Anthropology
Anthropology
Visit to University Museum
The University of Pennsylvania's museum holds artifacts from groups of
people that led lives that in many ways were far different than ours -
no Internet, no Schuylkill Expressway, no MTV, no $.69/pound bananas at
a Wawa grown in a plantation 5000 miles away !
In some way there are universal similarities in the lives of people of all cultures - kids are born and loved by their folks, people work to make a living, we wonder about things, have stories and explanations, learn and teach one another, experience sickness and healing, are sad when loved people die, worry about our own end.
As you wander about the exhibits, I want you to think
about the differences more than the similarities. Look
at the 'things', the artifacts, that the anthropologists and archeologists
have stored and exhibited here - and try to imagine not only what practical
function the thing had, but also how it might express;
artistry, a sense of beauty, or proportion, balance, or a striving toward
some form.
craftsmanship- what are the skill sets that the maker had, what tools,
what base materials.
a commitment of belonging to one another in that particular group/culture
values - what is important, what is not.
(Before you go museum, it might be useful for you to read the Clifford Geertz article, click the ARTICLES button on the left, about how a sporting event in Bali summarizes and symbolizes much of what he sees as distinctive about Balinese culture, and how Balinese cultivate their particular way of being human)
Lewis Mumford in "The Myth of the Machine"
- holds that all human technical achievements are "less for the purpose
of increasing food supply or
controlling nature than for utilizing man's own immense organic resources...to
fulfill more adequately his super organic needs and aspirations."
(ex
Thinking through Technology, Carl Mitchum, page 43).
Assignment
- Take notes during your exploration of the museum.Pay attention to what captures your interest, and then stay with that exhibit for awhile, and think about the people who wore those clothes, decorated those pots, lived in that kind of dwelling. Imagine yourself there, imagine how, not only how much you wouldn't like it, but how would you have to be different than you are. Notice what is not present, not part of the lives of those others.
- As you examine the displays here, think about what these materials meant, not only what were they used for, or how they compare with our stuff (clothing, medicines, food, tools, etc,) 'What did it mean in that society, at that time,to the people who made, used, lived with the material, these tools, that technology.
- More broadly, I want you to think about how a particular society's tools and techniques might influence that society's policies, beliefs, values, ideology, common sense, and even the structure of their religious thought and explanations. Sometimes our ideas shape our toolkit, but sometimes maybe our toolkit shapes our notions, values, temperment, spirit.
After your visit write up your ideas and insights about the connection between technologies (tools, tool kits, material culture) of a particular people, and belief/values/explanations/world view/religion of those people.(2 pages would be sufficient)
Link to U of P's Museum for hours, exhibits, directions