I’ll admit, after two weeks of contentment in Korea, my imagination had toyed with the tantalizing idea of dropping grad school and teaching English online from Korea. Well, actually, I toyed with the slightly more terrifying idea that I might end up doing a PhD in a Korean university (of all the things I love about the country, their work culture is not one of them).
My point is that it was not with the most excitement that I began my 30 hour journey back to the US. But classes were two days away and I had spent enough time skirting meetings and requests from my supervisor.
Three jet-lagged days later and I find myself back on campus, reminded once more that there is nowhere I would rather be than on a university. It really is rather impressive how easily I forget.
Why I’m Taking an Anthropology Class
I just got out of Ecological Anthropology. Yes, anthropology. For those of you who follow along this blog, you’ll know that I’m not an anthropologist. I’m an ecologist, a bird researcher. Yet, ever since undergrad, exposing myself to different perspectives and ways of thinking has been a priority. That’s actually the reason this blog exists in the first place–and the reason there is actually poetry on here. It was an assignment from one of my English classes.
I think maybe my transdisciplinary tendency comes from speaking three languages as a child. Language is so inextricably tied to culture that I suppose I’ve had three different lenses to view the world from since I can remember. And the more lenses I can look through, the better. And so, I venture into this semester determined to don the anthropology lens. I will take a look at ecology, something I am deeply familiar with, but through the lens of a completely different discipline.
Research on Bees = Research on Politics?
My expectations were quickly rewarded upon meeting a fellow classmate. His work revolves around honeybees in Malta, but rather than focusing on their biology or behavior he focuses on the relationship of all the human stakeholders. He cited an uproar caused by non-native honeybees on a farm. What if the non-native’s breed with the endemics/natives?? This is a basic concern in conservation. I nodded as though someone had told me there was lead in baby formula. But my classmate’s assessment made me pause.
Look at the parallels with human politics. He said. The parallels of immigrants, human immigrants, and the “native” population’s fear that there will be interbreeding.
Huh.
Already something to reflect upon.
My Reservations with the Class…
But having one interesting classmate didn’t fully extinguish the niggle of worry that this would be just another non-critical-thinking class that has us parrot weird, brainwashy ideologies that hate our own country and force you into boxes of race. I have found these ideologies force-fed to me in both undergrad and graduate school. People can think what they want, but an ideology that does not allow questioning in automatically a red flag. I was worried I would find more of this in an anthropology class.
A Professor I can Respect
I am writing today with relief and excitement. It’s only been the first class, but I can already tell this will be a well-rounded, discussion-filled space. And beyond my expectations, the professor set up an assignment specifically with the purpose of counteracting what I have been horrified to find among my fellow graduate students, the taught reflex to immediately take offense at an idea and never dive deeper. He calls the exercise a precís.
“What is a precís?” I venture into the room of ten. I’m grateful that early in the class he’s given permission to ask basic questions. In grad school, he had said, you master the art of hearing an unfamiliar turn and just going mmm. He nods his head up and down, lips pressed together in a semblance of serious understanding. I know the expression well. It’s a nod I have mastered since middle school at every reference to celebrities I had no interest in.
I might have been tempted to make such a nod now had it not been for the fact that this precís, whatever that was, was due weekly and was a significant portion of the grade.
“I have chosen this term,” the professor answers, “Because I do not wish to have a response or a summary.”
The precís was not an exercise of responding with feelings–why we are offended or how–nor was it proof that you read it. Rather, it was a breakdown of the argument. Who is the author? How might their background influence their beliefs? What is the makeup of the argument?
“You need to be able to distill the argument–yes, even if you do not agree, even if it is a downright evil argument.”
He immediately has my full respect.
I’m Looking forward to the Rest of this Semester
The class seems challenging. For the first time since I started grad school in January, I feel motivated to put some effort in. They say if you want something done, you should ask a busy person. A similar thought applies here. If you want a student to engage, you should challenge them. I approach this class with the crooked grin of a driver brining his racecar to the starting line, engine rumbling and helmet on. I’m ready.
I can’t say I’m approaching my other classes with quite the same excitement. A certain class gave me a handout on how to read a scientific paper, freshman level stuff…but as this is the internet, I shall leave it at that.
Anyways, I’m off to read Parable of the Sower. A sci-fi novel that’s our first reading for my anthropology class. Why a sci-fi novel? In the words of the professor that I grow to respect more and more, because we can.
Bird Lover's Musings 