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                                           Anthropology: A Culture

                                          Reflective Initial Musings

  Anthropology like any field of interest (i.e. history, the law, politics, sports, or Star Trek) is a culture in itself. A prospective anthropologist needs to acclimate to and incorporate the mores, rules &/or structures, and values that make up the culture that is anthropology in order to function as a member. My experiences with Anthropology by the Wire has given me a better insight into the culture of anthropology and how it functions.

Something to remember

  When producing ethnographic media always make sure you have everything that you need to do the job (i.e. batteries, AC adapter, memory cards, etc.). Or you will have problems that will occur often when you don’t want them to happen. Like for  example I was recording the reaction(s) of our ambassador to the current edit(s) of the media that we had produced. After recording about three or so minutes of footage my camera flashed “card full” and stopped recording. I could have avoided the problem occurring if I had checked to see how much memory I had available on the memory card. Then I could have erased some of the content off the card to make space or secured extra memory card(s) so that I could just swap a fresh card with a full one.  

  Always know what you have and what you need to get any work done. It will help you avoid pitfalls like the one I experienced today.

Illness is a cultural construction

                                  - Dr. Collins, Towson University

The Utility of Poetry as a Format for a Sense(s) Ethnography (Initial Draft)

  Despite the output of poetry that I have posted on tumblr in the past I am not a proponent of poetry. But I do think that it could potentially useful as communicative format for a sense(s) ethnography.

  A sense(s) ethnography attempts to create an immersive experience for the reader by communicating a complex set of sensory information. In my previous experience in writing a sense(s) ethnograpy this information was communicated in what could be described as a short story or descriptive essay format. 

  I think that a sense(s) ethnography can be adequately done if written in a poetical format. Poetry has long been known for expressing thoughts, ideas, feelings, sensations, etc. to their readers. How well poetry is suited for a sense(s) ethnography is up to experimentation.