[GPC-ENGL] Essay 2, Comparing Computer Gamers and Online Students

Assignment:

Write an MLA-style comparison/contrast essay of no fewer than 1000 words, using instructor-provided research materials only. Thesis statement and draft plan must be pre-approved.by the instructor, but students are allowed creative flexibility with regard to approach and content on the assigned topic.

First paragraph is included here, followed by a link for the post-grademark version of the full essay.

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Level Up, Online Learners!

In 1986, Robert Fulghum wrote “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”, a book of short essays which point out core lessons for “success in life” that are routinely taught in the early years of grade school in present-day America. Interestingly enough, several research studies conclude that responsible participation in a group hobby, such as digital gaming, fosters and refines many of the principles discussed in Mr. Fulgham’s work. The hobbyist following these principals attains greater success in other areas of his or her life, instead of the oft’ lampooned one-way ticket to a dead-end job and life-long residence in a relative’s basement. While distance learning will never be considered the recreational fun that recess or hobby time may be, many lessons and skills learned from computer and console gaming, when applied alongside common sense and practical study habits, can help the earnest online student “power level” from Research Novice to iCollege Master.

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READ THE FULL ESSAY

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[GPC-ENGL] Technical Review of a Historically Important Speech

Assignment:

An exercise for evaluating effective writing techniques by providing a technical review of the "I Have a Dream" speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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This speech is not an attempt to sway opposing viewpoints. It is, instead, a vision statement and direct call to action for individuals already on board with the ideal of racial equality. This is a masterful piece of rhetoric, written to be delivered with all the passion and fire a Southern preacher can bring to pulpit. As I read through the speech again and again, I find myself even more deeply in awe of this work. I have always held the greatest respect for Dr. King’s message and feel that this work is the crowning achievement of his talent for inspirational speechwriting.

Verbal cues such as “fifty score years …” hearken directly to a famous speech made by the very man he lauds for ending slavery, a man popularly acknowledged as one of the country’s greatest statesmen. By using terminology and phrasings that echo Lincoln’s address, Dr. King psychologically lends to this speech the authority of that author and his vaunted political position.

Early in the speech, Dr. King calls to the hope of emancipation’s promise, and then dashes it soundly with words that paint a most desperate but highly generalized picture of situations “then” and “now”, thus giving listeners a rally point for the call for action that is to come. He sprinkles words associated with discomfort in places to bring forth the discontent that the listener should feel if they disagree with (at the time) current legal policies and uses concepts of light and water to reiterate concepts related to hope, faith, and burdens eased.

Dr. King states intent of the founding fathers as uncontestable fact, even though no man alive at the time the speech was written could have first-hand knowledge of the words bandied about during the drafting of our governing document. Stating the viewpoint in this way sets all further arguments on a foundation that can make opposition seem unduly unreasonable when attempting to present arguments for their interpretation. This is a very common tactic in political speech writing, and this use of it is remarkably well-phrased.

He uses big words, words that many people in his audience might not fully understand. This has the potential to alienate some listeners, as this is the language of the establishment, not of the common man. It is the manner in which Dr. King delivers his speech that keeps the listener personally invested. Not only does this lend additional authority to his delivery of this speech, it also provides a direct example of his corollary message of community improvement through self-improvement. It encourages trust from “the common man”; trust that Dr. King is educated and on-par with the people who can legislate the changes his audience would like to see.

He restates the plight in a way that the listening Everyman can easily relate to, starting with “bad checks” and cashing in on what is owed, continuing with the urgency of immediate action and attention, and following with a vision of negative consequence if the hoped for objective is ignored, even speaking of impending revolution if the call for national justice is overturned.

At this point in the speech, Dr. King turns from third person (“the Negro”) to mutual first person (“we” and “my people”). The speech is at a turning point as he takes the focus from what is owed to the greater community to what that self-same community must avoid if they wish to win the objective. He has stirred up the masses, empowered them with faith in his belief and their own effort, and now needs to remind them that the goal cannot be accomplished if they allow themselves to be provoked to violence. Dr. King is aware that his message faced heavy opposition and that the movement toward equality would be crushed outright if his listeners could not hold true to the idealized vision.

