ProfWeek12

While reading about the anthropologic study of drumming in Ghana, I realized that it must be extremely difficult to pick an area for study. How do anthropologists choose? Also, is there a simple way to see what areas have yet to be covered? It seems like it would be best to study something that has not been touched on yet.

The discussion of expressive culture has caused me to wonder about some of the forms of expressive culture in our own society. Some forms of expressive culture leave me just confused, such as that of runway fashion. Most of the outfits that are made for the runway couldn't even be worn out in public, and are in some cases just weird. A few examples:

http://www4.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Barbie+Runway+Show+Runway+Fall+09+MBFW+-UfzIenSI3Wl.jpg http://handbagcomment.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/09.08.28SantoriniSurprisingOrnamentsinRunwayFashion.jpg http://www.smashinglists.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/a96956_a592_10-milan.jpg http://s2.hubimg.com/u/695857_f496.jpg http://s2.hubimg.com/u/697517_f496.jpg

All I had to do to find these was google "runway fashion." Granted there were several results that looked far more normal and classy, but the fact that some of these catastrophes exist honestly just bewilders me. This is probably just because I don't understand high fashion at all (I go to a tech school, it's not exactly my forte), but I don't understand what the point of several of these ensembles. Yet there are several women that look forward to the fashion shows of New York, Paris, London, and Milan every year. How significant a role does fashion play in our culture? --- http://ageofintuition.blogspot.com/2011/01/haute-couture-then-and-now.html http://savageminds.org/2010/10/29/why-thin-is-still-in/ http://www.walmart.com/cp/Norma-Kamali/1025819 http://www.normakamalicollection.com/shared/html/NK_NEWHOME1.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJyW9Ti9wVk

In the example of the Bhopal disaster, the Yes Men get Dow Chemical to admit their goal of remaining in favor with their shareholders rather than the victims in India. The downside of their stunt was that there was little consideration for the Bhopal victims. They were hurt by the potential of being compensated for their problems. Is this common behavior for groups that are critical of political actions? Do they only wish for a political snowball without regard for the stakeholders?

After reading about the lifeboat mentality, it seems like that is a completely unfair way to treat people. Although it makes sense why people might suddenly feel that way towards immigrants if they feel that their resources are being abused by people who ‘don’t belong’, who’s to say who does or doesn’t belong in a particular culture? Why is it that this phenomena occurs when and only when people are in a time of crisis? If people felt this way consistently, instead of just during a crucial time, I feel like it would be far less hypocritical. === On page 272, it states that to prevent the illegal crossing of people from Mexico to U.S., George W. Bush authorized the construction of 700 additional miles of fencing, but human rights supporters say that this will increase the mortality rate of illegal immigrants. If this is not the best way to stop them from crossing illegally, what should be a better solution? Should U.S. government be responsible for their death? http://www.google.com/search?q=US+mexico+border&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1081&bih=589 http://www.google.com/search?q=berlin+wall&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1081&bih=589 http://www.google.com/search?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&biw=1081&bih=589&site=search&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=israeli+wall&aq=0s&aqi=g-s1g2g-s2g-m4g-ms1&aql=&oq=israel+wall

While watching the "Lost Boys of Sudan" I couldn't but think that some of the boys might have been better off if they stayed in there refugee camp. So many of them were flattened by the fast pace, cut throat, and highly structured society that is America. How are they to survive here if they are not even informed that they need a drivers licence to drive a car? Shouldn't agencies make sure that they protect the well being of the migrating individual for long enough so he/she does not have to find themselves falling into poverty?

What has happened to the lost boys, as of today? Are there still Sudanese coming to America? And have many of those from the generation featured in the film remained here, or have they gone back? === I've been thinking a lot about the film we watched on Monday, and I have a few questions. How did they choose which boys would come to the United States? Were they coming here for a purpose or just so that the US could say "Oh look how great we are, we rescued these boys from Africa." How did they choose where these boys would live? I may be stereotyping here, but it seems a little odd that you would send a bunch of boys from Africa to Texas. What ended up happening to these boys after the movie was made? After learning how hard life was out here, did they end up going back? Did they ever get to see their friends and families again? As a side note, one of the saddest things I heard one of them say was that riding the bus made him feel ashamed because he was so much blacker than anyone there. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for all of them to come to a country they knew virtually nothing about and try to make it on their own here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Boys_of_Sudan === Upon Reading the article by DeLuca and watching the film "Lost Boys" it is clear that higher education is not often part of the bargain for US relocated refuges. I mean you get a free ticket to the country of opportunities but education is not included, that is up to you. The goal of this program is to give a small population of Sudanese youth an opportunity to grow and flourish and create the new leaders that would hopefully return to Africa and help resolved the armed and political conflict. However, how does the government expects to have these young leaders do such task when McDonald, Walmart, Golden Rockies and Wild Foods do not give their workers more than a week off and no possibility for relocation to Sudan? Should the government refocus their approach and encourage and support higher education for these guys? === The article, "Transnational Migration" causes me to wonder how long the programs like United Nations High Commission on Refugees and voluntary resettlement agencies monitor women after they have gone through the initial four months of bills being paid for them. Even after watching the movie "The Lost Boys of Sudan" this was not clear to me. After this point in time, are they completely dropped from the system? Are they not even looked at again until someone looks up the refugee names to ask if they can be interviewed for articles or publications like this? What would happen if VOLAGS could not help a woman find a job after 4 months? Do the women have to find jobs on their own at that point? http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e483b76

In the article we were asked to read, it seemed like the girls were doomed from the start in regards to education. Why were the boys promised education, while the girls were sent to do the labor jobs? === Learning about the "lost girls" of Sudan makes me wonder: Why are American feminist groups not up in arms about the fact that so few women are being brought in? This seems like the sort of thing they would jump on. Is it merely that the issues have been poorly publicized or are these Sudanese girls more "lost" than the lost boys? http://www.blogher.com/lost-girls-sudan