So who else here has interests in other aspects of anthropology besides me? What are those interests?
I love anything to do with the studies of other cultures. I have a preference for cultural anthropology, but I like some aspects of the physical as well, and I'm fascinated with how they can each be used to study the other. My minor in college (until I realized I wouldn't graduate on time with it and switched from a b.s. to a b.a.) was anthropology. Despite my strong interest in the cultural studies, my favorite class had to be forensic anthropology. The professor was great (btw, he was one of the students who was studying at UT when the body farm was started), and the class was fascinating. Who knew I would actually be intrigued watching a slideshow of an autopsy?
I also have a great love for folklore. I love myths, legends, and fairy tales of all types. They frequently find their way into my storytelling repertoire. My favorite story to tell, in fact is "Mr. Fox." What I love about that story is that it's timeless. It's every bit as creepy and gory for audiences today as it was several hundred years ago.
I love anything to do with the studies of other cultures. I have a preference for cultural anthropology, but I like some aspects of the physical as well, and I'm fascinated with how they can each be used to study the other. My minor in college (until I realized I wouldn't graduate on time with it and switched from a b.s. to a b.a.) was anthropology. Despite my strong interest in the cultural studies, my favorite class had to be forensic anthropology. The professor was great (btw, he was one of the students who was studying at UT when the body farm was started), and the class was fascinating. Who knew I would actually be intrigued watching a slideshow of an autopsy?
I also have a great love for folklore. I love myths, legends, and fairy tales of all types. They frequently find their way into my storytelling repertoire. My favorite story to tell, in fact is "Mr. Fox." What I love about that story is that it's timeless. It's every bit as creepy and gory for audiences today as it was several hundred years ago.
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Nashville
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Thu, December 21, 2006 - 8:18 PMI share your passion for studies of other cultures. I too enjoy folklore, myths, legends, fairy tales... and also folk music, folk clothing, folk dancing, etc. It seems that the more I learn, the more I want to know.
I've always also been fascinated by ancient cultures. Whether it's the cultures of Sumer, Babylon, Etruria, Egypt, the Maya, the Inca, the Aztec - they all intrigue me. -
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Sat, December 23, 2006 - 6:48 PMI guess I should clarify, I've never had even one class in my entire life on anthropology, mythology, or related subjects. I love the topics, but everything I know came from independent reading over the years, not from coursework.
So I couldn't call myself an anthropologist, I just call myself someone who finds the topic very interesting! <smile> May I still hang out with the rest of you? -
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Sat, December 23, 2006 - 7:35 PMLol...well, I wouldn't call myself an anthropologist either. I took a few classes in college, and I watch a few too many documentaries, but that's it. I insist you still hang out! :)
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Fri, December 22, 2006 - 6:30 AMI'm an archaeologist, so if I was American then yes.....but I'm British, so not quite. In the US Archaeology is a subdiscepline of anthropology, while in the UK it's a subject in it's own right most closely alligned with history. That said we do still study a little bit of social anthropology, much like we also study sociology, politics and philososphy as they are all used in archaeological theory. I have also studied a lot of physical anthropology too. The degree system is different in the UK as well, it's more specific. If you do a degree in a subject that's all you study for your degree, rather than doing a general degree and then looking more closely at one or two things. I have an archaeology degree so I spent 3 years studying archaeoology and things related to it.
I have an MSc in forensic archaeology and have just finished teaching a course on forensics too.
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Fri, December 22, 2006 - 9:08 AMSpeaking of anthropology and cultural studies, Diana, have you read the book Guests of the Sheik by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea? -
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Fri, December 22, 2006 - 10:55 AMNo, I haven't. I don't get as much chance to read as I used to between classes and storytelling stuff. I've been working on Eragon for two weeks no, and I'm only halfway through. :)
How is it? -
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Fri, December 22, 2006 - 11:00 AM:) Or I could read you review of it...lol.
I wonder if the MTSU library would have it? Surely, since they've got a Middle Eastern Studies department now. I'm seriously considering returning to school (need to put in my app ASAP) and may pick up where I left off in Anthropology when I do and take the Arabic class as an elective.
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Sun, November 25, 2007 - 11:37 AMI LOVE that book!!!! As an anthropologist, and a feminist anthropologist at that, I HIGHLY recommend that book. I absolutely love how Fernea came to be "Guests of the Sheik." I won't give it away and now that I'm thinking of it, can't remember if the description is in the introduction or if the story was told to me by my undergraduate professor who is friends with her. Either way, its a wonderful ethnography and well worth reading , most especially if you're a female anthropologist considering entering into field work. And for what it's worth, Diana and Shira, you both make excellent anthropologists. :-)
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Fri, February 1, 2008 - 7:31 PMLOVE that book! I couldn't believe my luck when I found it on the "dollar rack" at a local bookstore, since it was already on the long "books I AM going to get eventually" list. Fernea is so approachable and everyday about how she describes things, but the book is PACKED with information and amazing detail. I read it the first time in an evening, but the next time I took a whole week to relish that little paperback!
