, as one commenter put it, "the uterus is a tracking device."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">if anyone is the least bit familiar with the goings-on of the online atheist community (most notably the so-called </span><a href="http://skepchick.org/2011/07/the-privilege-delusion/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">"Elevatorgate" debacle</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> between Rebecca Watson and Richard Dawkins [and the disgusting amount of abuse she has taken since then]), you have an idea of what I'm talking about.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then there's mansplaining. Lakoff, Zimmerman, West, Maltz, Borker, O'Barr, Tannen - all of the sociolinguists and linguistic anthropologists that we've studied this semester have come SO CLOSE to describing our current conception of mansplaining, and yet no one hit the mark - not until Rebecca Solnit's incredibly popular <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/13/opinion/op-solnit13" target="_blank">L.A. Times opinion piece, "Men who explain things."</a> Why? I have no idea, and frankly I was kind of shocked. So, I did my final presentation on it, and here it is (after the jump).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Or </span><a href="http://prezi.com/nhtdqanbpdc9/mansplaining/?kw=view-nhtdqanbpdc9&rc=ref-5243793" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">check it out here.</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">)<br /><br />(Edit: Here's something to keep in mind: The questions that I have, that this presentation answers, are essentially, "Why/How has mansplaining never been studied?" and "If I undertook the research, what would I ask?" The idea arose out of a Twitter exchange I had with @WennerGrenOrg and @calicomary, <a href="https://twitter.com/plazdiquehardt/status/314352121816420352" target="_blank">here</a>.)</span></div>
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://prezi.com/embed/nhtdqanbpdc9/?bgcolor=ffffff&lock_to_path=1&autoplay=0&autohide_ctrls=0&features=undefined&disabled_features=undefined" width="450"></iframe></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-32996941794206895252013-04-16T11:13:00.001-04:002013-04-16T11:44:34.334-04:00“We are all Bostonians”: Thoughts on Appropriating Empathy<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday, the nation was shocked by the tragic events of the
bombing at the Boston Marathon. Two bombs were detonated near the finish line,
<a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/boston-marathon-bombings-what-is-known-so-far/article11255324/" target="_blank">apparently timed to injure the greatest amount of people</a>. Naturally, social
networks are aflutter with condolences, support, conspiracy theories, admonishments,
and clicktavism. Between things like <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pattonoswalt/posts/10151440800582655" target="_blank">Patton Oswalt's uplifting note</a> on the
goodness of humanity, and the immediate dissemination of services like <a href="http://google.org/personfinder/2013-boston-explosions/" target="_blank">Google Person Finder to locate loved ones</a>, I have to say: We have come pretty far
since 9/11, and I'm rather proud of that fact.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I want to comment,
though, on the adversarial nature of some social media users. I have observed
two types: those that shut down conspiracy theorists in their tracks and those
that cry out for equal empathy for foreign tragedies. The former gives me joy.
It is a sign that more and more people are finally getting tired of Alex Jones
and Mike Adams. It is a sign (though singular and weak), that we might be
heading toward a more rational (or at least reasonable) social consciousness.
The latter, on the other hand, I cannot abide.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is true: <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22149863" target="_blank">Many people die in bombings outside of the United States</a> on a regular basis. It is terrible and tragic, and I blame centuries of
colonialism and empire-building for their loss. There are entire populations
that live in fear that any day could be their last; we absolutely take our
safety for granted. And it is true: Many Americans are not globally aware of
the goings-on in such communities. Even if they do catch the title of an
article in the back pages of the newspaper or on the margin of a news website, they
will not think that it’s “news.” I agree that these are lamentable realities,
and I too wish that Americans had the same kind of empathy for <a href="http://www.livingunderdrones.org/" target="_blank">the humans who face the threat of this kind of violence every day</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, that said, this will never happen. Ever. The bombing in
Boston targeted Americans (and non-Americans) gathered to participate in an event of (global) camaraderie
in one of America’s oldest cities. We identify with the victims and their
families in ways that we will never identify with those that live in daily
fear. We hold many of the same values, share the same beliefs and language, and
are governed by the same laws. It could have been any one of us; an indiscriminate
attack on those people as a means to attack an idea is thus an attack on anyone
else who identifies with that idea. I am absolutely not the most patriotic
person I know – in fact, <a href="http://anthropologyattacks.blogspot.com/2011/12/american-pantheon.html" target="_blank">I find patriotism quite silly</a> – but bombs don’t care
what you or I believe. As they say, “It’s the thought that counts.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Furthermore, when someone suggests that there is a global
injustice when Americans don’t react to foreign bombings the same way, what you
are really saying is: “My daily knowledge of global affairs is superior to your ability to grieve in the here and now.” Get over yourself. We can have empathy for the victims of violence - political, structural, or even <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2013/04/2013416111232927572.html" target="_blank">natural</a> - but we don’t have to be insensitive about it.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-71932741225753305222013-03-05T15:32:00.003-05:002013-03-05T15:32:45.742-05:00Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies: A Review<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You:</span><div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Busting Myths About Human Nature</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Agustín Fuentes. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012. 274 pp</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For many years, influential scientists have been stepping outside of academia to remind the public that they do not need college degrees to effectively scrutinize the myths, legends, dogmas, and conspiracy theories perpetuated by pop culture. Published in 1981, Mismeasure of Man, by evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould, showed us how a popular misconception about the relationship between race and intelligence was made worse by scientists with a priori knowledge and a defective version of the scientific method. In 1995, astrophysicist Carl Sagan published The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark in which he gives readers the “Baloney Detection Kit,” – now famous in secular humanist communities – and uses it to dismantle claims about UFOs and alien abductions. In 2011, biologist Richard Dawkins published The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True, an incredible book for the public that explains how mythological cosmologies are supplanted over time by advances in scientific knowledge. Recently, in this spirit of setting the record straight, Agustín Fuentes has made an anthropological contribution with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520269713/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0520269713&linkCode=as2&tag=anthro0a-20">Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You: Busting Myths About Human Nature</a>. And who better to discuss the life-cycle of a myth than an anthropologist?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Race, Monogamy, and other Lies, Fuentes takes on what he considers to be the three major myths about humans: biological race, human aggression, and that men and women are wired differently. The first matter of Fuentes’ deconstruction revolves around his rejection of the “nature-nurture” dichotomy. Fuentes supposes that humanity is, as he coins, “naturenurtural”; a familiar concept that describes the biological and cultural influences on humanity as inseparable – and the very reason that myths about human nature are myriad. After a short introduction to basic cultural and biological concepts, Fuentes begins breaking down all manners of myths that surround the concept of race, followed by a chapter that challenges the idea that culture tames our innate beast, and finishes the myth-busting by eloquently untangling sex from gender, pair bonding from monogamy, and sexuality from sexual behavior. </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each chapter begins by introducing a set of myths surrounding a particular topic, and then proceeds by meticulously breaking each one apart by uncovering the origins of the myth, discussing studies, statistics, and misrepresentations of the truth, and in the end, why the mythological construction still has value. In the chapter titled, “Myths About Sex,” for instance, Fuentes lists as a prevailing assumption that men and women are biologically different. Using examples from genetics, endocrinology, embryology, and neuroscience, he explains that while there is sexual dimorphism, we are composed of the same biological components. The sexual differential of size, for example, may be evolutionary, but biologically-speaking it means little, and it follows that we need not assume that evolution “intended” for men to use their size for sexual coercion. Fuentes closes suggesting that the myth may be wrong, but it can be used to illustrate meaningful differences between the concepts of sex and gender.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Departing from the classic conception of myth – a story that explains natural phenomena, usually in supernatural terms – Fuentes defines myths simply as a set of assumptions that we might rely upon to interpret the quotidian. The danger of myths, he warns, is the caveat: they allow us to live our lives with little need for critical inquiry, so much so that we might consider some myths to be “common sense.” Not only are myths an interpretation of the everyday, but the everyday is commonplace because it goes unquestioned. Unfortunately, Fuentes leaves the origins of myths aside, other than to say that they arise as assumptions. Myth is the epistemological placeholder – it supposes an attractive model of meaning until it can be deconstructed, if not replaced entirely by a better looking model.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fuentes has little to say about how myths are used as a form of power except when, at the end, he begins using the word “lie” which he defines as a “deliberate intent to deceive.” These lies manifest when, as he says, scientific literature becomes enamored with the pursuit of “significant results”, at which point they are exploited by those with something to gain – politicians and advertisers. Myths are easily constructed and arduously toppled because of those that control discourse – how many anthropologists must scream at the tops of their lungs to be heard over the Governor of Florida? – but Fuentes only glosses over this fact. If it is sociopolitical and historical context that you want, you should refer to this book’s predecessors listed above (in addition to Jonathan Marks’ Why I Am Not a Scientist: Anthropology and Modern Knowledge).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, the book is written with undergraduates and laypeople in mind. Fuentes never seems to suggest whether or not he believes the myths he explores are universal, but one might assume from the many pop-culture references that he is referring to the Western audience to whom he is speaking. Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies lays out a crash course in anthropological thought, genetics, animal behavior, psychology, gender studies, and more. While he is careful to avoid jargon unless it is absolutely necessary, Fuentes is also sure to define that which he does use. Terms and concepts are thoroughly spelled out, but he does not undermine the reader’s intellect either – many of the myths are complicated constructions of entangled values and beliefs, but Fuentes leads the way, confident that his readers are in lockstep behind him.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I really commend is Fuentes’ refusal to solely lay the burden of mythmaking in the hands of culture. Asserting that race, aggression, and sexual behavior are not hard-wired evolutionary traits is easy, as far as he is concerned; negotiating the incongruence between observed patterns and cultural assumptions is what makes the book tick. What sets this book apart from the debunkers of the past is that Fuentes masterfully maintains that myth need not be cast to the side; rather it should be reshaped into something of worth. There is value in acknowledging and discussing that, for instance, while it may be a myth that human races exist because of biology, it is not a myth that human races exist as a concept and, as a result, it affects human populations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The book accurately sums up many of the foundation-shaking lessons of a contemporary undergraduate education in anthropology, and I think it would be valuable as required reading for lower-division anthropology students. I highly recommend this book for all levels of science and humanities students for its value in planting the seeds and fostering the growth of critical analysis. The development of those skills provides the basis for a lifetime of lie-detection and myth-busting; Fuentes should be lauded for this important contribution toward that end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dawkins, Richard, and Dave McKean</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 2011 <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1451675046/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1451675046&linkCode=as2&tag=anthro0a-20">The magic of reality: how we know what's really true</a>. New York: Free Press.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gould, Stephen Jay</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 1996 <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393314251/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0393314251&linkCode=as2&tag=anthro0a-20">The mismeasure of man</a>. New York: Norton.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marks, Jonathan</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 2009 <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520259602/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0520259602&linkCode=as2&tag=anthro0a-20">Why I am not a scientist: anthropology and modern knowledge</a>. Berkeley: University of California Press.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sagan, Carl</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 1996 <a href="http://draft.blogger.com/%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0345409469&linkCode=as2&tag=anthro0a-20">The demon-haunted world: science as a candle in the dark</a>. New York: Random House.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-43778387453216573852013-01-27T00:07:00.000-05:002013-01-27T00:09:10.982-05:00Health For All...Eventually<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here, I present my first infographic. I think it speaks for itself. What do you think? (<a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/50459388/aa-healthforall-01-01.jpg">Click here</a> for the full size.)</span></div>
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<a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/50459388/aa-healthforall-01-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/50459388/aa-healthforall-01-01.jpg" width="174" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-9799663735239871802013-01-18T21:27:00.000-05:002013-01-18T21:27:19.864-05:00Call for Nominations - Society for Medical Anthropology Executive Board<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Copied from the <a href="http://www.medanthro.net/blog/2013/01/call-for-nominations-society-for-medical-anthropology-executive-board/">SMA Blog</a>:<br /><br /><i>The Society for Medical Anthropology (SMA) is calling for nominations to fill the following positions on the SMA Executive Board:</i></span><div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Secretary (3-year term; 2013-2016)</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Member at large (2 positions open) (3 year term; 2013-2016)</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Student Representative (3 year term 2013-2016)</i></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Nominees must be members of SMA. Terms begin at the SMA Board meeting at the American Anthropological Association meetings in November 2013.<br /><br />To nominate someone (self nominations are welcome) please submit the following information electronically:</i></span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>A statement from the nominator explaining why he/she chose to nominate this person</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>A CV for the nominee</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Confirmation that the proposed nominee has agreed to stand for election if nominated by the nomination committee.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Nominations may be submitted to the chair of the Nominations Committee:<br /><br />Diane Weiner, Masters Program in Medical Anthropology & Cross-Cultural Practice, Boston University, <a href="mailto:diane.weiner@bmc.org">diane.weiner@bmc.org</a><br /><br />These submissions should be submitted no later than January 28, 2013. For questions regarding the nominations procedures please contact Diane Weiner at <a href="mailto:diane.weiner@bmc.org">diane.weiner@bmc.org</a>.</i></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-21890792699012607702012-12-20T14:22:00.000-05:002012-12-20T20:44:47.307-05:00Gift Guide 2012! Last Minute Gift Guide for the Anthropologist in Your Life<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Look, I know how it goes. You're not really sure what anthropology is all about, but you want to get something thoughtful for your loved one who studies, teaches, or practices anthropology. So what do you do, go straight for the Indiana Jones Box Set, right? No. Put down the whip - it's not funny anymore. Here are some last minute gift ideas for your loved ones in
