NT Week in Review Vol. I, Issue 2 Welcome to the second issue of NT Week in Review. This is the first full week of reviews so we have plenty of blog posts and news stories to discuss. Enjoy! From…

The only thing my school offers is “Sociology with an Emphasis in Anthropology”, and they have a really sad selection of anthro classes.

It not an especial confidence in myself that motivated me to comment, but the desire not to be misrepresented!

As for challenging professors… I have spent the whole year having it drummed into me by my director of studies (who is also a professor) that the whole point of academia, is that the “new” challenge the norms set by more established academics in order to advance the topic. If there was no debate then where would be the fun in learning?!

Nancy, I know your comment was in no way a personal attack on me! I didn’t take it like that, even if others may have. Fair play to you, I didn’t extrapolate enough clarification from my comments to properly convey what I was trying to say. I’m happy that you picked me up on that, as it gave me a chance to explain further 😀

Again, in my attitude to learning, how can you unless people pick you up on what you say sometimes? I appreciate you even having the time to respond to the rants of a novice!

In fact, as a former “first year” I’ve always felt that it was important for everyone to have a voice and this is reflected in my very PoMo influence.

So . . .no tearing apart of people’s words from me unless someone forces me to justify an impression that I may have had. I certainly encourage anyone with interesting points to make to go ahead and make them here; in a friendly and coureous way, of course. But we’re all grown-ups, right, so I don’t need to say that 🙂

now, as for anthropology from another first year’s perspective. anthropology is really great and i’m disappointed that i won’t get to study more of it due to my planned focus in sociology and philosophy (both of which, i at least like to believe, aren’t that distantly related). I had a really engaging teacher and the course text was awesome (Philippe Bourgois’, “In search of Respect: Selling Crack in El-Barrio(sp?)”. the accompanying abbreviated Lavenda and Shultz textbook was a little more boring but also an asset).

nonetheless, since i’m not getting my fill of anthropology in the classroom, SM is a godsend. i really like your blog and follow it regularly.

Sorry, fellas — I stand by my earlier comment. It may be an incorrect evaluation, but I don’t agree it should be verboten to have made it. Such evaluations have a real place in this kind of collective conversation. If we are going to generate a vibrant public sphere in this forum, we can’t pretend it is disembodied brains here in cyberspace any more than it is disembodied brains anywhere else.

I didn’t actually say, or mean, that I think that specifically because it was *women,* as opposed to men, that gave them, that they were biased.

But had those lectures been given by men, then you would also have been given a biased view. I know that you’re not deliberately trying to obfuscate or something, but if there’s one thing that being an anthropology student has taught me, it’s to always cover my ass when making a statement of fact about people in general.

I use so many qualifiers and use the personal pronoun so much I sometimes sound like some wishy-washy self-centred dingbat: “Many Japanese people” do this, “I believe that this behaviour shows” that, “perhaps”, “possibly”, “very likely”. You get the idea.

To Nancy: I’m sorry if my comment left you with the impression that I think *all* anthroplogy departments are feminist, or that I think that feminists are any more biased than any other anthroplogist. I was talking specifically about my faculty, which is notorious for it’s political leanings.

My lectures, for example, on gender, were given solely by women, which of course is going to give a biased view! I don’t see, or intend that to be a criticism or in any way a slur on feminists. I am simply pointing out that this affected my work. As a naive first year, I was unaware that personal bias would come into anthropology so much, and therefore in my first terms did not account for this when reading for, and writing essays.

I do not see having a slant as a bad thing BUT I do think it needs to be clarfied by the lecturer that this is what their stance is, before people that are new to the subject (such as I was) think this is the only approach, therefore leading to a limited and narrow-minded perspective.

Also, (again!) this is simply my personal opinion of the lecturers that I have come across in my faculty and in no way am I attempting to generalise all anthroplogists, or even claim that my *opinion* is the right one about my faculty, let alone any other.

One other small quibble, this had stemmed from my personal blog being quoted, where I don’t attempt to be objective or reasonable, or to start academic arguments! I get enough of that from school thank you! But I do think this has sparked an interesting debate… !