Anthropology's Ultimate Dichotomy: The Humanities and the Sciences.

So here is a part of one of the essays I wrote for my final. Most of it was pretty dense, but I thought some people might find bits of it entertaining so here is the Introduction and Conclusion.

 Archaeology has intrigued me since I was eight years old. Unsurprisingly this has led me into the wider field of Anthropology, it seemed the perfect fit for me because of how it combines the sciences and humanities. My father is a research physicist, thus it is unsurprising that I grew up with strong scientific modes of thought. In high school I took several math and science classes which I enjoyed but I also excelled in art, history, and literature. There was always underlying tension between the recognized value of the sciences versus the humanities. As I study Anthropology I have found this same underlying tension. Claude Levi-Strauss said that “Anthropology is, with music and mathematics, one of the few true vocations; and the anthropologist may become aware of it within himself before ever he has been taught it.” It is intriguing that he chose to mention both music and mathematics. These two disciplines are often viewed as completely opposite or even incompatible, which is just one line drawn in the sand that separates the humanities and the sciences. The question then, is whether Anthropology should be considered a hard science, or part of the humanities.
This conflict is deeply ingrained in Western culture, and anthropology as a child of the west (Pandian 13) is inexorably entrenched as well... The more I come to understand these dichotomies the more I see that they are more or less divided along the same lines as the sciences and humanities...

 Though there are a wide range of dichotomies in anthropology the one between the humanities and the sciences appears to be overarching. The paradigms inherent in these disciplines lead to, or at least encompass, the other debates. C. P. Snow in his article The Two Cultures addresses the almost impenetrable wall that has been built between the sciences and humanities, and although he recognizes the oversimplification of limiting it to two, he also explains that by doing so, it addresses the problem in a more direct fashion (Snow, 9). Hence, I have followed Snow in dividing anthropology into two camps. These two paradigms are considered incommensurable by some. This divisiveness threatens the effectiveness of anthropology as a whole. On the other hand Lett argues that science and the humanities can be complementary, and anthropology is a “humanistic science” (Lett 121). To be holistic, each individual anthropologist does not need to be an expert on every aspect of the field, indeed that would be impossible. Instead, to achieve holism it is necessary for Archaeologists, Linguists, Cultural, and Biological anthropologists from all different paradigms need to stop “crash[ing] in the night” (Harris). Communication between these groups is what we should work towards. In Robert Frost's poem, The Mending Wall, he writes of two farmers repairing a stone wall and their conversation about the need for the wall. “He is all pine and I am apple orchard./ My apple trees will never get across/ And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him./ He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'.” Although there is no logical reason for a wall, the one farmer insists repeatedly that “Good fences make good neighbors.” Perhaps, this is an attainable solution for anthropology. If the line is left drawn between the sciences and the humanities, then it can make good neighbours between the “Two Cultures”.
As I began to draft this paper I wanted to portray both sides fairly, not belittling science or the humanities. During the process I noticed myself almost unconsciously using words and phrases that reflected a stronger connection to the scientific paradigm. At first I fought against these tendencies because I felt that if I chose one side I would be unfair to the other. As I continued however, I decided that it is not wrong to choose a side, in fact therein lies the power. Excepting that the questions I ask and my way of looking at the world fits within the science of culture, gives me leeway to pursue the questions that can be answered by such a paradigm. Understanding the strengths of the humanities is helpful and reveals possible weaknesses of bias, but ultimately accepting my own scientific paradigm opens up the questions and answers that come with the rest of the baggage.  

(I warned you it was dense)

Summer Meanderings

Ahh. So I'm a slacker. I apologize two whole weeks without a post. Don't worry I will "repent, and change my ways." So I just finished up finals. Sometimes I miss having test finals, mostly I had papers due instead. But I'm done now. Hurrah! Which means I will have a whole summer filled with free time, and naps and getting everything done that I want. Haha. Not really. I have this bad habit of putting things off and then saying that I can do them all during the break (Spring Break/Summer/etc.). But there is just so much to do, the problem is I have a lot fewer deadlines. I work well with deadlines. So my plans for this summer are to do some cleaning, write a book, do some gardening, and some painting. And of course spending time with my family. Now I have written it down and have some accountability. Let us see how I do. Happy Summer all. Enough rambling.