Three simple sentences within the book ends of “cannot”, “must”, “cannot” reiterate this point. Bookends, or the sandwiching technique, are another powerful tool in the hands of effective parents and political speechwriters alike. When properly used, this technique can drive home a speaker’s message as firmly as iron spikes into rail beds. He verbally demonstrates many activities that must become universally unacceptable if the end goal is to be achieved, situations that must be universally overcome. He solidifies the community by giving so many broad examples and gives his listeners further opportunity to relate to his message – to call it their own – by calling out state and city names, locations in which many of his listeners do business and live.

Dr. King then begins the part of this speech that thrills my word-loving soul. He uses another technique of reiteration (repeatedly starting sentences with the title phrase) to bind together his conceptualized victory conditions and to drive home the group unity of his listeners. Phrases become shorter as he delivers song quote and follows it up with another round of location identity. Vocal tone and strength are key here as he brings the speech to its climax.

He closes this brilliant work by restating the ideal, the message of tolerance and universal brotherhood and peaceful fellowship that stood as the hallmark of his life’s work. Dr. King grounds his closing by quoting another work of “victorious faith”, leaving his audience pumped up with positive feelings that should carry them forward in seeing the great work done.

Had Dr. King’s speech been a letter instead, it would likely not have as deep an impact. It would surely have been more conversational, more direct thought from one person to another instead of being a compilation of rhetoric and inspirational tools. It is appropriate to believe that the passion of his message – the deep belief he held and preached in the promise of this ideal – would shine through had it been “just” a letter, but the message delivered would likely be one much more personal, much more relevant to the situation of a single life, than the speech stands as given.

Had Dr. King’s speech been a magazine article intended for publication in that era of our country’s history, the message would surely have lost most, if not all, of its intended meaning. The message would have been diluted by the media prejudices and policies of the time, or parceled out in chunks to inflame or terrorize the “right-thinking” political majority.

On the morning the speech was given, I think Dr. King must have gone through and thought many of the things anyone else does on mornings of important presentations. Breakfasting with his wife and speaking fondly with his friends, checking his pockets to ensure that he had everything he would need – his speech notes, a sermon-delivering luck piece, etc. It gives me pause to think of this great man doing such ordinary things as asking Coretta, for the hundredth time, if his tie was on straight or to hurry with her hair so they would be on time. It lends a feeling of realism and poignancy to the impassioned crescendo delivery that just feels right for me.

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The only work directly referenced in this post is the audio and text copy of the speech at the instructor provided link (http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/Ihaveadream.htm). All conclusions and opinions regarding the technical qualities of this speech, as stated in this post, are entirely my own.

Thank you for your consideration of this review.

Sharon Yarbrough

Freshman, Georgia Perimeter College

[GPC-ENGL] Formal Introduction w/ Location Description

Our very first assignment for this course is to write a formal letter of introduction that gives information about our interests and career, as well as our educational goals. After the personal bits, we are to include a five-sense description of our immediate environment at the time our letter is written. The instructor's name and my student email address are omitted, for purposes that are likely obvious.

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Dear professor and classmates:

Good morning to you! My name is Sharon Yarbrough. I am a mother of four and a first-year, non-traditional student at Georgia Perimeter College. In support of my career goal of an active psychiatric practice, my educational goal is to earn a doctorate in Clinical and Behavioral Psychology with a course focus of mid-to-late childhood and early-teen development.

The company with whom I am currently employed is a prestigious mergers and acquisitions firm in north Metro Atlanta. My role as Executive Secretary to the President is both stressful and rewarding as I assist the various partners and principals of our company. Outside of corporate America, I work with several personal clients as a Small Business Consultant, specializing in artist website portfolios, copyediting/consumer testing/trade show marketing for the independent gaming industry, and the organization of NPO charity events and educational outreach endeavors.

This letter is written at a business office. My desk is on the first floor of our building, in the reception area and around the corner from the president’s office. The furniture in our foyer and reception area is all heavy, polished woods and cushiony stuffed leather. The walls that surround me are a soft golden shade with white molding, as yellow is the favorite color of our owner. On the walls are several pictures in gilt frames depicting various leisure activities of Victorian-era aristocracy. The pictures are serene, in sharp contrast to the “Go get ‘em!” hustle and bustle of our 9-to-5 office.

Sounds that come to me are the quiet and rhythmic ticking of a black and gold analog clock on the wall above my desk, the hum of our network printer in the copy room, and the sound of traffic as it passes on the busy street outside our office complex. From upstairs, I catch the hint of jovial laughter as brokers discuss an article they read online.

