Anthropology at Mount Allison
Newsletter, January 2006
What's in this issue
•
Social Structure: Message from the Head
• Kin groups and rites of passage: News from alumni, students, and
faculty
• Sodalities: News from the Anthropology Society
• 2006 field school and internship opportunities in anthropology
• The "missing link": Internet for anthropologists
Please send
your short articles, event announcements, as well as student, alumni,
and faculty updates to Dr Patricia L Kelly Spurles at pkellyspurles@mta.ca.
Social
structure:
Message from the Head
Dr
Robert Adlam, Head of Anthropology
The
2005-2006 academic year has brought with it a number of important developments
for the Department. Dr. Nicola Mooney - the Department's first McCain
Fellow - is continuing with the Department as a leave replacement for
Dr. Marilyn Walker who is on sabbatical. Dr.
Mooney who has taught at a number of universities before coming to Mount
Allison, is offering two of our second year courses - one on development
(ANTH 2521) and the other on the interface of environment and society
(ANTH 2501). As well, Dr. Mooney is offering an ethnography course focusing
on South Asia as well as a course on indigenous knowledge systems (ANTH
3031).
Perhaps one of our busiest students this year is Alison Forshner. Over the summer Alison divided her time between employment with the local museum in Wallace, NS and interviewing farmers as part of the research towards her Honours thesis project (for more about this, see below). Back at university, Alison is president of the Anthropology Society, holder of an internship through the Purdy Crawford Teaching Centre, and a research assistant to a faculty research project. This coming summer Alison is off to Botswana as one of twenty students from Canadian Universities selected to participate in the 2006 International Seminar being sponsored by Uniterra, a joint venture between the World University Services of Canada (WUSC) and the Canadian Centre for International Studies and Co-operation (CECI). While in Botswana, Alison will have an opportunity to assess local economic development initiatives as well as the impact of HIV/AIDS. Alison will be fund-raising for her trip this semester. We wish her every success in these endeavours!
Two new courses
are being proposed along with description and placement changes for two
other courses. This is part of a proposal prepared and submitted to Academic
Matters in October. One of the new courses will be added to our 3800 ethnography
series and will focus on North African and the Middle Eastern. The other
is more topical and makes an important addition to our 4000 level seminar
courses seeking to explore the body as a site and instrument
of culture. With respect to description and placement changes, our second
year course focusing on Aboriginal peoples and cultures of Canada will
be returned to the 3800 ethnography series, and be replaced by a course
concerned with culture and communication at the 2000 level.
 (click picture for larger image) |
The
Department is pleased to have Professor Moira McLaughlin, a forensic
anthropologist, based at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, back
with us again this academic year. Professor McLaughlin is offering
her highly popular Introduction to Forensic Anthropology (ANTH 3911). |
Kin
groups and rites of passage:
News from alumni, students, and faculty
Student
News, Anthropologists at work
Alison
Forshner a fourth year Anthropology Honours student spent the summer researching
her thesis. Her work, which is supervised by Dr. Adlam, is titled Conversations
on the Transformation of Rural Life: Domestic Commodity Production in
an Age of Farm Corporations.
Alison explains,
'I did my research in the area of Wallace Bay, Nova Scotia (where I live)
starting in April and lasting until October. I am still working on the
final thesis from this experience. The purpose of this thesis is to look
at the current issues that are affecting domestic commodity producers
in rural areas. In particular it will focus on the Maritime producers
and the issues that are unique to small family farms.
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(Click on picture for larger view) |
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The roles that were traditionally expected of rural farmers are now being replaced by more commercialized methods. This is compounded by the inability to produce enough economic gains to support the family farm. The result of this is a general exodus of farmers into new forms of employment.
For some farmers, their farms are symbolic of a tradition that has been carried on through their families since settlement and so many are reluctant to give up this occupation. It creates community ties that might have otherwise not existed in this increasingly individualized society. It served the purpose of connecting family and neighbors and promoting oral respect and trust among the community. These bonds were traditionally crucial when it came to harvest and celebratory times. It allowed for many farms to proliferate when they would have failed economically."
Alumni
News, Living in Japan - by Laurel Dietz, '05
I came to Japan 134 days ago. Before this, I had spent a year studying
Japanese, a week reading Japan: A Reinterpretation by Patrick Smith, and
two days practicing my chopstick skills. This was the extent of my Japanese
education- a vague theoretical, abstract notion of the way life in Japan
would be. I believe now that it is nearly impossible to learn about a
culture without living and partaking in that culture. No matter how long
I studied, I could never have put the tastes, sights, sounds and feeling
of Japan together into a coherent whole without living here and taking
time to fully experience them.