Anthropology. Equally important: pay special attention to the Holiday
Anti-Gift List at the bottom.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For the undergraduate:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HstH_wA56kM/UNNf_syVENI/AAAAAAAACMk/zhFdzMzTIY0/s1600/RaceMonogamyLies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HstH_wA56kM/UNNf_syVENI/AAAAAAAACMk/zhFdzMzTIY0/s200/RaceMonogamyLies.jpg" width="132" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yep. And the Matrix.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You: Busting
Myths About Human Nature (Fuentes)</b><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> - This brilliant book will start any undergraduate off on the right track, planting the seeds of critical thinking and analysis, and getting the record straight on nature and nuture. Hell, pick one up for yourself! - </span><a href="http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=7846858417&searchurl=kn%3Drace%2Bmonogamy%2Blies%26sts%3Dt" style="text-indent: 0.5in;" target="_blank">$18 at AbeBooks</a></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b>Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History (McGee
& Warms)</b> - It's a heavy price tag, that's for sure, but this book is an amazing compendium of the history of anthropological theory - something in which I believe every anthropologist should have a strong foundation. (Also, buy it now or buy it in graduate school!) - </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0078034884/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=anthro0a-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0078034884" target="_blank">$113 at Amazon</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b>AAA Student Membership</b> - This is a bargain deal right here: For next to nothing, undergraduate members of the American Anthropological Association get discounted registration to the annual AAA meetings ($92 versus $166), the AAA newsletter, and a free membership to the National Association of Student Anthropologists. But well worth the price by itself is the unlimited access to AnthroSource, the AAA's searchable database of over 30 publications reaching back over 100 years. - <a href="http://aaanet.org/membership/" target="_blank">$35/year at aaanet.org</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For the graduate student:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Business cards</b> - Your grad student is probably already a member of various organizations, and doing a fair bit of travelling to meetings by now, so hook them up with some business cards so people remember their names. Spring for the not-free variety to get the unprofessional VistaPrint URL off the back. - <a href="http://www.vistaprint.com/" target="_blank">Startingat $5.99 at VistaPrint.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Staedtler Telescoping Poster Tube</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - If they're anything like me, they enjoy presenting the occasional poster now and again. Let me tell you, it is no fun hunting down cardboard tubes to fit, and they end up being kind of expensive too. Be sustainable and pick up this one-size-fits-all telescoping poster tube! - </span><a href="http://www.staples.com/Staedtler-Telescopic-Art-Tube/product_484943" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">$18 at Staples</a></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aOxq1RtL2oU/UNNgnC8qtUI/AAAAAAAACMs/UBUYs5zSp7c/s1600/Samson_Zoom_H2n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aOxq1RtL2oU/UNNgnC8qtUI/AAAAAAAACMs/UBUYs5zSp7c/s200/Samson_Zoom_H2n.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Record your voice in the shower!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Logitech Professional Presenter R800</b><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> - Encourage your loved one to give the keyboard a break and walk away from the podium with this handy presenter. It has a highly visible green laser and the USB jump drive is stored in its base for portability. - </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002GHBUTU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=anthro0a-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002GHBUTU" style="text-indent: 0.5in;" target="_blank">$60 at Amazon</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 48px;"><b>Zoom H2n Handy Recorder</b> - Fieldwork! For the biological or archaeological students taking notes or for the cultural or linguistic students conducting interviews! Pricey? Yes. Worth it? Totally. (There are much, much more expensive versions of this.) - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005CQ2ZY6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=anthro0a-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B005CQ2ZY6" target="_blank">$160 on Amazon</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Books!</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nUess2ykA2Q/UNNh3hIPU_I/AAAAAAAACM8/RqFzGecYo04/s1600/978-0-8223-4960-0_pr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nUess2ykA2Q/UNNh3hIPU_I/AAAAAAAACM8/RqFzGecYo04/s200/978-0-8223-4960-0_pr.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anthropology makes<br />
me baby-crazy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the cultural anthropologist: </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><b>Debt: The First 5000 Years (Graeber)</b> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1612191290/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=anthro0a-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1612191290" target="_blank">$15 at Amazon</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the biological anthropologist: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Building Babies:
Primate Development in Proximate and Ultimate Perspective (Clancy, Hinde, &
Rutherford, eds.)</b> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1461440599/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=anthro0a-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1461440599" target="_blank">$182 at Amazon</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the medical anthropologist: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Reproduction,
Globalization, and the State (Browner & Sargent, eds.)</b> - <a href="http://draft.blogger.com/href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0822349604/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=anthro0a-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0822349604" target="_blank">$25 at Amazon</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the forensic anthropologist: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Color Atlas of Forensic Toolmark Identification</b> - <a href="http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=8922027596&searchurl=kn%3Dcolor%2Batlas%2Bforensic%2Btoolmark%26sts%3Dt" target="_blank">$110 at AbeBooks</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the archaeologist: "</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span id="goog_425594688"></span>Uh, just beer money. <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/">Thanks.</a><span id="goog_425594689"></span>"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">For any anthropologist on your list:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Let them pick: </span><b style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Amazon gift cards</b><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> - </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/BT00CTOUNS/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=anthro0a-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=BT00CTOUNS" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">$25 - 2,000 at Amazon</a></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1bsLKcLUev0/UNNicrAXTPI/AAAAAAAACNE/FMGJTcDI2W8/s1600/217a616.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1bsLKcLUev0/UNNicrAXTPI/AAAAAAAACNE/FMGJTcDI2W8/s200/217a616.jpg" width="147" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jon Marks has never<br />
looked so good.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">The boardgame that simulates natural selection: </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">Dominant Species</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"> - </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045WCG8I/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=anthro0a-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0045WCG8I" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">$60 at Amazon</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking of evolution: </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">98% Chimp shirt</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - </span><a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/9899/?srp=1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">$18 at ThinkGeek</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">You can never go wrong with a </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">National Geographic subscription</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"> – </span><a href="http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/product/magazines/national-geographic-magazine/national-geographic-magazine-u.s.-delivery" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">$15 for printed</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"> or
</span><a href="http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/product/magazines/national-geographic-magazine/national-geographic-magazine-digital-access-%28u.s.%29" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">digital</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">And because it served me extraordinarily well during my own fieldwork this past summer: </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">Custom Timbuk2 Laptop Messenger</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"> – </span><a href="http://www.timbuk2.com/tb2/custom" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">starting at $150 at Timbuk2</a><br />
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What not to buy for the anthropologist in your life, even if they specifically ask:</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RRFfWOid_AM/UNNhTXH16SI/AAAAAAAACM0/1Q0VrCNgfQM/s1600/Book_Debt-CLICK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RRFfWOid_AM/UNNhTXH16SI/AAAAAAAACM0/1Q0VrCNgfQM/s200/Book_Debt-CLICK.jpg" width="132" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Be sure to charge this<br />
to your credit card.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>No Indiana Jones.</b> It's not cute anymore. Opt instead for the</span><span style="text-indent: 48px;"> fictional anthropologist du jour: </span><b style="text-indent: 48px;">Doctor Who</b><span style="text-indent: 48px;"> - at </span><a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/doctorwho/" style="text-indent: 48px;">ThinkGeek</a><span style="text-indent: 48px;"> or </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/?ie=UTF8&keywords=doctor%20who&tag=anthro0a-20&linkCode=ur2&bbn=2625373011&qid=1356028235&rnid=2650303011&camp=1789&creative=390957&rh=k%3Adoctor%20who%2Cn%3A2625373011%2Cp_n_format_browse-bin%3A2650304011" style="text-indent: 48px;">Amazon</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Look, it's tempting, I know but <b>no Jared Diamond books.</b> Here's a secret: <a href="http://www.livinganthropologically.com/tag/jared-diamond/">He has more cargo, because he's good at selling you drivel.</a> I would instead recommend two books that I've already outlined here: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1612191290/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=anthro0a-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1612191290">Debt (Graeber)</a> and <a href="http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=7846858417&searchurl=kn%3Drace%2Bmonogamy%2Blies%26sts%3Dt">Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies (Fuentes)</a>.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you're going to spend the money on <b>personal genomics</b>, I think it's important to know whether or not the recipient really understands how little such a service can actually do for them. As it stands, there is little value beyond recognizing preventable genetic diseases early - which, I grant you, is huge. If that's the case, it's equally important to have a doctor who knows what they are looking at. Outside of genetic risk assessment, personal genomic services are really just an expensive peek-beneath-the-hood, for curiosity's sake.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Questions? Suggestions? Let me know in the comments.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But no really, check this game out:</span></div>
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</span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/jp2K4hBWT9c?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Post-script:</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kerim Friedman of <a href="http://savageminds.org/">Savage Minds</a> suggests you check out the card game <b>Yams</b> which is based on the economic (and social) functions of the Trobriand Islanders, as recorded by the father of participant-observation, Bronislaw Malinowski - <a href="http://www.yamsthegame.com/">$17 at YamsTheGame.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And while we're talking about crowd-funded projects (which Yams was), I direct you to the <b>BioLite Stove</b> and the <b>GravityLight</b>, both of which are projects concerned with bringing sustainable sources of light and electricity to developing nations. The BioLite Stove is in production (and you can buy the CampStove version for <a href="http://biolitestove.com/">$130 at BioLiteStove.com</a>), while the GravityLight is still needs your pledges <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/282006">at IndieGoGo.com</a> (even though it's $150,000 over the goal as I write this).</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-67858703569065047702012-11-11T12:22:00.000-05:002012-11-11T12:31:17.875-05:00#AAA2012: Whatever You Do, Don’t Call It “Frisco.”<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First and foremost,
Happy Veteran’s Day and thank you to all the servicewomen and men (my father
and grandfather, included) who defend this country, even though we’re like a
big dysfunctional family of 350,000,000 people. Despite the fact that our
President (in general, not any specific one) does not always use you in the
smartest ways, your willingness to join in the first place is admirable. It
disgusts me that we only give you one day of the year and then think we’re
even. You deserve more (and yet, you still fight).</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many of you might remember that last year’s American
Anthropological Association meeting in Montreal was </span><a href="http://anthropologyattacks.blogspot.com/2011/11/my-first-american-anthropological.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">my first</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. What many of you
don’t know is that I was high-as-a-kite on the tailpipe fumes of academia for
weeks to come. I made many friends, many connections, and learned a lot about
myself and what I want to do in my academic career. I anticipate very much of
the same, this week in San Francisco.</span><o:p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">I am not presenting a paper or poster – my proposal
was accepted, but the panel was cut – but if you want me to tell you about <a href="http://anthropologyattacks.blogspot.com/2012/06/senegal-2012-field-notes-digest-part-1.html" target="_blank">my research in Senegal</a>, find me and I’ll be more than willing!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will be live tweeting all week long with the tag
</span><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23aaa2012" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">#AAA2012</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, so follow me at </span><a href="https://twitter.com/plazdiquehardt" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">@plazdiquehardt</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (or #FF me, preferably before Friday though).</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Unfortunately, there is no highly
anticipated “Science in Anthropology” open discussion, but there are going to
be some fantastic sessions in Medical Anthropology and Biological Anthropology.
