I believe anthropology could contribute to finding a solution for the education of diverse students in public schools. I say this because every day I go to class I notice someone of a different ethnic, race and background. Because anthropologists have a background in getting to know and trying to better understand cultures I believe they would be a great asset to public schools. They would know how to better understand each individuals needs personally and privately. They understand that every person needs need to be met and that not everyone can adapt to the same way of learning or style of teaching.
While sitting in class I often notice foreign exchange students from places such as china that have their little computer translator things in class because they are unable to understand out language. I am not saying that our schools need to speak Chinese just to make it easier for students, but I believe that anthropologists would be able to make this situation better for them because they would be able to look in to their culture and better understand them and where they are from.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Extra Credit 3
The movie Slumdog Millionaire changed the way I think about other people, the world I live in, myself, my nation, my culture and my religion. Though it was no directed towards any of those things, the difference from the way I live compared to their makes me reflect on my own life.
In this movie, a young man constantly reflects on tragic stories in his life in order to answer questions on a game show similar to the United States ‘who wants to be a millionaire.’ This movie was filled with pain, hardship, and triumph and made me thank my lucky stars for the life I am able to live. It showed the hardships people of India are feeling and living everyday and what the people in the slums have to go through.
It made me look at the world I live in and be thankful for one, but also made me wish we were/could help 3rd world countries in ways that we are not already. It made me look at myself and realize I shouldn’t be mad that I couldn’t buy a pair of new pants today because the boy in the film probably had to wear the same clothes for days and didn’t complain. It made me look at my nation and reflect on why we are able to live such a good life compared to the people in the film. It made me ask myself why were are giving so many opportunities to better our lives when the only way he could better his was by competing in a game show.
I don’t know anything about India’s past or why they live the way they do. But could it have anything to do with what we talked about for our last blog. And that the fact that economic development has taken over is it taking away from their health and taking away ways in which they would be able to better their own lives?
In this movie, a young man constantly reflects on tragic stories in his life in order to answer questions on a game show similar to the United States ‘who wants to be a millionaire.’ This movie was filled with pain, hardship, and triumph and made me thank my lucky stars for the life I am able to live. It showed the hardships people of India are feeling and living everyday and what the people in the slums have to go through.
It made me look at the world I live in and be thankful for one, but also made me wish we were/could help 3rd world countries in ways that we are not already. It made me look at myself and realize I shouldn’t be mad that I couldn’t buy a pair of new pants today because the boy in the film probably had to wear the same clothes for days and didn’t complain. It made me look at my nation and reflect on why we are able to live such a good life compared to the people in the film. It made me ask myself why were are giving so many opportunities to better our lives when the only way he could better his was by competing in a game show.
I don’t know anything about India’s past or why they live the way they do. But could it have anything to do with what we talked about for our last blog. And that the fact that economic development has taken over is it taking away from their health and taking away ways in which they would be able to better their own lives?
Week 12
Im not sure if im totally on the right track ... so here goes.
Based on the film black gold and the case studies in chapters 13, 17 and 38 I believe the relationship between environmental sustainability, economic development and human health are that without all three of them changes you are trying to make are not going to work. I really am not sure what I am trying to say, but I think you can’t increase human health if you don’t better economic development and environmental sustainability.
In the case study chapter 38 “Medical Anthropology: Improving Nutrition in Malawi” they wanted to see if regular goat milk in a Childs diet would help with malnutrition. In order for this study to work and in order for human health to actually increase they first needed to find goats that could survive the Malawi environment and goats that could produce milk with adequate nutrition. After the succeeded in this task, they then needed to make sure the women would be able to take care of these cows. What I am trying to say is that if the anthropologist did not make sure the goat could live in the environment and produce adequate milk then human health would not increase. Without adequate health how would your economy develop? All three must have a relationship together in order to work.
Pretty much the same thing was talked about in chapter 17, “Malawi Versus the World Bank,” but in a different way. It was explained that when the world bank and IMF “began attributing problems in the economy to government subsidy policies, particularly with regard to commercial fertilizer” the people of Malawi were unable to keep adequate health. All types of subsides and price controls on all agricultural inputs and products were removed. This caused the people of Malawi to not be able to grow their crops causing the economic development and environmental sustainability to drop, along with their health.