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This article is about the way I am slowly making sense of Japanese culture and social relations through actively partaking in it and interacting with Japanese people. Before I start, I would like to define social relations as any and all interaction between people. |
I didn't know it then, but when I stepped off the plane on July 25th, I became a baby for the second time. I have been so lucky to be placed in such a community as this one; one that welcomes me with open arms, is understanding of my ignorance, and is willing to take the time and make the effort to educate me properly. I have been taught the proper way to place my shoes when going into a house or a building, I have been taught how to eat properly with chopsticks and how to hold my rice bowl, I have been taught the proper way to greet people, introduce myself and other social niceties, I have been taught the proper way to use the shower and bathtub in Japan, how to make my bed and to put it away, and to cook with Japanese ingredients, to appreciate foods that were utterly foreign to me. I was guided when I was driving on the opposite side of the road and shown how to withdraw money from the bank machine. I have been taught how to make tea, how to eat chestnuts, how to properly appreciate nature, how to sit in a Japanese style restaurant, how to serve and drink beer or shochu at an enkai, how to eat ramen and soba. I have been taught to carry a little towel and tissues with me at all times, and how to use a Japanese style toilet. The list goes on, but the point is -I knew none of these things 134 days ago. 134 days ago I knew nothing of how to live in Japan, or even how to interact with Japanese people.
There are
many clues to a society/ culture in its language; I unfortunately am far
from fluent in Japanese. Not being able to read or speak Japanese, I must
learn by doing. So, how do you learn by doing, when you don know how to
do anything? Imitation. Just as I see my students imitating me when they
are trying to learn English, I learned most things by imitating people
around me. If the person I was being introduced to bowed, I bowed. If
they said oloshiku
Onegaishimasu countless times, I said oloshiku Onegaishimasu countless
times. If the person ahead of me took their shoes off and placed them
a certain way, I took my shoes off and placed them the same way. If the
person I was eating with slurped their noodles, I slurped my noodles.
Perhaps it was a bit strange for the person I was imitating. Many times
I was encouraged to imitate the person who was teaching me, which would
make things easier and I
always greatly appreciated.
Now looking around, I do see Japanese culture as a minefield of social obligations where I am certain to misstep; I am beginning to see the subtleties of different relationships take shape. Things no longer look the same to me because I have learned the code of behaviour that governs Japanese life and I can see where the formalities end. I am comfortable with this social code now and can navigate through Japanese social relations. I am also now able to express myself in a way that is acceptable and understandable to Japanese people and I am able to understand their expressions of themselves. I am aware that I still have much to learn, but for now I will take a step back and see where I have come from, so as to better understand where I am going.
Faculty
News, Dr. Patricia Kelly Spurles
A new article on gender and tourism in Morocco by Patricia Kelly Spurles
will appear in an upcoming volume of the Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic
Cultures, published by Brill. She will be returning to Morocco later this
semester to continue fieldwork on henna practices and women's employment.
Dr Kelly Spurles is currently writing on the social organization of women's
henna work in Morocco.
Sodalities: News from the Anthropology Society
The
Anthropology Society has been busy throughout the fall organizing a number
of key events. One of these involved holding the very popular Henna Workshop.
This was followed by the Bollywood Film Festival - a weekend extravaganza
of feature films from India. Proceeds from the event were donated to the
South Asian Earthquake Relief Fund. This semester the Society is organizing
a Logo Contest aimed at developing a suitable emblem for the Department.
Additionally, the Society is planning a sale of long-sleeve jerseys as
part of a fund raising activity.
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Students
on the executive are President Alison Forshner and Secretary Emily
Crocco. Feel free to e-mail Alison (affrshn
at mta.ca) or Emily (emcrcc
at mta.ca) if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. (click on picture for larger view) |
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2006 field school and internship opportunities in anthropology
Here's a selection of current field school opportunities. Inquire early as programs may fill up or be cancelled, depending on enrollment numbers. Mount Allison students will need the approval of the department for transfer credit so speak to the program advisor, Dr Robert Adlam, before making your arrangements.