To my left is our main conference room and, on the far wall of that conference room, a tall window with open blinds. I observe through the window that the day is dim and the bushes are a lush late spring green. Their leaves move with a strong breeze, and it makes me crave to be outdoors, to feel and smell the fresh morning breeze, to have an open-air gazebo for an office instead of a closed building with only plastics and laminates under my fingertips and regrettably stale air to breathe. With a smile, I add that little gazebo to my mental checklist for an ideal office for my future practice and return, mood lightened, to the business tasks at hand.

I have enjoyed this exercise, and I look forward greatly to our future correspondence.

Sincerely,
Sharon Yarbrough
Freshman, Georgia Perimeter College

My Career Goal

In chatting with a very dear friend, this whole career goal thing really came together for me. I was able to distill it into the following:

A private practice as a Behaviorial and Clinical Psychiatrist with a focus in mid-to-late childhood and early teen development. (Or maybe just Psychologist if I decide I can't deal with the math/science it will take to dispense necessary drugs.)

My goal is to see if it's actually possible to instill functioning and permanent life skill, problem solving, and emotionally-balanced coping mechanisms during a life development period where it can become more "ingrained" instead of "habit learned".

Rather like a Life Coach kinda thing (as overhyped and faddish as that particular profession title currently is), but for kids, because my personal hypothesis is that if you can make it happen then, they will grow up to be more successful, more productive, and far less likely to put themselves through the angst and drama we've all been through.

My anthropology class this last term and what I've been dealing with personally is what rooted the goal for me. Mankind has done some truly horrible things over the aeons. That's not something that can be undone by any single Kid Psych Doc, but snowballs do become avalanches and it would be awfully nice to know I had even a tiny hand in actually making the world a better place.

[GPC-ANTH] Discussion Topic for Chapter 16 - Roadblocks to Global Sustainability

Discussion topic for Chapter16

What values and human cultural ideals stand in the way of rational decision making that would ensure the survival or sustainability of the world more or less as we know it today?

Student Response

The values and ideals most likely to prevent rational decision making regarding our future survival are those of ethnocentrism and the push for industrialized globalization. Nowhere is it more evident than in the way that developing countries are pushed to comply with “modern Western” agricultural practices, even in the face of scientific proof that those very methods deplete the land of its capability to produce food stuff of nutritive substance.

We, to mean world leaders and multinational megacorporations, require adherence to practices that leave the individual farmer (or herder) without a real increase in monetary wealth, as they are forced to adhere to ever-increasing demands for new equipment or chemicals so their product meets “industrialized standard”. These requirements are costly, often causing the farmer to have to go into debt to meet them or risk losing any subsidies they might be receiving.

Modern doesn’t always mean “better” in cases like this. Yes, we have immediate access to technological devices that allow us to communicate across the globe almost instantly. Yes, we have cars that allow us to work at further distances from our home. But do these things actually increase the quality of our lives in the long-term? Rarely, does the benefit outweigh the cost. We – in our superior modern lifestyles – pollute the atmosphere every time we get into that car to drive to that fast food joint to pick up convenience foods that pollute our bodies, the food having been raised on land that must be artificially made viable for renewable growth, with chemicals that pollute our water supply when it rains.

And that’s just one example. To achieve existence in harmony with our environment, we will need to put aside the belief (taught in childhood) that everything “modern” is better. We need to look to other cultures and to take a good hard look at our own, to determine how we can adapt toward a globalized culture without destroying the planet (and its peoples) in getting there.

[GPC-RSCH] Final Project - PPT on Count Dracula

Instructions for this project were to create a 5 (or more) slide presentation, to include: title slide; citations slide w/ properly formatted MLA; relevant and informative content; talking points; applied design; and animations, sounds, graphics, charts, &/or clip art. The choice to include something cite-worthy from a gaming sourcebook is entirely my own.

Here are the slides from the presentation:

TALKING POINTS for Slide #1

-- Thank the audience for being here

-- Introduce yourself, giving credentials for this topic

-- Tell the audience what this presentation is about

TALKING POINTS for Slide #2

- Vlad Dracul was an actual historical figure

- Drive home the utter brutality, giving examples of some of the tales.

- The methods he used were extreme, but not unheard of for that era. Contrast this to the Christian Inquisition.

- Vlad Dracul is considered a national hero of that region, due to the order and peace he established.

TALKING POINTS for Slide #3

-- Talk about Bram Stoker’s early years and how he overcame physical disability to play football (soccer) while at college.

