Global Encounters: Comparing Values and Worldviews Cross-Culturally Anthropology 185 African-American Studies 185

Who am I? n John Burdick (Anthropology department) n My office: 404C Maxwell Hall n My office phone: My office hours: Mondays and Wednesdays, 1:30-3:00 pm and BY APPOINTMENT My office hours: Mondays and Wednesdays, 1:30-3:00 pm and BY APPOINTMENT

Who are the Teaching Assistants for ANT 185? n Sefla Fuhrman (sections #2 and #4) n Steve Viscelli (sections #8 and #10) n Keerthana Bidappa (sections #5 and #7) n Susan Parulekar (section #3) n Sam Spiers (sections #6 and #11)

How can you get the course reader, text, and syllabus? n Reader –Number 5563, At Campus Copy (Marshall Square Mall) n Text –Ann Fadiman, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, get at Follett’s Orange Bookstore (Marshall Square Mall) n Syllabus –Where to get syllabus on Web: –

Why take this course? n Reason 1: You want to learn about cultures that are different from your own

But wait: what’s “culture”? n Culture: the values, practices, and worldviews that are learned by people as members of specific social groups.

Example: Hmong culture includes:  Believing in the healing power of shamans  placing a strong value on extended families  weaving textiles that tell the story of their exodus from China to Laos  speaking a Hmong dialect  having one of 18 last names

In this class you will learn about values and worldviews of n Hmong –shamanism and healing –courtship and dating n Japan –the elderly n East African societies –female circumcision n Navajo (Dine) –Land and the sacred

How will we do this? By trying to get closer to the “insider’s point of view”: n Real-life cases n First-person accounts n Fiction written by insiders n Films/documentaries n Ethnography n Throughout: comparison with your own values and worldviews

Reason 2 for taking this course: Learn how culture changes and resists change n For example: n how the dating practices of young people in the Hmong community in the US are changing while shamanism remains strong n The impact of international women’s movement in female circumcision: reduction and revival

Reason 3: Apply what you have learned to real-life issues n What are the possible consequences of a biomedical doctor’s ignorance of a patient’s non-biomedical explanation of her disease? n What are appropriate responses to female circumcision in the US? n What are the effects on the Navajo of current US policy relocating them from their ancestral lands? What alternatives are there?

What we expect from you n READ THE SYLLABUS!! n 4 “segment” papers –topics handed out and posted at start of each segment: first ones this Wednesday) n Come to lectures and films

What we expect (cont.) n Do reading (pop quizzes) –reading guides handed out and posted each Wednesday n Attend and participate in sections –You must start this week! –Make-ups for Labor Day sections announced this Wed. n “Deepen the Topic” paper –Guide-line passed out in 2-3 weeks

The 5 minute rule n I try to leave 5 minutes open at end of each lecture n What you should do during that time –Ask questions –Listen, take notes