The Department of Classics at Mount Allison University offers a summer learning program for students in southern Italy. The 2006 Archaeological Field School at San Felice will allow students the opportunity to learn archaeological techniques through participation as part of a research team on a working excavation. Students will be immersed in modern Italian culture as they live in a small town which sees few tourists. They will also be able to explore some lesser known parts of this Mediterranean country where they will discover an area that saw flourishing centres of both ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. Click here for more details.
OSEA - Open
School of Ethnography & Anthropology
Application Deadline: April 10, 2006
MIRA Project
is a collaborative and comparative study of tourism
destinations and cultures in Yucatán, México. Program research
locations are the colonial city of Mérida, the hub of the Maya
Riviera in Playa del Carmen, and the Indigenous community of Pisté
3km from Chichén Itzá, the heart of the Maya archaeological
civilization. OSEA Field School participants gain intensive, on-site fieldwork
training in ethnography and cultural anthropology and develop new skills
in interdisciplinary research methodologies. Participants develop their
own individual research project on issues such as tourism development,
governance, democracy, human rights, indigenous identity, tourism cultures,
cultural hegemony, urban development, migration, performance cultures,
tourism representation, exhibition and staging, and multimedia ethnographic
documentation.
Open to undergraduates and graduate students in anthropology, social science,
and related humanities and art fields. 9 credits in Anthropology: Courses
in Visual Anthropology, Ethnographic Methods, Anthropology of Tourism/Tourism
Studies.
Conversational Spanish Required. Cost is $3,575.
DATES are June 27 through August 12, 2006.
Application deadline is April 10, 2006. www.osea-cite.org
Contact Information:
Quetzil CastaOeda
2244 Martha Street
Bloomington IN 47408 USA
Phone: 812-336-2050
Email: quetzil@osea-cite.org
URL http://www.osea-cite.org
Field Schools
• Archaeology
of Fortresses before and after the Inca Conquest in Cayambe, Ecuador
(Field Research Experience)
http://www.extension.ucdavis.edu/urep/ecuadorfieldschool.asp
• TRU
program in East-Central Europe
http://www.tru.ca/europe/
• Circumpolar
Ethnographic Field School
http://anthro.unbc.ca/home.html
• Summer
Field School in Ethnography/MIRA Project in Mexico
http://www.osea-cite.org/program/summer.php
• Summer field school in Mexico; U of California, Santa Barbara, and U of Queritaro, Mexico: http://www.id.ucsb.edu/
• Ethnographic
field school at Ensenada, Mexico; Arizona State U,
Michael Winkleman: http://www.asu.edu/clas/anthropology/bajaethnography/
ASU BAJA CALIFORNIA ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELD SCHOOL
This program is held in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, a modern port
city with a small town atmosphere located on the Pacific Ocean 100 miles
south of San Diego, California. Students attend classes and live with
middle class families, most of which have formed part of our network of
families for several years. The program is designed to provide cultural
immersion. Anthropology classes are conducted partially in Spanish as
part of the cultural immersion experience. For Further information visit
http://www.asu.edu/clas/anthropology/bajaethnography
University of Maryland Field School in Historic Archaeology
ANTH 496/696 (6 cr.) Summer Session I - June 5-July 14
PROGRAM: The University of Maryland Department of Anthropology and the Office of Continuing and Extended Education announce the 25th season of excavation with Archaeology in Annapolis, a summer program of onsite archaeological excavation and research. This intensive, six-week program devotes eight hours daily to supervised archaeological fieldwork.
ACADEMIC
RESPONSIBILITIES:
This course offers training in archaeological field techniques and related
concepts, and students will be evaluated according to the skill and understanding
that they acquire, the quality of their work and their contribution to
the research.
INFORMATION:
For further information, contact: Matthew Palus (mpalus@starpower.net),
Jenn Babiarz (jbabiarz@mail.utexas.edu)
or Amelia Chisholm (achisholm@anth.umd.edu)
Department
of Anthropology
University of Maryland
1111 Woods Hall
College Park, MD 20742-7415
301-405-1429
To register
for this course and other UMCP Summer 2006 courses contact Summer Programs,
on the web: http://www.summer.umd.edu/c/
or e-mail to summer@umail.umd.edu. Summer programs also posts up-to-date
tuition information online.
The
"missing link":
Internet for anthropologists
Check out this website http://www.alanmacfarlane.com/ancestors/audiovisual.html It is hosted at Cambridge University and contains video of anthropologists (including Barth, Geertz, and others) talking about their professional lives, including how they came to be interested in this discipline, and their experiences in grad school and fieldwork.