My Relationship With Money
My relationship with money is pretty sad. Currently my primary source of income comes from mooching off of my mother, quite impressive, I know. Right now, I feel that's okay though. My food is already payed for, I don't have a car, and I have no medication I need to buy, my need for money is at an all time low. The most expensive aspect of my life would be personal entertainment. If I could find a way to keep my self entertained for free, I would barely have a need for money at all.
In the past, however, I have had quite a different relationship with money. I was the first and only child to have a legal job during high school amongst my siblings. I began working at 15 for a summer camp over the summer, the next summer I worked as a landscaper in Aspen, Colorado, my junior year in high school I began working at a local pizza shop, where I worked until I left for college, finally last year I worked as a research assistant for Jennifer Tilton. These are all times in my life where I felt that I needed a source of income in order to make myself happy.
When critically looking at the reasons I first decided to join the workforce, a large theme continuously reappears. My father left my family when I was 13, and the vacuum of structure that resulted from this greatly warped my mind. I began to demand much more independence from my mother almost instantly after my father left, this coupled with the changes my body were going through led me to believe that freedom could only be reached economically. I felt that I could talk and think about being independent all I wanted, but to go out and be independent means to get a job, make money, and buy the things you want with it.
Living 2000 miles away from the place I grew up in has greatly changed my views on independence now, which in turn has changed my relationship with money. I feel that being alone and living in an environment where I am the master of my domain declares my independence, not whether or not I make money. Sure there are plenty of things I could spend money on, but I am just as comfortable, not working and not acquiring them.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Chapter 2 exercise
Portfolio Assignment
Delaney, Chapter 2, pg. 74
1. The spatial divisions that I noticed at the University of Redlands are all pretty unique to the college experience. It's not too often that you find a large open space within an urban environment that is purely designed for the entertainment of students. Open, recreational, space is something that the designer of our school must have appreciated, we have the main quad, freshman quad, fire pit and orange groves.
Apart from that, we have very defined spaces dealing with work and leisure as well, however, in some instances the two of these overlap. First of all there are certain buildings designated for "work" or studying. We have buildings like the Hall of Letters, Duke Hall, Larsen Hall, Gregory and others that are purely designed for an academic function, they are places we go to learn. We also have places like the pool, or the basement of my dorm, where we play billiards, that are designed for entertainment and leisure. There are also places where these two worlds collide, such as the lobby of Hunsaker. In the lobby on any given day you can find an arrangement of students studying, conversing or playing pool. Hunsaker would be considered a liminal space, not quite work, not quite leisure.
The final differences in spatial division that I noticed were between dorms. I live in Fairmont Hall, which is a hall designed around social justice and promoting equality. There are several other themed living environments as well, Merriam focuses on environmental science, North is a substance-free hall, Williams only accepts freshman, Grossmont is an all-girls dorm, and Johnston is living in it's own little world. These spatial divisions separate students by beliefs, or interests. Almost acting as nation states, each hall has it's own agenda.
2. There are a couple ways in which different categories of people relate to different spaces. The most obvious one to a young man like myself would be what we call "Frat Row". On campus we have a block of houses that belong to the greek life on campus. They have their own section of campus and congruently focus most of their time on the people and events that go on in that side. Fraternities and Sororities frequently throw parties, where a majority of the people that attend are also part of the same or other greek houses.
Another example of how space relates to certain groups deals with the janitorial staff at our school. They move within the back kitchens, store rooms, bathrooms and other unseen locations, they are the people behind the scenes of Redlands. They have their own groups of coworkers, work amongst themselves and from what I've been noticing the past week eat and socialize amongst themselves as well. Other staff such as professors or secretaries tend to separate themselves from these workers, both spatially and socially. However, the maintenance staff are never considered intrusive, they have the capability to enter any building on campus and not be considered out-of-place.
One last way that certain groups are spatially separated is by mobility. Our campus is designed around walking, every building on campus is within a 5 to 10 minute walk from any given location. However, our school isn't quite handicap friendly. Buildings like Hall of Letters and Duke are handicap accessible, but are on top of a huge hill that would provide turbulence for someone who has a hard time walking or is in a wheelchair. My dorm and several others that I have noticed have no handicap entrance, and would be quite impossible for someone who is in a wheelchair to navigate between floor levels. This separates those who can manipulate stairs and those who can not.