-- Talk about his time with renowned actors and authors, and how his works may or may not have been influenced by them.

-- Talk about the places he lived and visited, and how these may have had an effect on several of his works.

-- Talk about his other works, giving super brief synopsis of those that relate to themes in Dracula.

-- Talk about the themes of this book – the epic adventure story, the sexual repression story, and the cultural superiority story

-- Talk about the acceptance and importance of this book in Victorian times (enforced prudence), vs now when so much media focus is on “supernatural = a-ok!”

TALKING POINTS for Slide #4

-- Talk about marketing practices, and how they influence the approval or disapproval of a concept, theme or idea

-- Talk about the sheer proliferation of Dracula/vampire/supernatural material available to today’s audiences and consumers

-- Talk about the themes of this story and how that translates directly into marketing numbers

-- Invite questions for brief discussion (as time permits)

TALKING POINTS for Slide #5

-- Thank the hosting body, graciously, for having invited you to speak on a topic you love.

-- Thank the audience AGAIN for their time and attention (and wonderful dialog on your topic, as time permitted)

-- Tell where you will be after the session for any audience members that wish to continue today’s conversation on the topic.

[GPC-ANTH] Discussion Topic for Chapter 14 - Spirituality & Religion in Art

Discussion topic for Chapter 14
Reflecting back on the three topics in Chapter 13 , "Spirituality, Religion and the Supernatural", give at least three examples of art forms that are connected to these three topics.

Student Response
Tribal masks hung as wall art, marble statuary, jewelry made from precious metals and gemstones, and song. Each of these is an example of paranormal tradition that that have gained social acceptance in the realm of modern-world art consumers.

Masks are used in many cultures for a variety of reasons. From the Kabuki masks and Dragon masks of Ancient China and Japan, to the tribal masks of African or American natives, each has a purposed based in the spiritual practices of its people. Some are intended to provoke a fear response in enemies, or to invoke spirit beings that will stand as guardian to the forces being faced. They are believed, within their society, to be symbolic of great power. As art, they are hung in homes or businesses to enhance appearance of the property – chosen for color scheme or placed with other masks in an arrangement that is aesthetically pleasing but with little or no regard to the notion of spirits invoked.

In several areas of Europe, it was common practice for families to have small representations of the god(s) they worshipped. They would care for these idols or make offerings to them in worship, believing that their gods would grant them protection or succor, in return for their devotion. As Christianity spread throughout the land, church leaders would commission representations of their “saints”. These saints, in an effort by the church to subsume the “heathen” relations, often bore physical or aspect relation to the local deities they were replacing, to make forced conversion to the state religion more palatable. These statues were housed in the church building, as a way to encourage attendance (so the common man could still worship what was familiar but would hear about them within context of the priest’s sermons). Today, museums fight for the privilege of housing pieces created by the renowned artisans of that period, seeking to educate the public on both the craftsmanship involved and the politics surrounding each piece.

Jewelry has been worn throughout recorded history by religious and occult practitioners. Similar to the belief regarding masks, they believe that certain metals and gems hold supernatural properties, and that wearing them on the body can allow that person to access or benefit from those properties. One needs look no further than your local drug store (copper or magnetic bracelets) or night club (ankhs and crosses) or for examples of the wide-scale acceptance as art form of this supernatural practice.

Song crosses the boundaries of all three – whether chants, melodies, or wordless tunes. It allows people, individually or as a group, to express their feelings on these topics in a way that connects powerfully for them on a personal level. In popular culture today, this tradition has been commercialized to the point that production values and revenue generation are (unfortunately) more often important than any message the artist might be trying to communicate through song.

[GPC-ANTH] Magazine Article Review

Extra Credit #5, Summary and Review of the Delta Sky Magazine article on Jane Goodall and Earth Day Activism

The cover article for the April 2010 issue of Delta Sky Magazine starts with an overview of the origins of Earth Day and goes on to spotlight activities and outlooks of some of the most well-known ecological activists in our modern world. In addition to Ms. Jane Goodall, the article also features sections on Robert Redford, Shai Agassi, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Ted Danson, Dr. M. Sanjavan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and a page of Full Disclosure statistics on “the challenges facing our land, air, and water” today.

