Myth and Spirituality

Dear Students: Below are some poems that invoke or respond to mythical characters and/or spirituality in their connection to our physical world. I'd like you to read them, and come up with one original question on myth, spirituality, religion; a question you could use in your own research of your specific cultures. Put this question in your Ethnography Journals.

In addition, I'd like you to write what we'll call a Halloween Cultural Encounter in your journals. This is to be short narrative where you write on something that happens to you in the next few days that involves Halloween in some way! This is kind of vague, so within each of our classes we will discuss it more. The last explanation: after telling your true story, you are to then give some brief analysis to what you learned about a culture, or American culture, or what was reinforced about either, from this encounter. Think of our topic of myth and spirituality and how that plays a role in the encounter . . . .

A REMINDER: We will meet on the THIRD FLOOR of the library on Monday for class. BRING YOUR JOURNALS so that I can grade them. 

The poems

Jack Gilbert's "Failing and Flying"

Yusef Kumonyakaa's "Instructions for Building Straw Huts"

Mary Karr's "Field of Skulls"

Michael Collier's "All Souls"

Sylvia Plath's "Edge"

Eamon Grennan's "The Cave Painters"

Percy Bysshe Shelly's "Hymn of Pan"

John Keat's "Hyperion"

Letters to the Editor - The Crescent News

Dear Students,

Below are two Letters to the Editor from my hometown's daily newspaper, The Crescent News. I am sharing them as they exhibit two different political view points (but not the only ones for either party, mind you), but also because we are in the midst of discussing our own projects this week and I thought there is some discussable behavior. As we discuss religion, spirituality and myth and where it appears in culture . . . and in what forms . . . below are two fine examples of 1) myth and 2) religion  and how they enter into the political forum. 

Also, I was looking on the website after hearing that John McCain is giving a rally Thursday morning on the steps of the Junior High auditorium in my hometown of Defiance, Ohio! 

First Letter:

We all need each other

I love my country and I believe this is one of the most important elections that we will have in my lifetime. Our country faces huge challenges which will affect each one of us of voting age, as well as our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

My concern is what comes after the election. Recently, I received a robotic call from the RNC telling me that Sen. Obama is a terrorist. It's one thing to draw differences between policies and maybe even stretch the truth a bit. But to accuse a United States senator, a presidential candidate of being a terrorist -- knowing full well that it's not true -- and also knowing that a small minority may believe it, that's not only irresponsible, but it could be dangerous for him personally.

Why is John McCain willing to say that when he knows it isn't true? Sen. McCain has said quite frequently "country first." It seems to me that he's more than willing to continue the slash and burn politics that divide us and ultimately sacrifice the strength of our great country which is its people -- Republican and Democrat, Independent and Green Party. How will that help us go forward? How will that help us work together and do what we need to do to get us out of the mess we're in?

These types of personal and false attacks that we've seen recently are how we ended up with George Bush. Our country is more divided today than ever. Remember when George Bush said, "I'm a uniter, not a divider." Well, Sen. McCain is not bringing us up together either. He's going down that same old path.

We will need to be together to face our future, but instead he's saying anything -- some quite outrageous things in fact -- to get elected. I plead with the citizens of Defiance: Think country first. Don't let the fear mongering and lies continue to divide us. We all need each other in the years to come.

Barbara LaForce

Defiance


Second Letter:

Who do Christians want to be president?

Who shall we vote for? What is the most important issue on the ballot? Where does the candidate stand on biblical scripture?

Why vote for the candidate who professes to be a Christian but does not take action against abortion nor stand up for the institution of marriage between one man and one woman? Voting for the candidate who takes no action against these two issues, supports abortion and homosexuality.

If you are a Christian read Proverbs 6:16-17, Romans 1:27, Leviticus 20:13 and then think before you act. Who do you want to be the leader of country?

Emma Brandt

for Monday 10/27 Cultural Vocab 2

Here are this weeks list of words to work with in your ethnography

journals, and be prepared to discuss.

1. diffusion
2. symbiosis
3. reciprocity
4. altruism
5. paralanguage
6. proxemics

Also, here is the Critical Encounters guidelines for those interested in submitting their creative non-fiction pieces to the Columbia Chronicle:

“Natural Tendencies”: Personal Narratives on Human|Nature

Throughout the 2008-09 school year, Critical Encounters, in partnership with the Columbia Chronicle, will present a weekly column titled “Natural Tendencies: Personal Narratives of Human|Nature.” These will be concise, personal narratives drawn from within our community, from a cross-section of faculty, staff, and students who represent the diverse population on our campus. These voices will provide us with perspectives that cut across ethnicity, class, region, gender, generation, and nationality. Each contributor will present a personal narrative that will highlight ways in which he/she is inspired by the natural world or reflections on a personal relationship with nature. The narrative might offer personal opinions on environmental issues and concerns, or specific social causes or actions undertaken to positively impact the planet.