3. I think the University of Redlands specifically defines activities by space intentionally. I think that they do this in order to provide organization for the constant flow of students in and out of Redlands. By defining certain spaces with certain activities you can guarantee that every time you need to do a certain activity you can get it done at this certain place, which is great for students that constantly have an agenda they need to take care of daily. We have a fitness center that is specifically designed for exercise, I have never seen anyone studying in there, and I probably never will. We have the Chapel that is designed for prayer and worship, but also for public speakers and choir rehearsals. We have a football stadium for sporting events, and a commons for eating. All of these places have certain functions, and when looking at the architecture, one often finds these places are structurally designed for these certain activities.
Delaney, Chapter 2, pg. 74
1. The spatial divisions that I noticed at the University of Redlands are all pretty unique to the college experience. It's not too often that you find a large open space within an urban environment that is purely designed for the entertainment of students. Open, recreational, space is something that the designer of our school must have appreciated, we have the main quad, freshman quad, fire pit and orange groves.
Apart from that, we have very defined spaces dealing with work and leisure as well, however, in some instances the two of these overlap. First of all there are certain buildings designated for "work" or studying. We have buildings like the Hall of Letters, Duke Hall, Larsen Hall, Gregory and others that are purely designed for an academic function, they are places we go to learn. We also have places like the pool, or the basement of my dorm, where we play billiards, that are designed for entertainment and leisure. There are also places where these two worlds collide, such as the lobby of Hunsaker. In the lobby on any given day you can find an arrangement of students studying, conversing or playing pool. Hunsaker would be considered a liminal space, not quite work, not quite leisure.
The final differences in spatial division that I noticed were between dorms. I live in Fairmont Hall, which is a hall designed around social justice and promoting equality. There are several other themed living environments as well, Merriam focuses on environmental science, North is a substance-free hall, Williams only accepts freshman, Grossmont is an all-girls dorm, and Johnston is living in it's own little world. These spatial divisions separate students by beliefs, or interests. Almost acting as nation states, each hall has it's own agenda.
2. There are a couple ways in which different categories of people relate to different spaces. The most obvious one to a young man like myself would be what we call "Frat Row". On campus we have a block of houses that belong to the greek life on campus. They have their own section of campus and congruently focus most of their time on the people and events that go on in that side. Fraternities and Sororities frequently throw parties, where a majority of the people that attend are also part of the same or other greek houses.
Another example of how space relates to certain groups deals with the janitorial staff at our school. They move within the back kitchens, store rooms, bathrooms and other unseen locations, they are the people behind the scenes of Redlands. They have their own groups of coworkers, work amongst themselves and from what I've been noticing the past week eat and socialize amongst themselves as well. Other staff such as professors or secretaries tend to separate themselves from these workers, both spatially and socially. However, the maintenance staff are never considered intrusive, they have the capability to enter any building on campus and not be considered out-of-place.
One last way that certain groups are spatially separated is by mobility. Our campus is designed around walking, every building on campus is within a 5 to 10 minute walk from any given location. However, our school isn't quite handicap friendly. Buildings like Hall of Letters and Duke are handicap accessible, but are on top of a huge hill that would provide turbulence for someone who has a hard time walking or is in a wheelchair. My dorm and several others that I have noticed have no handicap entrance, and would be quite impossible for someone who is in a wheelchair to navigate between floor levels. This separates those who can manipulate stairs and those who can not.
3. I think the University of Redlands specifically defines activities by space intentionally. I think that they do this in order to provide organization for the constant flow of students in and out of Redlands. By defining certain spaces with certain activities you can guarantee that every time you need to do a certain activity you can get it done at this certain place, which is great for students that constantly have an agenda they need to take care of daily. We have a fitness center that is specifically designed for exercise, I have never seen anyone studying in there, and I probably never will. We have the Chapel that is designed for prayer and worship, but also for public speakers and choir rehearsals. We have a football stadium for sporting events, and a commons for eating. All of these places have certain functions, and when looking at the architecture, one often finds these places are structurally designed for these certain activities.
Response to Malinowski reading
Portfolio Assignment #2
When I think of Myths, my first instinct is Greek mythology. I have an aunt that lives in Greece, and for every gift-giving holiday, I received some sort of book on Greek mythology. I think of mythology as folklore, or storytelling. I think that the reason why the myths were created we to teach the people in that society important life lessons. It's function is to prove by example that acting a certain way will lead you to a certain place. I always considered these myths some what universal, I thought the morals and ethics they used could be applied to everyone, and that each persons perspective could use the myth for their own purpose.