The information on Ms. Goodall shows that she is far more than “just a monkey lady”, talking about her work as an author of several books and in founding both the TACARE and the Roots and Shoots conservationist and ecological awareness programs. It talks of other accomplishments of hers, such as being the only known invited speaker to North Korea to not have it required that their speech be pre-audited for approval and of the informal honorific title of “eco-warrior” she has earned due to her dedication in this arena. Though the article speaks of her being flattered by the sentiment, it also offers her counterpoint message as one of hope in education and socially instinctive activism by all, rather than one of violence.

In highlighting the other ecology activists – scientists, celebrities, artists, among others - this article demonstrates that they are people of passion, compassion, and action. It tells of the organizations they have helped found or to whom they belong, that are making a very real impact on ecology legislation and world-wide conservation practices. Website addresses are provided for these organizations, so readers who are interested in preserving our natural resources have a place to start.

The page on Dr. Sanjavan and the final page of the article were, for me, perhaps the most enlightening as a call to action. Solid facts are presented about the way we, as a society, contribute to the depletion of our natural resources and the steps we can take – today – to slow the impending ecological and societal crises we face if our habits do not change.

On a side note … the article came up in the circulating title spot of the provided link, offering to show us some pictures of this amazing lady before moving on to the scanned pages of the magazine, itself. In reading through the image captions for “Behind the Scenes of the Photo Shoot”, it really drove home for me how much of life in our society is staged for palatable perfection. Her work is so critical to our understanding of so many things about our way of life and how it evolved that, I guess, it saddens me to realize that, in a cover article for Earth Day, they chose to showcase her in a falsified mock-up rather than in an actual botanical setting.

[GPC-ANTH] Discussion Topic for Chapter 12 - Politics in Egalitarian Societies

Discussion topic for Chapter12
Given the basic definition of politics presented in the beginning of this chapter, why do you think that power in egalitarian societies plays a relatively insignificant role?

Student Response

The term political organization is defined in our textbook as “The way power is distributed and embedded in society; the means through which a society creates and maintains social order.” Power, as it relates to politics and societies, is defined as “the ability of individuals or groups to impose their will upon others and make them do things even against their own wants or wishes”.

In societies where individuals are regarded as more-or-less equal in social stature, there is a tendency to dilute political power bases to prevent instances of real or perceived oppression. We are given choice in where we live, and the type of work we do, even the manner in which we voice disapproval of our government’s actions on our behalf. Almost every aspect of life in an egalitarian society is held to be a right of the individual, not just a privilege. We grant a measure of power to some members of society, but we hold tight to that grant, never letting them forget that we are just as happy to take it away (whether through bureaucratic legalities or social defamation) if they fail in their responsibility to our shared trust.

This is not the case in stratified societies. In societies where the cultural structure is rigidly defined, however, those in positions of power do not allow dispute of that authority. State-sanctioned prosecution, restriction of personal rights, confiscation of wealth or lands – even death – are what await individuals that find public fault with the system or who seek to step outside their social boundaries.

There is a movie in which a group of Grasshoppers hold social power over a nest of Ants. The grasshoppers are not part of the ant’s governing body but, because they are seen as bigger, stronger, and are willing to inflict brutalities upon ants to get their way, they are able to dictate the social order on the island where both “tribes” live. During a crucial scene, there is a speech by the leader of the band of political bullies. The words he speaks are absolutely chilling in their clarity of vision regarding the real world politics of various cultures today.

“You let one ant stand up to us, then they all might stand up! Those puny little ants outnumber us a hundred to one and if they ever figure that out there goes our way of life! It's not about food, it's about keeping those ants in line. That's why we're going back! Does anybody else wanna stay? … Let's ride!”
--- “Hopper”, A Bug's Life

This sentiment is a key marker of political oppression. Power is held by a few, through violence most often-supported by religion or legislation. This type of oppression is less likely to occur in egalitarian societies because of the people’s general refusal to live life under others’ terms.

[GPC-ANTH] Discussion Topic for Chapter 10 - Honor Killings

Discussion topic for Chapter 10
Why did Honor Killing fit into the culture of some cultures as they emerged? Although the original conditions do not continue to exist, why does Honor Killing continue?

Student Response
Property rights and restitution. That is what it all boils down to.

Oftentimes in strictly traditional patrilineal societies, women are valued as property first and as thinking human beings second. They are a resource belonging to the family, rather than an individual with her own rights and privileges. It is a viewpoint that is strange to our modern Western society, but within that culture, it has come to be the norm.