Hopefully, I’ll remember to post pictures. Like last year, I will be at the BAS
business meeting and keynote on Friday night. If you’re there, and someone awkwardly
says “Hi” as you stuff your face with </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">egg rolls</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, it’s probably me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, I’d like to
mention that </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> been chosen as the </span><a href="http://www.medanthro.net/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Society for Medical Anthropology</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and
</span><a href="http://www.studentanthropologists.org/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">National Association of Student Anthropologists</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">’ Emerging Leader in Medical
Anthropology. The program entails a professional mentorship which will
hopefully lead to a “professional training paper” addressing the track of my
choice – which was <a href="http://www.ram-wan.net/" target="_blank">World Anthropologies</a>. Unfortunately, I won’t be meeting my
mentor at #AAA2012, because they won’t be chosen yet, but I will be attending
some sessions on critical issues in anthropology, for which I am quite excited.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See you in San Francisco!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-39679955848637551022012-10-12T00:13:00.000-04:002012-10-12T00:13:50.594-04:00So This Just Happened – OR – Why to be careful about what you share on Facebook.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TbBbeWYdZpI/UHeNzUW8F8I/AAAAAAAABo8/bg6XQVyeJAg/s1600/racist_01-101112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TbBbeWYdZpI/UHeNzUW8F8I/AAAAAAAABo8/bg6XQVyeJAg/s320/racist_01-101112.jpg" width="304" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was a little confused to see this photo on my feed. In
fact, I didn’t know if it was real. I looked at it for a moment, just to make
sure that it was actually what I thought it was – I didn’t want to overreact.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nope, that is definitely a girl in blackface. I reacted, commenting sarcastically, “That’s
not racist as fuck,” and promptly received a message from the offender, one
Cherise McClimans. (See my chat with her after the jump.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Note that, to her, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface" target="_blank">blackface</a> is not about black people per
se, just “ghetto people.” Apparently when she said, “Black girl on the toilet,”
what she meant to say was “Ghetto person on the toilet.” What I find rather
peculiar is that she didn’t even take the easiest way out: “Fuck you, racism is
funny.” I can’t argue with that, actually – not because it’s true, but because “funny”
is ultimately subjective and if I have any hope of convincing someone that
blackface is racist, I won’t get any traction there. If she wants to be a
racist, there is nothing I can do about it. If she believes that her actions
are not racist, there is hope because it means that she still has negative
connotations with racism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, I’d like to point out her secondary defense, after “blackface
is funny,” is that her black friends didn't find it offensive. I was
immediately reminded of what my Black Studies friends would refer to as “that
slave mentality.” I have no authority – academic or experiential – to speak on
that topic, so I’ll let someone else chime in if they want, but what I can say
is more on the topic of “friends.” In my experience, it is rare that friends
will actually voice their personal offense with you. You are friends for a
reason; your actions are tolerated because the rest of your behavior is
probably not all that different. They may be taken aback initially, but they’re
not going to tell you, because “that’s just Cherise being Cherise.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m not the most convincing or wittiest person in the heat of an argument, but I’m not sure that was what I was going for anyway. While I wanted to smash her down with fierce lamentation, I think I was more interested in getting her to think of her actions from the perspectives of others. Of course, as with most people, she was more interested in shutting me down, because what I have to say is dry and boring.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don’t mean to
pick on this single girl or infer that she is the next Hitler - after all, I am told that just last week there was an incident of young women in blackface at Washington University in St. Louis. These people are the typical mislead and ignorant Americans whose actions are symptomatic of an
apathetic education system. Their aloof understanding of the historical and
present realities of minorities reflects that of much of society. They, and
people like them, are why <a href="http://anthropologyreport.com/anthropology-and-race/" target="_blank">anthropologists</a> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/agustin-fuentes/is-inequality-in-our-gene_b_1946704.html" target="_blank">find it necessary</a> <a href="http://www.livinganthropologically.com/anthropology/race-reconciled-debunks-race/" target="_blank">to stay involved</a> <a href="http://www.understandingrace.org/home.html" target="_blank">in the discourse of race</a>. We have to reign in the myths, the misconceptions, and the insensitivities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last Spring, in collaboration with some trusted colleagues,
and with the encouragement of a few professors, I planned to launch a local outreach
program that would go into high school classrooms to talk about the concept of
race. We brainstormed some lesson plans, some classroom activities, and the
logistics of it all, and the best part was that this was a group endeavor that
I could get behind – I certainly did not mind sharing the load. Unfortunately,
before we could get anything off the ground and into the hands of a larger
group of volunteers, my two project partners graduated and moved on to bigger
and better things. This program will just be too big to run alone (or even
direct), so until I find some equally driven self-starters that share my
vision, it will have to take a back seat.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />[<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4hTjHQO5MfU/UHePuEKqQII/AAAAAAAABpM/wNcKjw7Etag/s1600/fb_racist-101112.jpg">Click here to see the whole Facebook exchange</a>.]<br /><br />Related reads: <br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520269713/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0520269713&linkCode=as2&tag=anthro0a-20">Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You: Busting Myths about Human Nature</a> (Fuentes)<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393314251/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0393314251&linkCode=as2&tag=anthro0a-20">The Mismeasure of Man (Revised & Expanded)</a> (Gould<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470657146/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0470657146&linkCode=as2&tag=anthro0a-20">Race: Are We So Different</a> (Goodman, Moses, and Jones)</span><div class="MsoNormal">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-78263112897732837962012-09-04T21:42:00.001-04:002012-09-04T21:43:29.848-04:00Guest Blog: How I Got Into Grad School (With a Full Ride, No Less)<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">[Editor: A very good friend of mine has recently started his first year of graduate school in a very good anthropology program. He asked if he could share his story on my blog and, despite the fact that I know he is a crass writer, I decided to oblige him. Let me disclaim two things: (1) His writing is usually much better than this; he must have been drunk. (2) These are not my opinions or statements. Without further ado, J. Anonymous' blogging debut:]</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This story does not start with some memorable one liner like “All this
happened, more or less” from Slaughterhouse-Five or “It was a pleasure to burn”
from Fahrenheit 451, this story starts with my humble beginnings on a side
street on the West Side of Cleveland and takes me to where I am today: reading
a plethora of books to prepare for Graduate School in the Fall. Me, yes me,
Graduate School.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even from the beginning, I knew that I was smarter than everyone else.
I mean, not everyone, but you know what I mean. This got me into some trouble
later on down the line but we can save that for later. So, we are on the West
Side of Cleveland… I was born in Cleveland, lived there for a few years and
then my parents had a choice: send my older brother to Catholic school, or move
us to the country. To the country we went. We moved out from the city right
before I was about to start kindergarten. I do not remember liking it very
much. It was too far away from my grandmother, whom I still adore to this day.
On the other hand, we had a massive yard and considerable room to play. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let’s fast forward a few years… I am in say 4<sup>th</sup> grade. My
school believed in grades (A,B,C, etc.) for grade school children instead of
the S/U system many now have. I had not gotten anything besides an A. EVER. I
actually had to do math and reading with the 6<sup>th</sup> graders. I did not
make it into the “Gifted” kids program because they thought I was a little
rambunctious. Still am if I do say so myself. So, yeah, 4<sup>th</sup> grade.
Well, my Dad decided he had had enough with the wife and kids and didn’t come
home on Valentine’s Day. He was off with his new thing (my current stepmother).
She is 13 years younger than him. Well needless to say, I didn’t really take
this too well. My older brother had a father growing up and was too old to be
really angry and my younger brother was too young to really remember having a
father at all. I mean, my dad was around afterwards (Wednesdays and every other
weekend) but it just wasn’t the same. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So… 5th grade rolls around and I started getting C’s. Parents got
pissed, I got pissed, I go to counseling. Oh, one quick thing, I have never had
many friends because 1) I think most people are lemmings with not much to
offer, 2) I hate people, and 3) I am quite the asshole, or so I have been told
on countless occasions. I know, I know, kind of weird me going to Graduate
School in Anthropology, but I think of myself as slightly reformed. I have
learned to tolerate other people. So, my friend pool of 10 had dropped to a
friend pool of 2 after my parents got divorced and I actually cared then about
friends (not really today).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let’s fast-forward to 7<sup>th</sup> grade. I am TROUBLE (capital
letters intended). The next few years are very interesting. For one, I like to
fight. Fist fight. I find it entertaining. I discovered this around then. I was
suspended 10 times in junior high: a bunch of times for fighting, once for
urinating in some kid’s shoes, and once for calling the principal dumb. Well he
was dumb. He thought I was dealing drugs to kids on the bus (I was, just
marijuana though, don’t judge, YOU had to get it somewhere) and he called me
down to his office. I told him that he was too stupid to catch me, he suspended
me. Also during this time I was diagnosed with ADHD and Bipolar Disorder. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I am in 9<sup>th</sup> grade. My grades are average. I hate
homework. The classes do not challenge me. I sleep during class. I get A’s on
all the tests and refrain from my homework, net grades: B’s and C’s. Another
thing about me, I am an athlete. By athlete I mean that I am pretty much good
at any sport I play. You would not know by looking at me now, but this is true.