However, Malinowski begs to differ. He states that above all Myths and Magic are "cultural forces". He says that these two things can be used to analyze how people lived, their relationship with nature and the unknown, and the economic concerns of man. Malinowski says, "...We have realized that myth serves principally to establish a sociological charter, or a retrospective moral pattern of behavior." By studying myth, we can backtrack to figure out these things from civilizations that have long been assimilated into industrialized culture. Malinowski explains that myths are constantly regenerated, rewritten from generation to generation in order to keep cultural relevance.
When I think of Myths, my first instinct is Greek mythology. I have an aunt that lives in Greece, and for every gift-giving holiday, I received some sort of book on Greek mythology. I think of mythology as folklore, or storytelling. I think that the reason why the myths were created we to teach the people in that society important life lessons. It's function is to prove by example that acting a certain way will lead you to a certain place. I always considered these myths some what universal, I thought the morals and ethics they used could be applied to everyone, and that each persons perspective could use the myth for their own purpose.
However, Malinowski begs to differ. He states that above all Myths and Magic are "cultural forces". He says that these two things can be used to analyze how people lived, their relationship with nature and the unknown, and the economic concerns of man. Malinowski says, "...We have realized that myth serves principally to establish a sociological charter, or a retrospective moral pattern of behavior." By studying myth, we can backtrack to figure out these things from civilizations that have long been assimilated into industrialized culture. Malinowski explains that myths are constantly regenerated, rewritten from generation to generation in order to keep cultural relevance.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Assignment #1 Questions
Portfolio #1
Answers to Questions:
1. I think that participation in my fieldwork was crucial for gaining the depth I found in my experience in San Bernardino Juvenile Hall. Especially in this unique environment, my participation directly effects how the class will unfold and what information will be shared. I found that the inmates give you only as much as you give them, if you are reserved and afraid to give them 100% of your devotion they pick up on it and return the same energy back to you. I think that participating helps assimilate yourself into the environment your studying, instead of being an outside observer you become one of them, actively participating in the same events they are.
By participating I was able to compare their stories versus mine, and provide that comparison for them as well. This class is for both our and their learning, by participating I allow them to learn from my experiences as well. It allows for them to gain a perspective they might not be so familiar with.
2. Having a key informant added perspective to my understanding. Jennifer Tilton has been working in Juvenile Halls for years, and having her break it down really helped in my understanding of what exactly I was observing. She helped me go from seeing this as a personal experience to analyzing the power schemes and social institutions directing our incarcerated youth. Having a key informant allowed for a critique of my behavior as well. Jen and I talked about my role as a mentor/participant/volunteer. This is important because it gets me to analyze why I act a certain way during our sessions and what are the results of that.
3. First of all, I think that a questionnaire would be met with horrible results in the population that I was working within. Most of these young women have only seen questionnaires like this in school, and most of them had horrible experiences with school. When an impersonal, formatted, question-answer questionnaire is seen by these girls, most of them would pretty much blow it off. As I stated in my notes, most of these young ladies used personal stories to illustrate their points, this isn't very possible with a questionnaire, it doesn't provide an open environment where they feel they can tell these personal experiences. By involving myself in the activities, I gained perspective on my position within the social institutions I'm studying, this also is not possible with a questionnaire.
4. A questionnaire would be great for gathering statistics within these groups. By gathering written data, you could be able to see how many people have the same feelings on certain subjects. This could be formatted into statistics about how incarcerated youth think about whatever the questionnaire is asking. It's also a more efficient way of gathering information. In a participant-observation, there are a lot of tangents and often times we stray from the topic at hand, a questionnaire makes sure you're answering questions they think are important. Honestly, I think those are the only upsides to a questionnaire, all-in-all I find them very misleading and don't capture the true beliefs of the individuals represented.
Answers to Questions:
1. I think that participation in my fieldwork was crucial for gaining the depth I found in my experience in San Bernardino Juvenile Hall. Especially in this unique environment, my participation directly effects how the class will unfold and what information will be shared. I found that the inmates give you only as much as you give them, if you are reserved and afraid to give them 100% of your devotion they pick up on it and return the same energy back to you. I think that participating helps assimilate yourself into the environment your studying, instead of being an outside observer you become one of them, actively participating in the same events they are.