Once again, the case study chapter 13 “forest development the Indian way” is very comparative with the other two case studies mentioned above. In this case study, the environmental sustainability is affected by economic development. In this case, because bulldozers, tractors and buildings took over the forest the environmental sustainability is being threatened. “By destroying the forest resources surrounding the Guaraní villages of the region, colonos set in motion a process that destroyed the native culture and society.” Because their land had been threatened and they could therefore no longer produce yerba mate leaves for sale and therefore were forces to plant cash crops, further destroying the forest. “the loss of game and poor crop yields exacerbated health problems.” Because their community’s economic development rose, their community was threatened causing a change of lifestyle and a introduction to disease.
The movie Black Gold, also shows the same results as these case studies. Because of the way the world market works the coffee growers are being screwed over. Coffee is the second most active traded in the market, and when the market is down they cannot sell coffee for very much. They sell their coffee for 12 cents where as we sell it for 230 dollars. What seems fair about that? While we are using them to see coffee in our country, they are becoming more dependent on emergency aid than ever before.
Applied anthropologists could assist in making sure these goals were brought about in the right way. Take chapter 38 for example, without the anthropologist making sure everything was understood in a correct manner and that no one would be affected in a harsh way the results would not have been as positive as they were.
I am not sure if I believe cultural survival is possible with economic development because when reading the case studies from conflict and conformity when economic development occurs, health problems also occur.
Based on the film black gold and the case studies in chapters 13, 17 and 38 I believe the relationship between environmental sustainability, economic development and human health are that without all three of them changes you are trying to make are not going to work. I really am not sure what I am trying to say, but I think you can’t increase human health if you don’t better economic development and environmental sustainability.
In the case study chapter 38 “Medical Anthropology: Improving Nutrition in Malawi” they wanted to see if regular goat milk in a Childs diet would help with malnutrition. In order for this study to work and in order for human health to actually increase they first needed to find goats that could survive the Malawi environment and goats that could produce milk with adequate nutrition. After the succeeded in this task, they then needed to make sure the women would be able to take care of these cows. What I am trying to say is that if the anthropologist did not make sure the goat could live in the environment and produce adequate milk then human health would not increase. Without adequate health how would your economy develop? All three must have a relationship together in order to work.
Pretty much the same thing was talked about in chapter 17, “Malawi Versus the World Bank,” but in a different way. It was explained that when the world bank and IMF “began attributing problems in the economy to government subsidy policies, particularly with regard to commercial fertilizer” the people of Malawi were unable to keep adequate health. All types of subsides and price controls on all agricultural inputs and products were removed. This caused the people of Malawi to not be able to grow their crops causing the economic development and environmental sustainability to drop, along with their health.
Once again, the case study chapter 13 “forest development the Indian way” is very comparative with the other two case studies mentioned above. In this case study, the environmental sustainability is affected by economic development. In this case, because bulldozers, tractors and buildings took over the forest the environmental sustainability is being threatened. “By destroying the forest resources surrounding the Guaraní villages of the region, colonos set in motion a process that destroyed the native culture and society.” Because their land had been threatened and they could therefore no longer produce yerba mate leaves for sale and therefore were forces to plant cash crops, further destroying the forest. “the loss of game and poor crop yields exacerbated health problems.” Because their community’s economic development rose, their community was threatened causing a change of lifestyle and a introduction to disease.
The movie Black Gold, also shows the same results as these case studies. Because of the way the world market works the coffee growers are being screwed over. Coffee is the second most active traded in the market, and when the market is down they cannot sell coffee for very much. They sell their coffee for 12 cents where as we sell it for 230 dollars. What seems fair about that? While we are using them to see coffee in our country, they are becoming more dependent on emergency aid than ever before.
Applied anthropologists could assist in making sure these goals were brought about in the right way. Take chapter 38 for example, without the anthropologist making sure everything was understood in a correct manner and that no one would be affected in a harsh way the results would not have been as positive as they were.
