1. Please only post when the class is open. 2. You may only claim credit for the class once you have been quoted that you have received a passing grade. 3. Should you not pass the class, you will be quoted that your student needs to retake the class and they may try again the next time the class is open. 4. Please write a short RP response when your character comes to class and turns in their homework to the professor. No length requirement.
Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 9:59 am
Class Activity Taught by: NPC
Opens: First day of the Month Closes: Last day of the Month, 11:59pm EST
Religious Differences, or lack thereof The Nine are almost exclusively worshiped around the world in both Above and Below... but what about groups that have different Gods or none at all - how should religious differences be handled when entering a culture that is not your own?
Rules: Post a small roleplay response in thread with your student's response to the above prompt. Repeats are okay.
Nightmare Adira Captain
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jinxgirl5
Alien Loiterer
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Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 4:31 pm
Topaz considered the question for a moment, then stood up to give her answer.
"One discipline of anthropology is archaeology. It is perhaps one of the best known of the disciplines. It is the collection and preservation of artifacts of past and present cultures. Archaeologists study items such a pottery, weapons, hunting tools, or even bones to learn about the time in which the item was used or, in the case of living creatures, lived and died. Forensic anthropologists specialize in the identification of remains, usually those whose deaths are mysterious or may be called into question, and can tell from the remains how the person lived and died."
Answer given, Topaz resumed her seat.
Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 12:33 pm
Sariya was nervous when it came to her turn to speak. She took a deep breath and tried to clear her throat. "Cultural Anthropology is another branch of Anthropology. Cultural Anthropology uses participate observation, interviews and surveys to learn more about their subjects. One of the earliest articulations of the anthropological meaning of the term "culture" came from Sir Edward Tylor* who believed that culture, or civilization, is complex and includes a variety of capabilities and habits acquired by people as a whole. Some of those things included knowledge, belief, art and morals, to name a few."
She hoped that would be enough, since she named what kind of field work, who coined the term and what some of the uses were for . She took another breath and sat down, pulling herself closer to her seat.
(I'm not sure who the NM equivalent of Sir Edward Tylor would be, so I hope that's okay.)
Koiasi
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nepsah Crew
Malevolent Mage
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Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2016 8:00 am
Congratulations, you passed!
jinxgirl5
Topaz
Koiasi
Sariya {you're fine referencing IRL ppl by their names~}
Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 12:55 am
mmm this was a tough question. then again anthropology always did have interesting debates. Yue chewed on her pencil as she thought of exactly how she wanted to answer this. What did she think was the right answers...
When coming into contact with secluded cultures one should always be careful. They may not have developed as fast as we have and they might have completely different viewpoints and beliefs. We should honor their culture and make sure not to fundamentally change it in radical ways. So I believe that unless the culture firmly wishes and reaches out to us then we should be careful and limit interaction. This isn’t to say that we can’t study the culture for a better understanding of them, but do so in a way that isn’t imposing our own on them. This of course leads into the second question. It isn’t our duty what so ever to bring them update with the rest of the world. They had a timeline and a path to follow on and drastic changes would more than likely be catastrophic in the long run. However this is a different case if they wish to intermingle with us and be brought up to date. Then I think we should evaluate how to do so in a way that would still be culturally safe.
'For health reasons alone contact should be carefully limited. When certain cultures have remained secluded from the rest of the world for a long period of time, there's the spread of diseases to be concerned about. Historically speaking the more isolated the culture the more vulnerable they are to diseases that may seem minor to us, which can severely affect the population. There is also the chance they might have diseases that are unknown to mainstream cultures that could have serious repercussions if unleashed in more populous areas.
As most secluded cultures will rarely trust outsiders, it would be best to keep contact to a select few. This will help prevent the culture from feeling threatened or overwhelmed by large numbers of strangers and their differences, and by limiting the contact initiators to only certain individuals it will hopefully help them to gain acceptance through familiarity and get a better view into the culture itself. Over time this can be changed if the culture seems receptive and there are those interested in observation.'
Topaz twirled a curl of her hair around her finger, nibbling on her bottom lip as she considered the other question.
'Assuming the culture is not hostile to outsiders and seems to be open to the idea of change, I see no reason why they shouldn't be brought up to date with more modern cultures, as long as it is done with respect to the values they already hold. If they are uninterested in change, even though it may be to their benefit, their wishes should be respected. Attempting to force change has rarely ever ended well, historically speaking.'
Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 1:56 pm
Sariya drew in a rather ragged breath at the question, taking a moment or two to respond.
I think contact with secluded cultures should be limited, at best, especially before proper knowledge has been gathered about their belief systems and traditions. Without before mentioned knowledge, it's hard to know when you might very well be harming their culture and beliefs. For example, to them a simple flower might be sacred and picking it could be considered a punishable offense. Being cautious and limiting contact could be safer for both parties involved.
Bringing them up to date is a loaded question. It's best, in most cases, not to because of what harm it could do not only to them but to their land. Being an outsider you may not know the risks you take by giving them an upper hand perhaps compared to other civilizations near them. What if they're a war nation and you don't know it? You could unwittingly hand them the things they need to win a war that could change the entirety of the planet. However, if I see a place full of people who are suffering, and knew I had the cure.. I couldn't very well stand by and let people die. So, again, I think it comes down to knowledge and making sure you don't make any rash decisions.
Koiasi
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nepsah Crew
Malevolent Mage
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 1:57 pm
Congratulations, you've passed!
Nasaiki
Yue
jinxgirl5
Topaz
Koiasi
Sariya
Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 2:12 pm
Class Activity Taught by: NPC
Opens: First day of the Month Closes: Last day of the Month, 11:59pm EST
Religious Differences, or lack thereof The Nine are almost exclusively worshiped around the world in both Above and Below... but what about groups that have different Gods or none at all - how should religious differences be handled when entering a culture that is not your own?
Rules: Post a small roleplay response in thread with your student's response to the above prompt. Repeats are okay.
Topaz had come across this question a time or two in her wanderings during her earlier years. Thankfully there hadn't been anything like disagreements, let alone the major problems that she'd heard about. It helped, perhaps, that she was pretty flexible, and experience had taught her ways to handle such a situation.
"I've always found that when you're the one entering someone else's home ground it's best to be polite and respect their beliefs. During times when I got pulled into religious conversations I would always try to keep my responses interested or neutral. Those conversations could actually be pretty helpful, since they gave me ideas for the kinds of behaviors or conversation topics that might trigger negative reactions."
She brushed her bangs back where they'd fallen over her face. "Usually these people aren't looking to convert you or anything, they're just asserting their beliefs. It varies from place to place how zealous they are, but as long as you observe their rules and stay on your best behavior during your time among them, they'll be willing to forgive little a faux pas of your own."
Topaz considered the question for a moment, then stood up to give her answer.