So I continue my fighting and drug usage (marijuana only) and keep getting
suspended. I go to a different therapist this time. Oh, I have never taken any
medication for any disorder that I have. I have been formally diagnosed by two
separate psychiatrists and they independently concurred about my conditions.
This therapist is a New Age hippy type. I like him instantly. He is laid back,
not pushy, and smart: my kind of guy. So he vaguely suggests that some illegal
substances can control the symptoms of my conditions. I look this up on the
internet and find some things about marijuana usage and bipolar disorder. I
continue to smoke marijuana. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well pretty much my whole high school career goes like that. Do enough
to please the parents, but nothing else. Have fun. Do pretty much what I want.
I was not easy to handle for my poor mother either. After the divorce she had
to work two jobs and go to school to support us. My dad worked (and still
works) for an aerospace giant. He paid a ton in child support money but it was
never enough. We were pretty poor from about 4<sup>th</sup> grade until about 9<sup>th</sup>
grade, when my mom got her new job (which she recently retired from at 55 and
is now traveling around the country with her RV, boyfriend, and their two
Harley-Davidson motorcycles). During
this time of relative poverty, I was a terror. I never listened, I beat up my
younger brother, I ran away; I did a lot of nasty things to my mother. I have
since apologized. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I (read: parents) decide that after high school that college is
right for me. I apply to a few schools, get into a couple, and decide to go to
one. I didn’t really know what I was going to go for or what I really wanted to
do with my life. So I took some classes, and partied, with a lot of girls; A
LOT of girls and A LOT of parties. I actually never took any classes, I mean I
was registered for them and went to the exams, but I never actually went. I
would wake up at 4pm, find my buddy to buy Natural Light for me, find my roomie
with the marijuana, find some girls and some buddies, and party until 8am. I
did this for an entire school year. My GPA was something like .87. Awesome.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I come back home from college and my dad (we have a good
relationship now) sits down with me and a bottle of whiskey and gives me two
options: 1) go to the local community college and 2) go into the military.
Well, not wanting to go to community college with all the local dumbasses, I
pick military. Hindsight being 20/20, this was possibly the best decision that
I have ever made in my life. I decided on a military branch and went in. Oh
man, the people were REALLY stupid in there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In boot camp I had issues because I thought I was smarter than everyone
else, even the drill instructors. They hated me. I was a smart ass (still am),
I did everything just barely enough, I was a middle-of-the-road smart ass. Well,
I learned a few things about knowledge in the military, the foremost being that
there are different types of knowledge. I am pretty much all-around smart. I
read and understand, I am “street smart”, I can synthesize information, and
pretty much anything else that has to do with learning I am good at. But one
thing that I did not have was experience. Experience is a form of knowledge
different from any other. I kind of knew this as a child. I loved talking to
the elderly (and still do). I think this is because I realize that they have
something that I can never have: as much experience as they do. They might not
be “smart” or be able to figure things out, but what I can learn from them is
invaluable. Well I learned this the hard way in the military. I did what I
needed to do in the military to get exactly what I wanted. I received many
medals and ribbons and gained rank at the earliest opportunity every time. I
did not forget how to party though and this led me down another path, a
dangerous one, marriage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How I met my wife is a story for Penthouse Letters, but needless to say
it was partying. We hit it off right away, moved in a couple weeks after
meeting, and were married 5 months later. It was tumultuous. We didn’t know
each other, didn’t have time to court and figure each other out. I can’t count
the times we almost got divorced. But we were in love and that kept us
together. She got out of the military and then a year later I got out and we
moved back to my home, where I am sitting now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I got out of the military, I decided that I would go to that same
local community college that I had forsaken before. It was a good choice. Being
a non-traditional student, it was best to start off easy. I did everything that
I needed to do to be exactly where I wanted. I have not gotten a B since I have
been back to school. My GPA when I graduated with my Bachelor’s was 3.97. I got
2 A-‘s. I took an introductory anthropology class at this community college,
felt my calling, and changed my major. I have lived and breathed anthropology
since then. I see anthropology everywhere in almost every situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, I finished at community college and went on to a nice state
school. You see, going to a state school is vital for well-roundedness. Oh, I
pretty much dislike private school kids, always have. But that is another discussion.
At my nice quiet state school with its little anthropology department, I
flourished. I stood out immediately. Not because I kissed ass or because I
stayed around campus a lot (I commuted and my commute was 45 minutes each way),
but because I lived and breathed anthropology. I loved it. I honestly have not
done anything “above and beyond”. If you asked any of my peers at my nice state
school about me, they would say that I am never around, I love anthropology,
and that I am an asshole. That is how they would describe me. My immediate
friends would say that they are jealous of my ability to do what they do with
half the effort. Oh, I only do homework on Sundays. During football season you
can see how this can be a problem. But I really only count homework as actual
class work. Reading doesn’t count. It is fun. I can write papers ridiculously
fast. They are also fun, but count as class work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So during the first summer at my nice state school, I studied abroad.
It was fantastic and I learned so much about anthropology in practice. Applying
theory and learned method is really amazing. I think all the time that I have
actually learned nothing in my undergraduate years in anthropology, but looking
back on that makes me think how much I have learned; all the mistakes that I
made that I would never make now. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, during the first couple weeks of my study abroad I learned that
my wife (still the same one) was pregnant. FEAR was the first thing that hit my
mind. Then I was interested in having a Mini-Me. Then I was happy. I got back,
we had the baby, then life became hard. I have learned so many lessons being
married and being a father. This has only made me a better person. It is hard
at times because I need to read and the little one wants to play with daddy. I
also need to foster the relationship with my wife, who makes me a complete
person. We are having another baby this summer and I am sure that that will
make it even harder in grad school. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just an afterthought… I never really wanted to go to one of the “top
tier” graduate schools. First, I don’t like private education (not that all the
“top tier” schools are private). Second, most of them are too big. I mean the
departments are big. The one school that I was looking at had something like 40
professors and double that at least grad students. And lastly, I don’t really
like “top-tier” anyway. I like the school I am going to, I like my advisor and
many of the other professors, I like the campus, I like the other graduate
students, I like the program, and my wife likes it. I got into another graduate
school (I applied to 4) but I decided that I liked this one better. It is a
better fit. So that is where I am at in my life. I am so happy that people
decided to invest so much money in my education and in me as a person. I cannot
wait to start in the fall!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Editor: J. Anonymous has since had his second beautiful child (and I was there). Also, he doesn't mention it (aside from the title) and you may not gloss it from this writing sample, but he was accepted into his program with full funding.]</span></i></span></div>
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</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-6464414524833527202012-06-29T11:00:00.001-04:002012-06-29T13:25:57.760-04:00Senegal 2012: Field Notes Digest (Part 2)<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YteLFwX75nw/T-3BA2Zs0aI/AAAAAAAAAy4/-qc-CwSvpOg/s1600/100_1372.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YteLFwX75nw/T-3BA2Zs0aI/AAAAAAAAAy4/-qc-CwSvpOg/s320/100_1372.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Traditional Medicine Hospital at <span lang="WO-SN">Keur Massar </span>is more of a compound of
specialized buildings, well groomed land, and a comprehensive garden of the
world’s medicinal plants (and it’s growing). A sign out front lists some
ailments they are capable of treating, probably the most common, which reads
like a fast food menu. It also makes mention of the price structure:
Consultations are 1000FCFA, and treatments are the same. I am told that in the
event that a patient cannot afford either, they are more than welcome to make
installments. The generous pay-what-you-can policy found at the <i><span lang="FR">guérisseur</span></i><span lang="FR"> </span>in Dakar might be missing here,
but it’s understandable: <span lang="WO-SN">Keur
Massar</span> is a self-sustained property where the plants are grown at the
point of sale. One might think that the cheaper rates and wide-open rural space
might be more attractive to those in need, but at this time of the year, the
hospital may only see five to ten patients a day. Unfortunately, <span lang="WO-SN">Keur Massar</span> is about an hour
and a half from downtown Dakar by <i>autobus</i>
(or 3 hours, in my case), though the cost is only 400FCFA there and back. On
the other hand, a trip to the <i><span lang="FR">guérisseur</span><span lang="FR"> </span></i>from
my neighborhood could be 10 minutes at 2000FCFA by taxi or 45 minutes at
200FCFA by <i><span lang="FR">car-rapide</span></i> – both prices being
round-trip.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I found the Director, an animated man with an opinion on
everything, to be lounging with others in the shade carrying on a conversation
in Wolof. At first, he passed me along to a Quebecoise nurse-intern for a tour
of the compound, and this is when I was introduced each of the specialized
buildings and a brief overview of the hospital’s history. It wasn’t until
later, when I had specific questions (e.g. Has traditional medicine enjoyed a
growth in popularity since decentralization? [No.] Has there been a Senegalese
president who backed traditional medicine? [LOL-NO!]), that the Director was
more than happy to tell me everything I needed to know (and so much more). He
even let me in on some privileged traditional healing knowledge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hadn’t initially gone to the hospital in search of
information on<i> Fagara</i> <i>xanthoxyloides</i>, but I did mention in
passing that I might like to see one if they had it. Right away, they wanted to
tell me everything about it, and asked why (of all plants?!) I might inquire
about this one. I explained that it fascinated me that one plant might be
capable of so many things, but because most of the information I can find is
biochemical in nature, I wanted to know more about the culture that surrounds
it. They led me to their <i>Fagara</i>
trees. This is an elegant desert plant with a thin trunk and fiercely hooked
thorns protruding in all directions, which followed little or no pattern – some
bunched together and some spread only slightly apart. Like many of the plants
I’ve seen since I’ve been here, this tree seems to be warning any potential
predation that it will not easily give up its scarcely found water and
nutrients. Even the leaves are barbed on their undersides – something I’ve
never seen the <i><span lang="FR">Etats-Unis</span></i>. A man, tagging along on my
private tour, presented some shears and proceeded to cut a small branch from
about waist-height. He sheared off the thorns and leaves, and then handed me
the freshest chewing stick I’d found yet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Director summed up the benefits of <i>Fagara</i>: “<i><span lang="FR">C’est l’aspirine des pauvres</span></i>! (It’s the
aspirin of the poor!)” At 200FCFA a bundle, he may be absolutely right, and
this is a perspective that I hadn’t thought of. If it really is the “poor-man’s
aspirin,” I would like to investigate how it might be framed in terms of
treatment-seeking behavior. I have two weeks. <i><span lang="FR">On y va</span></i>!</span><o:p></o:p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-78308993799639621292012-06-14T15:28:00.000-04:002012-06-14T15:57:09.103-04:00Senegal 2012: Field Notes Digest (Part 1)<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2DfHmSxeJhE/T9o5qCSg7mI/AAAAAAAAAys/oCRntorIO7Q/s1600/100_1307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2DfHmSxeJhE/T9o5qCSg7mI/AAAAAAAAAys/oCRntorIO7Q/s320/100_1307.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve been in Senegal for two weeks now. This is my first
time to Africa, and it certainly won’t be my last. For the most part, it has been
an easy transition, but I’d be lying if I said that my first couple days weren’t
completely overwhelming. It is one thing to be a foreigner here, but I get the
impression that my experience is strongly influenced by the fact that I am <i>tubaab</i> – a Wolof word that describes me
as a Caucasian, and implies that I have wealth. Senegal isn’t special in that
regard; people the world over tend to assume that “because you are white, you
have money,” which is a phrase I often hear. The onslaught of vendors just takes
some getting used to.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My research is coming along, if not in quantity, in great
quality. Already I’ve met with four professors at the University of Dakar,
three of which were familiar with <i>Fagara
xanthoxyloides</i> and were more than willing to lead me in the right
direction. The fourth is a mycologist, and when I initially met with her, she
had no idea what I was talking about. Once I explained what I knew about the
plant and its medicinal properties, she quickly volunteered her help. She has
been indispensible as a scientist, a cell biologist, and a Wolof-French
translator.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before I came to Dakar, I had read that <i>Fagara xanthoxyloides</i> is a veritable quiver of medicinal arrows, except
the anthropological literature doesn’t seem to reflect that. So far, the
practitioners I’ve met with are versed only in its use, not its history or biochemistry.