I am not sure if I believe cultural survival is possible with economic development because when reading the case studies from conflict and conformity when economic development occurs, health problems also occur.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Dancing
To be honest, I am not totally sure how I felt during the video. I liked seeing everyone do the same dance in different cities, countries and cultures. It was really interesting to see everyone join together in so many different places to dance in a similar way. I have no idea why the Dancing project resonated with so many people around the world because to be honest I have never heard of it before. But I will admit, if I saw matt dancing in the middle of PLU I would be right there with him, I would be one of the people joining him, because it would make me happy.
Everyone expresses themselves in many different ways. Many of these ways include art. Drawing, writing, dancing, singing … whatever you consider art to be. I believe that art is a human universal and everyone can express their selves through it. Dancing is a form of expression that everyone can relate to in some way. If you made, angry, sad, happy, excited, I say you should dance about it and let your feelings out.
Everyone expresses themselves in many different ways. Many of these ways include art. Drawing, writing, dancing, singing … whatever you consider art to be. I believe that art is a human universal and everyone can express their selves through it. Dancing is a form of expression that everyone can relate to in some way. If you made, angry, sad, happy, excited, I say you should dance about it and let your feelings out.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Marriage and Family =]
In all honesty, I believe a big part of the purpose of marriage for me is security. I of course am going to marry someone I do truly love and care for, but at the same time there are many other factors. Though the Masai women lead very different lives than I, I feel as if they also marry for security. Right now in the time of my life, moving out on my own is scary. I am currently looking for security in my life. What is normal to me in terms of a family is definitely everything but one man marrying one woman. The way the Masai families live is not what I would consider “normal” because of the society I live and have been brought up in. It seems as if the Masais purpose in life is work. That is all they seem to do. In contrast with that my family’s life has more value than just working and marrying multiple women. It seemed as if everything about the diversity in how people view sexuality, marriage and family surprised me.
The purpose of marriage for me, what is normal to me in terms of a family and my families purpose in life are all somewhat similar to the Masai and the Chinese, but also very different. First of all, like the conflict and conformity ready stated, i could never imagine having an arranged marriage. I see myself seeking the one I love, not my parents such as the Indians do. I do understand their reasoning for this … to a certain point. For example a part of the reason they have arranged marriage is because it gives their families security, that is one of the particular things I think is important in a marriage. Though many of these women have to leave their parents to marry and start a new family, the Chinese go back to see their family once a year. If they have to leave their family because of the way they live, it makes it a little better knowing they are able to see their family, unlike the masai women. Once they marry they start a whole new family in a different area than their own.
Everyone lives their lives differently and looks at marriage and family in different ways. Though I believe the way we live is the best, how do I really know. I only believe the way we marry and the way we spend time with our family is the right way because it is the way I was brought up. I believe that the Masai, Indians and Chinese all believe the way they live their life is the right way also, because of their culture.
The purpose of marriage for me, what is normal to me in terms of a family and my families purpose in life are all somewhat similar to the Masai and the Chinese, but also very different. First of all, like the conflict and conformity ready stated, i could never imagine having an arranged marriage. I see myself seeking the one I love, not my parents such as the Indians do. I do understand their reasoning for this … to a certain point. For example a part of the reason they have arranged marriage is because it gives their families security, that is one of the particular things I think is important in a marriage. Though many of these women have to leave their parents to marry and start a new family, the Chinese go back to see their family once a year. If they have to leave their family because of the way they live, it makes it a little better knowing they are able to see their family, unlike the masai women. Once they marry they start a whole new family in a different area than their own.
Everyone lives their lives differently and looks at marriage and family in different ways. Though I believe the way we live is the best, how do I really know. I only believe the way we marry and the way we spend time with our family is the right way because it is the way I was brought up. I believe that the Masai, Indians and Chinese all believe the way they live their life is the right way also, because of their culture.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Gender
My experience of gender in our society is much different from that of the Masai. In the American society today women are a lot more independent and take care of themselves. The Masai women go through a lot to become who they are. If I had to live the Masai way I don’t know if I would ever feel loved. It floors me to know that a man has multiple wives and they are useful to him because when it rains and the village gets mucky they have to clear it out and they are responsible for building a house, milking the cows and doing the chores. In our society today that seems to be unacceptable. Yes women do tend to do most of the cleaning and what not but the roles of man and wife are equal.
