What really marked me during the talk was when Nadeem Aslam said ” when you smile to someone when you don’t feel like smiling is JIhad” I do not know if I am misinterpreting what he said but I do feel like this is the total opposite of the idea of Jihad that was
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Williams and Waldrop
Rosemarie Waldrop discusses Roger Williams’ work “A Key into the Language of America” and how it was used against Williams’ wishes and aided the European settler’s in invading and destroying Native American lands. He was clearly one of the very few people that were open to learning about Native American culture and language and preserving it rather than destroying it for economic benefit. She has some things in common with William’s including her place of residence, her skin color, and poetry but she is different in that she is female and while she was on the side of the losers in post war Nazi Germany she is now on the side of the winners, unlike Williams, who had it the other way around. I find it interesting that she calls attention to such comparisons and I like that her book discusses gender and conquering. I enjoyed her comparison of the conquered female archetype with the conquered Native American lands. I also found it very interesting that the Narragansett now look to William’s book to learn about their past and their lost language.
Response to speakers from Engleman Hall
I enjoyed the speakers very much. I love hearing from people with accents because I think that it makes you listen more closely and think harder about what the speakers are saying. I’m not sure if it was the sound system or the heavier accents on some of the speakers but I could not make out every word of what some of them had said. My favorite speaker was probably the one who needed a translator. I couldn’t understand a lot of what he spoke in English but I loved that he did it and I found his attempt at English more exciting than any other attempt I have ever heard. The way he spoke English was so exciting and different. Maybe he was just excited about what he was talking about. Either way I appreciated it very much.
I found Nadeem Aslam’s talk to be the most moving and I will never forget what he said about the meanings of Jihad. I have spoken to a few people about what he said about it sometimes meaning to smile at someone when you don’t feel like smiling. I love that he brought up the power of words in politics and the dangers that come with having such power. I’m glad he spoke about the lives that were lost in drone attacks and those responsible for them. I also like that he is not afraid to talk about these things and focuses on the importance of holding such power in the face of danger to seek the truth.
Hopi cultural objects Put out to Auction In Paris
Hi everyone,
On Friday, I was watching the news and this annoucement caught my attention. Since we talked about the Hopi language and culture in class I thought that you might find this interesting.
Despite the Hopi tribes’s demands and the U.S ambassdor to France efforts to discontinue the process, several Hopi masks were sold to a collector; the incident caused quite a stir. They raised about 752,000 Euros by selling these sacred Hopi objects collection. I first saw the news on tv5 Monde, and then I made some resaech and found one interesting article on Reuters. Apparently, even Robert Redford protested against the sales of these objects.
One of the most interesting things in this article is the collector’s comment : “One day I might give some back,” said the collector, who declined to be identified. “But if it had not been for collectors in the 19th century who contributed to the field of ethnology, there would be very little knowledge of the Hopi.
I would like to know what would an anthropologist make of that comment. on one part, we have the Hopi tribes perspective; they think that selling these object is abominable. On the other end, the collector’s perspective; he/she think that their efforts to collect such objects help with the study of the culture. What would be an anthropologist’s viewpoint. What do you guys think ?
There are many other interesting stuff that have been said in regards to the situation. I invite you all to read the article.
This is the link for the article.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/12/entertainment-us-france-masks-idUSBRE93B0AH20130412
Thank you
Stephanie Joseph
Dothraki Language
Being that tonight is the season premiere of HBO’s Game of Thrones, I thought I would share some information that I read on the internet. As one of my favorite shows that I look forward to watching, I particularly enjoy the language of Dothraki that is used in Essos as opposed to the English that is spoken in Westeros.
Thee language which professor has mentioned in our discussions a few times is actually quite a rich language, and not some made up words that sound alike.HBO hired expert language creator David J. Peterson from the Language Creation Society to develop the Dothraki language – “possessing its own unique sound, extensive vocabulary of more than 1,800 words and complex grammatical structure” – to be used in the series.
As of 21 September 2011, there were 3,163 created words in the lexicon, though far from all words are known to the public. However, there is a growing community of Dothraki language fans, with websites like “Learn Dothraki” offering information on the state of the language. Dothraki is now heard by more people each week than Yiddish, Navajo, Inuit, Basque, and Welsh combined!
“Lucky Girl”
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/guernica%20magazine
This is a related article that gives you a horrifying look at what life was like for people before Roe v Wade if you found the previous one interesting.
beyond pro-choice/war on drugs
http://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/roe-v-wade-at-forty-beyond-pro-choice/
Once we started talking about the “war on drugs/women” and pro-choice vs pro-life I remembered this article by Lynn Paltrow, in which she discussed the many links between the war on drugs and the war on women. I had been pretty aware of the statistics on Black/Latino men making up the majority of the U.S. prison system as a result of the war on drugs, marginalization, racial profiling and other injustices and I hear a lot of people talking about these issues, especially surrounding the legalization of marijuana in certain states and in the recent gun-law debates. I have also heard a lot of people refer to the current justice system as a “new slave system” and I know how corrupt the justice system can be towards anyone of a non-privileged background with some great connections but I never really imagined pregnant women suffering under this system as a result of not only drug laws but laws that completely undermine the civil rights of pregnant women and all women when it comes to birth-control. The statistics she mentions are frightening and she makes a lot of eye-opening points.
Seen on the bulletin board at Boston University, Feb. 22
Only one of these languages is taught at Baruch — Arabic –– but at Boston University students can study a wide variety of African languages. Not Sango, though!
Violence against women on tribal land
Here are two articles about the hardships native american women living on tribal land are facing in trying to report and prosecute their non-native attackers.
Memoir Starting Point
For my personal memoir experience I want to talk about my trip to israel, that was 2 years ago. The reason why this trip was so important to me was because it was the first time I was in another country by myself, without knowing anyone prior to my trip. It was an eye opening experience and opened me up to world that i only heard stories about. Just learning the way people communicate and get around was something i had to adjust to coming from America/