(Next week, I will meet with a <i><span lang="FR">guérisseur</span></i><span lang="FR"> [healer, in French] </span>who worked at IFAN for
38 years as botanist.) These practitioners, instead of verifying that <i>dengid</i><i>ëk</i>
(<i>Fagara sp.</i>, in Wolof) is used for the
things that I was hoping for (e.g. leukemia, tumors, malaria), stacked
more things on my list: It is apparently a painkiller. One can chew the dried
out root as a means to remedy a tooth ache; one can boil a tablespoon of the
powdered root and use it as a topical remedy for arthritis; one can burn the
root to fight off migraines; and so on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the topic of pronunciation (something that seems to amuse
me, as I am corrected everywhere I go), there are more versions. And “everyone
else’s version is wrong.” I was introduced to it as <i>dengid</i><i>ëk </i>(pronounced: [de ndʒi
dek]), and read that this is the most common form. Of course, everyone I’ve met
seems to smile at me endearingly (<i>Silly
tubaab!</i>), and disagree. I’ve also heard two versions of <i>gengid</i><i>ëk</i>
(pronounced either: [dʒe ngi dek] or [dʒe ndʒi dek]). Today, a man insisted that
it’s actually called [dne ndi dʒek]. To the chagrin of my mentors back home,
I am no linguist, and so my interest stops at the fact that there seems to be
no consensus. I might suppose that this could make accessibility difficult for
those in need, but if I can find it with my terrible French and nearly
non-existent Wolof, I think anyone can.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That brings me to affordability. I made an appointment for a
consultation with a practitioner, and used that time to interview him. As this
was time that he could spend seeing a patient, I paid him the normal rate for
such a consultation: 3000F (about US$6). At the end of consultation, he gave me
about an ounce of the powder form of <i>Fagara</i>
at no additional charge. Is 3000F affordable for the average <i>Dakarois</i>? Is a big bag of saw dust
normally given at no extra charge? These are things that I still need to figure
out when I come back next week. I did make it to the market, though, where I
was able to find some sticks. One small bundle costs 200F (about US$0.40). The
merchant wasn’t particularly helpful aside from telling me that it was "good for
the bones," so I’ll need to find a different merchant to tell me what I
want to know about their source, how it’s harvested, and how it’s prepared, as
well as general profile of their clientele (e.g. What kind of people come to
you most often for <i>dengid</i><i>ëk</i>? How often do they return? What
ailments are the most common? Are sticks or powder preferred?).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve been here two weeks, and I feel like I should be
getting so much more done. To be fair though, I’ve been sick twice, spent five
days in Saint-Louis (where I had absolutely no time for research), spent a day on
Gorée
Island, and I have classes from 9AM to 1PM, Monday through Friday. Fortunately, I have been observing a lot of things that I'd like to know more about - future research topics and opportunities. The subject of public health in Saint-Louis is particularly enticing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will try to post again within the next two weeks, and give
an update on my research. I’m hoping my progress will jump by leaps and bounds
after I meet with the <i><span lang="FR">guérisseur</span></i> next week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ba beneen</i> [Until
next time, in Wolof]!</span><o:p></o:p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-64703258401354099952012-05-29T21:05:00.001-04:002012-05-29T21:08:00.220-04:00Getting to the Root of Dengidëk<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I often receive emails from the Anthropology faculty and
staff alerting me of opportunities to study abroad, participate in a field school,
or look into a particular graduate program. Sometimes they are sent to all
anthropology students, sometimes a selection of them, and in many cases they
are sent only to me. Most of the time, these advertisements – titled something
like, “FORWARD THIS TO YOUR STUDENTS!” – don’t apply to my interests, and they
go right into the Trash folder. This past December, however, I received one that
caught my eye and I had to give it a go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don’t talk about it a whole lot on this blog, but I study
French and public health, and I have an interest in postcolonial development.
So when I received a notice about studying French in Senegal, I had to check it
out. Frankly, at the time, I knew very little about Senegal, and even less
about the school running <a href="http://pages.wustl.edu/senegal" target="_blank">the program</a>: Washington University at St. Louis
(WUSTL). Naturally, when I decided to apply, I figured that if they accepted
me, so be it, and if they didn’t, I had a back-up plan in the form of a
<a href="http://www.maderasrfc.org/Maderas_Rainforest_Conservancy/Home.html" target="_blank">primatology field school</a>. To be quite honest, I was looking something to occupy
my summer (because I firmly believe that idle hands are the Devil’s
playground).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a few weeks, I looked up “Senegal public health” on
Amazon, and the first two books to pop-up were <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813546680/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=anthro0a-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0813546680" target="_blank">Your Pocket Is What Cures You (Foley)</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691123179/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=anthro0a-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0691123179" target="_blank">The Enculturated Gene (Fullwiley)</a>. Considering that I had almost
bought The Enculturated Gene at the American Anthropological Association meeting
in Montreal only one month prior (their only copy had been nicked), I had to
scoop these up and absorb their contents, posthaste. I needed background
information as soon as possible; I want to do whatever meaningful research can
be done with two and a half years of French under my belt and six weeks to do
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This has been a five month journey of hoop-jumping and
crash-coursing, and the more I did it, the more passionate I became about the
follow-through. I’ve done paperwork for CSU’s study abroad office, CSU’s
Department of Anthropology, CSU’s Department of Modern Languages, WUSTL’s study
abroad office, four scholarships (two from CSU, one from Gilman, and one from a
private donor; all of them won!), an IRB proposal, and an AAA abstract. I had
an unbelievably patient mentor to hold my hand along the way (though she’ll
just tell you she’s doing her job), and an incredibly supportive faculty behind
me. This last five months has been ridiculously instructive (and frustrating),
and I’m sure it’ll prove to be a fantastic primer for the future of my
fieldwork. I’m so excited that I’ve made it this far, and I haven’t even gotten
on the plane yet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thursday, I leave for Dakar. I will be in Senegal for six
weeks, attending classes on French conversation and Senegalese history, politics,
and culture. While I would love to do research on the infrastructure of public
health, I’ve chosen to research the tree <i>Fagara
zanthoxyloides</i> instead, the root of which is used as a chewing stick and as
a remedy for sickle cell crises. What caught my attention about dengidëk (the Wolof word for <i>Fagara</i>) is that <i>in vitro</i>, there is evidence for a lot of other activities (e.g.
anti-tumor, anti-oxidant, anti-leukemia, anti-malarial). So, is dengidëk used for more than just sickle
cell crises and oral hygiene? That’s one of the many answers I’m after.
Ultimately, I hope that I can walk away from this experience with a
foundational understanding of Dakar’s public health, Senegalese
treatment-seeking behavior, and maybe a little epidemiology. I really want this
to be my gateway to future research.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I understand that our accommodations will have internet
access, so blogging, Tweeting, and Skyping from Senegal may be entirely possible.
Ideally (if possible and practical), I’d like to update this blog regularly –
in the spirit of <a href="http://www.anthropologiesproject.org/2011/10/whats-wrong-with-anthropology.html" target="_blank">improving the communication of our scholarship</a>. If that doesn’t
happen, I will be posting plenty of pictures and articles when I return.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is it. All of those silly hoops are behind me, and I’m
on my way. <i>Ba beneen.</i></span><o:p></o:p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-50324305674543128702012-03-10T09:00:00.000-05:002013-03-05T15:11:07.094-05:00Please Don't Beat Me, Sir!: A Review<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">I have been thinking about this for weeks: </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">What qualifies me to write a review for an
ethnographic film?</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> As of now, I am eight weeks into a course on visual
anthropology and two-and-a-half years into an anthropology degree. I don’t know
film theory (and frankly don’t care for it), and as it regards this particular
film, I know next to nothing about the cultures of India, let alone India
itself. And then I thought: </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Who is the
intended audience of such ethnographic film?</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> With the exception of those
that find a wider audience (like Melissa Llewelyn-Davies’ 1984 BBC series, “Diary
of a Masai Village” [sic]), most of these films are intended for
institutional-use – I am the intended audience, and I guess that is my
qualification.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The oft-asked question throughout my visual
anthropology course has been based on the core of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0292714580/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=anthro0a-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0292714580" target="_blank">Karl G. Heider’s Ethnographic Film</a>: What is “ethnographicness?” To really get to the heart of such a
difficult (and at times, contentious) inquiry, I ask, <i>Who speaks on behalf of the film’s subject?</i> It is from this
perspective that I review the film, Please Don’t Beat Me, Sir!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/DqC7eRql1K0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the story about the sons and daughters of “criminals,”
their choice to turn away from the ways of their elders, and how they cope with
a world that is not ready for their metamorphosis.</span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></o:p></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">The film opens on the congested streets and alleys
of Chharanagar, India. A crier is booming through an old, beaten metal
megaphone, “Listen up! Today we’re having a play!” The camera follows the
throng to an outdoor stage. Within the first three minutes of the film, we are
introduced to the Chhara by the Chhara themselves. About half of the cast,
playing what seem to be the police, ask the other half, “Who are you? Why have you come here?