I think the value in having genders is the fact that first of all we need to reproduce. Without a man and a woman we would not be able to produce the upcoming generations. I feel as if women are expected to do a lot around the house while men are expected to work. Take Oprah for example she did a episode on polygamist communities. The children of this community said that they don’t want to play or have fun. To them work is fun, they are tough that play is not ok. This is a prime example of the challenges this two-gender system presents to people and society. Because we have a man and a woman certain things are only expected from each. I’m not saying polygamy is everywhere but Oprah definitely shows it is evident. I do think that gender is changing in the united states. If you look at the way families live today compared to 50 years ago there are many differences in the way life is lived. Gender is still very evident in our society but it is not as big of a deal anymore. It used to be that women had to stay at home with children and cook while the man works and does nothing at home. In society today that is not the case, women have become much more independent.
Whether something should be done in cultures where there is gender inequality is questionable. I’m saying this because in some cases the way people live works for them. I guess when looking at the Masai the way they live is ok with them. The women are fine with being in a marriage with multiple wives and taking care of the chores. They didn’t ever say it wasn’t what they wanted. To us Americans it looks messed up but to them it is the way live is supposed to be lived.
I think the value in having genders is the fact that first of all we need to reproduce. Without a man and a woman we would not be able to produce the upcoming generations. I feel as if women are expected to do a lot around the house while men are expected to work. Take Oprah for example she did a episode on polygamist communities. The children of this community said that they don’t want to play or have fun. To them work is fun, they are tough that play is not ok. This is a prime example of the challenges this two-gender system presents to people and society. Because we have a man and a woman certain things are only expected from each. I’m not saying polygamy is everywhere but Oprah definitely shows it is evident. I do think that gender is changing in the united states. If you look at the way families live today compared to 50 years ago there are many differences in the way life is lived. Gender is still very evident in our society but it is not as big of a deal anymore. It used to be that women had to stay at home with children and cook while the man works and does nothing at home. In society today that is not the case, women have become much more independent.
Whether something should be done in cultures where there is gender inequality is questionable. I’m saying this because in some cases the way people live works for them. I guess when looking at the Masai the way they live is ok with them. The women are fine with being in a marriage with multiple wives and taking care of the chores. They didn’t ever say it wasn’t what they wanted. To us Americans it looks messed up but to them it is the way live is supposed to be lived.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
United States
Reflecting on the unique history of the United States I was a bit surprised. Putting a little honesty in this blog, reading about historic events jumbles up my mind a little bit. It hasn’t always been my strong suit so here we go. After reading the two Conflict and Conformity case studies for the week the United States was influenced by non-state societies in it’s founding in a very important way. Our leader was not sure in how to centralize the government and the colonies without ruling over then in a monarch way. The Indian Chief came forward and told our leader the way in which he ruled and the way in which the Iroquois were governed. From this the United States adopted the system of governmental election and practice.
We go in to countries for example why we are in the Middle East right now. We are trying to spread democracy and it works for us really well, it gives us freedom and rights. However other cultures aren’t run in a way that is set up to live in a democratic society. We embraced it because it was new and something different and more fair than the monarchy we left in England when we came here, but we shouldn’t force it on other societies. If we better understand other cultures and their political systems we can better foreign policy. If you take the Middle East for example, we are over there right now trying to set up a government that reflects ours to a tee. We need to look at the way in which the Iroquois helped us and use that to help the Middle East. The Iroquois didn’t come in here and tell us how we have to run our colonies, they told us how they ran theirs and gave us ideas. Ideas we can take and tweak to better fit us.
We go in to countries for example why we are in the Middle East right now. We are trying to spread democracy and it works for us really well, it gives us freedom and rights. However other cultures aren’t run in a way that is set up to live in a democratic society. We embraced it because it was new and something different and more fair than the monarchy we left in England when we came here, but we shouldn’t force it on other societies. If we better understand other cultures and their political systems we can better foreign policy. If you take the Middle East for example, we are over there right now trying to set up a government that reflects ours to a tee. We need to look at the way in which the Iroquois helped us and use that to help the Middle East. The Iroquois didn’t come in here and tell us how we have to run our colonies, they told us how they ran theirs and gave us ideas. Ideas we can take and tweak to better fit us.
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