I invite you each week to post a comment about the readings or about questions that you find yourself asking about cultural anthropology or our class discussions. Anything is possible to discuss as long as you can make it relevant to the group. No talking to yourself out loud, so to speak. Speak to forwarding the action of our shared community of knowledge. Thanks, Prof. G
Some key ideas to discuss in Chapter 2: ethics, ethnographic practices, etc.
INTRODUCING TED TALKS: Anthropologist Wade Davis muses on the worldwide web of belief and ritual that makes us human. He shares breathtaking photos and stories of the Elder Brothers, a group of Sierra Nevada indians whose spiritual practice holds the world in balance.
A National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Wade Davis travels the globe to live alongside indigenous people, and document their cultural practices in books, photographs, and film.
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11 comments:
Hello everyone! First of al good luck with the soring 09 semester.... Second, it's a good start already that you are in Prof. G's class.... and third, anyone interested in buying the book "Conformity and Conflict"? (readings to accompany Miller, Cultural Anthropology, 4th ed.) i'd like to sell it for $15, but could go down to $10 :). let me know through ira.turdiu@baruchmail.cuny.edu or 917 584 0308.... Thanks and the best of luck.
Are we supposed to comment on this blog every time there's an entry, every week, or will you tell us when to? I don't see any other comments..
Here goes my attempt at a comment, I'm really not sure what to right. While I was reading, I was drawing connections between things past learned to the content introduced in the chapter. Informed consent is a term used in Anthropology concerning a subjects agreement to take part in research conducted. This term should be familiar from any psychology class, where ethics is introduced.
I'm not exactly sure what to write about either... but I thought it was pretty interesting the difference between an emic perception and an etic perception. The book's example was about an illness vs. a disease. I can somewhat think of an example of emic vs etic perception. For example, in this great show called Lost, the survivors of the plane had to push a button every 108 minutes because they believed if they did not push this button, the universe will end. Through an emic point of view (insider) they were trying to save themselves from what they believed was the world ending, however from an etic (outsider) point of view, one would think that they were pushing the button for any other reason.
Well..after having read the chapter I realized that a lot of work goes into doing an ethnography. I knew that in some way it would be in-depth but not to the extent where there would be legalities, well structured procedures and ethics.
This semester I'm taking an Ethics course,and we mentioned cultural relativism (like we did in class today with the substitute), which is basically not judging a certain believe from a culture but getting to understand it better.
There's a great reading about the ethics OF cultural relativism by James Rachels. Highly recommended :-)
After reading chapter 2, I reconized the origin of sociology and anthropology, but did not get yet how sociology and anthopology affect to our society differently. Is there any difference?
My comment..
I realized after reading this first chapter that a lot of what we figure is "normal" and accepted is completely contrary in some societies and isolated civilizations. Although this is not surprising considering the metaphysiological development and incredible adaptability of the human physique and mentality, due to evolution, it is still surprising to see that some people are too dense to see that some cultures may think that the American way, or at least the Western way isn't the only cultural lens through which one can view the world.
This also made me think about how future anthropologists and just people in general may view our culture and way of life generations from now.. We are a society of consumption.. and capitalism may have been a completely failed experiment that leads to more stress, differences, and war...
I hope this class helps myself and other people think outside the box (the box being a metaphor for their own little worlds).
When reading about all the ways anthropologists study different societies, participant observation seemed like the way to learn the most about the people. It is one thing to hear about a way of life and definitely completely different to experience it. I was very fortunate to travel to many different places, one of them being Greece where I spent 3 weeks. I talked to people who lived there and they told me about their way of life and the things they do. But no matter what I still remained an "outsider" because I was there as a tourist. So my lasting impression about the culture and way of life, remained that of an etic.
Julie you definitely remain an outsider as a tourist. But being an outsider does not correlate to an etic point of view. Etic refers to scientific, an anthropologist's cultural relativism and tools must be there too.
You were simply an outsider to the culture. Now you will learn to apply an etic point of view as a researcher/student of anthro.
Ethnography sounds very fascinating. There are many books written by Ethnographers who study other cultures either because it's their profession or in some cases the circumstances teach them alot about the native culture in a foreign country or simply out of interest. I recently read a book titled 'Shantaram,' written by a runaway convict from the Australian Prison who escapes to Bombay, India. He lives in Bombay for many years and learns a great deal about the local culture. It's a great novel and it's now being made into a movie.
As I am starting to gather information for the mini ethnography, I realize that holding an etic view is difficult. I keep writing my opinion rather then the facts. Keeping that distance is something that needs to be engaged rather then going on autopilot to write something.
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