By participating I was able to compare their stories versus mine, and provide that comparison for them as well. This class is for both our and their learning, by participating I allow them to learn from my experiences as well. It allows for them to gain a perspective they might not be so familiar with.
2. Having a key informant added perspective to my understanding. Jennifer Tilton has been working in Juvenile Halls for years, and having her break it down really helped in my understanding of what exactly I was observing. She helped me go from seeing this as a personal experience to analyzing the power schemes and social institutions directing our incarcerated youth. Having a key informant allowed for a critique of my behavior as well. Jen and I talked about my role as a mentor/participant/volunteer. This is important because it gets me to analyze why I act a certain way during our sessions and what are the results of that.
3. First of all, I think that a questionnaire would be met with horrible results in the population that I was working within. Most of these young women have only seen questionnaires like this in school, and most of them had horrible experiences with school. When an impersonal, formatted, question-answer questionnaire is seen by these girls, most of them would pretty much blow it off. As I stated in my notes, most of these young ladies used personal stories to illustrate their points, this isn't very possible with a questionnaire, it doesn't provide an open environment where they feel they can tell these personal experiences. By involving myself in the activities, I gained perspective on my position within the social institutions I'm studying, this also is not possible with a questionnaire.
4. A questionnaire would be great for gathering statistics within these groups. By gathering written data, you could be able to see how many people have the same feelings on certain subjects. This could be formatted into statistics about how incarcerated youth think about whatever the questionnaire is asking. It's also a more efficient way of gathering information. In a participant-observation, there are a lot of tangents and often times we stray from the topic at hand, a questionnaire makes sure you're answering questions they think are important. Honestly, I think those are the only upsides to a questionnaire, all-in-all I find them very misleading and don't capture the true beliefs of the individuals represented.
Portfolio Assignment #1
Portfolio Assignment #1
Debriefing Notes
I chose to do my participant observation at the Juvenile Hall that I volunteer at every Friday. On September 25th, me and two female volunteers led a creative writing class in Unit 1 of the San Bernardino Juvenile Hall, the female unit. The two female volunteers were the main facilitators of the lesson and I was more or less an observer. They structured the class so that we would read a poem about personal identity, discuss it, write an "I Am Poem", then one last reflective writing on the whole topic of the day.
I woke up this Friday morning feeling a little nervous, it was my first time entering Juvenile Hall since spring semester. My previous experiences volunteering have taught me that you need to enter these types of environments with the most positivity that you can muster up, so I was really focusing on having a productive session. I entered the Juvenile Hall complex with the two other volunteers, and after signing in with security and briefing with the head teacher of the Juvenile Hall we proceeded to the classroom we were going to work in. Most of the guards were very nice, however few introduced themselves, and two gave us, volunteers, some annoyed looks. Despite some of their ill feelings they all fully cooperated with our needs and demands for the class.
I opened the door to a classroom of 14 brown and black teenage women. I was immediately flooded a wave of emotion and information. First of all, I had been expecting to work with young men, since they hold a larger population, and partially because of my instinctive ideas of what someone in juvenile hall looks like (i.e. male, person of color etc.). The classroom smelled of Lysol disinfectant spray, and the desks creaked as the young women sat up straight and gripped the front of their desks with two hands. Juvenile Hall is loaded with rules and protocol that both the faculty and the inmates are well educated in. These rules range from sitting at attention and grabbing the front of their desk whenever someone of authority enter the room, to walking with their hands clasped behind their back to refraining from using profanity. These rules are related to a point system, in which each inmate are given certain amounts of points, which allow them to certain liberties and privileges. When an inmate breaks a rule, depending on how the authoritative figure interprets the severity, a certain amount of points are taken away, prohibiting them from certain activities or material goods. Inmates and teachers/authority figures know each others boundaries, some young women knew which rules their teacher would allow them to break (i.e. profanity), and how far they could push the boundaries. Teachers in turn know which students they can rely on to pass out pencils, or do other tasks and chores, there is obviously a social structure between students and authority. Some inmates were interpreters between the two groups.