How long have you been here?” The other half, playing the roles of
recently-detained Chharas, responds, “We are nomads, Sir! To fill out empty
stomachs, Sir! Longer than you!” This troupe of street theatre actors is managed by Daxkin (the crier) and Roxy, and with the help of the actors, it is they who guide us through the journey.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now far be it for me to start quoting Foucault (for
a multitude of reasons), but I will say that the filmmakers, P. Kerim Friedman
and Shashwati Talukdar, dive head first into the various power structures that
make up the incredible breadth and depth of the cultural narrative. The police
force the criminals – thieves and bootleggers – to pay bribes for turning a
blind eye, and the cycle continues as the police pay bribes to be stationed in
Chharanagar. Police brutality results from nonpayment for a variety of reasons.
People are beaten in the street or in front of the Police Station on display. To
understand why such a system exists, the film presents the many components of
“that complex whole.” Even if it were my job as a reviewer to regale you with
the details, I wouldn’t even know where to start. While the story is not
linear, nor the topics fluid, the film as a whole is presented in sequences
that flow beautifully.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will, however, share an overview of the component
that struck me most: The elders of the community – people that actually lived
under British rule – are incredible sources of information. Amadbhai, Roxy’s
great uncle, shows us pictures of nomadic Chharas from the 19<sup>th</sup>
century, and provides an oral history of their subjugation. Dadi, the
grandmother of Daxkin, tells the story of her forced marriage and that of her
father’s murder, both of which took place in a British-run internment camp.
(Incredibly, she tells these stories while she sits in what remains of that
very camp!) Together, their perspectives are bittersweet – it is appalling that
humans have been treated this way by other humans, and yet I am humbled for
having heard a story that must be told.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a reason I haven’t yet mentioned the
utmost focus of Please Don’t Beat Me, Sir!, as it answers the question posed
above: <i>Who speaks on behalf of the film’s
subject?</i> The Budhan Theatre, composed of Chhara sons and daughters of
thieves and bootleggers, speak on behalf of themselves. They tell the stories
of colonialism, police brutality, bribery, job discrimination, as well as a
retelling of Mahasweti Devi’s “Breast Giver.” It is through these skits that we
come closer to understanding their plight, but it is also through the
preparation of skits and the reactions that they illicit that we can appreciate
their motivation to spread awareness and educational value. But, at the end of the day, the troupe of performers are simply a vehicle for the message they intend to portray, which the film captures marvelously.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a technical note, I’d like to mention that if
it’s one thing that I’ve learned from watching a century’s worth of
ethnographic film in the last eight weeks, it’s that I apparently have a very strong
opinion when it comes to narration and intertitles. Please Don’t Beat Me, Sir!
utilizes the most effective and appropriate form that I’ve seen. Information is
only provided when it is absolutely necessary and never by narration or
intertitles that cut away. The anthropologists behind the film rarely make
themselves known (except in some exciting confrontational situations), but
otherwise the film almost feels like it could be auto-ethnographic. In many
cases, the interviews are conducted by members of the Budhan Theatre Group.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve reviewed this film a few times, and the
complaint that consistently surfaces is this: There is no geographic context
for the student with no education on India. It took me quite a while (and some
simple research) to realize whether Gujarat, Surat, and Chharanagar were
regions, states, or cities. (The Budhan Theatre even did a skit on it, and I
was still confused.) On the other hand, during institutional-use, I would
assume that an educator will be on hand to answer these questions. Once I
realized where the state of Gujarat is in relation to the rest of India, the
scene with the RSS (National Volunteer Organization) made a lot more sense.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I highly recommend this film to educators. It flows
easily enough for an introductory anthropology course with a variety of
discussion topics. It is also detailed enough for those upper-division
anthropology courses that might want to concern themselves with a case study in
systems of “power-knowledge.” I recommend this film for classes in Visual
Anthropology as a model of perspective and voice. The film is a relevant
interlocutor of the lasting effects of colonialism and it sets the standard for
that type of ethnographic relay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Production of Please Don’t Beat Me, Sir! was funded
by internet donations, the Bhasha Trust, the New York State Council on the
Arts, and the Asian Cinema Fund. International promotion was funded by a
Kickstarter campaign. (And this is why I love living in the world of crowd-funding.) If you’d
like to make a donation to the efforts of the Budhan Theatre, to continue
making a difference in India on behalf of Denotified and Nomadic Tribes (like
the Chharas), check out Vimukta.org or head straight over to the Budhan Theatre
website to check out their latest projects.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Donate:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://vimukta.org/" target="_blank">Vimukta</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Check out:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://fournineandahalf.com/pleasedontbeatmesir/" target="_blank">Please Don't Beat Me, Sir!</a></span><br />
<a href="http://budhantheatre.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Budhan Theatre</span></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-12985669455779753902011-12-24T13:28:00.002-05:002011-12-25T13:17:45.710-05:00Scrooge Is My Hero<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qhs1vnmIG5E/Tvdobv3WXMI/AAAAAAAAAio/b1jLMTmWKKw/s1600/michael+caine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qhs1vnmIG5E/Tvdobv3WXMI/AAAAAAAAAio/b1jLMTmWKKw/s200/michael+caine.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Some of my peers have called my
atheism militant, while others accuse me of being a relativist. I will admit
that it can be difficult to reconcile my disgust for religion with my love of
culture; I constantly battle with Evans-Pritchard’s granary, as it were. While
there are values in religious practice, the most obvious being enculturation, I
must draw the line at extrinsic conflict. It is one thing to say that conflict
within a given culture maybe inherent to the customs and practices of that
culture, and it is another thing entirely to assert the same between two
societies or cultures. Religion seems to be the medium for that clashing of
swords.</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, to completely switch
gears: I do celebrate Christmas. Furthermore, I am more likely to say “Merry
Christmas” than “Happy Holidays,” because that is how I was raised. Despite the
utterance of mere habit, I do actually enjoy Christmas, or at least the
nostalgia of it.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having moved a couple dozen
times, it’s no wonder that many of the traditions my parents attempted to start
never actually became fruitful. We tried Twelve Days of Christmas, where we
open a small present each night for twelve nights preceding Christmas. We tried
opening a single present on Christmas Eve. We tried stringing together 25 rings
of construction paper, and tearing one off for each day, starting on December </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1<sup>st</sup></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. The one thing that I know we did every Christmas, without
exception, was listen to my father read the Christmas story from the Gospel of
Luke.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And you know what? Even after
admitting my loss of faith, even after realizing that the Christmas story is
told four different ways by four different apostles, even after relinquishing
any kind of trust I had in Bronze Age goat-herder myths, even after knowing
that the holiday was appropriated from pagan religions, even after coming to
the conclusion that Jesus was more than likely an ideology rather than an
actual person…I don’t really mind it. This blows my undergraduate mind: How can
a tradition be practiced with no useful function? What good does it do for me?
Perhaps I should read more Geertz and Turner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Regardless, there is but one
Christmas story as far as I’m concerned: Charles Dickens’ <i>A Christmas Carol</i>. It seems that every so often, I realize more and
more things that I love about the book. When I was a kid, it was the
combination of darkness and Muppets. When I was a teenager, it was the allure
of the mid-19<sup>th</sup> century industrial revolution. Later on, I might’ve
said that I loved the story of a man changing his worldview to one of progress –
and in one night, no less! This year, I realize that Dickens has typified an individual’s
case of…can I call it “Boasian enlightenment?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That is, once Scrooge has
considered the breadth and depth of his situation (and that of the middle-,
working-, and lower-classes) he understands why it is important for him,
especially in his economic and social position, to have a change of heart.
Scrooge, by the end of the novel, is a relativist. This was no mere rehabilitation,
as I might have suggested a few years ago. Scrooge may have been backed into a
corner by reason and evidence, but he could have done what the stubborn do:
ignore it. No, Scrooge brought something else to the table that makes this much different: He was able to recognize and admit that he was wrong. (I will now
state with great bias...) That is a virtue of science! (And now with less bias...) It is the key to change.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Understanding. It really is the
core of what we, as anthropologists, hope to see in privileged peoples, isn’t
it? As an undergraduate, the textbook example is anyone predating the 20<sup>th</sup>
century and the way they describe “primitive” rituals as they are practiced by “savages,”
or how certain physical anthropologists have attempted to prove an innate
inferiority of non-whites. As a social networker, I read examples of this
misunderstanding all the time, from <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/why-black-women-are-less-physically-attractive-tha" target="_blank">Satoshi Kanazawa’s hurtful <i>Why Are Black Women Rated Less Physically Attractive, blah, blah, blah</i></a> to <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v477/n7366/full/477626a.html" target="_blank">Ed Rybicki’s shameful <i>Womanspace</i></a>
to <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/quickerbettertech/2011/12/12/if-i-was-a-poor-black-kid/" target="_blank">Gene Marks' senseless <i>If I Were a Poor Black Kid</i></a>. In <i>A Christmas Carol</i>,
Dickens really has written a microcosmic account of the key to peace on earth
and goodwill: contextual understanding. I wonder if Dickens had any influence
on Franz Boas?</span><o:p></o:p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-1080191014757956292011-12-16T23:31:00.001-05:002011-12-30T23:31:14.049-05:00End of Fall 2011<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, that’s that! Another semester down, and this guy is
officially a junior!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It used to be that when a break came along, I did not
cherish it. I wanted more than anything to continue my classes, keep moving,
keep going. I could never bring myself to read for fun, because I felt that any
time that wasn't spent studying was time wasted. That’s not really the case
now, but I’m still torn. I look on the ensuing break as a chance to breathe, but
I still look at it as an opportunity to study what I want to study. Reading for
“fun” pretty much means reading textbooks or edited volumes, as opposed to </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">reading ahead in the textbooks for the coming semester. I might even let myself
play a video game here and there. (I do fear playing Skyrim however, as it may
put my relationship with my girlfriend and school in jeopardy.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now is also the time that I start to look at summer
programs. Having gone through this twice already, I will look into summer
programs with little expectation; the last two years, I was stonewalled by the
negligence of my university’s study abroad office. Nevertheless, I am
interested in going to Senegal with Washington University for a French study
abroad. Funds lacking, I might like to go to Nicaragua with Dr. Katie MacKinnon’s
<a href="http://maderasrfc.org/" target="_blank">primatology field school</a>. We’ll see what pans out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Officially, this winter break I intend to:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">read ahead in a few textbooks</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">read </span><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/2070612759/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=anthro0a-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=2070612759" target="_blank">Le Petit Prince</a></i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> for the first time, and in French</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">read </span><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520259602/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=anthro0a-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0520259602" target="_blank">Why I Am Not A Scientist</a></i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">, by Marks [It better have something to do with a
teapot.]</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">read </span><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1847885470/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=anthro0a-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1847885470" target="_blank">Plagues and Epidemics</a></i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">, edited by Herring and Swedlund</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">reteach myself all major, minor, 7</span><sup style="text-indent: -0.25in;">th</sup><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">,
and diminished scales on piano (and combinations thereof)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">start and beat Arkham City</span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">rewrite my CV [If anyone wants to take a look
and give some feedback, let me know.]</span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">write up a research design for my senior project
(which isn’t really due for 18 months, but hey, why not?)</span></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the way, it’s not all that related, but I wanted to
mention: Jason Antrosio, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Hartwick
College, has just launched the <a href="http://anthropologyreport.com/" target="_blank">Anthropology Report</a>. This is one of those
genius, “why-hasn’t-anyone-thought-of-this” ideas that I’m kind of madly in
love with. It’s so simple and…elegant (as Lovejoy might say): by accumulating a
series of research topics over time, and developing what are basically
annotated bibliographies for each topic, Antrosio is making available a
ready-made resource for those that may wish to do cursory research on a given
topic and its relationship to anthropology. Furthermore, by bringing these
initially unapparent (read: to Google) resources to the surface, the mission of
the site is also furthering one of my most heartfelt academic passions:
open-access and social networking. <a href="https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=4QL4MlWMYD6wIRaWgpOUZiJn-6a40ZuhzuxubgafE8jqpHuFbrQeCFOxUWO&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8db2b24f7b84f1819343fd6c338b1d9d60" target="_blank">Consider making a donation</a> (which will pay for search engine ads), linking the
Anthropology Report on your blog or sharing it in your social networks. At the
very least, go check out the site and keep checking back for more updates.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cheers and Happy Holidays!</span><o:p></o:p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-90953021319694775022011-12-04T12:50:00.001-05:002011-12-04T14:06:47.678-05:00The American Pantheon<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/5j5ncmZizJ0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking
to a women’s evangelical conference in April of 2010, Sarah Palin defended the
union of church and state, saying that our Founding Fathers “were believers [in
God]” (Sargent 2010). Palin’s statement is in line with much of political
conservatism in the United States; there is a propensity to anchor the party
line with an invocation of the Founding Fathers, but the Right are not solely
responsible. In response to Palin, only days later, liberal television pundit Keith
Olbermann retorted, quoting Thomas Jefferson in an 1823 letter to John Adams.