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Fri, December 22, 2006 - 12:17 PMOh, I'm no anthro. I just fake it, a lot. :)
I'm really more a psychology/sociology person who peeks into other cultures, intrigued by the inter-connections between them, at least these days. As a Historical Re-Creationist, I'm also a amateur historian, as well...so I keep circling around anthropology, but never seem to land right on it... -
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Sat, December 23, 2006 - 8:46 AMI am similar in that respect. Although I studied anthropology in college, and I really enjoyed it, I was more fascinated by sociology.
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Sat, December 23, 2006 - 9:41 AMThankfully - it's my job :)
I am a cultural anthropologist who specializes in how technological changes are integrated into society and in ongoing cultural change and drift. I do a fair bit of linguistics and am currently working as as an educational anthropologist researching the internal impacts of education. I loved physical anthro and archaeology, but ended up moving more into cultural during my MA.
All folklore and cultural transmission forms are very interesting to me - so that includes dance, mythology, oral history, and these days, even internet memes ;)
Glad to see there are so many folks here interested in the cultural heritages around us :)
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Tue, May 8, 2007 - 6:47 AMI love both antropology and archaeology (though I admit to a rather romanticized vision of archaeology). I think what interests me the most is the influence one culture can have upon another and how far back those ties go. I sometimes wonder if we can trace it back (or even push it forward) to one point in time or one "culture."
But that's almost philosphy. LOL. -
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Tue, May 8, 2007 - 8:46 PMI'm an editor/writer at a university, where I get to interview and live vicarously through the teaching and research of others. A bellydancing friend of mine is studying cultural anthropology so I'm now sharing in her experiences. We've been finding all kinds of multicultural experiences here lately and have been having a blast - from attending the Saturday services of a conservative Jewish synogogue to going to an Eastern Star tea to touring an orthodox church.
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Wed, May 9, 2007 - 3:01 PMComparative physiologies basically. Especially how cultural performative practices and artifacts (like reading, writing, music) shape psychology and neurophysiology.
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Wed, May 9, 2007 - 8:00 PMI'm a biological anthropologist, though I had a pretty well-rounded education - my school didn't have a BS or MS program, just BA and MA, and we were required to study all three disciplines (bio anth, archaeology, and cultural anthropology.)
So I like dead folks, and I love reading ethnographies of the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, and places nearby. Elizabeth Warnock Fernea is one of my heroes.
I left grad school ABT and don't work in my field, but I'm glad I learned everything I did in school. Having a strong background in cultural anthropology makes me, I think, a more interesting and effective teacher of ethnic dances. And I have vast, vast amounts of trivia stored in my brain. And I can read and actually enjoy late 19th/early 20th century British texts.
I can also argue loudly with some aspects of the TV show Bones, though the main character is WAY too much like me (funky ethnic jewelry, geeky brain, extreme ignorance of cultural mores.) :-P
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Sun, September 30, 2007 - 6:17 AMHello, I'm not in all interested in the anthropological aspect of the origin of belly dance, but yes in his history. I have some theories of the origin, and it explains why belly dance, for example, is very seemed to the hula polynesian dances.
Sorry for my bad english, I'm from Spain, but I hope that you understand minimally me X|
I'm an Ancient History Student, and if I have another information, I will put here, as the same way as my actual theories
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Mon, October 1, 2007 - 7:57 AMI share all of these interests with you. I mostly like Historical anthropolgy ande learning about religion/belief systems. :)
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Tue, October 2, 2007 - 10:33 AMI'm also starting out with my anthropology mayor with a minor is sociology. I guess one could say i'm interested in social anthropology.
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Re: Anthorpologically inclined?
Fri, February 1, 2008 - 11:20 AMI'm a PhD student in anthropology. I have a background in all of the "four fields" and describe myself as a biocultural anthropologist, and I mainly look at health and disease/disability/death, from a variety of angles from demography to paleopathology to more culturally-oriented stuff among the living. :)
I've had a really hard time specializing, because I love so many different things about all the fields. But I've narrowed myself down to health issues somewhere between the physical and the social.
Bellydance is incredibly interesting anthropologically, and I wish more anthropologists were writing about it.