Overall, people take offense when something they treasure is threatened or destroyed. Throughout recorded history there have been a vast range of small- and large-scale socio-political conflicts that, in essence, boil down to “he touched my stuff”. Each society, over time, develops some sort of conflict resolution system to ensure that the party wronged has a chance to recoup what was lost, gauging the punishment to the perceived severity of social infraction within that culture.

In the United States, where we truly do enjoy our materialist ways but do not (on the whole) believe theft or defamation to be a killing offense, this involves arrest and conviction for criminal violation with victims hoping for (eventual) financial restitution. In some parts of the world, we find in place various systems of indentured servitude or slavery for criminals that breach their culture’s property code. And in many countries of the Mideast, there is the custom of Honor Killings.

If you take a resource belonging to a man, you are saying, in essence, that he is too weak to protect that resource for use by his family; that the resources through which he provides for his family are outside the scope of his management. You impugn his very role within his society. In cultures where Honor Killings are the custom, that insult must be answered in a way that proves to the community that he is capable of taking care of his property and responsibility. By publicly eliminating the offender and the tainted resource from the gene pool, it makes a very clear statement that he is more than capable of managing his family’s affairs.

A friend joked with me when I told her of this assignment, likening some of our country’s entertainment habits to this practice. We laughed about the thought of an appearance on Jerry Springer as an Honor Killing, but these two things do share many of the same characteristics: Ritualism (care of the weapon and manner of execution for HKs, and time of day and formulaic scripting of the situation on TV), Public Viewing of the execution, and Death of the offender/Vindication of the Offended (physical death, and social death).

It was in interesting parallel to consider, and leaves me with the thought that our own society is not so far removed from “barbarism” as we might like ourselves to believe.

[GPC-ANTH] Discussion Topic for Chapter 8 - Anthropology & Economic Globalization

Discussion topic for Chapter 8
What is the contribution of anthropology to understanding and implementing economic globalization?


Student Response
Anthropology allows us to understand the context of an economy system against the backdrop of the culture that practices it, regardless of the commodity’s worth or trade values as perceived by external cultures.

When we look at the marketing practices of indigenous peoples or hunter-gather societies, we are tempted to think of them “wasting time trading worthless junk” when we may not understand the cultural significance or ecological value a given item may have. We perceive it only within the context of our own economy, as that is the sum of our own experience. Anthropology strips that away, however, by giving us the how and the why of individual systems, on their own merits.

In forcing us to take a step back to observe the transactions that are taking place at and below the surface, we can gain a better understanding of the things held dear to any given society. In rooting down to the underlying reasons for their practices, we can see that “primitive” economies are often more inclusive of the society’s customs and needs than our own “sophisticated” system of trading bits of paper and metal for everything else.

In these other culturally supporting economic systems, we see the significance placed on familial relations – as in the case of banana leaf bundles and yam banks of the Trobriands, where it boils down to the man supporting his wife’s need for funereal payments within the greater group. Or the importance of good relations between labor or regional groups – as seen in the tradition of pots of millet beer shared by workers at the end of a day in East Africa or in the giving and receiving of soulava and mwali in the Kuli Ring of the South Pacific.

Though it seems strange to us – in our modern world of political gift giving and funding life via credit – these systems work to keep their society stable. Without the work of anthropologists dedicated to supporting the integrity of these oh-so-different cultures, there could be another push to eradicate their systems in the name of “global progress”, as occurred during the previous era of colonialisation.

[GPC-ANTH] Discussion Topic for Chapter 6 - Gender, as a Cultural Construct

Discussion topic for Chapter 6
Margaret Mead's cross-cultural research on gender relations suggests that male dominance is a cultural construct and, consequently, that alternative gender arrangements can be created. Looking at your grandparents, parents, and siblings, do you see any changes in your own family? What about your own community? Do you think such changes are positive?

Student Response

Changes in socio-cultural trending are such a tricky thing to define when the society being asked about is in the middle of the change. Trends, and changes within those trends, occur on all levels – seeming simultaneous and at odds with itself all at once.

“Women are knocking holes in the glass ceiling and coming through.” “Men are letting women take their rightful place as equals in the workforce.” These are the sort of things we hear on the news all the time. Words are pretty, but they speak of a deeper reality for our current culture. The underlying tone of these words is all too often silently interpreted as, “If you were supposed to be here, the ceiling wouldn’t exist” and “the only reason you’re standing where you are is because we LET you stand here”. I see evidence of this every day in watching the businessmen and women with whom I interact. The glances they give when backs are turned and the things they say when they feel they are unobserved tell such a vastly different story than the sugar-coated future-as-now hope our media would like us to believe.