The quote reveals that Jefferson regarded the story of Jesus and the virgin
birth as fantastical as the Roman myth of Minerva born from the head of Jupiter
(Cappon 1959). “A believer?!” says Olbermann, as if Jefferson is solely
representative of the Founders.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
Founding Fathers are often called upon to testify on behalf of those that need
to drive home a political, social, economic, religious, or cultural point, and
always under the auspices of patriotism. Examples abound on both sides of the
aisle, from presidential candidate Michele Bachmann’s memorable assertion that
the Founding Fathers worked “tirelessly to put an end to slavery” (McCarthy
2011), to Senator John Kerry saying that, were they alive, the Founding Fathers
would vote against the balanced budget amendment in the summer of 2011
(McIntyre 2011). There is power in invoking the entity to which Americans owe
so much of their freedom, and it is the wild card of political discourse.
Discussion can be stopped in its tracks (akin to Godwin’s Law) or it can be
catalyzed into an out-and-out debate of historical veracity and tug-of-war.
Speeches made with the Founding Fathers in mind can be, at best, inspirational
and patriotic, but because the Fathers are generally unquestionable and
ambiguous in American society, they can be manipulated to suit any agenda. One
of the best examples is the claim that this country was founded as a Christian
nation. This is often substantiated by those that point out how many times
“God” is mentioned in a Father’s speech or letter, that a passage from Psalms
was recited at the meeting of the First Continental Congress, or that one must
swear upon a Bible in American court rooms (“Christian Nation” 2011). An
oft-heard response to this evidence is that the Fathers were Deists, and
believed that religion was poisonous and foolish (Till 2011). In this regard,
the Founding Fathers are a moldable entity, subject to the whims of the
political shaman that calls them forth.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
sacredness of the Fathers is intriguing because the mythos surrounding the
founding of the United States is one ingrained into every schoolchild. Most
Americans are familiar with the stories of George Washington cutting down the
cherry-tree or Paul Revere riding across the countryside to warn colonists of
the invading British army, and it is because of this that our understanding of
the Founding Fathers is one that begins in legend – unverifiable anecdotes
based on historically documented human beings. Both the allure and
misunderstanding of these men have made summoning their presence an acceptable
cultural practice during political discourse, despite the fact that the
American people may not be as versed in the historic facts as they ought to be.
On the other hand, that dissonance is irrelevant; the ritual and practice, as
pointless as it may seem to the outsider, is part of the culture and rightly
remains so until something changes that might do away with such rhetoric. The collection
of men and women who contributed to the founding of the United States is an
American legend, and as such, it is to be regarded as part of the folklore from
which much of American patriotism and values are derived. I call this
collection the American Pantheon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ancestor Worship<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There
is a cultural phenomenon whereby the dead are venerated by the living,
generally in order to ensure a sustained happiness for the deceased in their
afterlife. It is often believed, for instance in a “Chinese cosmological
worldview,” that even after death, one has an interest in the wellbeing and
events of those kin that were left behind (Khun Eng 2006:247). Rituals, both
funerary and annual, are performed to remember the lives of the dead, but also
as a means of communication (e.g. Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico and
Central America) (Nutini 1991:772).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Totemism
is also a means of honoring the dead. By identifying one’s self in allegiance
with a particular apical ancestor, and acting in accordance with what one
perceives are the values of that ancestor, the deceased has gained a sort of
life-after-death, via a living proxy (Vail et al 2010; Palmer et al 2008:731).
Because of the apical nature of totemism, it is likely that the imagery of such
ancestors is based upon people that lived many generations ago, rather than the
recently deceased (see Kennedy 1984; Keen 2004). In both cases, the dead are
considered to retain a sort of interactivity in the lives of the family, from
influencing decisions to manipulating fortune and health – directly (Keller
2008:659) and indirectly (Palmer et al 2008:731).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The American
Pantheon<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There
is a parallel between totemism and the phenomena that surround the
establishment and maintenance of the American Pantheon. One of the most obvious
is that of kinship. Americans call those that founded our political and legal
system fathers – they are the apical ancestors of that which we celebrate and
proselytize to the rest of the world. The American folklore of the Pantheon is
steeped in a rich national cosmology – not just the “creation story” of our
country, but also that of liberty, democracy, and escape from tyranny. Even in
the English orthography of the phrase “Founding Fathers,” the letter f is
capitalized, bestowing tribute to the collective as one would when speaking of
the Christian god, God. It is as if to distinguish this group of founders from
another less notable group of founding fathers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another
element of the Pantheon that lends to the ease of manipulation is that of
membership; the Founding Fathers are not often clearly defined. What is clear
(from the number of times one may hear their names in the news media) is that
the core constituent of the Pantheon – the Titans, if you will – are Thomas
Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Alexander
Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison. These men were either actively engaged
architects of the systems that would eventually become the United States, or
they played a singular (though major) role in the legend of its founding. They
spring to mind at the very mention of “Founding Fathers,” virtually by way of
apotheosis. And yet, there are many more to add to the list. Often, the
Founding Fathers are invoked during debates concerning the Constitution, thus a
possible defining feature could be that the Founding Fathers were present at the
Constitutional Convention. Many Constitutional arguments, in which the Founding
Fathers make an appearance, are related to the Bill of Rights – a document that
was not ratified until two years after the United States Constitution, and thus
the definition of Founding Fathers expands yet again. All in all, one could
argue that the Founding Fathers are comprised of between seven men and a few
hundred men (and some women). In reference to the example above, it would be
pointless, with so many people, to claim that all of these people were solely
Christians or Deists. Likewise, it is futile to assume that all of the Founding
Fathers were pro- or anti-government, though Ron Paul has said that “the
Founders were Libertarians” (“Ron Paul: The Founding Fathers Were Libertarians”
2011).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dissonance<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With
regards to today’s political discourse, the absolute identity of each Father is
irrelevant, except when it is convenient. Ultimately, the American Pantheon is
a faceless symbol of revolution, reinvention, and resistance of tyranny. Only
when a pundit, politician, or activist needs to attribute a specifically
salient and translatable anecdote, are particular Fathers conjured. Despite so
many people constituting the American ancestral spirit (even as little as
seven), one may be called upon to represent the whole, at the sacrifice of not
just historical accuracy, but epistemological clarity. For instance, one could
argue that if the Founding Fathers were alive today, they would resist the
establishment of a national bank. Specifically, Thomas Jefferson opposed the
idea of a national bank, thus if one wanted to defend that argument, one may
cite Jefferson’s stance. On the other hand, another Father of the core group,
Alexander Hamilton, was for the establishment of a national bank, and likewise
one could cite him if they wanted to argue that today, the Founding Fathers
would not resist such an issue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
is a fairly simple and sterile example of the dissonance between political
rhetoric and historic context. As one considers more and more figures that
qualify as members of the Pantheon, the variation of opinion increases, and the
accuracy of a single individual’s political stance as representative of the
whole decreases. This fact is irrelevant to the person that may cite a member
of the Pantheon, as the very phrase “Founding Fathers” (and any of the names
associated with it) seems to be sacred, and generally unquestionable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Political
Dichotomy<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As
it was discussed above, the Founding Fathers exist as a single entity. If, in
the course of political rhetoric, the Pantheon needs to be fragmented, it is
generally into individuals. Rarely, if ever, do the pundits and politicians in
the mainstream cable network media break the Fathers into their political
parties. Thus, upon conjuring the Fathers as a whole, or a single individual,
one has called upon them to represent their “side” of an issue. Because of the
nature of our political culture – one of binary opposition – the invocation of
the Fathers often accompanies such words as: for-against; intended-did not
intend; support-oppose; and would-would not. (Also, one may hear the phrase
“rolling in their graves,” which seems to reinforce the conception of ancestor
worship, specifically that one who has died is still alive and is affected by
decisions of the living.) To assign such “on-off” qualities to the Fathers
ignores their rich cultural, social, religious, economic, and political
diversity, and it cheapens the long hard process that it took to establish a
sovereign country from nearly nothing. This oversight is irrelevant, however,
because American political culture endorses such a view, and that cultural
practice keeps the process cohesive in that it is constantly reminding the American
people of their “common ancestors.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A
simple observational review of political media (blogs, news articles, punditry,
etc.) seems to suggest that there are two possible reasons that the Founding
Fathers are either invoked individually or as a whole, but never as their
intermediate components (e.g. political parties). By avoiding demarcating the
Founders into parties that might roughly parallel today’s liberal and
conservative wings, one does not have to sacrifice a Father they might
otherwise be able to utilize. For example, if one were to call upon the
Anti-Federalists in support of small government, binary opposition may force
one to ignore that John Adams, a Federalist, is credited with designing the
“Separation of Powers” model – that is, separate legislative, executive, and
judicial branches. Secondly, and more importantly to the strength of political
rhetoric, breaking the Founders into groups only weakens one’s argument, and
sidesteps the entire strategy of American ancestor worship in the first place.