Totems

I have heard that one definition of a totem is an animal that you have a connection with. Thinking about that is interesting to me because there have been several animals that I have called myself/pretended I was etc. So here are a few and some of the reasons why:

• Shrike: one of my computer/avatar names. I actually wrote a whole essay about why I choose the name shrike. Some of the reasons being a shrike is a tough, resourceful, little bird.
• Griffin: the mythical creature I would most like to be. I always liked the fierceness of the lion but with the freedom that wings would bring.
• Hedgehog: They just seem super cute. I want one. They are all prickly on the outside but cute and cuddly when you get to know them... I'm not exactly sure I would call myself cuddly, but still. I think I like skunks for similar reasons. (I have a beanie baby hedgehog named Prickles).
• Dog: When I was little I constantly played dogs/puppies. I was told my bark was quite convincing - maybe they were just being nice. I don't know very much about dogs but I have always preferred the bigger ones like dalmatians (because of 101 Dalmatians), Rottweilers (I like their markings), and labs. (I have quite a few stuffed animal dogs including Wonder, Floppy, Bones, and Glowie).
• Tiger: If I wasn't pretending I was a dog or a griffin I was a tiger, especially a white tiger. "Tiger tiger burning bright." Tigers are fierce, strong, mysterious loners. They have always been intriguing. (Sharrie is my orange tiger and Quittle is my white tiger).

Anyway, those are some of my favorite animals, and I think favorites often tell you something about yourself.... or maybe just what you want to be yourself. So now the question stands.... what is your favorite animals? or if you were an animagus what would you be?

Grass or Memorials

Grass

Carl Sandburg

Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.

Shovel them under and let me work -

I am the grass; I cover all.

And pile them high at Gettysburg

And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.

Shovel them under and let me work.

Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:

What place is this?

Where are we now?

I am the grass.

Let me work.

Today I walked past a small pavilion on campus where a young women was reading something. And no one was listening, we were all just walking on past. But I heard some of her somber words. She was listing off names, races and places of lynchings. Individuals killed for various reasons. Often charges of murder. And you know what I thought? You can judge me. Great another memorial for death and evil.

In High School during one of my English classes we read the poem above, and my teacher asked if we should put memorials up for all these places. I echo what I said then. If we look back far enough in time, probably every step we take is on a place where someone (or something) died. Someone cheated, someone lied. Lets not put a sign at every one of those places. I'm not saying that war memorials are bad, and we shouldn't have any, but sometimes, we dwell so much on the negative things in life that we don't let the grass grow. We don't let healing take place.

I mean really. How does it heal anyone to have someone read names to nobody about lynchings 100 years old?

Egg Traditions

Happy Easter.

Because of this Easter season I have been hearing about different Easter traditions recently.

• Easter baskets filled with toys, candy, or bread to be found in the morning.
• Easter egg hunt
• Decorating Easter eggs- crayons and dye/dye/natural dyes/yarn/stickers
• Huge dinners
• Eating something with hard boiled eggs- deviled eggs/creamed eggs on toast/potato salad/egg salad sandwiches
• Belief in the Easter bunny
• Rolling Easter Eggs down snow banks or sand dunes

Growing up we always decorated Easter Eggs. Usually we draw pictures on them with crayons (or cray-pas work better) and then dye them. We also always went on an Easter Egg Hunt. We had to go play in one area while our parents hid them. So much fun. And when we had the chance we rolled them.

I never remember believing in the Easter Bunny, having a big dinner, or getting Easter baskets (well maybe once). My favorite Easter Book was/is definitely The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Heyward.

Happy Easter, and I hope you enjoyed your own Easter traditions - all revolving around eggs apparently.

Types ofCreativity

I like being creative. Making order and beauty out of nothing. It makes me happy. The thing is, I think everyone is creative, not always in the way they paint, or scrapbook, but in the way they make dinner, or write a paper, or just the way they are. Me. I'm a make-it-do kind of creative. I like finding beauty in organizing the ordinary things around me. Although I do like painting and some of the more typical types of art. Here is one example.

Patience and Waiting

As the youngest of five, I often felt like I was left behind. Waiting. Because of some of those experiences in high school, I have wanted to write a story about waiting. Taking my fiction class has given me an opportunity to do so. I'm not going to put it here, (maybe later), but I just wanted to mention some of the important things about waiting.

Waiting seems to be a common lot of women. Throughout time, the nature of men and women and their roles often leads to men going off to war, or missions, or business trips, or even just daily work away from the home. While women are often left to dwell at home with a more limited sphere. I stand in awe at the patience, and the steadfast diligence of women who stay home and "hold down the fort." They see the days turn into years as they watch their "menfolk" do the "more exciting work." Again, where do these women gain the patience to stand still? Maybe that is why being quite inside is so important.