The “Natural Tendencies” column will bring Critical Encounters to our community in a way that is immediate and personal. The narratives will forge connections with readers who will appreciate and hopefully be inspired by the efforts and ideas of other Columbia College citizens.

Contribute a Narrative.

We look forward to fresh stories and personal revelations that will emerge from these diverse voices.
- Write about any aspect of your life that you feel comfortable sharing.
- Make it personal and thoughtful.
- Submissions should be approximately 600 words.
- Please include your major and your classification (student, staff, faculty, and administrator)
- If you are a student, please indicate your level (freshman, sophomore, etc.)
- Include contact information (name, email address, phone number.)

Send narratives via email to: Kevin Fuller at kgfuller@colum.edu or criticalencounters@colum.edu

These narratives will be edited for inclusion either in The Columbia Chronicle or on the Critical Encounters website. We hope to send edited drafts to each contributor before final print.

field notes example jottings

for Wed. 10/22

As we begin to discuss more and more the HOW and WHY of cultural interaction, as we try to make sense of what each of our culture's value most . . . 

Read the following linked article from the NY Times. 

Answer in your journals: “What kind of place and space has the author painted of the country?” 

Explain your answer with textual evidence.

Also, come to next class having five questions for your ethnography research, based on what you’ve learned and are considering after discussion of the our first Cultural Vocabulary terms. What kinds of questions on your own culture do you have that involve the concepts discussed in the terms?

for Monday 10/20

Cultural Vocabulary

We all know words, and we all know we don’t know every word. Furthermore! We don’t always know the right word to use.

Since we are writing the scary-word papers called “ethnographies” it is important that we begin to accumulate a vocabulary which would be useful when writing said paper. We all want to sound brilliant, but we also want to understand what we’re writing. We want music, and we want meaning.

The words you will be asked to define should enable you to think of your own projects more intellectually. You will be defining cultural concepts and the like. Words to label some of the behavior and stratigraphy of the culture you end up actively observing and participating in, to a degree.

And?

So, in your journals that I asked you to have solely for this class, I would like you to seek out the definitions of anthropologically-relevant terms from time to time. You may find these terms in a dictionary, but more than likely the fuller definitions will come from encyclopedias or anthropological reference material (ATH school websites, etc.).

Once you find these words and their definitions, do the following in your journals:

1) Define the word and give credence to the source. Rather than just quote the definition verbatim (word for word), try summarizing and paraphrasing, instead.

2) Write a short paragraph where you reflect on the meaning of the word. How familiar are
you with the word, its concepts? Unfamiliar? How can you make the word relevant to “the real world” beyond it being a concept; a definition? You are being asked for an example that shows you understand the word and its relevance to our course.

Be ready to share and discuss these with the class each time you are given new words to add to your Cultural Vocabulary.


First?
1. etymology
2. ethnocentrism
3. acculturation
4. adaptive mechanism
5. cultural relativism
6. locus

Due: Monday, October 20, 2008 in your journals for class discussion

another good read

Here's a college-student relevant article for those who worry about our current economic crisis in America. It's called "Undergrads on the Bread Line". Yikes! Consumerism is a big theme of our readings in Discovering Popular Culture, so this one fits into our discussions of America's overall culture very nicely.

fun read

Students,

Here is a Critical Encounters essay that, if you want to continue to pursue your non-fiction piece, or start a new one, is an interesting piece that could fit our guidelines. The piece, "Tree branches without borders,"  is from The Christian Science Monitor.

For Monday 10/13

First: I apologize for not putting this up earlier; I was fighting some food poisoning the past couple of days. 

But on with the work: 

Monday's reading for all three sections of WAR II is the same: pages 162-181 of DPC. The only question that you should be considering, and responding to in your journal, is the following: "What are your personal definitions of a scholarly pursuit and a scholarly insight, and define/explain what makes a text worthy enough to pull meaning from?"

On the Critical Encounters "Human Interaction" creative non-fiction piece:

The copy I will grade/respond to is due at the beginning of class on Monday.

To remind you on the prompt: "Write about a personal interaction you've had with either "an environment" or with a person/group of people; an interaction that then lead to some personal knowledge on human nature."  

These pieces are allowed to be super-creative. Write them with the intention of both engaging the experience, but also try to make the read enjoyable for your audience.

- use your own metaphors

-write from specific personal experiences. Replay what happened, not just the meaning, but the action.

- use stronger verbs / get rid of stale language

- just write about experience; try to rid language of preface material. 

- in other words, don't write it like a science report . . . unless you want to structure it as such for entertainment value!

- take a risk in your viewpoint or language, or both. I've already heard some beautiful responses.