Without invoking the Pantheon, a pundit may be left defending a view from their
position at either end of the political teeter-totter – an unimpressive
position indeed, and invoking a specific “side” of the Fathers doesn’t change
the bias of that position. However, by rallying the Founders as a whole to
one’s side of the argument, a pundit can easily make that argument from
authority (as well as patriotism and tradition), which is more or less the
whole point of using rhetoric.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
American Pantheon, a legendary collection of human beings, founded this country
over 230 years ago. They solved their own problems with solutions that were
untested, risky, and sometimes cutting edge; democracy on the scale of America
was experimental. Today, however, it is difficult to apply the same logic and
problem solving to a society that is faces 21st century issues (though not for
lack of trying [“The Founding Fathers Didn’t Want Gay Marriage” 2008]) –
abortion, gay rights, universal health care, nuclear proliferation, tension in
the Middle East, and globalism to name a few. Not only is the wisdom of the
Fathers outdated, but it was flawed and inconsistent when they were alive. And
yet they are still conjured in defense of political, social, and economic
issues, despite being roughly 200 years dead. Even Thomas Jefferson (1816)
himself recognized the weakness of ancestor worship, saying:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Some men look at
constitutions with sanctimonious reverence and deem them like the ark of the
covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding
age a wisdom more than human and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment.
I knew that age well; I belonged to it and labored with it. It deserved well of
its country. It was very like the present but without the experience of the
present; and forty years of experience in government is worth a century of
book-reading; and this they would say themselves were they to rise from the
dead (Fischer 2010; Peterson 1988).</span></blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">None
of this matters, however, and that is why the Pantheon is an object of patriotic
American ancestor worship. It is tempting to wonder what the Fathers may think today
of the institution which they worked so hard to establish, but ultimately that
curiosity is futile and without purpose, other than to adhere to an American
cultural tradition. While a cold look at this style of ancestor worship may
reveal that it is simply a distraction from the immediate attention that our
political, social, and economic problems may deserve, it may also be a
necessary catalyst of both American culture (by way of folklore) and also a
stopgap revitalization movement in which those that wish to do so, may return
to a more traditional and simplified perception of the nation’s problems. In
this light, despite the media’s divisive and polarizing manipulation of the
Founding Fathers, this somewhat affinal, kinship-based ancestor worship is
actually a mechanism for a greater social solidarity.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Works Cited:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Cappon,
Lester Jesse, ed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -22.5pt;">
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A Terror Management Analysis of the Psychological Function of Religion. Personality<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> and Social Psychology Review. 14:1 84-94.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-5964114408670526402011-11-18T23:49:00.001-05:002011-11-19T00:17:34.225-05:00My First American Anthropological Association Meeting<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The title of this article rings like a child’s story or
artwork – “My First Bicycle,” or “My First Vacation.” Typically, these stories
are those of great anticipation for someone that may have not yet experienced
it in like, but more commonly they are stories that those experiential veterans
can read with appreciation, remembering to forgive the writer for naiveté;
after all, it is their “first.” I title it this way because that’s how I feel
here this week, at my first American Anthropological Association: a neophyte in
a sea of weathered professionals and their favored protégés.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This would have been my second, had our Student Government
come through on funding last year. Alas, we did not make a solid case to them,
and still more, were going for nothing more than personal enrichment. This year
is different; this year, our department sent four students to the AAA to
present posters. And here I am. So let’s start with what I expected:</span></div>
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<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Of the many anthropologists that I follow through social networking, it
seems that a handful were able to attend. I’d hoped to meet them all, hand out
my awesome (and a little pricey) business cards, and ultimately make an
impression. For me, coming to Montreal was more about expanding my network than
anything. I love what I study, and I make the very best that I can with the
resources we have at Cleveland State, and so a good network (I think) is going
to get me into a position later where I might have more resources at my
disposal. For some reason, I expected that this would be an easy venture, but why
would it be any different than penetrating any other social group? So far, my
timid sophomoric (literally – I am a sophomore) silliness got in the way, and I
backed down in most cases. (What do </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
have to say to Jonathan Marks? “I love your books and UNC is on my list of grad
schools. I’ll send you a letter…in two years.” What could I possibly bring to
the table with H. Russell Bernard? “I studied Quantitative Research Methods in
Anthropology, but I never got to put it to good use, because my research agenda
fell through last summer. Nice tie!”)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did get to meet a lot of people though, and I did dispense
with the cards. My friends and I, in Montreal by Tuesday, had discovered the
perfect bar, and proceeded to invite everyone we met to join us. Wednesday
night, we were with “representatives” from Texas A&M, Vancouver, and Rensselaer,
the second night, Purdue. Of the handful of professionals with whom I am
acquainted through social networking, the two I met were simply because I
caught them alone. (“Is that John Hawks, looking at his phone [probably trying
to figure out the troublesome WiFi]? I have to go introduce myself.” “Oh, is
that Katherine MacKinnon grabbing hors d’oeuvres? Perfect!”) The rest of them
seemed to be involved in more engaging topics than “Hi, I follow you on Twitter,”
a rather strange icebreaker for those that may not have experienced real life
encounters with those they might only know virtually. Besides, I hate
interrupting people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. I brought a video camera. I expected that I would be
filming everything I could in Montreal, from the drive there to the experience.
I expected that I might even get to film a session.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple months ago, fellow Google-Plusser, Bria Dunham, pointed
out that the panel, “Science in Anthropology: An Open Discussion” would
conflict with her poster presentation, one of the biological variety. I
supposed, jokingly, that the AAA was having the last laugh after the #AAAfail
debacle last year. Last week, Julienne Rutherford (another person I would have
met, but was rather busy) <a href="http://aapabandit.blogspot.com/2011/11/science-in-anthropology-at-aaa-open.html" target="_blank">posted on BANDIT</a> that the panel in question actually
conflicted with 2 biological sessions and 3 archaeological sessions, and
followed up with a call for recording equipment. I had already had the bright
idea to borrow a camera from our Visual Anthropology Center, as well as go to
that session, so why not combine the two? As far as I knew, no one had
permission to record, but I could still record for “personal use.” Ultimately, as
I had told John Hawks, I chickened out; who records for personal use with a
camera? I didn’t really want to be confronted about it. The kicker is, the
speakers granted permission just before the session began. I <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/plazdiquehardt" target="_blank">live-tweeted</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The AAA veterans that I know have told me, time and time
again: “Don’t expect to do anything but go to sessions, mingle, and drink like
a fish.” The homework that I should’ve kept up on all week – well, it
eventually got done. The blogging I wanted to do every night - never happened.
And the camera has never come out of its case. Shit, I haven’t even had time to
talk to my own girlfriend on the phone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are the highlights of the meeting thus far:<br />
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Wednesday, I attended a fantastic session by the Society for Anthropology in
Community Colleges, titled “The Legacies of Teaching Evolutionary Ideas: Not
Buckling in the Bible Belt.” While presentations were given, it resembled more
of a laid back discussion of each professor’s experience broaching the subject
of anthropology in their given regions of “The Belt,” and how they dealt with
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday evening, at their invitation, I was at Texas
A&M’s “Shared Visualizations of Imagined Spaces.” The papers were generally
themed around storytelling, with one on folklore, one on Southern hip-hop, one
on Ayhuasca tourism, and the one that got me there in the first place: Dungeons
& Dragons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thursday, of course, I was at “Science in Anthropology: An
Open Discussion.” Aside from actual content of the session (which I won’t go
into, as they are written about <a href="http://storify.com/cvans/aaa2011-aaasci-discussion-1?awesm=sfy.co_ON5&utm_campaign=&utm_medium=sfy.co-twitter&utm_source=t.co&utm_content=storify-pingback" target="_blank">here</a>,
<a href="http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/11/18/anthropologists-debate-role-science" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://chronicle.com/article/Anthropologists-Seek-a-More/129823/" target="_blank">here</a>), what I found interesting was that the chemistry between the
professional anthropologists that I know personally (in my own little
microcosm) translated here as well: those in defense of science had very good senses
of humor while those in favor of more interpretive methods were a little more…well,
irritated. That was very interesting, given that those in defense of science
were constantly being told that it was they, who were the reactionaries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thursday afternoon, I got down to brass tacks and went to a
session that was less novel and more in line with my field of study: “HIV/AIDS
in Global Africa.” It was clear that they were not <a href="http://savageminds.org/2011/11/08/defending-the-form/" target="_blank">readers of the blog SavageMinds</a>, but the presentations were fantastic, nonetheless. Specifically, one was
a narrative (sort of) about how anti-retroviral drugs have changed the HIV/AIDS
stigma, and thus the culture. In fact, I loved it so much, I went and bought a
book on it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friday! This has definitely been the best. “Scars of
Evolution” started at 8AM (fuck!) but I made it. This four hour session was
composed of the best papers I’ve seen…ever (I have been to other anthropology
conferences, after all). The papers ran the gamut: It felt like the semesters
of biological anthropology classes I’ve taken, crammed into one four hour slot.
It seemed like everyone knew each other – it took forever to get setup and
started because everyone was up and around and talking, and even once we got
started, presenters were heckled from time to time (in good fun, of course).
The PowerPoints were (rarely) dry, the presentations were executed brilliantly
(they must be Savage Minds readers), and it was a blast.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And this evening, I went to the Biological Anthropology
Section business meeting. Well this was a little weird, a little more
administrative, and it was clear that everyone knew each other. I sat in the
back, observing and thinking, “Hey, this kind of runs like my Student
Anthropology Association meetings back at school.” At times, I didn’t know if I
should be there…but I am a member. I suppose I just felt a little invisible
when they started to talk about how to get undergraduates involved in BAS. (It’s
not that I expected everyone to know that I am an undergraduate, because I’m
sure it’s not obvious [until I open my mouth], rather that it was very obvious
to me that I was more than likely the only undergraduate in that room of
fifty.) The meeting was followed up by an incredible keynote lecture by
Jonathan Marks on one of my favorite subjects: the history of biological
determinism in general (and the conflict between ethnology and evolution,
specifically). And that was followed by a reception, which I just came from.<br />
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Tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow, I present my poster at 8AM (fuck!) but I can
make it. If you’re there before noon, come meet me (and take one of these ridiculous business cards off of me).</span><o:p></o:p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504386183588724658.post-4325068300450095912011-11-07T21:19:00.000-05:002011-11-08T20:53:01.796-05:00Prezi: Radcliffe-Brown's On Joking RelationshipsI am smitten with Prezi. That much is clear. <a href="http://prezi.com/91fldgxeqmby/on-joking-relationships-by-a-r-radcliffe-brown/" target="_blank">Here is one</a> that I used for a presentation of A. R. Radcliffe-Brown's "On Joking Relationships." As I make these for my classes (and conferences), I should be putting them up regularly. Enjoy. (I would've embedded it, but it looks awful. Just make sure you hit "fullscreen.")Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05883528630688510035noreply@blogger.com0