Before we read the poem, each of the volunteers said something about themselves, I was very particular with that I said because I was one of the only white people in the room, as well as being the only male besides the teacher. I refrained from trying to explain my complicated reasons for volunteering and instead told them that I was simply here to "kick it" and hang out with them. The were quite warm to this remark and seemed to approve the way I carried myself and spoke. We read a poem about personal identity, which received mixed reviews from the young women. I noticed that when we asked for a volunteer to read, several hand went up. In the boys unit that I worked in last year this was rare, and it usually took a little time to get them to loosen up. We asked them to choose lines that stood out to them and explain why they were significant. 3 girls chose to speak, and all of the lines they chose had to do with self change. After we read the poem we wrote our own poems to a certain format given to us. I read mine first, choosing to disregard the format I wrote about who i was and where I came from. All the girls clapped when I finished speaking. The young women also disregarded the format, one girl chose to write a page long rap about who she was.
Often times during our discussions the girls would recount personal experiences in order to explain a point. I thought this was interesting, they were very open about some very personal events in their life. After 45 minutes of activities and discussion we spent the last 15 to 25 minutes writing our last reflection for the class. When I looked around, every girl except for 1 was writing. The one girl that wasn't writing had a very annoyed look and seemed to not want to be there. Most of the girls were very cooperative with the group, and contributed positively. Congruently the girls were very nice with all of us too, while maintaining their own air of confidence. They never spared us from whatever it was they were thinking at the time.
The leader of our volunteer group, Professor Jennifer Tilton, was my key informant, she was present that day and a couple days later we had a meeting to describe what we had observed. We examined the different levels of what our class was doing, and the meaning behind our interactions within Juvenile Hall. She explained the balance of emotion and social investigation that results from our volunteer sessions. While we are providing a creative, productive environment for the inmates to express themselves, we are also getting them to think critically of their own lives, and place themselves within a social structure. We spoke about my position as a volunteer, and the battle of being a mentor versus a friend or an authoritative figure. I declared my insecurities of being an authoritative figure and she explained the importance of some sense of authority. All together we are giving the inmates in Juvenile hall new alternatives. We are listening to a voice that has been silenced and disregarded, and in turn these inmates are being able to express their ideas and emotions to an attentive audience.
Debriefing Notes
I chose to do my participant observation at the Juvenile Hall that I volunteer at every Friday. On September 25th, me and two female volunteers led a creative writing class in Unit 1 of the San Bernardino Juvenile Hall, the female unit. The two female volunteers were the main facilitators of the lesson and I was more or less an observer. They structured the class so that we would read a poem about personal identity, discuss it, write an "I Am Poem", then one last reflective writing on the whole topic of the day.
I woke up this Friday morning feeling a little nervous, it was my first time entering Juvenile Hall since spring semester. My previous experiences volunteering have taught me that you need to enter these types of environments with the most positivity that you can muster up, so I was really focusing on having a productive session. I entered the Juvenile Hall complex with the two other volunteers, and after signing in with security and briefing with the head teacher of the Juvenile Hall we proceeded to the classroom we were going to work in. Most of the guards were very nice, however few introduced themselves, and two gave us, volunteers, some annoyed looks. Despite some of their ill feelings they all fully cooperated with our needs and demands for the class.
I opened the door to a classroom of 14 brown and black teenage women. I was immediately flooded a wave of emotion and information. First of all, I had been expecting to work with young men, since they hold a larger population, and partially because of my instinctive ideas of what someone in juvenile hall looks like (i.e. male, person of color etc.). The classroom smelled of Lysol disinfectant spray, and the desks creaked as the young women sat up straight and gripped the front of their desks with two hands. Juvenile Hall is loaded with rules and protocol that both the faculty and the inmates are well educated in. These rules range from sitting at attention and grabbing the front of their desk whenever someone of authority enter the room, to walking with their hands clasped behind their back to refraining from using profanity. These rules are related to a point system, in which each inmate are given certain amounts of points, which allow them to certain liberties and privileges. When an inmate breaks a rule, depending on how the authoritative figure interprets the severity, a certain amount of points are taken away, prohibiting them from certain activities or material goods. Inmates and teachers/authority figures know each others boundaries, some young women knew which rules their teacher would allow them to break (i.e. profanity), and how far they could push the boundaries. Teachers in turn know which students they can rely on to pass out pencils, or do other tasks and chores, there is obviously a social structure between students and authority. Some inmates were interpreters between the two groups.