We live the change in several areas of our personal lives – matriarchal dominance of extended family units in various ethnic groupings, fathers choosing to become the primary caregiver in select suburban families – but we, as a society, do not support it in our entertainment or in our self-governance. Even the words of other students on this topic show that we are still closed-off from accepting gender equality on a societal level. For example: the idea that a mother’s love is somehow more pure or beneficial than the love a father could give. Direct nutrition? Yes, only a biological female can supply that, but parents of both sexes are capable of cultural nurturing.

We want change because we can logically see it as beneficial to our society as a whole, just as our society would benefit from an acceptance that “race” does not scientifically exist, but we have yet to embrace that change so it becomes an intrinsic part of our daily lives.

[GPC-ANTH] Discussion Topic for Chapter 4 - Race, as a Cultural Construct

Discussion topic for Chapter 4
How is the concept of "race" a cultural construct and why do we still hear the term used?


Student Response
From our textbook, the term race is scientifically and anthropologically defined as follows: “In biology, a subgroup within a species, not scientifically applicable to humans because there exist no subspecies within modern Homo sapiens.”

The concept of “race” as we have come to understand it is a cultural construct rather than a scientifically-supported biological one. Renaissance and Industrial era researchers tried to understand and classify the world in which we live. They assigned racial delineations according to the accepted scientific methods of the time – most often (and now we know, incorrectly) assigning racially defining categories based simply on where a people lived or the single differentiator of skin color. As science progressed as a formal educational discipline, it became clear that we are all part of the same species and genus, and that no true variant subspecies exist within our shared biological classification.

As has been common practice throughout recorded history, politicians and religious leaders used these classifications to benefit their needs, encouraging the acceptance of these classifications as a way of reinforcing ethnic superiority of their own culture over that of societies and cultures that possessed resources they desired. Just as ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians, American natives on both continents, and African tribal leaders dealt in slavery of their own and surrounding peoples, so too did the Western Europeans use “the inferiority of savage races” to justify these practices as colonial expansion brought them to the “New World”.

Unfortunately, we will continue to hear this term incorrectly used as long as it is politically expedient for our governmental and societal leaders, worldwide, to exploit language for their political and monetary needs.

[GPC-ANTH] Discussion Topic for Chapter 2 - Ethnocentrism

Discussion topic for Chapter 2

Although all cultures across the world display some degree of ethnocentrism, some are more ethnocentric than others. In what ways is your own society ethnocentric? Considering the modern fact of globalization (as described in Chapter 1) do you think ethnocentrism poses more of a problem in today's world than in the past?

Student Response

American society is ethnocentric in several ways, each more so as scope of consideration is reduced by practical societal level – national, statewide, community, etc. We proclaim ourselves as a nation of outcasts and visionaries that carved life out of the hard wilderness to create a place we could embrace life on our own terms. (Yes, there is far more to it than that. This is purposeful condensation of that reality for sake of conversational brevity.) We are loudly proud that we are a great melting pot, a nation that welcomes all and holds no one person greater than another.

But we do.

There is an underlying “Us, not Them” mentality that pervades American social structures– a taught belief that everything we do and produce is better – our military, our cars, our sports teams and political structures. There is a bias perpetuated against other people by those attempting to justify their place in the hierarchy. The term “foreigner” has become a curse word, of sorts, in some parts of the country, used to belittle or cast aspersions on a “blame group”, to set them apart as somehow inferior or incapable, rather than as a simple statement of “from somewhere else”.

Our ethnocentrism also manifests negatively as racial tensions among groups of people, regardless of economic standing or residential locale This ethnocentric bias breaks apart on the smallest societal level where individuals actually are in close proximity and work together one-on-one. It is only on the larger scale where it becomes an effective weapon in the hands of charismatic individuals.

Our national and racial “home team” attitudes pose a legitimate threat to our participation in a global society. We can say all we like that we have overcome differences, that we’ve “grown-up” and “learned lessons” from our sometimes violent national history. Nevertheless, our actions as we treat with each other speak louder than our words ever will. You cannot keep a man’s trust – nor make globally beneficial progress – if you offer him a beer in one hand while penning a curse of his heritage with the other.