Before we read the poem, each of the volunteers said something about themselves, I was very particular with that I said because I was one of the only white people in the room, as well as being the only male besides the teacher. I refrained from trying to explain my complicated reasons for volunteering and instead told them that I was simply here to "kick it" and hang out with them. The were quite warm to this remark and seemed to approve the way I carried myself and spoke. We read a poem about personal identity, which received mixed reviews from the young women. I noticed that when we asked for a volunteer to read, several hand went up. In the boys unit that I worked in last year this was rare, and it usually took a little time to get them to loosen up. We asked them to choose lines that stood out to them and explain why they were significant. 3 girls chose to speak, and all of the lines they chose had to do with self change. After we read the poem we wrote our own poems to a certain format given to us. I read mine first, choosing to disregard the format I wrote about who i was and where I came from. All the girls clapped when I finished speaking. The young women also disregarded the format, one girl chose to write a page long rap about who she was.
Often times during our discussions the girls would recount personal experiences in order to explain a point. I thought this was interesting, they were very open about some very personal events in their life. After 45 minutes of activities and discussion we spent the last 15 to 25 minutes writing our last reflection for the class. When I looked around, every girl except for 1 was writing. The one girl that wasn't writing had a very annoyed look and seemed to not want to be there. Most of the girls were very cooperative with the group, and contributed positively. Congruently the girls were very nice with all of us too, while maintaining their own air of confidence. They never spared us from whatever it was they were thinking at the time.
The leader of our volunteer group, Professor Jennifer Tilton, was my key informant, she was present that day and a couple days later we had a meeting to describe what we had observed. We examined the different levels of what our class was doing, and the meaning behind our interactions within Juvenile Hall. She explained the balance of emotion and social investigation that results from our volunteer sessions. While we are providing a creative, productive environment for the inmates to express themselves, we are also getting them to think critically of their own lives, and place themselves within a social structure. We spoke about my position as a volunteer, and the battle of being a mentor versus a friend or an authoritative figure. I declared my insecurities of being an authoritative figure and she explained the importance of some sense of authority. All together we are giving the inmates in Juvenile hall new alternatives. We are listening to a voice that has been silenced and disregarded, and in turn these inmates are being able to express their ideas and emotions to an attentive audience.
Song About Me
I feel like this song is very representative of where my mind is right now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx23fTR0Ojk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx23fTR0Ojk
Introduction
Whats Good?
My name is Bergen Milam, born in San Antonio, Texas, but Chicago raised. I'm a 5 foot 11 inch vegetarian that loves Tabasco hot sauce and idolizes the Simpsons. I don't think I'd be able to stay sane for long without my stereo, and I have a passionate love for Hip-Hop in particular. Coupling my love with Hip-Hop is my past time as a painter, I've been painting graffiti for the past 6 years and have been painting canvas for the last 3. I decided to take Intro to Cultural Anthropology because I am a Race and Ethnic Studies major and feel that these things correlate very well. I've always been a "people watcher" and by that I mean I've always had a blast watching how people interact in certain environments, which probably sparked my interest in Anthropology (I also love Seinfeld).
I really enjoy the class so far, I think it's really increased my capability of analyzing the social structures that have been haunting my life since I first became aware of them my senior year in High School. It's very humbling to learn that everything we think is normal isn't considered such everywhere. Anthropology reinforces my beliefs relating to race and gender, both being social constructs, governing nearly every aspect of our lives. I'm very excited to see how this class changes my life.
My name is Bergen Milam, born in San Antonio, Texas, but Chicago raised. I'm a 5 foot 11 inch vegetarian that loves Tabasco hot sauce and idolizes the Simpsons. I don't think I'd be able to stay sane for long without my stereo, and I have a passionate love for Hip-Hop in particular. Coupling my love with Hip-Hop is my past time as a painter, I've been painting graffiti for the past 6 years and have been painting canvas for the last 3. I decided to take Intro to Cultural Anthropology because I am a Race and Ethnic Studies major and feel that these things correlate very well. I've always been a "people watcher" and by that I mean I've always had a blast watching how people interact in certain environments, which probably sparked my interest in Anthropology (I also love Seinfeld).
I really enjoy the class so far, I think it's really increased my capability of analyzing the social structures that have been haunting my life since I first became aware of them my senior year in High School. It's very humbling to learn that everything we think is normal isn't considered such everywhere. Anthropology reinforces my beliefs relating to race and gender, both being social constructs, governing nearly every aspect of our lives. I'm very excited to see how this class changes my life.
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